Monday, April 16, 2007

Hello Dolly..........

Hi Sabby ,.I came across this guy who mentions you ( I think it is anyway)
I seemt to Remember you saying you wrote for a local paper (I thought it was in Quebec),....but this one (or at least the article) is from Manitoba ?
 
We had a number of columnists that would  write for us. One was an older fellow within our community who wrote about days gone by. They were kind of historical stories of things that he remembered. We had a person who used to do household tips. Her name was Dolly Dennis so she has a column called, "Hello Dolly." I myself was a humour columnist. I would write humour columns, and I called it "Mave's Raves." I have to say that I am honoured and pleased to have received a community newspaper award for that column. Some of you might recall Red Alix, who was a CJOB commentator years ago.
 
.....Helloe Dolly right in the middle of the paragraph:
Here's the link ,although ,it's mostly Gov't stuff......but you may want to see it:
 
I have no idea how I came across this Sabby,.......but that 's what happens when you surf ..........

9 comments:

sabby MSN said...

Ah, Les, admit it now, you were surfing my name.  There's lots of us out there including the clones and sheep.   I did work as a columnist from 1989 to 1998 for a non profit magazine, which originated in Ormstown, Quebec ---Dialogue.  www.dialogue.ca.   It was the time when we were all fighting Bill 101 and Anglophone rights.   The paper was just starting up at that time by Maurice King who was the former mayor of Greenfield Park from 1967 until 1978.  He has many credits to his name including founding director of the Ormstown Hospital and producer and h ost on Channel 57 TV program for the Quebec English speaking community.  He was founder and organizer of the Quebec Unity Party during the 1989 provincial election and now lives your way in Nanaimo, B.C. but Dialogue continues.  He was responsible for initiating and developing the successful appeal on behalf of Mr. Gordon McIntyre to the United Nations against the Charter of the French Language (Bill 101/178)  He is quite and accomplished man!   In 1989, I wrote a humourous piece  about how Farah Fawcett and I both gave birth at the same time; however, her body snapped back and mine didn/t.  The paper was just starting out and Maurice and Janet Hicks, the editor, asked me if I could write something every month but nothing political.  I had my photo right up there and I thought I would be the next Bombeck!  Ha!    SO I had this column called Thoughts from a Working Mother and later when I moved to Edmonton, it was changed to Postcards from Edmonton.  Never got paid but it was my apprenticeship in writing.  I had quit the Montreal theatre scene in disgust, and had  written a couple of plays that got produced but I was ready to try something different.   So it was good training, coming up with something every month and working to deadline.  There was talk at that time of publishing the columns in a book but there was no money and I was refused a Canada Council grant because I didn't have enough of a body of work.    When I look back at all 52 columns (can't you see now why I am so opinionated?), I realize how much I've improved.   When I came here I decided to try short stories and I was successful in getting them published and then branched out from there.   I still connect with Maurice and Janet and get Dialogue.  They are always inviting me to the island.  Check them out and mention my name and become a subscriber.  So now you know....   Dolly

sabby MSN said...

Les,   As an addendum to my previous post, I was flattered after a while that readers enjoyed my column and some of them even wrote me fan letters.  Talk about pumping up the ego!  Ha!  But it did boost my confidence as a writer.    Most of the letters were favourable but Maurice did receive some nasty letters from a convent once when I wrote  about how my Catholic schooling and upbringing screwed me up later in life.  (It was done in jest).  However, the nuns threatened to cancel their subscription but Maurice ignored them!    Yep, doesn't matter who you are.  If you hit a nerve or write the truth, people take it personally and can get nasty---even nuns!   Dolly

maggiemck MSN said...

Hello Dolly, are you avoiding the the subject in question? You didn't address it in your replies. Are you indeed "Hello Dolly"?

sabby MSN said...

Hi Maggie,   No, I never avoid anything.  I'm quite upfront as  you know.  My column, as I mentioned in my post, was called Thoughts from a Working Mother (life commentary) and then when I moved here, it became Postcards from Edmonton where I wrote about Edmonton and would send a postcard to the editor.   Hello Dolly was never me.  It's just a common name and coincidental..   Dolly 

les__f MSN said...

Yes I imagine that's it Dolly ,........under the Gov'y of Manitoba.......hahahahaha Here's another excerp from a Gov't of Manitoba site In Saturday's Free Press there was a wonderful letter to the editor by a young man from Verdun, Quebec, named Matthew Roy. Mr. Roy visited our wonderful province this summer, and I would like to quote from some of his letter to our members here today. Mr. Roy says, it all began with a careless aspersion meant to make Montrealers reeling from the referendum, a sluggish economy and a long winter feel better about their city. He said, if you think things are bad in Montreal, wrote the Montreal Gazette, try a week in Winnipeg.   Sorry to disapoint but looking for Verdunstuff,....does seem to lead towards Manitoba for some reason........hahahahahahah .....but I will try that now,........which name should I use.........hahahahaha D.D.   or Sabby........  D.F...................please help ,.....hahahaha No but i did Remember you mentioned writing for what I remembered as a small town Quebec paper,.....or something like that,...but it was titled H.D. (wasn't it ?) I will have to go back and search some of your posts from when you joined,..............Yikes that' will take me  awhile,........hahahahaha Am i right though ?  about the Town in Quebec .(it wasn't Montreal ,was it??) In anycase it was neat to find ............(or was it from that book,.......now you've got me wondering ,....I hate that,.it means reading throguh all kinds of stuff...... .............................................Did you know about that mention on that site (Manitoba) ??  and did you checkout the link I did post that one ........?  

les__f MSN said...

http://www.gov.mb.ca/legislature/hansard/2nd-36th/vol48/h048_4.html   Sorry that excerpt in the previous post was supposed to contain this link right after it ,..........   all from a VerdunQuebec Search.........   ..............Have Fun & Remember Verdun............. MEMBERS' STATEMENTS Tourism Winnipeg Week Competition Mr. Mike Radcliffe (River Heights): Madam Speaker, it is my pleasure to rise in this House today and address the members and welcome them all back from the summer break. In Saturday's Free Press there was a wonderful letter to the editor by a young man from Verdun, Quebec, named Matthew Roy. Mr. Roy visited our wonderful province this summer, and I would like to quote from some of his letter to our members here today. Mr. Roy says, it all began with a careless aspersion meant to make Montrealers reeling from the referendum, a sluggish economy and a long winter feel better about their city. He said, if you think things are bad in Montreal, wrote the Montreal Gazette, try a week in Winnipeg. Well, Madam Speaker, Matthew Roy had an opportunity to visit Winnipeg and I would like to share with the members of this House today some of his thoughts. He says, what I experienced was an absolutely unbelievable outpouring of generosity and hospitality. Friendly Manitoba is not just a motto; it is a state of mind. I do not think I will ever again meet such an extremely hospitable and amiable collection of people as I did that weekend in Winnipeg. We and the rest of Canada would do well to strive to emulate not only Winnipeg's friendliness but also its strong community spirit and multicultural harmony manifested by festivals such as Folklorama. As a native of Quebec, I was also very impressed with the Manitoba Franco-Manitoban community of St. Boniface,   ......

les__f MSN said...

Oh I just read your post Sabby,..Hello Dolly was not yours...................I thought for sure you had mentioned that at one time,..........  Power of suggestion I guess,,,,,,, I thought they credited you with that............Sorry 'bout that Chief.......missed it by 'that' much..........................              I should have read further before posting........ Oh well I gave you credit for a whole new body of work then...........hahahaha

sabby MSN said...

You did indeed Les.  That's okay.  It's late and I'm about to hit the sack which I was going to do about 2 hours ago but here I am still---the lure of VC  Ha!   If  you google Dolly Dennis, there are a lot of us out there (but only one me).  Ha!  There are a couple of things about me but not worth mentioning.   Did check out the Manitoba site and interesting how a Quebecer went to Winnipeg to find a friendly community after the referendum.  Imagine, they talk about those kinds of subjects in government sessions!   I mentioned in my post #2 that the paper was called Dialogue, and was originally published in Ormstown, Quebec and now it's published from Nanimo, B.C.  Sorry if I wasn't clear but at this hour, I don't know what I'm saying and I have to get up early to go to work.  So check out www.dialogue.ca.   Take care.   Dolly

sabby MSN said...

Oh, I just noticed, I mentioned magazine in my original post instead of newspaper.  My apologies again but my eyes are going.    Dolly