The Citiots join the Drew Crew

I've been a fan of Canadian Idol since Season One, and have even voted on occasion. I was happy to see - and actually like - a Collingwood contestant this year. His name is Drew Wright, and he's one of my favourites. Drew made it into the top 24, then on to the top 10, and he continues to do well, making it into the top 6. Yay, Drew!

Dave and I are amazed at the amount of support Drew has garnered within the community. From the moment you approach Collingwood, either from Wasaga Beach or from Craigleith, you see "Vote for Drew Wright" signs. There are posters in almost every store window. Restaurants host Canadian Idol parties on Monday and Tuesday nights.

As Citiots, it's fun to be part of what feels like an intimate process. We feel the same pride for Drew that locals do. This past week, we were in Collingwood for a Wednesday to Wednesday vacation that encompassed the long weekend. On Tuesday (results night), we invited our local friends Mariane and Charlie over for dinner. When accepting the invitation, Mariane asked if we could watch the results show on ATV, courtesy of our full service digital cable. We'd get to watch the results at 7:00PM our time, rather than having to wait until 8:00 with the rest of the Eastern Daylight viewers.

When Mariane and Charlie arrived, she burst out with some exciting news.

"I've been invited to the official Drew Crew results party! Do you want to come?"

Of course we said yes. What an opportunity! So, after our beer, kebabs, French onion soup, salad, and bottles of Pinot Grigio, we headed over to JD's Bar and Grill on Pine Street.

The place was packed. Mariane mingled with "the competition" (Mariane works at The Beach, but The Peak hosts this event), and introduced Dave and I to several of her colleagues and friends. We even met the mayor of Collingwood! We introduced ourselves as Citiots, and Dave took full advantage of the opportunity to pump Mayor Chris on the plans to save the Collingwood lighthouse. More on that later.

We enjoyed yet more Pinot Grigio while awaiting the results show at 8:00. Sadly, we had left the condo before watching the show on Atlantic television. Oh well ... it was worth the wait to be surrounded by enthusiastic, supportive locals. I became instant friends with a woman whose name now escapes me. I sampled strangers' perfectly seasoned French Fries. I cheered with the best of them. I chanted "DREW! DREW! DREW! DREW!" with everyone once we learned he was safe for another week. And all of this was caught on camera.

Once the show was over, Mariane and Charlie made their way home, as did Dave and I. Mariane is on the air very early, and it was now past her bedtime. I couldn't help but think of her as I awoke at 5:00AM to get a can of warm Club Soda - an old hangover cure I got from a flight attendant on an early morning flight from Vancouver back to Toronto: "Club Soda. Room temperature. Sip it slowly." - Mariane was no doubt up by now as well, but she would be getting ready for work. Ugh! If she felt anything like I did, my heart went out to her.

I washed some Advil down with the warm Club Soda, went back to bed, and finally got up at around 8:30. Luckily the ibuprofen and Club Soda had worked their magic by then.

As we were having breakfast, Dave said to me, "I saw you on the news last night." Remembering my alcohol-fueled, overfriendly frenzy from the previous evening, I couldn't bring myself to ask how I looked. I have a pretty good idea, and can only hope that nobody in Toronto saw it too.