It has been a while now since Jif passed on and I would like to honour him and his family by sharing some memories with you of Jif and our all too short relationship...maybe some of the rest of you can share your memories of Jif with all of us..
So now let me start,,\
It is now Monday afternoon ,August 27th..2012...
I can't do a bio on Jif as I didn't know him that long but will share some of our times together..happy times all.
Probably Bruce Parker would be the guy to do Jifs bio.. he knew him longer than anyone.. grew up with him so should be able to give us a fairly good bio.. I just met him when I started the Military Manuals site through George Bradford in Cambridge..
Jif was using my site for reference manuals and told me he was setting up a special site and forum too..
It was to be called Maple Leaf Up...
I thought we should link the manuals site up with the MLU site as I had most of the CMP manuals listed on my site..
He was all excited and gave me a link that only him..Sean,his son,and I could see ..
The day that he opened the forum, we were e-mailing back and forth and he made the first comment on the forum declaring it open then Sean posted congratulating him on the new site.. I made the first Non family posting on this MLU forum and am damned proud of it and proud that Jif thought enough of me to honour me with the grand opening of the MLU forum..
It was much more than the forum and we thought that all the other parts of the MLU main site would be the main interest of everyone including me and him..
How wrong we were..
And then over the years we talked on the 'phone (Remember that thing with the big cord into a box hanging on the wall...??", and burnt up the wires with emails ..
We first met at one of the first gather ups at the Caldwell brothers , Chatsworth, Southern Ontario...
when he showed up with a forty pounder of vodka and Miss Yappy on his Hip..
A great time was had by all ..Jon Skagfeld was there ..Bob Carrier was there.. Stewball was there ..
The Caldwell brothers , and tons of others..
It was the first of 4 or 5 Caldwell gather ups and then we moved on..
Then I met him when he came to visit Ottawa..
I don't think Gracie's was ever the same..
Anyway Jif had a heart of gold ..I miss him and know he is riding high up in the commanders position, in some heavenly rust bucket...He wouldn't have it any other way...
Alex
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Alex Blair