Day 11 - Closing Time

The boys arrived to Our Lady of the Atonement Parish at 8:15 am this morning to sing their final two Masses of the 2008-9 season. After such a warm reception last night, it was no surprise to us to have such an enthusiastic congregation, genuinely excited about the boys' presence. The clapped after each selection - even during the Mass - and again gave the boys a standing ovation after their three postlude pieces. Fr. Bob Remark (a former pastor of Mr. Heywood's from a different parish) acknowledged the boys in his homily by talking about their openness to let the spirit share their gift of music with those around them, allowing them to move and inspire others. He also took time to recognize the graduates for their years of service to the choir, as well as the staff who work so hard to help the boys achieve their fullest potential.

Boys were treated to receptions after each liturgy and then a lunch after the later Mass. At one of the receptions, they received a gift from a Member of Parliament (the equivalent of a House Representative) - a Canadian flag and Canadian pins that the boys sported in their white shirts for the remainder of the day. After lunch, it was time to bid farewell to their new brothers and sisters from Atonement Parish.

After lunch the boys checked in to the Riverside Radission Hotel for their final night of tour. First item on the agenda - some pool time! The boys took part in relay races, making whirlpools, some ball games and other typical pool affair. Others sat in the hot tub and took some time to relax before dinner. The boys dressed up in their blacks and whites and spent some time walking along the Detroit River enjoying the view of the Detroit skyline. They then headed to a restaurant for a dinner of either chicken fingers, burgers or a Mexican chili pizza.

They all headed back to the hotel for the final official activity of tour. The boys met in one of the hotel conference rooms and voted for this year's Leadership Award winner. They then received SJBC wristbands, which they had been giving away to other young people over the past 11 days, but not finally have one of their own. They also received their funny individual awards, picked by the staff and the 8th graders. The graduates then each had a few moments to share a few words with the younger boys, talking a bit about their SJBC experience and how much it meant to them. Tears were shed by just about everyone as old stories were retold and life lessons were shared. Mrs. Weber had the final word thanking the boys for all they've done this year. It really has been a pretty special year.

After all that, it was time for some more swimming! Mr. Heywood and Mr. Kleespie gave the boys a little extra swimming time for the last night of tour, and finally got everyone to bed (or at least in their rooms!) by 10:00 pm. Tomorrow, we head home to Saint John's. See you soon!

Day 10 - Curtain Call

The journey home continued today with the boys bidding farewell to their hosts from Port Hope. After spending time in larger urban centers like London, Toronto, Kingston and Ottawa, it was nice for them to get a taste of life in small town, semi-rural Ontario. The boys were treated so kindly by their hosts here and had an incredible time at the beach. Now it was off to the final leg of their tour.

Today's bus ride was a curtain call of sorts, as the boys passed towns and sites they had visited while heading east. They waved goodbye to Toronto, the CN Tower, and London, now heading west to Windsor. But first there was the small (well, not so small) matter of Niagara Falls. The boys arrived at the falls for lunch and were excited to see them. We passed the American Falls (Rainbow Falls) first - very impressive! As we continued the walk to the Canadian Falls (Horseshoe Falls) the boys were even more impressed with the size and magnitude of this natural wonder. They had some time for shopping and then eating lunch in one of the grassy areas around Niagara, blessed with the company of many seagulls who thought maybe the Port Hope host families had packed a lunch for them too.

Then it was back on the bus for another 3 hours and 45 minutes and on to Windsor. The boys were greeted enthusiastically by parishioners from Our Lady of the Atonement Parish. They were treated to a nice dinner before heading into the church for a quick sound check and then back to the Parish Center to get dressed for their final concert of the 2008-9 season. This was an especially important concert for the 10 boys for whom this would be their final concert as members of the Concert Choir.

The concert started at 7:00 pm, and the boys could not have asked for a better audience for their final performance. The crowed cheered enthusiastically after each performance. Since this would be the graduates' final concert, they decided to sing "Loch Lomond" for the crowd. They performed it better than they had ever done before, and received an immediate standing ovation from the audience. The entire choir received an equally enthusiastic standing ovation at the close of the concert and walked off stage with heads held high and proud faces. What an incredible final concert.


The gig's not over though. Tomorrow morning the boys have their final Masses of the 2008-9 season, followed by a luncheon, some rec time on the Riverfront here in Windsor (facing the Detroit skyline), their final formal dinner and the graduates' farewell.

Oh - and Happy Birthday to Josiah Beretta who turned 13 today! Mr. Heywood searched his face for first signs of pimples and zits, but alas, to no avail. Mr. Kleespie led another rousing edition of "Happy Birthday" during his daily episode of KTL-Kleespie. Hope you had a good one, Josiah!

Day 9 - Beach Party!

Finally! The boys got a chance to sleep in this morning as they didn't have anywhere to be until 10:00 am. And where did they need to be at that time? The beach! How lucky. The boys spent the morning, lunch and the early afternoon at Victoria Beach in Cobourg. Morning activities included swimming (in freezing Lake Ontario!), soccer, castle/fort-building, scaring away seagulls, and the usual burying of choir boys under the sand (only up to their neck though!).

After their fun day at the beach the boys headed to Trinity College School for a venue rehearsal. TCS is a private Anglican boarding school which has a very nice chapel where the boys' concert was to be held. The campus was truly beautiful and the boys regretted not having the opportunity to play frisbee or football on the school grounds. However, business first! After a short rehearsal the boys engaged in a choral exchange with singers from St. Mark's Anglican Church in Port Hope and St. Mary's Catholic Church in nearby Grafton. All the choristers rehearsed "For the Beauty of the Earth" together in preparation for the concert tonight.

Everyone then headed over to St. Mark's for a lasagna dinner before preparing for their concert. The small town crowd thorougly enjoyed the performance, providing the boys with a standing ovation at the concert's end and once again after the encore. Early to bed tonight as it's another early start tomorrow - a long bus ride to Niagara Falls, followed by a longer trip to Windsor, the location of tomorrow night's concert. Until then - peace!

Day 8 - Bonjour! Comment allez vous? Ca va bien!

The boys left Kingston early in the morning to head to the nation's capital - Ottawa - directly on the border of Ontario and Quebec. After a two and a half hour bus ride, the boys deboarded in front of Parliament Hill - essentially Canada's White House. Here the boys learned a lot about the political history of Canada, the relationship between the English and the French, and about the different houses of Parliament. Perhaps the coolest part of the entire tour was the Parliamentary Library which was an amazing room containing many important books, such as the first published copy of Harry Potter in Canada and Audobon's Birds of America, which is worth $13 million! The library was the only part of the building that was original, since the building had undergone several fires, but the library was always protected. Mr. Kleespie suggested that Canada should find better fire-prevention techniques.

After a quick lunch at the Food Court in the Centre Rideau, the boys shopped for a short time before boarding the bus again for their next destination. Port Hope is a small town on the shore of Lake Ontario, about one hour east of Toronto. The boys were greeted by Mr. Randy Mills, organist and choir director at the Anglican Church in Port Hope and the Catholic Church in nearby Grafton. Mr. Mills also teaches Music at Trinity College School where the boys will hold a concert tomorrow night.

The boys are now safe with their host families. So far I've heared of pizza parties and ping pong tournaments so I'm sure they are having a great time. Tomorrow is a day at the beach in nearby Cobourg, a choral exchange with singers from the local churches and then a concert in the evening.

Day 7 - Kings and Queens

The boys had another early morning as they arrived at St. Michael's Choir School with their host boys. At about 8:30 am, they bid farewell to friends, both new and old, from SMCS and started their trek to Kingston to begin their second half of their Canada tour. After a previous attempt on Monday to show a DVD on the bus, Rick (our bus driver) and the staff finally got the machinery working at the boys watched "Wall-E" on their way to Kingston.

Upon arrival, the boys had a lunch followed by an impromptu soccer match in City Park. The final score was 1-1 and Mr. Heywood even showed his old soccer form by scoring one of the goals! The boys then headed to Fort Henry, an historic site built around the time of Canadian confederation as protection for the city of Kingston. The boys went on a guided tour led by students of the Royal Military College and Queen's University who spend their summers in military training or community service at the Fort. The boys learned a lot about a soldier's life during the 19th century and were amazed by some of the facts they heard. Their visit to Fort Henry closed with a parade and demonstration that included the firing of a very loud canon!

After Fort Henry it was time to check in to the Confederation Place Hotel. Pumped to finally be spending some time together in a hotel, the boys were excited to go swimming in the hotel pool. Unfortunately, the pool was closed for renovations, so plans had to be changed fairly quickly. The boys watched some TV and did some quiet recreation in their room before eating dinner in the hotel dining room. After dinner, the boys took a walk along the beach and practiced skipping stones (or breaking rocks... different boys like different actitivies!) for a while. Inspired by the nature scenery around them, the boys sang "Mi'kmaq Honour Song" in an outdoor setting - something they had never experienced before. After the beach, the staff treated the boys to some ice cream before heading back to the hotel for a night of rest.

Tomorrow is off to Ottawa and a visit to Parliament Hill in the morning, before starting the journey back home in the afternoon, ending up in Port Hope where they will have a concert on Friday.

Day 6 - Operation: Toronto

This morning the boys of SJBC got a taste of what it might be like living in a big city. Boys woke up early in the morning to begin their travel to St. Michael's Choir school. They travelled via light rail, subway, bus and car, sometimes taking as much as 90 minutes to get to school. Things are a bit different living in the big city! All the boys made it safely to the downtown school by 8:30 am for warm-up.

The choral exchange between St. John's and St. Michael's begin at 9:30 am with the SMCS Junior Choir (grades 5-6) performing first, followed by their Senior Choir (grades 7-8). SJBC closed off the collaboration performing some of their favorites. The boys sang *very* well, even in such a challenging acoustic. Unfortunately, St. Michael's Cathedral has carpet all over, deadening the sound and making it not as live an acoustic as other cathedrals in which the boys are used to performing.

After singing, the SJBC boys played soccer with the Grade 7/8 boys from SMCS - a rematch of their game in Hradec Kralové last summer when St. Michael's handily defeated St. John's 7-4, albeit the Americans were outnumbered 60-35. This year they were only outnumbered 40-25, and so only lost 3-2. Nonetheless, the boys were thrilled for the opportunity to play some soccer and to interact with their Torontonian friends.

he afternoon saw the boys journey to the Ontario Science Centre where they observed various exhibits, got to play around with different gadgets, try some sports activities and see living lizards and snakes (many of which scared the bejeebus out of both Mr. Heywood and Mrs. Janku). The boys headed home with their host families shortly before 4:00 pm to engage in various activities - some were going swimming, some having BBQs, and some were even going to a Jays game!

Happy Birthday to Wynston Tacheny who turned 12 today. Wynston received not one, but two beautiful renditions of "Happy Birthday", one while in the choir school and the second while on the bus during our daily episode of KTL-Kleespie. We've had four birthday so far - lots of reason to celebrate!

Day 5 - Up and Away

The boys bid farewell to London, Ontario this morning - a city that has been so welcoming to them. The boys enjoyed visiting Mr. Heywood's hometown and departed by saying thank you to his mother who had done so much to help make their visit special. The boys presented her with an SJBC sweatshirt with the words "Choir Mom" on the back, then gave her a huge group hug!

Then, it was on the road, headed to Toronto. It was quite the adventure maneuvering the bus through the busy streets of Canada's largest city. The boys arrived to the gym of St. Michael's Choir School in the heart of downtown Toronto and had a quick lunch before an afternoon of shopping and sightseeing at two other major Toronto venues.

The boys walked through downtown and observed City Hall - including a rather tame protest by city workers who started going on strike this morning! They then spent 90 minutes shopping at the Eaton Center, Toronto's largest shopping complex, the third largest in the country, and Canada's busiest tourist attraction with over 1 million visitors each week. The boys then walked for 45 minutes to visit the CN Tower, where they were able to take lots of pictures of the great view of Toronto from over 1,500 feet high! Perhaps the coolest thing for them was visiting the glass floor where they could see all the way down to the ground. Cool!

The boys headed back to St. Michael's by bus and met up with their host families. Boys travelled to their Toronto homestays via different methods - some car, some bus, some subway - in true Toronto fashion. Some of the boys who were being picked up a little later played a game of basketball with Mr. Heywood and some of the St. Michael's boys. Patrick Blee even made a basket from half court!

Anyway, the boys are safe with their host families and are hopefully resting up for their only performance commitment in Toronto - a choral exchange with the St. Michael's boys tomorrow morning. Happy Birthday to Benjamin Zimring, who turned 13 and received a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday" while on the bus. Ben also made some great hoops during the basketball game in the gym!