About this feature

Email roastandtoast@lethbridgeherald.com or send to The Herald, 504 7 St. S., Lethbridge, T1J 2H1. Submissions will be edited for length (maximum 150 words) and not all will be published, particularly if they are of similar content, no longer timely, in poor taste, potentially libelous, contain accusations, target specific persons or businesses or where facts cannot be verified. This feature appears each Tuesday in The Herald.

TOAST: Toast to Al Beeber for his very detailed story on describing the respiratory problems of people affected by smoke from the B.C. Wildfires. After reading the article, I didn’t know whether to cry or laugh. Cry, because of the many people who suffer from these respiratory illnesses and also the rest of the population who must endure the smoke in work and play during these terrible events. Laugh, because nobody seems to worry when smoke fills your bedroom when the neighborhood bonfires start up as the sun goes down after a warm summer day and people open their windows to enjoy the cool evening breeze. We can’t control the B.C. fire situation, but we certainly can avoid breathing smoke at night from bonfires. While this problem may only affect a small number of people, now that the general population can relate to breathing smoke (in addition to the problems outlined in Al’s column), this would be a good opportunity to have a referendum on banning bonfires in the upcoming election.

ROAST: To the COVID hoaxers on Mayor Magrath Drive on Saturday afternoon. Perhaps they should speak to a few people who have lost loved ones to COVID. Looks to me like a classic case of the blind leading the blind.

ROAST: To Mearns for running for mayor. The lasting memory of you will be as council turned down your garbage can proposal based on not doing your research or homework.

You couldn’t answer key questions. You had no cost certainty and asked us to vote on your idea? We need financial stability and planning; your track record proves you don’t offer either.

ROAST: To the City of Lethbridge parks department. The garbage bin at the picnic shelter in Popson Park is loaded to the brim and absolutely stinks. Can you not empty it ever?

TOAST: I wish to thank whoever put those gorgeous artificial flowers in my parents’ grave at Temple Hill cemetery. Greatly appreciated!

ROAST: So Bridget Mearns is running for mayor. At a time when the city is cutting back on everything, I don’t think we can afford her. We are already stuck with some of her expensive ideas.

TOAST: Toast to the City of Lethbridge for the two new affordable housing projects. Both will be exciting additions to the city and are much needed. We live in Coulee Springs and will watch the housing project as it develops.

TOAST: Toast to the City for improvements to 3rd Avenue. Don’t worry what one event thinks, as the impact of the patios and places to socialize year-round is far greater than having one event having to re- route themselves to one of the other hundreds of kms of roadway in the community.

TOAST: To Al Beeber for once again stating a case in his commentary clearly, directly, fairly, and no-nonsense. Re: his column in the Saturday, July 24/21 Herald in regards to the ‘surprise’ disc golf course at Peenaquim Park.

ROAST: Lethbridge, take a huge look at yourself, this roast is only due to your constant inability to self-fix! You’re not on top as you perceive. Your budget cuts, your dilapidated parks, your trees and weeds of same height, your everyday racing and screeching on Mayor Magrath Drive, you’re a city in need of a huge fix!

TOAST: A hearty toast and thank you to Ina A. at the central post office. When I informed her my parcel was for my granddaughter’s eighth birthday, Ina brought out a folder of children’s stickers to share with me to decorate the package. She had purchased the stickers herself.

TOAST: To members of council who passed a longneeded resolution to ensure that after a long delay, citizens in north Lethbridge will have the same level of rights as citizens in west and south Lethbridge.

During Lethbridge’s first election, members of north Lethbridge had to go to south Lethbridge to cast their votes. There was no provision for them to cast their vote in north Lethbridge. So they had to walk or find some other means of getting to downtown Lethbridge to cast their vote. After October’s municipal election, the Herald’s citizen poll suggests that north Lethbridge will finally be treated with the same rights as citizens in south and west Lethbridge have always had.

ROAST: To the person who has been jamming the handicapped meters downtown. As a handicapped senior, I rely on these meters and this has been going on for several months. The least the City could do is have its parking division enforcement clear up those jammed meters. There are only half a dozen and they are close to each other.

TOAST: The biggest toast of the year to Triangle Gas and Car Wash staff at 1231 2A Ave. and the outstanding service they provide. Hands down the best place to wash the car, top up a low tire with their free air, fuel up, fill the propane bottle, & grab one of those giants muffins & depart with a smile on your face. The smiles they provide are contagious. It’s been decades since anyone asked if I needed my oil checked while pumping gas into my car. Triangle, supporter of breast cancer research, is without any doubt the king row service provider in this city. They earn the Kudos and the community support.

TOAST: A big toast to Streatside Eatery for keeping their tables distanced rather than returning to pre-pandemic seating. We know this is a financial hardship for the restaurant, but because we feel safe and comfortable there, we will be back soon.

TOAST: I remember Mel Godlonton when one day we were looking for a Hoover vacuum cleaner. He said that the U of L students needed the money and he bought it from them. We were pleased to have Mel sell it to us for $75. We still have the vacuum cleaner and as Miles wrote in the Herald “Gone but never forgotten.”

ROAST: To Doug Neal and his letter regarding the police review. Your letter is nothing more than lazy assumptions based on idle gossip.

Factually incorrect (if you had read the police report or watched the video on social media you would have known). Why speak if you know nothing about what you’re talking about? You need more than correcting, you need educating.

TOAST: Excellent letter by David B. Carpenter about Covenant Health and how it is allowed to get away with not allowing MAID and pregnancy terminations! They receive my tax dollars, and therefore, have no right to restrict what health care Albertans are legally entitled to. I have been saying the same thing for a very long time.

ROAST: To the parks department for all the weeds in the medians and traffic circles.

ROAST: to the writer of the Letter to the Editor who supports Rachael Harder’s stand on conversion therapy. A loving mom and dad would want to support their child from living a life of misery when they are not accepted as who they really are whether he or she. I would suggest that Mr. Van Bostelen read the legislation and stop spreading untruths.

TOAST: A big toast and a big thank you to the wonderful people who built the sidewalk libraries and put them up on our city streets and to all the people big and small who put books in and who take books out and keep it clean and tidy. It was a pleasure for me just to walk over and see all the different books; I did not always take a book but added a few if it was looking empty. Thank you.

ROAST: To the person who submitted a Roast in last week’s Herald about the public library system. Instead of writing a roast, if you had taken the time to talk to library staff, they would have had one of those 25 books sent straight to the library for your pick up convenience. What was the point in complaining rather than actually getting the book you supposedly wanted? Sharing resources (over duplication of resources) is fiscally responsible, and kind of the point of libraries.

ROAST: To D. Carpenter and others like him who figure I shouldn’t have Covenant Health to help me with my life. It’s my choice. Thanks, Ms. Penner. I feel sorry for the rest of you who are hurting and prefer death but you have no right to take away my wishes on children and life. Back off.

TOAST: To Champion swimming pool and campground and Prairie Winds Local Market for a great week. Plan to walk or cycle the new trails in Champion.

ROAST: To the new city logo: generic, characterless and nondescript of our city. It could be the logo of any city or town or village starting with the letter “L.”

TOAST: To the friendly guys at the north yard waste site. They always have a big smile, good conversation and a pet for my dog!

ROAST: Roast to Justice Minister Kaycee Madu for moving to legalize pepper spray so that people can defend themselves. It’s way more likely that thieves will arm themselves with pepper spray before they go out than it will than seniors like me will arm ourselves!

ROAST: To our justice system. How is an eight-year sentence in a federal penitentiary appropriate for committing murder? And how have we come to be accepting of this? A person’s life has ended. The family will grieve forever. It doesn’t seem right.

TOAST: To Martin the shuttle driver for making a bad day a little better with a pleasant ride home and back.

ROAST: To our Justice Minister. The thought of making pepper spray legal will only add to the arsenal of weapons carried by the criminal element. It will be used by the crooks against our law abiding citizens and our police services. What are you thinking Mr. Justice Minister? Sounds like a knee jerk reaction to the rising crime rate. Give it more thought will you?

TOAST: To those who report the numbers of active cases in our province and in Lethbridge. However, maybe you could take it one step further and report which of these cases are persons who have not been vaccinated and those who have been vaccinated.

TOAST: To Cliff the tow truck operator. He helped make a bad day a lot better with quick and friendly service.

ROAST: How come the health authorities are not releasing the reasons the rise of COVID-infected numbers in Alberta? Were they from the unvaccinated population? Or from the vaccinated population? We are grateful for what the health authorities have done so far and thank you to all the frontliners.

ROAST: To those responsible for broken promises made to the owner of the historic Bow On Tong in what was Lethbridge’s Chinatown. Thousands of dollars were raised and a great deal of fanfare was generated. At the end, the owner received crumbs and is now living in a one-room apartment. Who were the players in this sordid saga? Who got the money? Where is the accountability? A book should be written about this tragedy.

ROAST: To city parks management for wasting hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on excessive amounts of shrubs and plantings in all the medians, traffic circles, playgrounds and boulevards only to abandon them to become eyesores full of thistles and foxtails.