December 6, Day 6 and a day of infamy

If you've lived in Halifax a long time, you'll end up hearing about the infamous Halifax Explosion that happened on December 6, 1917 when two ships collided in the harbour and one of them, filled with explosives for the war effort (WW1) blew sky high and took the north end of the city with it. There are very few people left that were alive and survived the explosion, all of them were children at the time, obviously. There is a memorial service on the hill overlooking the site every year. This is the memorial to the explosion in that park.


Also today on local television is the Christmas Daddies telethon. This is a 46 year tradition here. The telethon raises money to give underpriviledged kids Christmas, kids who are from families that wouldnt' be able to do it and I believe they distribute the money and gifts through the Salvation Army. They started off doing it in Halifax and it's spread across the Atlantic provinces now and they raise a good deal of money for the cause. The telethon has local acts, school choirs, lots of people that want to perform and donate their time. The Navy divers run, there are items auctioned off, it's quite a thing here. I can remember it being on when i was a kid. We'd go out in the morning to the woods behind my Aunt Phyllis' house in the country to cut down our Christmas tree. There was always snow on the ground. We'd get home, get warm with hot chocolate and watch the telethon. Happy days. :)

And we're having our first winter storm of the year today. It was raining when i went to bed but it's white out this morning and coming down in all directions. The wind is whistling at the windows but it doesn't really matter. It's Sunday and i think i'll drag the Christmas tree out of storage this afternoon and get it put up! Good day for it!