Before I get into the details, I would like to make one note about The Great Canadian Postal Worker Strike of 2011. Apparently, my sources are telling me that the government made the workers go back to work, but enough of a delay has occurred that our letters are probably too far behind to make it while we are at the locations. PLEASE continue to send email to pjfanberg@lolcb.org . I print it out each day and hand it to the boys. It’s free. It’s easy. It’s a limited-time opportunity! Tell everyone in your Rolodex to email the boys! That being said, it would be really great to have actual mail again when we reach Grand Forks, North Dakota on June 30th. There is just no replacement for the hand-written note of a mother telling a son how proud of them you are. (For what it’s worth, I’ve picked-up more strewn about emails on the floor in five days than letters the first ten. Boys like emails, but cherish letters.) If you can still remember to drop a letter in the old mailbox, that would be swell.
The boys are still writing letters on this end as well and I hope to get them out in the mail Monday morning. (I stopped at a Post Office Saturday, but it was closed.) This will be their fourth mandatory letter, leaving their last one to be sent sometime around Regina or Winnipeg. I had one request for the boys to write emails back home, but since postage strike is not effecting the outgoing mail and I barely have enough battery life to get the things I need to do accomplished, there is no way that is going to happen.
So – I suppose you’d like to hear about Calgary? The boys were able to sleep in a little again today, marking a few times in the past week they have been able to do that. (Surprise, surprise, they are doing much better in the behavior and performance aspects of the tour as well…) At 10:00, we met at a nearby church and headed-off to Fort Calgary, home of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Museum. Since Dudley Dooright is practically tour number 29 on this trip, the boys have been very anxious to learn more about the RCMP. This museum was a great chance for them to soak-up facts and souvenirs on the real Mounties and what they were tasked with undertaking. Our tour started with a short film about the history of the Mounties. Our guide then brought-out 3 actual historical Mounty uniforms and randomly selected 3 volunteers to go up front and model them. Zachary Parker, Austin Scott and Sam Strub were picked to go up front outfitting. Then, the guide put them through a series of commands to march them around for photos. 
After about 200 photos were taken, it was everyone else’s turn to play dress-up. Out in the museum were a stack of different sized (and eras) uniforms for the boys to try-on and get their picture taken. While this was happening, the rest of the boys took a stroll around the exhibits to learn about life a Mounty a century or so ago. It was quite a nice museum, even if I didn’t see a single mention of Snidely Whiplash, the Most Wanted Man in All of Canada.After everyone had a chance to tour the museum and get their photo next to the fake horse, (which we named “Horse”), we took the tour “oot” und “aboot” the rest of the grounds of Fort Calgary. They had a pair of replica barracks on the site, as well as a few more exhibits and statues marking some of the historical figures of the time. Then, as with every good museum, we did our part to ensure they can keep the doors open for another century by buying everything in the gift store, including some Mounty Christmas ornament, which are sure to adorn some lucky tree for decades to come!
The boys made their way through the bathroom, back to the bus and onto Calaway Park, home of this afternoon’s amusement. The boys were able to spilt into the group of their liking and spent a little more than two hours on rides and having a great time. Nobody puked, but from what I heard, a few of the boys said they came close, with smiles on their faces. In the parking lot of the park, we took a good hour-long nap before grabbing a quick bite to eat at the local McDonald’s.
The concert was a joint performance with the SuperSonic Men’s Chorus and the Calgary Boy Choir Alumnus. There were probably about 200 people in the audience and the church was a terrific space to hold a concert. Many of the boys enjoyed hearing some of the popular works of the choirs, including three very well-done Billy Joel pieces. (Billy writes such great music for this sort of thing…) Our boys took the stage and owned it, getting several standing ovations, despite it being a shortened performance. Aaron gave the boys the very rare and highly coveted rating a “perfect 10” for their job well done. Once the jobs were finished, the boys were brought back to their host homes for a second night. I am sure plenty of ice cream, popcorn and rice krispie bars are being consumed tonight.Until tomorrow…
P.J.
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