By KEN BROWN, SUN MEDIA

For California resident Ted English, yesterday’s 200th anniversary of Toronto’s oldest building meant even more for him because it involved the celebration of family.

The western end of Toronto Island is home to the 200-year-old Gibralter Point lighthouse, and English is a member of the Durnan family, which has a long history with the island and its lighthouse.

“It means an awful lot,” said English, 79, who organized a reunion of more than 50 of his Durnan relatives, some of whom he had never met, to coincide with the event.

Completed in 1808, it’s the oldest working lighthouse on the Great Lakes and the second oldest in Canada. (The Sambro lighthouse in Nova Scotia began operating in 1759.)

The third keeper of the Gibralter Point lighthouse was English’s great-great-grandfather James Durnan.

“It’s much more than a lighthouse,” said English, a former Toronto Island resident himself. “It’s a keystone of the whole family”

There is more than 170 years of Durnan history on the island, English said, and for some of his ancestors the lighthouse acts as a headstone.

“You walked over Durnans there,” he pointed out.

Yesterday’s celebration was co-hosted by Heritage Toronto and Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation.

Ceremonies began with a theatrical account of the lighthouse’s history by Shadowland Theatre. The crowd of a few hundred were then marched over to the landmark by fife and drum.

Behind limestone walls 2 metres thick rises an 80-step spiral staircase, and visitors were invited to climb to the top after the ceremonies.

Ray Skema, 53, was in the first group to make the ascent, and he said as a Torontonian it felt great to be up there.

“This is like the best time ever just to be in this historic building,” Skema said. “It was cool to be here for the anniversary and be part of the first 10 people to tour it.”

The building is said to be haunted by the ghost of John Paul Rademuller, the lighthouse’s first keeper.

City Councillor Pam McConnell said the Rademuller haunting is a great story for kids, but the building means a great deal to the city.

“It isn’t just a children’s story,” she said, adding it’s great to bring Toronto’s stories to people in a simple way. “It really is about the beginnings of our city of Toronto.”

Heritage Toronto unveiled two commemorative plaques at the base of the lighthouse.

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For the actual article and video clip, please see the link below:
http://www.torontosun.com/News/TorontoAndGTA/2008/07/06/6078306-sun.html

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I was at a couple thrift shops yesterday and I happened upon something really great.  It was a circa 1960 talking board by Canada’s own Copp Clark.  They were making boards since 1861!  They started with a wood board and then hardboard like the one I have newly acquired.  It has a genie on the box cover and even comes with instructions.  The planchette is wood and has 3 removable legs.  I have tried to find the exact date of the board, but have had no luck.  I did find out; however, that William Fuld, the original creator of Ouija, contacted the Copp Clark company himself in 1960 demanding that they not use the Ouija name.  His lawyers tried even way before that in 1919, but they ignored their request.  They are no longer in existance though.  For more details please visit Mr William Fuld’s website!   http://www.williamfuld.com/ouija_factories_international.html  I don’t have my camera on me yet but I found the exact same board featured on  www.graveaddiction.com  They have other cool ouijas on there too so it’s definitely worth a look.

I’m not sure if I want to keep the board at this point though.  I have 2 others so that is more than enough, but it’s so unique and special.  My dad actually found it accidentally lol  I swear I went over the board game section with a fine tooth comb and never saw it.  The employees were also putting out things at the same time so that might explain it.   Ouija boards are abundant on Ebay if you would like to buy one right away because they don’t always show up at thrift shops that often.   Please see below for current Ouija auctions on Ebay Canada.  I also found some books on Amazon Canada that deal with Ouija.  Haunted Toronto and A Haunting DVD is also included as well.

Press Release – Monday evening, June 30th (for our Australian listeners, Tuesday morning, July 1st), A Global Focus interviews Victor Viggiani (first hour) and Mary Rodwell (second hour)

Posted by UFG-ts at 6/29/2008 7:36 PM and is filed under Press Release

June 28, 2008

(Metropolitan Washington, D.C.)

Monday evening, June 30th (for our Australian listeners, Tuesday morning, July 1st) A Global Focus  interviews Victor Viggiani (first hour) and Mary Rodwell (second hour)

The program, A Global Focus, can be heard on:   Station UPRN 105.8 FM – New Orleans, the Paranormal Radio Network (broadcasting across our beautiful nation to more than 170 cities and worldwide to 71 countries), Station WPRN – New Orleans, Live 365 (www.live365.com/stations/jojomon1), the PalTalk forum (www.paltalk.com), Aussie Cast and ubroadcast.com.

Victor Viggiani, B.A., M.Ed.  – Guest for the first hour: 7 – 8 PM Central, 8 – 9 PM Eastern/Toronto Time

Victor Viggiani, B.A., M.Ed., serves as the Director of Media Relations for Exopolitics Toronto (www.exopoliticstoronto.com).  Victor also is an educator, researcher, author, journalist, radio program co-host, and an Advisory Board Panel Member of the Exopolitics Institute (www.exopoliticsinstitute.org).  A recently retired Toronto school principal, Victor now serves Medaille College of Buffalo, New York, as their Faculty of Education Advisor.  A graduate of York University (B.A., Sociology and Psychology) of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and Brock University (M.Ed. – Educational Administration and Curriculum Development), St. Catherines, Ontario, Canada, Victor incorporates his academic insight into his innovative research, journalism, dynamic presentations, and leadership in the domestic and global exopolitical fields.

For more than 30 years, Victor has studied paranormal subjects, including anomalous aerial phenomena, the geopolitical aspects of an extraterrestrial presence, and the crop circle phenomenon.  While on sabbatical, during a year-long Australian lecture and research tour, Victor Viggiani presented his research in Brisbane, Sydney, and Adelaide, Australia.  In addition, he assisted the Australian Disclosure Project in its initial development and investigatory efforts.  The extensive scope of Victor’s investigative research in ufology includes in-depth study at such American Southwestern locations as Corona, Roswell, and Socorro, New Mexico, Area 51, Groom Lake Nevada, and White Sands, Los Alamos, Dulce, and The Very Large Array, New Mexico.

In a dedicated effort to inform the Canadian and global community as to current developments on UFO sightings and exopolitical subjects, Victor Viggiani serves as co-host and radio journalist on the popular The Richard Syrett Show, broadcast on CFRB 1010 AM – Toronto, Canada (www.richardsyrett.com/index.htm).  In his radio program segments, Victor interviews experts in ufology and related fields and produces audio material.  In addition, Victor has appeared as guest on both television and radio in Canada, the United States, and Australia.

Moreover, as Director of Media Relations for Exopolitics Toronto, Victor Viggiani coordinated the 2005 event – A Symposium on UFO Disclosure and Planetary Directions, held at the Convocation Hall of the University of Toronto.   This Symposium witnessed the historic presentation of a former Minister of National Defense of Canada.  Victor also served on the distinguished panel of speakers at this Symposium (www.exopoliticstoronto.com/archives.html).   Victor’s most recent presentation in the United States was a powerful address given as a member of an expert panel at the PRG Press Conference, April 21st, at the National Press Club, Washington, D.C. (www.paradigmresearchgroup.org).  That prior weekend Victor Viggiani and Mike Bird, both panelists representing the Exopolitics Toronto organization (www.exopoliticstoronto.com), gave informative and compelling presentations at the 2008 X-Conference held in Gaithersburg, Maryland (www.paradigmresearchgroup.org/X-Conference2008/X-Conference2008-2.htm).

Victor Viggiani’s published works encompass not only professional articles in educational journals, but also such analytical articles as:

Disclosure:  The Ultimate Terrestrial Imperative (www.ufoevidence.org/documents/doc314.htm);  Area 51:  A Desert Journey; Exopolitics and Global Warming:  A Cosmic Connection; (www.agoracosmopolitan.com/exopolitics.html); and Alien Abduction Symposium, Boston, Mass. – “The Abduction Experience:  A Dialogue in Boston” – A review of Alien Abduction Dialogue Between Dr. John Mack and Budd Hopkins  (www.alienjigsaw.com/Articles/TheAbductionExperience.html).

Mary Rodwell, RN – Guest for the second hour:   Monday evening, June 30th,  9 – 10 PM Eastern, 8 – 9  PM Central Time; and Western Australian Time, Tuesday morning, 9 – 10 AM, Tues., July 1st

Mary Rodwell is a registered nurse, multi-credentialed author, researcher, therapist, counselor, metaphysician, producer/director, and principal of the Australian Close Encounter Resource Network (with acronym ACERN – www.acern.com.au), and Advisory Board Panel Member of the Exopolitics Institute (www.exopoliticsinstitute.orgwww.exopoliticsinstitute.org).

Mary Rodwell’s numerous achievements include her book:  Awakening: How Extraterrestrial Contact Can Transform Your Life, and her award-winning documentaries available in DVD or video  format: “Expressions of ET Contact . . . . A visual blueprint?” and “Expressions of ET Contact – a Communication and Healing Blueprint?”  In addition, Mary has produced the meditation series:  Journey to the Stars and Inner Alchemy, a metaphysical series available in CD form.  Mary Rodwell’s published articles include:  “Star Children,” “Counseling the Abductee, “The Abductee Support Group,” “Awakening to Contact,” “Why did you take my son?,” “Honoring Multidimensional Realities,” and “The New Human (2005).”

An international speaker at academic, conference and media program venues, the very extensive list of Mary’s speaking credits include (and this list represents but a fraction of her appearances):   Oxford University, Oxford Union, United Kingdom (April 2006); Murdoch University Perth, Wandjina, Australia; Institute of Integral Human Sciences – Montreal, Canada; UFO International Conference 2002 at Leeds University, United Kingdom; UFOR Sydney; UFOCUS, New Zealand; the Extraterrestrial Civilizations and World Peace Conference, Hawaii 2006; and National Radio ABC.

The ACERN website offers several informational pages, including an ACERN’s Resource Center category.  Included in that material you will find a webpage, “Conversations with Mary,” with responses to frequently asked questions on phenomena subjects:  http://members.iinet.net.au/~starline/.  The Website addresses for both ACERN and Mary Rodwell are located at www.acern.com.au and members.iinet.net.au/~starline.

T.Sheridan

 A Global Focus