SCOOP, SCOOP, SCOOP!

It’s a big win for the B.C. hotel and hospitality business and a major coup for one of my favourite hotels! The Wedgewood Hotel and Spa has just won the 2020 Traveller’s Choice ‘Best of the Best” award and named the Number One Luxury Hotel in Canada!

Kudos to Elpi, Joanna and the entire staff and management. Eleni would be so pleased …

YOUR CHUCKLE FOR THE DAY

Back in those happy days of full churches, a man came to Mass wearing a hat. The ushers politely requested that he take it off but he refused. Several parishioners in the nearby pews did the same but the hat stayed on.

The priest noticed this too and made his way to the gentleman to speak to him following the service. He told the man that he was happy to have him as a guest and invited him to join the parish, but he also explained the traditional practice about men not wearing hats in church.

And he added, “I do hope that you’ll take it off the next time.”

“Thank you, Father” the man replied. ”And thank you for taking the time to talk to me. It’s good of you to invite me to join the parish. In fact, I joined two years ago and have been coming ever since but today is the first time that anyone paid attention to me.

“After being an unknown for two years, by just keeping my hat on, I’ve had the pleasure of talking with the ushers, several of the parishioners and you, Father. Thank you very much!”

Oops!...

ODE TO A COLLEAGUE

Someone who has had an abundance of attention throughout his entire working life is columnist extraordinaire and journalism legend, the late Allan Fotheringham. The well known satirical columnist who described himself as a “scurrilous scribe” passed away in Toronto two weeks short of his 88th birthday.

A true Leo, Allan loved upsetting the status quo of the rich and powerful, especially celebrities and pumped up politicians. His must-read column ran in various papers including the Globe and Mail, Vancouver Sun and Vancouver Province and was the last word on the last page of Maclean’s Magazine for 26 years.

He was also a celebrity panellist on CBC TV’s Front Page Challenge along with Pierre Berton, Betty Kennedy and Jack Webster with host Mr. Smooth, Fred Davis.

Allan was a devilish wordsmith, irreverent and daring, blessed with an insouciant bravado. Still, it had to surprise him when, in 1981, the newly crowned editor of The Province chose me, the little three-dot columnist from the Kerrisdale Courier to become “Joy In The Morning” and share the second page every other morning with the diminutive bon vivant.

We had been casual friends in the column-writing business for eons so when I called him in Toronto to check on a rumour concerning one of his acquaintances, he interrupted me by saying, “Joy, my dear, you’re in the big leagues now. Please realize that you can’t just phone me and ask a question. You must call the Globe and Mail receptionist with your query. She, in turn, will pass it on to my secretary who, in turn, may or may not, tell me of your request, depending on the importance of your question. I then will decide whether to answer your request.” This from a fellow who used to borrow my comb!

But he was a real charmer. And his columns were treasurable.

The West End Journal’s editor Kevin Dale McKeown has his own story about Allan. Kevin and I were having drinks at the Panorama roof one afternoon (the early 80s?) and Allan spotted me and headed over to say hello. Just as he did so Kevin popped a handful of bar peanuts into his mouth, so when the moment for me to introduce them arrived Kevin tried to mumble some polite greeting and sprayed peanut crumbs all over Allan. Somehow, they never became great friends!

Allan, along with the late and lamented Jack Webster and Jack Wasserman, made Vancouver memorable.

My sincere condolences to his wife Ann, his two adult children Kip and Francesca and five grandchildren. Rest in peace, Allan…

FROSTY FORST ON WHEELS

Someone else who definitely helped bring Vancouver and environs to life every morning on Radio Station CKNW was Brian (Frosty) Forst. Another irreverent risk-taker, Frosty was the perfect Man in the Morning, waking us all with his cutting witticisms and double entendres.

Since his retirement, he’s really become a motorcycle enthusiast with old pals like movie critic Rick Forchuk and news director Cameron Bell, riding the trails throughout the province.

But lately, the 82-year-old has had to slow down a bit after recently suffering a heart attack. Says the whimsical wit, “Just need a couple more stents and I’ll be raring to go.”

Take it easy fella. We’d miss you terribly, Brian …

(l to r) Denis Forristal, Steve Halliday, Murray Atherton, Angus Wilkinson, Gerry Barteluk, Jacques Omnez and Larry Belsito.

THAT OLD GANG OF OURS!

It was quite the gathering in the cozy confines of the waterfront Olive and Anchor Café in Horseshoe Bay a couple of weeks ago as some of our former top Vancouver hotel executives got together for lunch and to chat about the vast changes in the hospitality sector due to Covid 19 and how it’s affecting their still-working colleagues.

Denis Forristal, Steve Halliday, Angus Wilkinson, Gerry Barteluk , Jacques Omnes and long-ago Denman Inn manager Larry Besito also traded stories about their years of hotel experiences and recalled all the crazy things that happened during those years.

Larry and Jacques came in from the Sunshine Coast, Murray from Bowen Island, Gerry from Surrey and the rest from North and West Van. Denis, Gerry, Angus, Steve and Murray all worked at The Bayshore Inn in the 1970s when it was the most swinging hotel in town with all the top rock bands and such stars as Jane Mansfield, Lorne Green, Eleanor Parker and Ray Milland swooping in while the hotel’s A-list restaurant Trader Vic’s hosted the top celebrities like Ringo Starr, Sean Connery and Hal Holbrook. CHQM’s dapper and distinguished.Morris Foisy was a regular along with longtime columnist Sandy Sanderson. It was an exciting time

Larry has just finished his new tell-all book of 19 chapters, one for each hotel he worked for over the years. Should be a best seller! And Murray has just completed a starring role in a new movie being filmed on Bowen. It’s based on a book written by the Bowen pro golf teacher and it’s been filmed on the island.

Murray, the actor, flubs a shot, slams his driver into the ground and kicks his bagful of clubs and shouts, “I suck at golf!’ Should be in a nearby theatre soon …

GENTLEMEN ONLY — MOSTLY

Speaking of hotel tales, one of the most brilliant and witty hotel men ever was the Hotel Vancouver’s resident manager Arthur Cameron. Arthur was the ideal statesmen for the “Castle in the City”, stately and imposing in his striped morning attire. It was also Arthur who brought about the formation of the Timber Club and the famous and exclusive Timber Club Gentlemen’s Dinner. This was an exclusive annual event for the top-notch forestry giants of the time and the tickets were priceless.

Wives and lady friends were entertained upstairs in the Panorama Roof by the hotel executives, and no reporters were allowed – except when dear Arthur and his Timber sidekick, the Poet Laureate of the club, big Bill Moore from downtown Winter Harbour, snuck me in by a side door and I was able to hear the outrageous jokes, sample the delicious repast and sip on the wine.

The only requirement for me was to keep up with the gentlemen, which meant I had to smoke cigars and drink Screech. You can’t possibly imagine how really awful Screech is until you’ve tried it! I hope by now it’s been outlawed. Oh, that part of my night was horrible and I was so sick the next day.

A SPECIAL CHAMPAGNE TOAST

Mariette and Gaston Mathieu met at a roller rink in Québec City in 1942 and, after a wartime hiatus in their romance, were married on June 23, 1945. After retiring they moved west to be closer to their daughter Carrol and her husband Ralph Lavallee who live in Pt. Moody. In 2017, they found the perfect spot in the Astoria Retirement Residences in Port. Coquitlam.

And that was where a small but very special celebration took place.

Mariette at 96 and Gaston at 97 were about to mark a rare milestone in marriage history — their 75th wedding anniversary!

The residents at the Astoria wanted to do something to celebrate and one suggested that a bottle of high-end bubbly might be a nice gift. Fellow resident and long-time Vancouver PR man Jim Peacock had received some champagne as a Father’s Day gift and immediately volunteered one. He was quite surprised, when he opened the box, to see that it was Champagne Gaston Chiquet – perfect for our hero and his bride.

On that special day, Mariette and Gaston met with Carrol and Ralph in a gazebo on the edge of a large patio outside the residence. There they toasted their special day with champagne bearing Gaston’s name.

Said Mariette, ”We were so thrilled with everything and we’re keeping the bottle as a reminder of this day!”

The scoop is that the Gaston Rose Brut was bottled by the boutique French winery in Feb. 2019 for the Marquis Wine Cellars of Vancouver, right there on Davie (which coincidentally happens to be this month’s “Business Spotlight” here in this month’s issue of The West End Journal) …

Cheers!