Friday June 2/18

I took some things for the Salvation Army to help their work among disadvantaged people.  Then I dropped into my favourite handbag store which moved from the mall to King Street near the Subway restaurant.

It was nice to see how well he is doing there - he has branched out to selling many, many different things and even when I was there, several people came in.

We had a little chat while I was there as well and it was nice to see how much better he is doing with the new location.

On the way home I sat in Gore Park for half an hour or so.

I wanted to go to the city wide Iftar event which was to  be held at City Hall.  It started at 7 p.m. so it was fine to go out as there was about two more hours of light.

I took some pictures to show you of parts of City Hall in the front of it.  Two of which are very new.  A grass covered dog and also a grass butterfly done by the Cities Horticultural department.  They were attracting a lot of attention both by parents and the children as was the new Hamilton sign.


Here are some shots.

Our new Hamilton dog made of grass

Folks looking at the new dog in town!

The green butterfly - soon flowers will be planted there I suspect.

Hamilton's new sign which lights up at night.  Also it is a great place to take pictures sitting on it.

A small waterpool 

A flowering scrub on the side of the ramp for people with handicaps.

They have done a nice job adding those new grass items on the front lawn. It attracted lots of picture takers and many families came downtown just to take pictures with them.

I went inside City Hall to find out where the Iftar was being held and found out due to the vast amount of guests coming, they were holding it at the Hamilton Convention Center.


I walked over there which was not very far and then followed the crowds inside.  All manner of people were there, Muslims, Non-Muslims, lots and lots of little children and teenagers.  Guests were greeted at the entrance door of the Convention Center with "welcome" and directions to where the event was held.  Once there, young people greeted the guests and introduced themselves by their first names.  Each young person had a name tag on.

They sure got "A" for thoughtfulness, courtesy and friendliness.  The young ladies all wore beautiful gowns with either contrasting hijabs or matching ones.  Some of the young men wore kufis (the hat many Muslim men wear. They are are quite beautiful in a masculine type of way.

People greeted each other in the standard Islamic way, a kiss on one side of the cheek, then the other, and then back again to the first side.  Women did this with each other. I noticed that men generally just gave each other a hug or a backslap.  So many people knew each other there which was wonderful to see and everybody had happy smiles on their faces.

At this event, it was suggested that the women sit on the right side of the large room and families and single men sit on the left side.  Most people listened but not all.

As one entered the room, they had people who had set up booths to explain the basics of Islam and that seemed to be very well attended.  I was glad for that as it is so much work to organize such a huge function!

Each person had a folder called "Food for Thought" and a brown paper bag in it with a bun and three dates. The bagged items were to eat once the fast was finished and before the Sunset Prayer (Maghrib).  As most people know, dates are very nutritious and give a person a real boost in energy.

With regards to the book, it was well done with articles of explanation, plus of course, the agenda.  Something to keep.

I have only one comment which is not complimentary.  Too many people did not listen to the speakers and kept on chatting.  I am not talking about guests here.

I do compliment the organizers on starting only five minutes late.  I have been at some functions where late is very normal, which does not please me as I am an uptight, on-time person mostly.



At 8:56 the Adhaan  (call to prayer) was called for the Maghrib prayer and I was already out of the room by then as I felt so tired.

Dinner was served at 9:15 and there were many, many tables set up for this.

I was very pleased to see so many people there from all walks of life.  I would say, from my observation, that it was a very successful event and well organized.  As I was walking down from the Convention Center I saw crowds of mostly young families heading to break their fast.

I hope they will have it again next year.

Thanks for dropping by.