CHEERS: To Buns and Things bakery in Charlottetown for its decision to expand and open a separate shop that will be completely dedicated to making cakes. We’ve read so many stories these past three months about how businesses will struggle just to survive the year, not to mention those that won’t even open this year, it’s a nice change to hear at least one operation is going in the opposite direction and getting bigger. Good luck to them.
JEERS: To the movie industry, which continues to handle the ongoing health crisis without any sort of measured approach. Studios have either pushed big releases back or postponed them to next year altogether, even though there are movie theatres open in the U.S. and Canada. The drive-in industry, thought to be dead 20 years ago, has been thriving in this climate as people look to get out for an evening. Yet, movie studios refuse to supply them with any product. The prime example is the big budget Tom Hanks epic, Greyhound, which was just released. Problem is, the studio sold the rights to the movie to Apple TV, one of many online streaming services. And then Hanks was quoted in stories as saying how heartbroken he is that the movie isn’t being released in theatres. Huh? It really says something that the music industry in North America (Garth Brooks did one live show for drive-ins and Blake Shelton will do one on July 25) supports drive-ins more than the movie studios do.
CHEERS: To Islanders who are following chief public health officer Dr. Heather Morrison’s advice to wear a mask whenever social distancing isn’t possible. The past few weeks have reminded Islanders the coronavirus (COVID-19) hasn’t gone away, despite a long stretch without any cases in the province. A recent small surge in cases led Morrison to strongly recommend people wear masks to prevent spreading the virus. Masks may not be the most comfortable thing to wear, but a few minutes with one on is a small price to pay for the greater good.
CHEERS: To the hard-working folks in Cardigan who came together recently to bring light to the JD MacIntyre memorial field. July 3 was a historic night for the community when it hosted its first-ever night game. People lined up along the fence of the field to watch as the Eastern Express played host to the Mid-Isle Mustangs in the 13U Triple-A division. Until now there had been no lighting infrastructure to host games after sunset, but thanks to co-operation between the local baseball association and the municipality of Three Rivers that has all changed. It also means that the community can now entertain larger tournaments that require lights that it had previously been shut out of hosting. Good work all around. Congratulations.
