Checking in at the Foundry…

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• Yeah, I'm going to have to agree as well. The job of the CEA (as well as to get government funding) is to engae the public. Scheduling an event and then cancelling it is crap.

  If they had put some kind of disclaimer on their poster about cancellation of the event due to rain/wind I would have saved the 20km round trip bike ride I took on a Saturday morning.

  It seems to me that it was just very poorly planned. I knew it was supposed to rain, in fact I got 2 blocks from my house before it started raining.

• Oh the humanity! I understand your disappointment. But they didn't have a crystal ball to predict what the weather would be like on the event date. As to canceling it owing to weather, that likelihood falls under the category of "common sense", not something that should have surprised anyone or required mentioning on the flyer.

  I too would have gladly gotten wet as well for the opportunity to see the island, but don't fault the organizers for not wanting to subject themselves to liability. I appreciate the honest effort though - including yours for helping publicize - and will be back there next year. Maybe sooner if I can procure a 9.9hp outboard dingy on a nice day. :)

• John, the fact remains that they encouraged people to arrive using alternate means of transportation. Don't drive they said take a bus or ride your bike. So I did. Had there been any mention that rain would result in cancellation, then it would have been a different story. If I had arrived by bus, I would have been just as angry. Had I driven, not so much.

  Even big events like the fireworks have plans in place for inclement weather. It seems like no thought was given to the possibility of rain. Even in the days before, rain was forecast for Saturday, but it never occured to me that it wouldn't go off.

• John, I never realized that if it rains you can't go on a boat. I will have to ask someof my friends who own boats if they woldn't go on them if it rains. Please note that with the rain there was very little wind, it was a downpour only. No lightening, no high winds for the 20 second crossing, including disembarking. Are you to make us believe that this crossing is treacherous? This is nothing short of the typical over-reaction in case of litigation. But interesting that the city worries about getting sued but sure isn't worried about suing others.

  As Andrew stated, a disclaimer would have been nice. Since it was an enviromental project I wouldn't have thought rain would have shut it down.

• There's absolutely nothing stopping you or your friends from getting on your own private vessel under inclement weather of any kind. I did that once with a friend of mine years ago and was lucky to make it to shore. Would have made a nice Youtube video. But I digress. This was however not just rain but a thunderstorm (that was what those loud noises were) with a series of storm cells behind it and yet to come still and as such it was the organizer's prerogative to call it off. When it's your ass on the line, making those calls is based on more than just "will these people be disappointed".

  You are correct that in an earlier era - before litigation and liability insurance was the first concern of any event organizer - this probably would have went on as planned. Many clubs can't even afford insurance anymore for events in parks and such, for fear someone will get hurt and take the board of directors down with them.

• Again, what stopped them from putting a disclaimer on their advertisement? I am sure it would have saved a lot of people the aggravation. Once again communication at the city level screws it for most. So I suggest you stop pissing on those who took their advice and went down there only to be told they closed the event down. The finger needs to be pointed at them and not at those who were participating but that is Windsor for you and I expect nothing less. Ie. skirt the issue and point fingers at those who tried to make something a success...go figure! No wonder the area residents are suspect of everything that goes on in this region. It is after all, OUR FAULT!

• What stopped them from putting a disclaimer? The presumption of common sense. It's an oversight they'll probably address next year. I knew there was a good chance it wasn't going to work out and just hoped we'd get through it before the storms rolled in. Sh*t happens. C'est la vie. But oh the drama...there is no call for having a tantrum about it though.

• Common sense? Rain=no access? How is that common sense? It isn't like there was going to be a concert or anything like that. It was for people to be able to access Peche Island and walk around. Oh the horrors of rain!
  Who is having the tantrum John? It was irritating to ride a bike all the way there and be told it was cancelled. As you say c'est la vie. But to cancel it after only 10 minutes of it being open and to not put a disclaimer is THEIR fault not the fault of the people visiting. Again lay blame where it belongs and move on...as stated above, blame everyone else but those in charge. At least I tried to attend and support what happens in this city.

• I want to add that I did phone the number in the ad before I headed down there for info on where I could park and no one told me anything about any God damn cancellation or possible cancellation. Apparently, the volunteers didn't even see that "common sense".

  And, if there's any question of litigation or liability, have everyone who gets on the boat sign a liability waiver like they do with people who go parachuting, water skiing, or whatever where safety can be an issue.

• i have a feeling that most of you would be just as pissed off even if there was a disclaimer. why? because you trucked yourself down there ANYWAYS fully knowing it could pour on your head. now your angry. david, when you called about parking, did you ask about the possibility of a cancellation, did you know a thunderstorm was rollin in? maybe everyone should have distributed their home phone numbers to the organizers of this event. you know, to stop life from being so damn stressful. crossing the detroit river on a small boat, which is the size of the WPD boat you say? with 30 people on it? that thing would capsize from that aloneif a storm whipped up! and a 20 second trip...INCLUDING disembarking? what were they doing heading over there at 0.6 MACH, running aground and launching everyone on to the beach?
  is it tretcherous to cross the river on a small boat packed with people with storm cells in the area? you bet your ass it is. go ahead and ask your buddies, a little rain? sure they'll go. thunderstorms approaching? not a chance. that's exactly like saying being on a golf course is smart when a storm approaches. you do know you don't even have to SEE that storm for it's lightning to take you out, right?
  sign a waiver? right, if i go to ceader point, and a storm is rollin in they shut it down. howcome i can't just sign a waiver and go on a rollercoaster? i know the risks. because, even with a signed waiver, if i get hit.....or even remotly close to being hit by lightning, waiver or not, i garuntee you i could still sue the bejebus outta that park for being stupid enough to let me on in the first place. find me a court in the land that will say i'm wrong. you can't compare this with a skydiving waiver....it's just not the same thing. jumping out of a perfectly good airplane is an ultra-hazardous activity. going out on a boat, with no top mind you, with a subsantial risk of lightning is just a silly risk for organizers.
  like it or not everybody, John is 100% right. a disclaimer would have been nice, yes. but you can't blame these organizers for making that desicion. and wasted tax dollars? what are you talking about? david you said they were taking people BACK from the island. were these volenteers or regular folk? were their taxes wasted...or just yours in particular?
  or mine?...but i was at work...so they shouldn't be able to use my taxes for things i can't attend in the first place? i see BASF was also a sponser. why arn't we complaining that they didn't make the boat better thru new non-conductive hulls and things like that?
  why is everyone so mad about this??
  sorry, but if you guys were face to face this would be a nose to nose screaming match between you guys, and that's rediculous. what an irrelevent thing to get so damn mad about.
  geez....sorry that was so long lol