We’re knee-deep in snow! Weatherman said all the snow that
usually falls throughout the month of December fell between Dec. 3rd and
4th this year. Not to worry ‘cos I bought Bill a new shovel, our snow tires
were put on the Ole Probe last week, and I finished teaching the university
classes for the year!
We think about all our families and friends throughout the year, but
Christmas is the time when we can shout “Merry Christmas and a Happy 2008”
to you! Now, I can blither away about our year that was ;-)
Yup, it was another busy one. In the 2006 missive, we announced
Ja-On and Angela’s engagement. The big day came on August 18th. The kids
made all the arrangements, sending out the invitations, etc with minimal
interference from the moms <g>. The wedding was at the Imperial Ballroom
in Brandon, and everything went according to plan. Angela looked gorgeous
in her gown; Ja-on looked smart in his Asian-influenced tux (nearly as
smart as the tux I made for his childhood tap dancing days), and Soulin
was very grown-up in his mini-tux. Ja and Angela wrote meaningful vows
to each other, but the most touching moment was when Angela made her vows
to Soulin. The three of them are truly a family. For full disclosure, see
www.hillmanweb.com/2007/wedding
The event was made all the more special with arrival of relatives and
friends from afar. Brother Gene, s-i-l Susan, nephew Martin, niece Janet,
husband Larry, children Isabelle and Nathan arrived from Seattle a few
days before the wedding. The folks haven’t been in Manitoba for many years,
and it was wonderful to see them all. Sister Sue-Sem, niece Ilym, hubby
Paul, kids Brendan and Alanna arrived the week before the big day. Although
they make this yearly journey to celebrate Grandma Choy’s birthday, we
always look forward to their visit and the goodies they haul from Vancouver!
Many of the younger folks were booked into Canad Inn and had the opportunity
to get to know their cousins better.
Our friends Keith and Margaret Jones arrived from England in time to
tour around Manitoba before attending the wedding. On a round-about trip
home from the airport, we were able to visit niece Lindy and Rob Rabichuk’s,
and Kerry and Edah Morris’s cottages at Lake Winnipeg. Once we arrived
home, the folks were put to work as our English gardener, window washer,
and household assistant ;-)
Ja-On’s had a busy year with his Reactive Orthopedic Massage Therapy
business. Not only is he working with his regular clients, he’s also supervising
student practicums, and administering final exams at his alma mater – Wellington
College in Winnipeg. Angela continues to take courses towards her Bachelor
of Nursing, work at Hillcrest Personal Care home, and keep her two boys
in line ;-) Soulin is getting to be so grown up! He’s active in soccer
and swimming this fall and winter. With Ja and Angela’s hectic schedules,
we’ve been enjoying his company at his “big house.” I say “enjoying” with
reservations as he’s been quite a formidable opponent in chess, checkers,
backgammon, and all other board games!
Robin continues his work with DMT at Smart Park in Winnipeg. Still no
free Volvo, Jag, or Mitsubishi from the work he does for these companies
;-) His musical talents have been put to good use this year with Dad and
Mom - at various gigs such as the Miami (Manitoba, that is) Agricultural
Society’s Centennial Celebration dance, and especially at Ja and Angela’s
wedding. It was also a band reunion with Kerry Morris and Kevin Pahl –
just like old times! That was the first time some of Sue-On’s family saw
them perform.
China is into her second of medicine at University of Manitoba, maintaining
excellent marks in the top ten of her class of 101 students. During the
summer break, she spent her two weeks of vacation shadowing orthopedic
surgeon Dr. de Muelenaere at Brandon Hospital. China is no stranger there
as she spent three previous summers working in Central Supply with surgical
instruments. In the two weeks, she observed surgeries, held the retractors
<g>, stapled incisions, etc. She was grateful to have had the experience
seldom offered to first year medical students. For the remainder of her
summer holidays, she was employed as a research assistant at Winnipeg Health
Science Centre. Not only was she involved with research, she was also the
“to-go-to-girl” for tech support on computers, fax and copier machines,
and as an English editor for several of her colleagues’ research papers
for publication in medical journals. Perhaps being in a family of teachers
and computer literates gave her an edge ;-)
Bill and I have had a busy year with the wedding, the family reunion
dinners, and my Mom’s 99th birthday celebration. The whole exciting year
began in April with our trip to the Netherlands representing Edgar Rice
Burroughs, Inc. for Disney’s European Premiere of Tarzan the Musical. We
were able to spend a few days sightseeing in Amsterdam before the actual
premiere at the Fortis Circustheatre in Scheveningen – a huge beach resort
on the North Sea. We were joined by Laurence Dunn from England – president
of the Burroughs Bibliophiles, and Jim Sullos and son from Los Angeles,
Ca. The production was exciting, but even more so was the unexpected opportunity
of meeting Tarzan – aka Ron Link! You can read and see all the gory details
at www.ERBzine.com/holland
and www.HillmanWeb.com/2007
The week following Tarzan, we took a short flight over to North Yorkshire,
England to visit with old friends Keith and Margaret Jones, and Mick and
Margaret Sandbrook and their families. With these folks, we toured many
of the venues we performed in back in the late 70s, and revisited favourite
locations such as Whitby, Scarborough, Durham, and James Herriot’s surgery
in Thirsk. www.HillmanWeb.com/2007
An added treat was a reunion dinner with bandmates – Desperados,
now called Raised on Rusks. All too soon, we had to return home
to start new teaching terms. Bill is still working as full time professor
with the Faculty of Education at Brandon University, and I with the English
for Academic Purposes program at BU and evening ESL with WestMan Immigrant
Services.
In July, Bill was able to fit in a couple of weeks of research work
down in Tarzana with Danton Burroughs where they put in long sessions documenting
the massive ERB, Inc. archives, meeting with media personnel, visiting
film sets and exploring Southern California landmarks such as the Ronald
Reagan Library. Following the busy days in California, he flew to the University
of Louisville, KY for the annual Burroughs Bibliophile convention and to
resume research at the Ekstrom Library. Sue-On was not able to join him
for these adventures because of teaching schedules and preparations for
the arrival of family and friends for the wedding.
Bill continues full throttle as mega webmaster with all the research
he does for ERB www.ERBzine.com
, for the university www.brandonu.ca/hillman
, and for his many other interests: family and local histories, military
tributes, writing, music, etc. http://home.westman.wave.ca/~hillmans
. It seems his web-universe is never-ending as more and more people world
wide seek him out for university research projects and as representative
for ERB, Inc., for interviews as an ERB authority, or to share their treasures
and writing. Musically, he enjoys jammin’ with his buddies whenever they
can get together, performing with a Beatles Tribute band (this New Year’s
Eve, he’ll be "John Lennon" at Brandon’s British pub) and of course ongoing
gigs with our family band.
Teaching at BU is becoming more and more international for me. This
year, I’ve had students from Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Indonesia, China, Morocco,
Ukraine, Korea, Mexico, Costa Rica, Thailand, El Salvador, Germany, and
Lithuania. You can bet that our potluck parties are incredible! Brandon
is experiencing a major increase in the number of foreign workers due to
Maple Leaf hog processing. Since 2006, we’ve had +400 permit workers from
China alone. Most of these new arrivals speak only Mandarin. As a result,
I have been busy organizing translators to help these folks acquire legal
documents, bank accounts, and get settled into the Canadian way of life.
We are in the process of forming the WestMan Chinese Association, and presenting
the first ever Chinese Pavilion during our Lieutenant Governor’s Winterfest
in February, 2008. www.HillmanWeb.com/china
The kids will all be home for Christmas at Kensington Crescent. Together,
we send our love and best wishes to you and yours for a Merry Christmas
and Good Health and Happiness in 2008. We’ll look forward to hearing news
from you!
Love,
Bill, Sue-On and Family
www.HillmanWeb.com
hillmans@westman.wave.ca
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