Happy 2006

Hello All: We wish you a Merry Christmas and a HAPPY NEW YEAR! It will be a hard year to beat, so we wish you good health and prosperity for the upcoming year!!



For we Dettmans, the highlights of the past year included a trip to Vegas with my sister Liz and my nephew Rob, where Dee and I rekindled memories of our1972 trip. However, it was the end of an era as we watched Wayne Newton’s last show after 25 years of his nightly performances. (see Route 66 Blog Below)

In July, Dee’s father celebrated his 85th birthday with a family reunion at Ron Short’s log cottage, way way north of Timmins. He was so excited to have family members around him with such gorgeous surroundings.







The peak of all life long memories happened out of the blue when Bruce and Cathy Williams visited us this summer. At Kris’ birth in 1977, Cathy was the first to get a smile from our first born at godfather Bruce’s party.
You may recall Bruce was responsible for getting Tom and Dee together
when he talked me into inviting her to a wedding where she





met Pierre and Maggie….and the rest is history.








Kris’ birth was feted traditionally by Anne McCaskill and so it was so appropriate for Cathy to set us all up together for the reunion weekend. Sitting at dinner with the second most influential woman in Canada’s financial world (Cathy is CFO of Shell Oil) and the second most accomplished woman in Canada’s civil service (Anne rose to Operations Director of PCO in government) left me humble and happy. Not to be outdone was one of Bruce’s ventures; (bringing COLD FX to market) might make his VC firm more successful than both the other table mates. After the surprise visit of Art Tofano for Ernie’s celebration the week before, we were reveling in reminiscences. Even Rosemary Stewart and Dalmaine Pitt were back in touch after all these years.

By the time our wedding anniversary arrived in September
we realized we had had pleasant visits from nearly all those who were at
our wedding back in ’73.

But la Crème de la Crème is…
I’ve retired from the government effective Dec 31/05.
What a year to bookend a lifetime!


Alex is a car owning 21 year old and to pay for his choices he has taken on two jobs in addition to a full course load at U of Ottawa School of Management. With 6 years seniority at Loblaws, he set out for a hospitality job at The Keg. Like his father before him he started as a bus boy, and likewise ascended to his first promotion within months.





Kris has had complications with his ankle/knee cast and fights infection as we speak. His management of the injury seems suspect, the football season was over (he saw the Bears, the Bulls and the Sox home on a trip to Chicago, the week before he and Sarah went to Las Vegas to be best man & maid of honor for their friend’s wedding. Sarah leaves shortly to join her Mom for a week in Brussels, while Kris nurses his leg and knee back to its “pre-football injury” status.




Dee’s busy keeping the senior’s happy attending to their needs over at the
City of Ottawa’s Long Term Care Nursing Home. As their admissions/ward clerk,
she’s picked up the RN jargon and quizzes the resident doctor daily on health matters
Sure hope she’ll be that attentive to this senior now that I’ve retired!

“This Old House” is slowly taking shape with the help of Dee’s brother in Sudbury introducing us to new remodeling tricks of the trade. Not only does he provide muscle but also motivation that is supposed to last long after his departure <>.

So, I leave the business world to become a “Holmes on Homes” Dettman, complete with tool belt + muscle shirt and driven by my New Year’s resolution=”What do you people see in him anyways?”

From the bottom of our hearts, we wish you all as good a year as we have just experienced and do so hope to see you soon .







Best Wishes,
Tom and Dee