A good friend of mine is a motorcyclist and he belongs to a biker group that escorts the families of Canada’s fallen soldiers from Trenton to Toronto on the Highway of Heroes. While I write this our country has lost 146 soldiers in Afghanistan and their sacrifice for our country is incalculable. Last year I happened to be driving on the Gardiner Expressway on the way to the store and realized that a soldier’s body was being driven from the coroner’s office to St. Catharines and was able to find a spot on the highway to pull over, get out of my car and join others on the highway in a silent show of respect. I had not had occasion to do this before but felt an obligation to do so when I realized what was happening and hope that my small gesture was appreciated by the family as they passed. Frankly, it made me feel good that I could say ‘thank you’ for this soldier’s sacrifice – but I was sorry I had a reason to do so.

This past weekend the tables were turned. I had the honour of driving my girlfriend and her mother to a father and husband’s funeral on Saturday. This was the first time I had participated in a funeral procession and something happened during our drive through the streets of London Ontario that I want to pass along because the effect it had was profoundly heartfelt and appreciated.

On the drive from the funeral home to the church the funeral director asked that I drive immediately behind the hearse. We took as many secondary roads as possible as we headed towards the church so as to not tie up traffic but we eventually had to drive on a few major roads through the city of London on our way. To my pleasant surprise, as we pulled out from the funeral home the only car on the road pulled aside as we passed in a show of respect that caught my eye and brought a smile to my face and to the faces of my girlfriend and her mother. I think the comment from the widow through her tears was, “Isn’t that a nice thing to see on such a tough day.”

As we continued on our journey scores of other cars pulled aside in a similar show of respect that left the deceased’s wife and daughter so thankful that I can not put it into words. This small gesture by complete strangers who stopped at the side of the road for a few moments meant more than they knew and it was greatly appreciated by the family of the deceased.

I live in Mississauga and am embarrassed to admit that in the past I have on occasion not pulled over because I didn’t know the deceased and/or sometimes thought my schedule was ‘too important’ to permit me to be late (when I become that self-important I know I need a vacation). Well, I was reminded on the weekend that there is always time to show respect and a small gesture like pulling over to let a grieving family pass means more to the family and friends of the deceased than you realize.

To those citizens of London who were thoughtful enough to pull over when they saw our procession – thank you. It was a reminder to me to be similarly considerate when driving because I now understand how that small gesture means so much to a grieving family and it is truly appreciated…

We’re late getting this onto our blog but we were delighted to see this picture of Drew Lander fly fishing in the Ottawa River beneath the Parliament Buildings. This picture appeared in the Globe & Mail and a similar shot was published in the Toronto Star last week. It’s nice to see images of fly fishing with increasing frequency in the media because it reflects a growing interest in our sport !

This is a short post because I am attending a funeral today. My girlfriend’s father was diagnosed with brain cancer last week and he passed away this week from a heart attack. One week. The family is still reeling. Ed was 78 and while I did not get an opportunity to spend much time with him or get to know him well, I enjoyed meeting him and sharing a few laughs. He was a hunter and a fisher and while I am sorry for his passing and my heartfelt condolences go out to his family, I am thankful that he was taken quickly because the alternative was not going to be pretty.

We’re only here once. Make it count. Work hard, laugh often and tell your family today and every day that you love them. And by the way, if you don’t make time to relax and enjoy your life on a regular basis, you’re a knucklehead…

I had a quick staff meeting yesterday afternoon to discuss a couple of important issues: new inventory and increasing sales. Like many companies, the last 18 months have been very difficult but sales are thankfully getting back on track. As the economy and our sales return to normal (whatever ‘normal’ now is), we have had the opportunity to free up some time to look at what, if any, new inventory we should be bringing in and secondly, identify a service provider to assist us with the redesign of our website so we can make shopping at WILSON’S easier.

Our conversation covered a number of bases and as we were wrapping up our meeting the door opened and in walked a young man I had met at the 2010 Toronto Sportsmen’s Show this past March. He had 5 cardboard boxes balanced in one hand as he opened the door and walked in with a big smile – and a cane in his other hand. He reminded me of our conversation at the Sportmen’s Show about being a fly tier and wanted to display some of his flies and see if he can do some tying for us. As he opened some of the boxes he had carried in I couldn’t help but be impressed with his workmanship but immediately told him that the person to talk to about flies is our manager Vasilios “Bill” Katraouras because Billy has an eye for quality and detail that keeps all of our suppliers on their heels.

As we inspected the boxes of flies on the table the door opened and in walked a long-time friend who was looking for a new pair of wading boots and a few accessories. I interrupted my conversation with the fly tier to say hello and before we could say much the door opened again and in walked Wally Schmidt. Wally is one of our fly fishing school instructors who, along with our other instructor Sheldon Seale, is running a great program at the Wilmot Club in Newcastle. Wally smiled, said hello, and the door opened again and… you get the picture.

Everyone who walked in the store was happy because, well, they were walking in the store. Not that our store is special (much as we think it is), it’s just that they were walking into a fly shop. I think it might be the same mind-set that women are in when they enter a shoe store… They weren’t at work and they were not doing something work related. They were focussed on fly fishing. I couldn’t stay long to chat as I had another meeting to attend but as I left I thought to myself that in spite of how stressful these last few months have been, the appeal of working with the guys at WILSON’S isn’t so much about the sport and it isn’t about the business. It’s about the people.

We thought we should let our customers know about an event coming up in September that will affect access to Georgian Bay tributaries on September 18 & 19. Centurian Cycling is organizing a pretty cool event that will close roads from Collingwood to the Beaver Valley for a series of road races that are anticipated to include upwards of 2,000 bicyclists.

The Centurion Canada 100-mile route starts at Blue Mountain and the route goes through the village of Rob Roy to the Collingwood Airport. From the airport the bicyclists will head to Creemore and then west along County Road 9 through the town of Dunedin. From there they will head across the Noisy River on the way back to the top of the escarpment passing through the communities of Badjeros and Maxwell and then head back to Blue Mountain Resort via the Beaver Valley.

What this means is that traffic will be disrupted in a BIG way and you should plan your fly fishing trip for that weekend accordingly. And by they way, this is the same weekend we are hosting a trip to the Falls Inn at Walter’s Falls to fly fish the Beaver River, the Bighead River and Eugenia Gorge. Please contact the store to reserve your room today !

For more information please go to http://www.centurioncycling.com/canada-routes/