Was anyone flying a drone this week in the Coates area? Found on a trail.

Ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling,” the bells came from the street. The year is 1988, or 1978, or 1968; it’s summertime and many young boys and girls across Canada hear them and immediately make a speedy dash. First to their unsuspecting parents for some money, then if successful, to the street, to meet up with the origin of the bells…the Dickie Dee ice cream seller. Like a siren calling Odysseus and his crew in Homer’s The Odyssey, the Dickie Dee bells were a call for all the young boys and girls across the country to come get some delicious ice cream. 

“The minute I heard those bells, I knew I had to get a move on and ask my parents for some money before he was gone,” says longtime Dickie Dee enthusiast Joe Kelsey in regards to the the Dickie Dee ice cream bikes that traversed the residential streets in his hometown of Oshawa, Ontario. “I probably only had about a 30% success rate in chasing those bikes down!”

Millions of kids over the decades experienced this ritual every summer; a hot day, the bells ringing, then rushing out to catch the riders. It was a national Canadian tradition for decades. Dickie Dee was founded in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in the early 1950s by entrepreneur Syd Glow. In 1959, the company was sold to the Barish family, who transformed it into one of North America's largest mobile ice cream vending businesses. 

At its height, Dickie Dee had approximately 1,500 operators serving communities across Canada and parts of the northern United States. Dickie Dee's success was supported by an extensive network of distributors, ranging from small family-run operations to larger warehouse-based centres. 

“My involvement with Dickie Dee spans 35 years,” says Joe Kelsey. “Beginning as a rider in 1991, later becoming a distributor and business owner, and continuing over the years through buying, selling, restoring, and working with Dickie Dee equipment long after the original company ceased operations in 2004.” 

In 1992, the company was acquired by Unilever and became part of Good Humor-Breyers, which continued operating the brand until the early 2000’s. Although the original corporate structure no longer exists, many former distributors and employees continue to preserve the legacy of one of Canada's most iconic ice cream brands.

“Nostalgia is big right now,” Kelsey explains. 

“I'd run out and ask my mom, who was often out gardening,” he fondly recalls when he’d hear the Dickie Dee ice cream seller coming. “She'd say, ‘Go ask your father,’ then I'd have to find my dad, and he'd often say, “Go ask your mother.’ Sigh.” 

Dickie Dee sparks a sense of childhood enthusiasm in Canadians of a certain age; an innocence and remembrance, attached to a simple ice cream tricycle, that only a past smell or song or photo could rival. The sounds of the bells and the memories of the various ice cream products, like the “Phantom,”  the “Space Shuttle,” and “Fudgsicles.”

These recollections strongly continue on to this day, in people middle aged or older by now, but occasionally still kids at heart.

“Finally, I'd get the money and get yelled at for running outside in my socks, but I knew I had limited time,”  Kelsey adds. 

”Eventually, we started keeping money on top of the fridge so we could avoid the whole song and dance with my parents. “

(Photo of the Kelsey family taken in Milton, ON, 1983, courtesy of Joe Kelsey)

Edit: based on feedback in the comments I may be wrong about these hills being drumlins, as google Streetview from about 15 years ago show this area being flatter. If we have any experts in this field who can shed some light, would be good to learn where the drumlins actually are.

Hey everyone,

I was walking around the green space behind the Milton District Hospital the other day, and I got curious about those massive, smooth rolling hills back there. I always assumed they were just dirt piles left over from developers or deliberate park landscaping.

Turns out, they are thousands of years old and have a pretty wild history!
I did a bit of digging, and those mounds are actually drumlins—which are physical footprints left behind by the Laurentide Ice Sheet during the last Ice Age, roughly 13,000 to 15,000 years ago.

A few cool facts if you're a geography nerd or just like local trivia:
How they formed: Imagine a two-kilometer-thick sheet of ice moving across Ontario like giant sandpaper. It crushed up rocks, gravel, and clay, and the intense weight naturally sculpted the debris into these smooth, streamlined, egg-shaped hills.
The "Basket of Eggs": Geologists literally call this specific layout a "basket of eggs" topography. Because the glaciers shaped them, they all run parallel. The steeper, blunt side points northeast (where the glacier came from), and the gentle tail points southwest (where it was moving).
Why they are still here: Early settlers found them incredibly hard to plow because the dirt inside them (glacial till) is packed tight with heavy stones and dense clay. So, they were mostly left alone as pastures.
The view: Because they give you a bit of elevation, if you stand on top of them on a clear day, you get a completely uninterrupted view of the Niagara Escarpment to the west.

Pretty cool piece of Milton (pre)history!

A neighbour keeps telling their guests they can park on my driveway overnight. I've told them a few times to move their cars and not to park there but it keeps happening so now I want to tow them. Police say to call a tow truck and tow trucks say I need parking enforcement and parking enforcement says the home owner would need to pay for the tow truck.

How is it the home owner's expense to have an illegally parked car removed from their driveway in Milton?

Hey all, I got a ticket for "Parking on private property without authorization" in the visitor parking directly in front of my house last night. The visitor parking area was completely empty except for me, I temporarily have some material taking up space in my driveway so can't park there. It's section 2 by-law 12-81. It's not a huge fine but to ticket a resident in their own neighbourhood feels a little unfair. Anyone have experience with this, anything I can do here or do I just have to pay?

EDIT: I don't live in a condo, it's a townhouse

I want to get general reproductive health evaluated and find if there is any link between me being anemic and my periods. Which clinic would you recommend within Milton or newrby? My doctor is in Toronto and i recently moved here. He has asked me to find a clinic i want to be referred to.

Thanks

I was passing by with my kids on Thompson and saw 4 fire trucks coming from all directions and 3-4 ambulances rushing somewhere off Thompson and Hepburn and Thompson and Clark. Towards metro side of the Thompson.

So worried. I hope everyone’s okay!

Is anybody else hearing fireworks by Metro tonight @ 11p.m.? What’s the occasion?

Does anyone know when the roundabout on Savoline and Gordon Krantz will connect with Louis St Laurent?

Or where to get that information from?

Thanks!

Has anyone tried Blenz coffee and finds it good?? I normally go to Javanut (all time fav), but I’m wondering is Blenz has any good coffee or matchas. Thanks!

Does anyone else remember cassette tapes and life before social media?

Sometimes I miss how simple everything felt—playing outside until sunset, calling friends on the house phone, renting movies for the weekend, and actually being present instead of constantly looking at a screen.

If you grew up in the 80s or 90s, what's one thing you miss the most?

Also... if you're in the GTA, recommend a great coffee shop or breakfast spot with a nice patio. I'm always looking for new places to try! ☕🌿

Does anyone know of a small group daycare in the area ? I have a six month old Cavapoo that is soooo friendly I feel like he would love to go play with other puppies on a more regular basis

Thanks 😊

New to Milton and looking for recommendations for eyebrow waxing and tinting. TIA!

The google reviews are amazing but I find they are getting less and less reliable.

Anyone local been there? Worth the 4.9 google rating?

Anyone know what is happening there? It looks like it's been closed up since at least June.

Hi Everyone,

My family is moving within Milton, and we are wondering who you’ve had a positive moving experience with in Milton.

We would love a company to disassemble and reassemble furniture (if possible) at our new house.

Looking for an honest, reliable company within the community.

Thanks!

Today on Main St and Milton fairgrounds

I wanted to visit Willis fruit farm. Google said they are permanently closed, but there are tons of blue signs showing directions to the farm. I followed the signs and I passed what I think was the closed farm.

Can anyone confirm it's permanently closed?

Nearly got wiped out by this POS 🤬 stay alert everyone!! This intersection is terrible!!

Anyone know what they are responding to? quite a number of them

No power near james snow and britannia

I used to love going to Cineplex, however the past 5 times I've gone, it's been hard to sit through the full movie without getting irritated. I saw the odyssey today, great movie, however I could barely hear it as the men behind me were speaking loudly throughout the movie in a language I did't understand. A few weeks ago, I tried watching Obsession but had to leave as the people behind me were once again speaking in a different language throughout the movie while kicking peoples chairs.
Before this, during Project Hail Mary, the same issue occurred and I asked the people to stop speaking during the movie, to which they laughed and continued speaking in another language..
Has anyone else had a similar experience or have any tips on how to handle this?

- Edit: Some people have called out the fact I mentioned them speaking in another language, I mentioned this as I recognize a few words they were speaking and they were mainly derogatory - I myself am an immigrant so this was not meant to seem racist

I set up Autopay years ago in case I forget to pay the property tax on time. But my preference is to pay using Canadian Tire Master Card (which somehow allow pay bill despite being credit card). So I usually pay the property tax a week early, with the autopay as back up in case I forgot.

This arrangement has worked just fine (including Feb and April this year) until last month. There's never autopay charge as long as the Canadian Tire MC payment set up.

I paid the property tax bill a week early last month, but then I got sent a letter stating that the Town still tried to pull the full amount of my bill due on June 30, and because the bank account didn't have sufficient amount, the autopay failed and they're charging me $50 NSF penalty.

I called the Town and they said that they switched to a new system that doesn't recalculate balance remaining as often, and will still do autopay as long as there's balance remaining in the total bill (namely the 2nd installment due September 29). This means that they're charging June bill twice, though it'll be credited against September bill had the autopay gone through (ie they'd make me pay the September bill 3 months early).

They also said because the Town got charged NSF by my bank, they won't reverse the $50 NSF penalty despite it's their fault to charge the bank despite no balance is due.