Chapleau's Lorne Riley will bring his band Mileage 51 from Dubai to Duggan's in Toronto this August to support Hospital for Sick Children

Chapleau's own Lorne Riley and his band Mileage 51 will be taking to the stage at  Duggan's on Toronto's Queen St W on August 2 to bring their brand of classic rock and blues to fans, friends and family in support of a good cause.  

Mileage 51 is well known in Dubai where Lorne currently resides. The band released an album "Stone Unturned" in 2015 and will play a selection of tunes from the album along with a list of well-known blues and rock favorites.  While admission is free, the band will be accepting donations for  Toronto Hospital for Sick Children.

 "We've heard from people in Chapleau, White River, Timmins, Sudbury, Ottawa, Jacksonville, Atlanta, Lethbridge and the Toronto area who plan to make the trip down to take in the performance.

"We're thrilled with the response and hope to have a full house. Playing on Queen St. W in Toronto is exciting.  It's Toronto's and arguably Canada's most renowned live music district. This is our first Toronto performance but not our last. We'd definitely like to tour up to Northern Ontario at some point as well...there's nothing like a northern crowd...I know that from experience!"

The band is named Mileage 51 after a place on the Canadian Pacific Railway west of Chapleau where Lorne spent much time with the Bouillon family. He advised that he still likes to make trips there when he gets back to Chapleau.

Lorne is the son of Jackie and the late Lorne Riley. A graduate of Chapleau High School he attended Carleton University graduating with an honours degree in Journalism and Law. He is currently Director of Corporate Communications at Dubai International Airport.

As an aside, Lorne's father, with Buddy Swanson and Tom Welch founded the Chapleau Junior "B" Huskies who won the International Junior B League and Northern Ontario Hockey Association titles in 1966-67 their first in the league.

In the 1978-79 season Lorne Jr played on the Chapleau Midget "C" team which won the NOHA title. As there was no Midget "C" title in Southern Ontario, they declared themselves "All Ontario Champions".

Lorne has been active on the music scene since he moved to Dubai over 9 years ago to work at the biggest international airport in the world. He has released three albums with three different bands (Mileage 51 "Stone Unturned", Monks on the Moon "When Worlds Collide" and Stereotypes 'Penny Earned'). Currently he is completing a series of singles that he will release under his own name.

"I've always been a fan of country music. So last fall I decided to write and release some original country songs. Three of them are just about done and more are in the works.  I'm really excited about them as it seems to be a genre that suits me.

" What I've learned since I started doing this almost a decade ago, is that while there is a lot of hard work and dedication required to write and produce the music, by far the hardest part is getting it played on the radio. I've had my music played in Dubai on the radio but not in the rotation. My goal with this country project is to finally crack that nut. 

"Before the end of the year I want to get an email from one of my old high school friends from Sudbury or Timmins or London or Sarnia or Toronto saying 'hey man, I just heard your song on the radio!'  That's the goal anyway".

If you are able to attend on August 2, you can let Lorne know on Facebook, or contact me at mj.morris@live.ca and I can forward messages to him. I am thinking about making the trip from Cranbrook!!!

Hockey team names:
Chapleau Midget "C" NOHA  Champions 1979. Back row from left: Martin Healey, Shane Gillham, Tim Morin, John Bernier, Robert Serre, Dan Tebbutt, Michael Tremblay, Paul Legros, Geoffrey Hong, Michael Payette, Mike Tangie. Front from left: Marc Trottier, David Freeborn, Yves Gervais, Lorne Riley, Randy Carroll, Gary Chambers, Shawn Russell. Absent coach Jamie Doyle

Chapleau Junior 'B' Huskies win league and NOHA championships in Canada's Centennial Year of 1967

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I took a course in twentieth century European history from Dr Jacques Goutor, back in the 1960s and the first thing I learned from him was that hockey kept Canada together. Well, he didn't actually come out and say that exactly, but on the first day of class he told us about his arrival in Canada from France.

Dr Goutor told us that upon arriving in Toronto, he went out and bought the newspapers and the headlines were LEAFS WIN STANLEY CUP! It was 1967, our Centennial year as a nation, and the Toronto Maple Leafs had defeated their arch rivals the Montreal Canadiens in six games. It was to be the last time the Leafs would win Lord Stanley's mug.

Dr Goutor, who at the time had little knowledge of hockey and its importance to Canadians, said he decided to stay here because it had to be a safe place if the headlines were about a sporting event. He was raised in France and lived through the horrors of World  War II and its aftermath. Dr Goutor became a Professor of History at the University of Western Ontario. He retired in 1996, and died a couple of years ago. 

Meanwhile, in 1967, as Canada was marking 100 years as a nation, in Chapleau, the headlines could have been CHAPLEAU JUNIOR 'B' HUSKIES WIN LEAGUE AND NOHA CHAMPIONSHIPS, although I don't have a copy of the Chapleau Sentinel to confirm it.

As our nation marks its 150th anniversary in 2017, I have been looking back at the community's history, and the amazing success of the Junior 'B' Huskies in their first year in the International Junior 'B' Hockey League in 1966-67, stood out as an outstanding moment in sports.

In 1965, artificial ice was installed in the Chapleau Memorial Community Arena, largely because of the efforts of Mrs. A.W. 'Hockey' Moore, after whom the present arena is named, raised most of the funds to accomplish it.

Mrs Moore

In the summer of 1966, according to an article by Keith 'Buddy' Swanson, a "chance meeting" on a golf course between Tom Welch, publisher of the Chapleau Sentinel, and a director of the Wawa Travellers, led to the founding of the Chapleau Junior 'B' team, and its entry into the International Junior 'B' Hockey League for the 1966-67 season.

Buddy

Buddy, Tom and Lorne Riley founded the team. Buddy and Lorne had coached a pretty good Midget team the previous year, and Buddy coached the Intermediate 'B' Huskies to the Northern Ontario Hockey Association title, winning the Max Silverman Trophy.

Off Buddy and Lorne went to Wawa for a league meeting where they received tentative approval to become part of the league for the 1966-67 season. However, back in Chapleau, the response was not all that enthusiastic, as only J.M. 'Jack' Shoup,  showed up, other than the founders, at three different meetings. Tom Welch urged them to continue anyway, and they did.

Lorne

They went out into the community and recruited an executive with Tom as the first president. The executive included Arthur Grout, Earle Freeborn, Albert Tremblay, Jack Shoup, Ken Stevenson, with Roger Mizuguchi responsible for advertising and public relations. Sonia Vaughan became treasurer.

Lorne became the coach with Buddy as manager, while Andre Rioux was trainer. Richard Morin was named the team captain.  

The roster included Merrick Goldstein, Reg Bouillon, Ted Swanson, George Swanson, J.C. Cyr, Corky Bucci, Greg Vaughan, Robert Morin, John Babin, Gerry Boucher, Bruce Pellow, Ray Larcher, John Laframboise, Jamie Broomhead, John Loyst and Mickey Jurynec. 

Unfortunately, Lorne became ill and was unable to complete the season as coach so Buddy took over bench duties, and Lorne attended all the games and they discussed strategy between periods.

They finished the season in third place with 14 wins, eight losses and two ties which meant they met Wawa Travellers the first place team in round one of the playoffs. They had not enjoyed much success against the Travellers in regular season play --- and it looked like the Huskies would be eliminated quickly.

The Travellers took a 3-0 game lead in the best of seven playoff round, and then ...

The Huskies bounced back to tie the series at 3-3. In the final game, the Travellers had completely collapsed losing 13-3 to the Huskies.

In the finals against the Sault Michigan Indians, the Huskies won it in seven games and were the winners of the Mac Nicholson Trophy as league champions.

But their season wasn't over. Two weeks later they played Kapuskasing for the Northern Ontario Hockey Association Junior 'B' title and the Colin Campbell Trophy in a two game total goals series. The Huskies won 13-5.

And now, as Canada marks its 150th anniversary as a nation I believe it is good to reflect on those moments  in our history that brought us together, rather than divided us. Fifty years ago, Buddy Swanson, Lorne Riley and Tom Welch, the players and the executive of the Chapleau Junior 'B' Huskies made it happen in Chapleau  Dr. Goutor was right about Canada.

Huskies at 40th anniversary reunion 2007

I based this column on excerpts from the two articles that Buddy wrote about the team in 2009. He wanted to tell the story of that remarkable year. HAPPY CANADA DAY!  My email is mj.morris@live.ca

Names TOP PHOTO  1966-67 Huskies Back from l: Andre Rioux, Lorne Riley, Merrick Goldstein, John Babin, Ray Larcher, Mickey Jurynec, Greg Vaughan, Robert Morin, Reg Bouillon, Gerry Boucher, Jamie Broomhead; Front: Corky Bucci, Jean- Claude Cyr, George Swanson, Richard Morin, John Loyst, John Laframboise, Ted Swanson, Bud Swanson and missing Bruce Pellow, Bruce Fortin. 

Music plays important role in recalling fond memories of growing up in Chapleau for Lorne Riley Jr

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When I saw a blog post recently by Lorne Riley Jr on Kamzooie, in which he chose some of his favourite tunes from the 1970s, and linked them to memories from his younger days, I immediately contacted him to ask if I could share it . Lorne agreed.

Although Lorne and I may not have quite the same taste in music (although I do recognize most of the songs he selected),, we do share a common view that it plays an important role in bringing up fond memories. In fact, not too long ago I was musing that music, particularly with YouTube, enables us to reimagine human connectivity, and the future of now, always on, always connected. That was the theme of Social Media week in 2014.

Like Lorne, for each song I hear from my earlier years today, I am connected to my past, present and future. In the interests of full disclosure. I spent the final few years of my teaching career at College of the Rockies founding a ;graduate program and teaching courses in New Media Communications,

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Lorne as most readers will know is the son of Jackie and the late Lorne Riley. A graduate of Chapleau High School, he has an Honours Degree in Journalism from Carleton University. His band Mileage 51 made international news recently with the release of its new album 'Stone Unturned." Lorne is director of communications at Dubai International Airport. --MJM

By Lorne Riley Jr

Music plays an important role in bringing up fond memories of the past. It’s a way to milestone our lives…at least I have always believed that to be the case. Just for fun I thought it would be interesting to do a short list of favourite 70s tunes and link them to memories from my younger days.

Fool for the City – Foghat
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgtHflRV0cc

My fond memory of this involves the recently departed Anthony Dillon...who was a childhood and long time friend before cancer sadly claimed him last year. Anthony and I used to listen to music together as kids...Doobie Brothers, JJ Geils and he introduced me to Foghat. He taught me how to box/fight. We used to sneak his Remington 306 up to Mud Lake to hone our shooting skills. We shot pool, went fishing with my Dad. He had my back all the time. For this and much more, thanks Anthony! I hope you are resting in peace.

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Carry On my Wayward Son – Kansas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGZdNOYrbzY

Fond memories with this tune...it was the theme music for Reach For The Top which pitted high school students around Ontario/Canada against each other in a battle of wits/knowledge. I was on the Chapleau High School team for almost three years...the second and third years we did reasonably well, the first year we were in Grade 11 and got absolutely slammed. Greg Howard was our top player. On one trip he was horsing around with Paul Hawkins and fell into a mud puddle and had to go to the TV studio in the wet and dirty suit. It was hilarious. He was screaming profanities at Paul while our teacher (think it was Mr. Kuehl but could have been Mr. Kujtan) looked on. Mike Walsh was on that team as well. It was a lot of fun, and first time we all managed to get on TV

“Rat Bat Blue” - Deep Purple

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UHAcClxxKM

Rat Bat Blue was my favourite track off of the second album I ever bought "Who Do We Think We Are". (Eagles "On the Border" was the first and I will pull a track from that in a future posting). My memory from this was playing it on our RCA Victrola down in our rec room, usually by myself and usually and very high volume. I guess I was starting to realize how much I loved music. I also remember pulling from my Dad's selection which was somewhat more serene with Dean Martin, Lena Horne and Connie Frances. It was a good record player and lasted a long time. Listened to a lot of great music on it.

“Fly like an Eagle” – Steve Miller Band
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlAlCmqjRug

Anyone who spent time in the Chapleau pool hall knows this tune! It was the hangout for those who were too young to go to the Hublit or Sportsman hotels…it was also a very popular place for truant high school students and church goers…but you didn’t hear that from me! Spent a lot of time here with Michel Ribout, who was (and likely still is) a very good shot and a good fuze ball player. I remember one time my Dad (who was a very good shot), Anthony Dillon and I were playing a game. Anthony used to shoot as hard as is humanly possible and accuracy often suffered as a result. After these cannon shots my Dad would exclaim, “Jesus Anthony are you trying to make a new hole!”

"We’re an American Band" – Grand Funk Railroad
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwsgznR_T-g

I recall listening to this first at Guy Ribout’s place. Guy had the most amazing record collection with obscure LPs like Captain Beyond among others. For some reason I also recall that this was one of Dennis Sawyer’s favourite tunes. It really hooked my on the cowbell as a great percussion instrument. There are some amazing cowbell songs… Honky Tonk Woman by the Stones and Hair of the Dog by Nazereth. Not to ramble too much but with the latter does anyone remember that you could listen to music in the CHS library…and that Mrs. Joyal was the very kind caretaker of that facility? That's where I listened to the Nazereth album for the first time.

"Hold the Line" – Toto
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQNHbwhdZbU

This was the top song for some time with the gang I used to hang out with in the late 70s…Tim Morin, John Bernier, Larry Martel, Paul Martel, Mario Lappierre, Randy Carroll, Pat Payette (although Pat and I were huge April Wine fans and used to listen to a lot of their tunes) among others.
Toto was a prolific band and I have the fortune to have a ticket to see a reincarnation of the group in Dubai next month (thanks to a gift from my daughter Bianca)!

"On the Border" – The Eagles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRmzajCyToo&list=PL0877E928D20D...

The first album I ever purchased was “On the Border” by the Eagles. To be honest I took a shot in the dark at Stedmans…I used to work as a dishwasher at the Redwood and had some money to burn after my first pay cheque. This was an impulse buy based on the cover art. And if there is one thing I miss about the vinyl era (although it is making a muted comeback) is the importance of album art. I chose the title track because it kind of slipped under the radar but is an extremely clever and well produced song. Check it out

Thanks Lorne... My email is mj.morris@live.ca

PHOTOS
Listening to tunes (??) from left Larry Martel, Lorne, Mario Lapierre and Alain Bouillon
Riley family photo from left Lorne, Jackie, Erin, Patty, Loreen, Lorne Jr

At Carry, Lorne, not sure, Larry Martel, Alain Bouillon, Anthony Dillon

Lorne Riley Jr of Chapleau makes international news when his band Mileage 51 releases new album 'Stone Unturned'

Chapleau's own Lorne Riley Jr. made international news recently when his band Mileage 51 released its new album "Stone Unturned" across the United Kingdom, as well as on Facebook.

Mileage 51 is a Dubai-based band proudly rooted in the rock and blues stylings from the US the and UK. In their debut album, Stone Unturned, the expat foursome presents a collection of original songs that echo the classic retro sounds which form the bedrock of today’s music. Stone Unturned proudly trots out the past with a refreshingly genuine take on music from days gone by but never forgotten.

Lorne, the son of Jackie and the late Lorne Riley, who now lives in Dubai and works at the world's largest international airport as Director of Corporate Communications. is the lead singer for  Mileage 51's new single 'Retroman'.

It  was featured on UK's Discover Music Show which features new, rising stars. In his radio interview, Lorne fondly recalls early musical memories in Chapleau. 

I connected with Lorne a graduate of Chapleau High School who also has an Honours Degree in Journalism from Carleton University. and asked him about his new venture and how his time in Chapleau influenced his music.

"I may live in a big city, but I'm a small town guy at heart. And our music reflects that. My interest in music started in my late teens in Chapleau with two local blues/rock bands "People People" and "The Horses". Ken Lane, Bucko Laframboise, Murray Midkiff and Hugh McGoldrick, all talented musicians in their own right, showed me how rewarding and fun performing can be. 

"Now let's be clear I'm no international rock star, not by a long stretch! We're just a group of guys who love music and wanted to write and produce our own album. Now that we have done that, we're trying to share it with as many people as possible."

Lorne sent me the interview he did on the Discover Music Show and had to smile when the interviewer started with questions about cold weather in Canada and Lorne sure made his home  look good. in his comments. I was also so impressed with 'Retroman." You can access the entire interview through http://mileage51.com or on the group's Facebook page.

While attending Carleton University in the 1980s, Lorne performed with a three piece rock group called 'Blue Cotton Seals Band'.

After connecting with Lorne, of course I recalled that his father with Keith 'Buddy' Swanson and Tom Welch founded the Chapleau Junior "B" Huskies who won their league and NOHA championships in 1966-67 their first year of operation. But Lorne Jr also played on a championship hockey team. The Chapleau Midget "C" Huskies won the NOHA title in 1979 but declared themselves all Ontario champions because there were no Midget "C" teams in southern Ontario.

Mileage 51 is signed with Matchbox in the UK and has inked a distribution deal with Universal Music Operations. The album is available on iTunes, Spotify and via their website at http://mileage51 and more information is available their Facebook page.

Congratulations Lorne and all the best. Thanks for your co-operation. My email is mj.morris@live.ca

Chapleau Midget "C" NOHA  Champions 1979. Back row from left: Martin Healey, Shane Gillham, Tim Morin, John Bernier, Robert Serre, Dan Tebbutt, Michael Tremblay, Paul Legros, Geoffrey Hong, Michael Payette, Mike Tangie. Front from left: Marc Trottier, David Freeborn, Yves Gervais, Lorne Riley, Randy Carroll, Gary Chambers, Shawn Russell. Absent coach Jamie Doyle

HERE IS THE VIDEO WITH THE INTERVIEW AND "RETROMAN"

Lorne Riley visits the Pyramids after speaking at international conference on Global PR Trends

Lorne Riley, the son of Jackie and the late Lorne Riley, a graduate of Chapleau High School, is the head of corporate communications at Dubai International Airports, He is also a graduate of Carleton University. 

Lorne's father, with his friend Keith J "Buddy Swanson", founded the Chapleau Junior B Huskies of the International Junior B Hockey League. Lorne and Buddy were two of Chapleau's foremost hockey figures in the community's history.

The following article first appeared on www.kamazooie.com. Lorne spoke at his first international conference and took the opportunity to visit the Pyramids. Congrats, as always, Lorne. Thanks for letting me share the story

BY LORNE RILEY

For the first time in my career I was invited to speak at a conference, in this case "Global PR Trends" held at the Intercontinental Hotel in Cairo, Egypt. The presentation went swimmingly as I talked about Dubai Airports' communication strategy and how it delivered value to the business. If anything I could have shortened it a bit, but I digress. Over dinner that night the conference organizer, Kosta Petrov who hails from Macedonia, insisted I take full advantage of a very rare opportunity to see the pyramids before leaving Egypt. Given the conference started at 10:00, I could feasibly take a quick tour and be back in time for the morning session.

With rubber arm firmly twisted, I set out at 0700 from the hotel in Cairo to the pyramids in Giza.

 It was only an hour drive through the streets of Cairo...to be honest I enjoyed the colour and grit of the city enroute as much as the majesty of the pyramids. After a mildly harrowing drive (dodging pedestrians, donkey-powered vegetable carts and beat up Fiats) we arrived at the pyramid site where I was introduced to Ali, owner of the tour group that would be tasked to take me through the site.

After some minor haggling, we settled on a price and I set out on a horse drawn cart. I could have opted for a camel but taking pictures perched atop one of these ornery beasts is nigh impossible so I opted for the speedier more pragmatic option.

My guide Ahmed told me since the 'revolution' tourism unsurprisingly has fallen off a cliff. Once up to 40,000 tourists would visit the site per week but those volumes are down to a trickle. In fact there were only a handful of other tourists visible on site during my tour.

I felt bad for our horse who had to take a galloping start at some of the hills before he laboured to a crawl as he neared the top ...but as Ahmed put it 'that is his job'. Although I did wonder how much he cleared after taxes.

As we wound our way around the site, I was provided a few interesting historical facts about the pyramids. The stones (some granite, some marble depending on the pyramid) were brought in by boat from Memphis and other parts of Egypt and dragged up a 'causeway' to the thousands of slaves who, like the good stallion who pulled us along, toiled selflessly to immortalize their masters. Over 2 million stones were laid in the biggest pyramid which took 20 years to complete.

There are several false entrances and only one true entrance. And despite the common perception that they are hollowed out crypts heaped with artifacts and treasure, walkways are mere tunnels and the pyramids are all but solid stone.

Anything valuable has been removed from the site and sits in museums in Cairo and around the world. That includes the nose from the Sphinx which sits in a London museum.

After a quick tour of a crypt or two (photos not allowed) we returned to Ali's HQ and I headed back to the hotel, and the conference, pleased that I decided to forgo duty for self and create a lasting memory. And I made it back to the hotel by 1015...so only marginally late!  As for the picture immediately below, I was provided every assurance that no other tourist has ever used a similar pose. If you look closely you will notice that I am not actually touching the top of the pyramid...I only appear to be! 

As usual, thanks so much for taking the time to read!  

Cheers

Lorne