Ancaster Royal Spartan

 

Moving from Brantford in 1961, age 14, to Ancaster turned out to be a positive life-changing experience but the contrast was unexpectedly daunting.
 

It didn’t take long for my academic deficiencies to further chip at my ever decreasing self-esteem so I looked for other ventures. I joined the Ancaster cadet corp. headed by Mr. Rumball, and then enlisted in the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry. Not long after I became a historic re-enactor hence evolving into an award winning author.

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After visiting the Ancaster cemetery with my daughter Shaylyn and her friend Andrew, where we planted flowers for her mom and my mother I invited them to ‘my’ high school. Earlier that day nostalgia enveloped me and I threw a javelin in the back of my car for a preplanned reason.  

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There I was, 60 years later, overlooking the school and field reliving my football days using borrowed oversized shoes and spending most of my time on the bench. I scanned the track and watched as my ghost of the past came a distant last in the 100 yard dash in front of 100’s of my jeering peers. I recall practicing the javelin throwing it only ¼ of the distance of my ‘team-mates’.

My move from a shaky academic focus to that of a wanna-be Spartan warrior did not give me the results I had desired. 

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So here I was with my daughter throwing a javelin on the same field I did so many decades ago. I even ran 100 yards and walked from one end of the football field to the other. As I stood on the hill overlooking the school and the field I cast aside the shame I lived with for years and I smiled thanking my Creator for my blessing on this day.

 

I am, after all, showcased on the Ancaster Wall of Distinction.