After a quick trip to Edmonton for the Canadian Community Newspaper conference and a week in Germany at a print exposition, it’s great to be back in Wellington County.
The world’s largest printing show was quite a sight. For those bemoaning the death of print, it was a spectacle of resilience and confidence in a craft that has been around since the days of Gutenberg in 1439.
From 3D printers capable of printing objects larger than a man, to finishing equipment that adds value to all the products we print, Drupa as it is called, offered something for all printers the world over. We first attended the show four years ago. It is so large they don’t have it annually. The next show is scheduled for 2019, as the organizers move to a three-year cycle.
The tour we went on included time in three major cities – Frankfurt, Cologne and Dusseldorf. It is a whirl-wind tour, although evenings offer some time to enjoy the many restaurants on the periphery of the town square.
An old friend was quite concerned before we left about safety overseas. Sure, there are regular News stories about terror cells and people planning events like the ones that ravaged Paris some months ago.
Unreported there and here, apart from a quick notation in a print magazine that attended the show, we were witness to an evacuation of one large hall and the northern entrance at Messe Dusseldorf, a fair grounds approximately 75 acres in size.
Two nights previous a small cell plotting an attack in Dusseldorf was captured before putting their plan into action. The tenor of the city was not edgy, but there was certainly a feeling that something just wasn’t right.
With luck and a bit of quick thinking we were able to exit the facility and safely arrive back at the train station for our daily shuttle to Cologne. It was an event without incident, but it was a bit unnerving. Oddly, the other visitors seemed more annoyed about being held up from going about their business. The staff people were entirely professional, suggesting to us they were either very well trained or used to such incidences. Very calmly people were moved along.
It has to be said the feeling of these cities has changed in four years. The “polizei” seemed to be far more front-and-centre than we recalled. This is merely a sign of the times in Europe and it seems to us the old wounds of intolerance are always at hand there. Everyone wants to strike a balance.
Another item that bothered us a bit this time was the increase in graffiti. It seemed to be everywhere on the thoroughfares we travelled.
We were happy to arrive back at home, where tolerance, respect and general respect for property seems to be at a higher standard. Then we got into the Newsroom Tuesday afternoon and wondered if it is as perfect here as we believed when overseas.
News that vandals had attacked and desecrated the Mennonite Cedarvale Church in Minto set us aback. If we know this community as we do, they will tidy up and forgive. But really, we need to do better for our neighbours and suggest there is no place for this kind of nonsense.
Canadians need to enjoy the liberties and freedom we have in this country. Every effort should be made to keep it safe from intolerance.
Boy, it’s good to be home.
