So I’m going to date myself here. In 1969 we moved, as a family, to Scarborough. We had been in Hamilton for the previous three years and I had never heard of Scarborough – Toronto yes, Scarborough no. It wasn’t long before I began to understand how the boroughs worked. Toronto as a whole was about one million people but the city was growing. Where we lived at Warden Ave and Lawrence Ave was fairly near the edge of the city. Not far from us were golf courses and farms – not many apartments and only a few malls.

The church/corps I attended was a going concern – and it was about to get bigger and busier. There was a real move of God in those days and many teenagers came to faith and brought their friends to Scarborough Citadel.

One of the things Dad did, to attract the kids, was to buy a set of floor hockey sticks. Little did he know that the boys would be coming by during the day – in lieu of school – to play. In a bit a team was formed and the name of Scarborough Red Devils was assigned. Someone had t-shirts made up and my Dad was presented with one that had COACH printed across the back. He showed up for all our games.

When we reconnected with Stan and Debi recently, I reminded Stan of those days, not that he had forgotten. He was one of the team, and I expect was one of the guys who showed up during school hours.

So this week in 2023, some 50 years later, Stan and I were sitting around reminiscing about those crazy days. We talked about Tom, Gary, Phil, and others who were part of that. Those were fun days.

This past week really was a reunion of types, Stan and Debi, Wendy and I have been friends for years. We use to get together as young married couples after church on Sunday nights – yes we went to church on Sunday nights – and we always had a great time together.

Can you imagine us in our 20″s? We were happy – we were loud – we were crazy together.

So this past week, as well as getting some rest, and feeling restored, we tried to tell each other what has happened over the past 35 years! Yes, that’s a lot of catching up – but what fun we had!

Just to stretch the Scarborough connection out – we also spent some time Jim and Patti which was great. Patti was at Scarborough in those days too!

So one more Scarborough connection – this past week I went to the Citrus County Corps for their band practice. I really enjoyed that – it was fun! But then towards the end of the practice we pulled out the March – Southdown! That was the first general series march I learned in the junior band at Scarborough.

I think over the past three years of isolation and disconnection, the joy of being with others and with people is heightened I think – at least for those of us who were locked down for weeks.

One final comment. We had some lovely times of prayer with Stan and Debi – and that too reminds me of those days in Scarborough where the spirit of God was moving so evidently.

Lord – do it again.