This year, Canadians all over celebrate the
142nd anniversary of Confederation. Canada Day –
Fête du Canada, which was once known as Dominion Day –
Le Jour de la Confédération. The name was changed on October 27, 1982. This day is also frequently referred to as "Canada's birthday", especially by the press.
The occasion of Canada Day,
"marks the joining of the British North American colonies of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Province of Canada into a federation of four provinces (the Province of Canada being divided, in the process, into Ontario and Quebec) on 1 July 1867." - Source.
On June 20, in 1868, a proclamation was signed by the Governor General, Lord Monck. He called upon Her Majesty's subjects in Canada to celebrate the anniversary forming the union of the Provinces, known as Canada on July 1st.
I can't help but think of my family members who are Canadian and still reside in various parts of Canada. Some of them live in British Columbia while a majority of the others are located in various cities and small towns within Ontario.
Thinking about my Great Aunt J on her farm in the little town of Tweed makes me smile. I imagine the main street (that only has a flashing traffic signal) is probably lined with flags. The place we ate breakfast while we visited back in 2004 is most likely filled with locals, or perhaps even closed because of the holiday. I wonder if the Riverside Lanes Bowling Alley that we played
Five-Pin in is busy today. Riverside only has 6 lanes, so that does limit the amount of people playing at one time, but they also have a pool table or two, a Foosball table and some arcade games.
I think we gave that owner more business in two days than he had seen in quite a while. Granted we bowled two or three games, bought some hand-flavored frozen custard and played a few songs on the jukebox while we were there. If you ever get the chance to play, I suggest you do. The game is a lot of fun, but it's not easy!
I couldn't find pictures that we took while we were there, but here are some from the Bowling Depot in Calgary, Alberta, Canada to give you an idea.
The pins we played with had rubber bumpers or bands around their middles, and they also had cables connected to their tops (a
string pinsetter). When you finished a round, the cables would pull the pins straight up and then lower them back down in their correct positions.
The balls themselves don't have any holes and are only about 3 to 3.5 pounds each. Small enough for you to hold in one hand. They're a little larger than Bocce balls, but the size concept is very much the same.
I'll leave you with a video I found that shows 5-Pin. You'll be able to see how 5-Pin is similar, yet different to "normal" bowling.
