On the ball, on the mark...

So on Saturday it was horseshoes, but on Sunday afternoon it was bocce ball that captured the attention and the participation of the assembled masses. The competition was quiet, calm, yet intense... focussed, yet friendly (on the surface at least).

Perhaps it was the pristine wilderness-like setting for the reunion that enhanced the spirit of collaborative sportsmanship, and the etiquette of competition:  "Rules!?! In bocce ball?!? We don't need no stinkin' rules!!"

In the end of course, fair play and solidarity won the day, and Bruce won the big prize and the admiration of team-mates and sports fans from across the nation (well, those who were still with us and eager to see our new trophy find an appropriate home). Go Ducks!

Sometimes of course, it was difficult to tell the serious fans from rowdy and unruly spectators, but every sport needs a fan base, an armchair quarterback and a critical analysis. Sportswriters take note! No riots, no threats, no wagers on the outcome, just good clean heckling and fun.

The Bocce Trophy

In response to Sue's request for a photo of the Bocce trophy, please find a snapshot at left of the polished granite orb which is affixed to a black lacquered iron frame that is shaped to resemble a goose with antennae.

This magnificent piece of art was donated to the reunion as a door prize, but took on a whole new identity as a symbol of extraordinary athletic prowess demonstrated in the highly competitive arena of Bocce Bowls.

Alas, in the thrill of victory, I have forgotton the name given to the trophy... "DUMOC Memorial Bocce Trophy" or something like that. All I remember is that shortly after the presentation ceremony, Mike Canivet handed me a hand written certificate that read "Bruce Steele: DUMOC Bocce and Bullshit Champion". Whatever did he mean? Modesty forbade speculation! Sigh.

That's Gary in the background of the photo. He absolutely could have taken a far finer picture of the object d'art. But I snapped a few quick pics on my cell phone and I share one here-with. I have only the photos as memorabilia as taking the 10 kilo goose back to Regina was out of the question; it now rests in the DUMONT Museum, ready for the next "Dumont Bocce Champion" to be revealed and to lay claim to the honour and the goose.

As to the query from Steve (found in a comment attached to a post below) about the ambiguous sporting relationship between myself and Janet Davies (see Gary's action photo, below), I must say it is a complex one, and best described as follows. After we (Janet and me acting as a team, as seen in the photo) decimated all comers, my partner challenged me to a show down ... a contest of bowls ... Mano a Babe ... hobbit vs. athlete. A duel for ultimate supremacy and the undefeated crown.

Janet chose a local veteran competitor as her partner (the ty-dyed Mr. Epps seen in the aforementioned action photo), while my second was a Winnipeg based volunteer whose only experience with the game (and for that matter, with Dumont) had been through observation during the weekend. (I believe his name is Frank - my memory is dulled due to raging testosterone levels at the time of the competition.) Through the choice of partners, another level was added to the competition ... East vs. West... Congested, Polluted Urban environment vs. Pristine Prairie Expanse.

To cut to the chase, we flat-landers prevailed convincingly, and in recognition of my status as the day's only "unbeaten bowler", as well as my unbridled joy in said accomplishment, I was awarded the pictured trophy as Bocce champ and unparalleled narcissist on the Foreman Club pitch on that day. My most excellent opponent, Ms. Davies, displayed outstanding "sportspersonship" in presenting me the goose in a public ceremony. (cough) Somewhere, there is film.

And so, it came to pass that Michael's scribbled note, quoted above, truly does capture the spirit of the moment.

One takes life's victories where one can, insatiably and with gusto, I fear.

Quite seriously, many thanks to DUMOC for planning and holding a fine, upstanding event. We all got the tee-shirt!!!!

It was wonderful to see the family and relive the past without being maudlin about it. (Moving 25,000+ books took the edge off any possible "maudlin" feelings.)

Anyway, well done and thank you one and all. Three cheers!!!

Millennial sports and the new face of the Ducks

As proposed by the alert and forward-thinking Mr. Steele in a blog posting earlier this year, bocce ball made its competitive debut at the 40th Anniversary Dumont Reunion, out-stripping even horseshoes and darts in popularity. Amidst speculation that he had been secretly training throughout the spring on the wind-swept and rain-soaked inner-city parks of Regina, Bruce took an undefeated record into the tournament finals against Janet Davis, a hard-working and competitive municipal politician of some note, from a nearby village. In a tense and exciting finish, Bruce and his rookie partner prevailed, and were awarded a strangely-shaped statuette that has subsequently been dubbed the Granite Duck. DUMOC officials are still awaiting the results of the obligatory drug testing.

In deference to tradition, Joe Goodman brought along his legendary first basemen's glove, but attempts to round up an actual softball and bat were continually disrupted by new reunion arrivals, innovative snacks, cold beer and a gang of unruly horseshoe players. Go Ducks!

Patiently waiting for beer

Acknowledging our chefs

No, not the whole gang, mostly those two guys in the back that the crowd parted to reveal. Outstanding meals all weekend long, and they just kept getting better!

Quest for the perfect margarita

Extensive and comprehensive testing was required to achieve a fine balance for the masses, but with an enthusiastic initiative by Terrina Harding, coupled with the always precise measurements of veteran bartender John Dufort and his capable assistant James Allen, the thirsty appeals from the masses were answered... until the tequila ran out, of course.

Meanwhile, James was ready, bringing out samples of each batch of margaritas to be road-tested, field-tested, ingested and selected. Reunion attendees were eager to engage in this participatory consultation.

At the Roddy Hay Memorial Book Bazaar and Brunch

Pie in the sky, and then some

No surprise really that a 40th anniversary gathering would attract a multitude of generations among the celebrants. Gabe had a big family. In for the reunion from California were Sara Switzman, with son Jasper, and Gary Robins, part of the Saskatchewan contingent. Great food and fines pies were had by all!

To the Station Hotel

Russel Hann of New Hogtown Press has posted a great description of his typesetting experiences at Dumont here: To the Station Hotel: A typesetting and book production memoir, 1973-1979. Russell, along with Greg and Linda Kealey and Peter Warrian, compiled, edited, and produced Primary Sources in Canadian Working Class History, 1860-1930, the first book to be published under the Dumont imprint of DPG Publishing.

New (old) pictures on Dumont Web site

I've posted some pictures of people hard at work at Dumont Press Graphix during the 1970s. You can see the thumbnails here: www.dumontpressgraphix.ca/thumbs.html

Some regrets

We've received some messages from old friends in response to the recent announcement sent out from the 40th mailing list. Since that list is meant for announcements only, I'm posting the responses here.

---

Hi Mike and Jane,

It¹s great to see that the Dumont community is convening once again. Unfortunately, I will be at a family reunion in North Carolina for that weekend so I can¹t attend. Please send my greetings and best wishes to everyone; looks like I¹m going to miss a very good party.

All the best,

Michael Kelley

---

I won't be there, but best wishes to all who will. Have a toke for me. Ian Angus.

---

wish i could be there to join the fun&frolix. but not possible this summer. will look forward to an illustrated report in due course. best wishes to everybody.

one name i note not, in neither the yea nor the nay list, is Stewart Saxe. what news of that fellow? he may not have been an actual Dumont toiler, but perhaps he was a customer? or was the Press born after his time at the helm of the campus press?

--
Jim Nagel
 32 Norbins Rd, Glastonbury, Somerset, England, BA6 9JG
 (+44 1458) 83 3603 pocket +44 797 415 3861

Who's driving from the west? What should we bring?

Talked with Ron Colpitts earlier today. He's not sure if he'll be at the event. Told me that Jimmy Allen is coming from Victoria but not some others from "the gang" there.

Got me wondering who's driving from the west, and by what route. If anyone goes through Winnipeg, happy to put you up. Expect Alex (my partner) and I will leave here on the 25th or 26th. At the moment, planning to go through the US on the way there and via Sudbury on the way back. Notes/Birgitta: hope to stop in to see you folks en route. Kerry and Peter: you're on our "hit list" for the return trip. Details to follow separately.

Also wondering what to bring. Pictures from previous reunions? Games (e.g., Scrabble)? Food (e.g., wild rice to cook? other things?)

Whatever happens, look forward to seeing everyone.

Memory Bank

Do you have a favourite memory of your time at Dumont? The best late night shift? The best early morning shift? Your best practical joke? Your favourite darkroom partner?

You don't need to post; just leave a comment here.

See you in K-W.

No unturn stoned

The K-W organizing committee has gone to great lengths to ensure a successful event. This includes commissioning special envoys to seek participation from friends and colleagues in far-flung places. As just one example, this picture depicts the frank and open exchange of views between myself and Jim Klinck at his home in Dominica last week about his possible attendance at the Dumont Reunion. In the end it was no contest -- Jim acknowledged that no amount of scuba diving in Dominica could replace a game of horseshoes in Waterloo. He'll be there.

Who are you? Where are you?

This blog has been visited by people all over the world - Iran, Russia, Ukraine, Dominica, Germany, Nicaragua, as well as Canada and the U.S. We know this because of the supernatural powers of divination conferred on us by the Keepers of The Internet, a little known sect of technological gurus whose motto is "10011011 10110000 11101110 00101000 10101011".

However, these powers do not enable us to determine who is visiting (which is probably a good thing). For that we must call upon the Users of The Internet to step forward and identify themselves.

So how's about it, folks? Let the rest of us know where you are. Leave a comment along the lines of "Hey, folks, Roddie Hay here and I'm in Heaven. How's that for irony?"

Or something like that.

This is Rosco Bell. I'm in Regina. Hope to see you in K-W.

Reminder/Update from the ol' Planning Committee

DUMOC local organizers wish to share a bit of event planning for this summer's reunion with everyone. The dates, as previously announced are Friday, July 29 to Monday, August 1 (which as we understand is both Jerry Garcia's and Joe Goodman's birthdays).

Our thoughts about how the weekend will progress are:

Friday: We don't know exactly when we have access to our venue (the Foremen's Club) but we will most likely have the afternoon to set things up. We anticipate that people will start to trickle in Friday. The supper plan is to have simple BBQ type food and salads so food can be quickly and easily produced for people whenever they arrive throughout the afternoon and evening. We will have a variety of tents and at least one pop-up tent trailer for people who wish to camp.

Saturday: This will be the main gathering day at the Foreman's Club with the major meal coming Saturday night. No food plan has been devised and we will wait until closer to the weekend so we will more accurately know numbers of people. We haven't planned any structured events for the day or evening and we can play it by ear. There are horseshoe pits which might be the greatest physical challenge we wish to overcome that day. We could have a baseball game for old times sake but we might want to have an ambulance on site. Kae Elgie has volunteered to chair the games committee which probably will consist of mostly "Do You Remember.....". There will be lots of visual aids and memorabilia.

Sunday: Generally a slow wakeup and recovery from the night before with a breakfast/brunch type of meal. We are thinking that people might like to spend Sunday afternoon in town. We are hoping to produce a series of before-and-after pictures of many of the places and houses people frequented years ago and a tour of some of them might be of interest. We are exploring the possibility of having the Sunday meal at 97 Victoria St. N., the actual site of Dumont. The building is now owned by The Working Centre, an organization very much sympathetic with Dumont ideals, and interested in supporting our event. Steve is exploring this possibility and more information will be forthcoming. If we have the meal in town this might provide an opportunity for people who didn't want to come out to the Foreman's Club to meet and gather. A major event for Sunday afternoon (location yet to be determined) will be the dispersal of the Dumont Press Graphix Pension Fund.

Monday: Generally a slow wakeup for the people out at the Foreman's Club and others who make their last trip out there with the same type of breakfast/brunch type meal as planned for Sunday. We don't know exactly when we have to vacate but we will have the afternoon to clean up everything and move stuff back into town. That about it for now.

Socialist Magic...

I can hardly wait....

... until Steve or whoever makes this posting thing easier to do. I don't even know if I've succeeded yet.

OK.

I guess I have a longer connection to Dumont than practically anyone except Steve. I was there from 1976 to 1987, from (sadly) after the First Fifth, which was before my time, till the very bitter(sweet) end.

I do think we have a story to tell, and it's not just of the Merry Prankster variety. Don't get me wrong, there were many Merry Moments, but Dumont was so much more than a youthful escapade. It was probably the most important formative experience of my entire life. And we are famous in a minor way far beyond our circle. The thing we did was amazing.

When I look at the list of people who are at this point involved or at least being communicated with, I realize I hardly know any of you. It seems at this time the thrust is towards the first five years, the early years of dreamers who weren't quite ready to leave their heady radical university days, and who then went on to something else. Remembering Dumont fondly as some kind of youthful folly.

I was glad to see the composite pic that Steve put together and was posted recently, because this is much more the Dumont that I knew.

I think Steve should put together the T shirt design, and that it should be a collage of just a few of the many wonderful things we did, often in collaboration with WPIRG. Of course the Chevron would be there, the Mercury Paper, the Weston Paper, the Supermarket Tour, Hysteria, Healthsharing, Steve's anarchist publications, the things we did with Black and Red, Between the Lines, and of course our very backbone in the economic survival department, Labour/Le Travailleur. And so much more. Oh yeah, and Kopy Kwik, where would we have been without them?

I doubt if I will make it to the reunion, it is a long way from the Slocan Valley to Kitchener, in many ways. Also, it being this time in my life, I have another 40th anniversary this summer, that of the Vallican Whole Community Centre, which was where I was before I came to Dumont, and where I came back to.

I'll be glad to remember endlessly with my friends and comrades, however, and try to recreate some of what we had, to whatever end. It was quite a shock to me to realize it has been over 23 years since I left Dumont. We are all getting older and we need to be speaking our truth, both the good times and the bad, about what we accomplished and what it all meant. We can lose our herstory so easily.

It is the middle of the night here. Once I started thinking about this I couldn't sleep anyway so I thought I might as well take the plunge into this multilogue.

In sisterhood and solidarity
Moe Lyons

How many Ducks...?

One of my favourite memories

I have to admit I've been thinking about posting for a long time – just never got around to it. I can appreciate that the blog creators are feeling frustrated.

I was never part of Dumont Press Graphix, but was very much involved in On the Line. For a time, we used to send the copy by air cargo to Montreal (I think) where it was typeset. We'd pick up the set copy about a day later at the airport. One time I was sent off in the Datsun with Eddie and Adrian to pick up the copy from the last flight of the evening.

Remember Adrian? He was a tall, gangly grad student from England who literally turned up on the doorstep of 404 King St. North.  He had a very long face and reddish hair and was even stranger than most of the rest of us.

The copy didn't come in when expected, but we were told it would be on the first plane in the morning. Instead of driving home we decided to wait for it (Don't ask me why).  Very bored, we hung out in the cargo area for a while – played cribbage with a partial deck of cards we made out of shipping tags or something. I guess they kicked us out of there, because we went driving around exploring the airport and vicinity.

Someone noticed that every time we entered or left the parking garage, the guard at the entrance made a note. So of course we drove around and around several times just to annoy him. Then someone realized we had some props in the vehicle – a motorcycle helmet, a pair of goggles, and a gas mask. A funky old-fashioned gas mask with the round pluggy things sticking out of it (How the heck am I supposed to know why there was a gas mask? But it was Fast Eddie's Datsun...).

So Adrian, who was driving, put on the helmet and we drove into the garage. We could tell we'd got the guard's attention. Adrian donned the goggles and around we went again. Imagine our delight that the guard was obviously upset. Then Adrian added the gas mask to the costume. His head looked very much like a grasshopper's. Again we drove into the parking garage. This time the guard grabbed a phone. We figured we'd better get out of there, so exited as quickly as we could. As we drove past the guard's station he was on the phone – wildly waving his arms. We beat it, and behaved ourselves for the rest of the night.

I still laugh about this every time I drive into an airport parking garage.