Discussions

You know, it was such a beautiful sunny, warm day today and I was driving down Rosser & Princess Avenue, thinking of all the history of this City I've always called home.  
 
Not to jeopardize anyone's driving by any means, but have you ever looked up on Rosser Avenue on a slow, sunny day to see the beautiful architecture of downtown Brandon? We all talk about it, but do we really appreciate it?  
 
Or have you driven down Victoria Avenue on a mission and forget about so much wonderful history in the old Victorian homes we come to take for granted? Do you look? Do you see?  
 
Do you ever drive down 18th Street and suddenly realize the dramatic change that it's undergone over the last 30 or 40 years?  
 
Do you ever go to the concrete jungle called the Corral Centre and stare up at the raw, grassy North Hill which used to be the best toboggan run in the City and (blush) Lovers Lane, where you could stare at the City lights way back when?  
 
Do you drive over the 8th Street Bridge and look down and over at the homes and churches and railyards that this City was built on?  
 
I guess I am a bit of a sap when it comes to Brandon and feel sad that we hustle and bustle around, not realizing how much development has taken place over the years, yet how much history brings a City together and how we cannot forget what Brandon means to us.  
 
Development is such a good thing, but do me a favour...  
 
The next time you have a sunny spring day and you are bored out of your gourd, relax and take a drive to places you normally don't venture. Take a spin down the beautiful Grand Valley Road.  
 
Look at the architecture of the buildings around us downtown.  
 
Pay close attention to the nice quiet neighborhoods of Brandon.  
 
Go over the 8th Street Bridge and venture, really venture into the North End with lovely churches and neat-as-a-pin homes.  
 
Or park at the Riverbank to appreciate the Assiniboine River and all it's meant to Brandon. Take your family for a walk to see and enjoy the River and the train tracks that brought immigrants to Brandon well over 100 years ago.  
 
Take a run into and explore the Brandon Hills to enjoy the landscape.  
 
Just enjoy the City we call Brandon and be proactive in keeping it personable with so much to offer and enjoy.  
 
As a grandchild of an Irish Immigrant grandfather who came to Brandon to work as a harvester for CP Rail, I so appreciate the City of Brandon, for I had and still have many fond memories of the City we call home.