FYI David Frum

Editor’s note: Last week David Frum penned an article in the National Post offering his impressions of his summers in Wellington.

I’ve only lived here for 40 years. I work here. I pay taxes here. My children went to school here. My friends are here. Just in case David Frum takes a moment to read The Times, to your face we (the people who live here year-round) thank you so much for your patronage and usually offer a cheery, “Have a great visit!”. Behind your back we just call all y’all “citidiots” and have been known to grumble, “Just write us a cheque and go home.” Many of us could do all of this in both official languages. For your information, and basically, this is all about your information, Prince Edward County has been a vacation destination for as long as I’ve been on this earth and, most certainly, long, long before you ever started your 20-year adventure of summering in The County.

So, for your information, locals really do miss the Wellington Grill. The Wellington Grill, and places like it, are iconic but it’s where we go to get a cup of coffee, a butter tart, people watch and catch up on the comings and goings of the likes of the Village of Wellington. FYI the Grill served the best turkey sandwiches. White meat, white bread, mayonnaise and iceberg lettuce. If you teamed (notice I didn’t write “paired”) that sandwich with an order of fries or an iceberg lettuce salad, it was good enough to make the cycling trip or car ride from Picton to Wellington worthwhile. Even local people cycled to the Grill. As luck would have it, I haven’t been to Pomodoro, yet. I’m sure, as with East and Main, it is a delicious, culinary adventure but I know it doesn’t have turkey sandwiches on the menu and I’ll just bet they don’t serve fries “with that”. In the past 10 years (at least) the pressure to score tourism dollars from seasonal visitors looking for pairings make the old familiar places like the Wellington Grill a thing of the past. The Grill was an institution. It’ll be a very long time until another “institution” grows up and replaces the Grill. And, don’t get me wrong, I’m sure we are grateful to people like Jamie Kennedy. He makes great fries at the Hillier Park Day and yummy poutine at the Taste! event. Jamie Kennedy doesn’t live here year-round. But, let’s hear it for the people who make a meagre living, here, in the restaurant business. A lot of great cooking happened, and continues to happen, before Jamie made his delicious debut here. The truly amazing food is a year-round event. It doesn’t hide in the pantry until you show up on the two-four weekend.

Additionally, for your information, while Geoff Heinrichs may well be a winemaker of repute, the real pioneers of winemaking in the County are the good folks at Waupoos Winery. In 1993, Ed Neuser and Rita Kaminis planted the first vines which would be the beginning of Waupoos Winery. And, after years of growing, testing, tasting and educational tours, the Waupoos Winery opened to the public in 2001. We tip our hats to Heinrichs for his Keinte-he wines and his literary contributions but, our deepest respect and gratitude go out to Ed and Rita for their wine pioneering sense of adventure in The County. They didn’t write a book. They wrote the book.

For your information, most of “the brick and Victorian townhouses of the little town of Bloomfield” were never townhouses but, indeed were exactly what they are today, brick buildings with commercial store fronts on the street level and accommodation for the business owner on the second and third floors. The store fronts of the Saylor Block of Bloomfield have changed very little since the 1800’s. The Corey’s Hotel, next to the Saylor Block, now houses two store fronts and a delightful ice cream shop tucked into its eastern corner but, for your information Mr. Frum, Corey’s Hotel was never a “brick or Victorian townhouse”. Twee. Did you actually refer to the retail products of Bloomfield as “twee”? “All manner of it”, if memory serves me well. I’m sure the shop owners of Bloomfield appreciate your cutting edge humour as regards their merchandise. Be in touch if I’m wrong but, twee doesn’t look like designer clothing, unique kitchen wares, decorative pieces, antiques, gifts and collectibles, art, additive free skin care products, ice cream, baked goods, coffee, remarkable lunches and farm fresh products. “Twee: to be obnoxiously sweet, or quaint. It comes across as being disingenuous, corny, or effeminate.” Twee, Mr. Frum, must be in the eye of the beholder. I’ll bet there’s a whole lot of “twee” in your wintering-over town. FYI.

And, if you had really learned anything in your 20 years of summering in The County, you would know we never really “suffered under a bike rental monopoly”. Most of The County cyclists don’t rent bicycles. Summer people who come to The County to cycle usually bring their own bikes “along for the ride”. We have our favourite place to go for parts, replacements and repair. It’s as simple as whom we trust. If we don’t want to listen to one, we go to the other. And, believe it or not, “the world’s grouchiest ex-hippie” always has offered a delivery service of their rentals. You shouldn’t bring politics to a bike ride. Just saying and FYI.

Finally, the best days of The County didn’t end with rum-running. Rum-running was just the beginning of our character building days. FYI, Mr. Frum.

theresa@wellingtontimes.ca