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thursday aug 22 2002 25 economist sun stouffville tribune sports armchair quarterbacks offer assist by fred simpson special the toronto argonauts are alive and well and living it up in richmond hill at least in the eyes of the friends of the argonauts fan club which convened saturday for its annual corn roast in the spacious back yard of richmond hill resident doug browne we started holding these get- togethers nine years ago and it has just kept growing said club president lorri bursey of markham the club has swelled from an initial membership of 25 to 350 people from all over the gta it was an especially upbeat occasion saturday as about 200 argo supporters dropped in for an afternoon of fun and a chance to gorge themselves on hot dogs and corn basking in the afterglow ofa victory over the saskatchewan roughriders the previous night a long association with the canadian football league spurred ms bursey and her part ner and fellow argo fan ron keffer to form the club she concedes it was tough sledding in the early years actually the argos didnt pay much attention to us in the first few years i think they thought we were just a bunch of yahoos that all changed as the players are very appreciative of our sup port she said i originally got involved because ofa thorough love for the cfl but especially the toronto argonauts said mr keffer who helped launch the corn roasts proceeds of which go to charity it doesnt matter to us how well or how poorly the team does we simply like to be part of them to have fun and to be very sup portive a longtime newmarket resi dent now living in markham mr keffer also said the annual corn roast was designed to have the kids come out and meet the play ers in a relaxed atmosphere and photobill roberts mike pinball clemons left and lorri bursey president of friends of the argonauts party with cob- munching josh balogh left and isa sovereignfox during the fan clubs ninth annual charity corn roast have a good time he estimated this years event raised more than 5000 for char ity but the big attraction for fans is a chance to meet and mingle with their heroes among the argos on hand last weekend were president michael pinball clemons noel prefontaine derrell mitchell shawn daniels marcello simmons ted alford ricky givens joe montford stanley jackson matt mcknight and chuck walsh its unbelievable the support these people have given us said sevenyear argo veteran adrion smith ive been coming to these gettogethers for the last few years and enjoying every bit of it like his teammates mr smith was particularly upbeat on this sunny afternoon following the muchneeded argo victory which vaulted the club into a tie for sec ond in the east conference the second half of the season is what counts mr smith said as long as you get to the playoffs you never know whats going to happen miracles do happen if so maybe argos fan club members will get an assist for helping their favourite team pull it off ive always been a cfl and argo football follower for years said ms bursey a veteran of 23 grey cups this day is for the players and they enjoy the casual atmosphere of a corn roast its especially enjoyable when you have just come off a win we also hold a barbecue for the players every labour day weekend after their practice in preparation for the annual game against hamilton looking on approvingly at saturdays bunfest was the host mr browne ive been attending the corn roasts for several years and this is the second year it has been held at my place ive been an argo fan going back to the days of dick shatto and nobby wirkowski the cfl is our game and all of us are proud to be able to support the argos and help charity at the same time i hope to be holding these corn roasts at my place for at least another nine years hopes for an argo comeback were skyhigh this saturday after noon we are blessed to be in a divi sion where there is really only one powerhouse said ms bursey crossing her fingers were proud of the argos and i really feel they have the ability and talent to get to the playoffs roger varley been there done that blue yonder not as wild as advertised all car drivers should take a few flying lessons a small cessna 150 twoseater air craft rolled down the buttonville airport runway gathering speed as the pilot gave it full throttle pulling back on the control wheel the pilot pointed the nose upward and the plane lifted off the ground climbing above the roaring hwy 404 traffic a perfect takeoff almost as the pilot my hands were wrapped around the controls in a death grip and we were climbing at too steep an angle toronto airways flying instructor eva swaneveld calmly talked me into relax ing my grip explaining the first two fin gers and thumb of one hand are all that are needed for a pilot to feel the air craft sound advice no doubt but since this was my first time in an airplane car rying fewer than 300odd other people my reflexes were telling me to hang on rightly with constant reassurances from ms swaneveld however i relaxed and headed north toward lake wilcox only to resume my death grip when she told me to watch for traffic the thought of having to watch for traffic in the sky had never occurred to me toronto airways located at canadas see flying page 26 pixq jsshi m vimal jerry jhuri c u optical august 24 2002 3000 am s00 pm examinations i available 144 main st n suite 11 markham village lanes on parle francais 05714286 lots off parking at rear ijtssf- vvjmsfi 1 catherine grant come in and fill out a ballot to win valuable prizes