Canada's Biggest Smallest Contest — LIVE AWARDS SHOW!

Hello! Hello and welcome to the— I was about to say first annual, but I don't think we're going to do this ever again. So welcome to the—

Maybe with more adherence to the deadline.

Yeah, maybe a little bit more.

The PO Box people might never let us back in.

That's very true. So, oh, I can tell we're live because I accidentally left this on, which I didn't mean to. That's great. That's a good sign. Welcome everyone. I screwed that up again just now. Hold on. And we are there. I wanted to do that and not that so that we could see the comments. OK, sorry about that, folks.

We're just YouTube, right?

Yeah, we're just YouTube.

So much easier.

Yeah, we're just YouTube. OK.

I got to get a knife.

So hello. Welcome. I just saw your Instagram today and I signed up for your newsletter. Thank you. Thank you very much. Sorry about the lighting. Honestly, we kind of threw this together at the last minute. Um, all right, if you're wondering what this is, uh, about 6 weeks ago we started a contest called Canada's Biggest Smallest Contest, and the idea is for everyone around Canada to send us the smallest possible trinket that, that they can. So we're talking this, this size, and, and then there's this, and we have a camera set up on the right so that when we review these you will be able to see them in all their—

Oh, that's cool.

Isn't that great? See? I told you. Come— you can—

I just— I know.

I can move—

You've got a big butt. I do.

I can move this over a little bit.

No, that's fine.

So we are going to review all of the entries. And there were a lot of them. I'm on a first name basis with the post office. I don't think they like me.

They just see him coming now and they're like, over there.

Yeah, exactly. There, see, there's more room.

There's supposed to be a cut in this, you know, like a little—

the only rule that we had for this— oh, by the way, the prize is a giant basket of gourmet food from British Columbia.

It was so good.

And also, um, uh, 6 premium subscriptions to my newsletter for life, and I will do a video about whatever community wins. I hope you guys can hear me. Okay, so we're just gonna start. We have— here they are. Um, there are a couple hundred of them, so pack a lunch, folks. We're gonna be here for a while. Oh, this dog carrier is completely full, packed with entries, and we are going to go through every single one of them.

Okay, I'm gonna— I'm gonna tally.

Um, yeah, we had— we had— we were gonna try and do, uh, we were gonna try and and get like a map of Canada going. But we'll see. Love the sparkly jacket and the pink hair. Thank you very much. All right, let's give it a start. This one, this one threw me off because it says it comes from the House of Commons. This one just came in a couple days ago. I'm like, the Prime Minister? Did the Prime Minister participate in this?

He has a sense of joie de vivre.

Joie de vivre. Wow. So this is it. Oh, that's going to be a problem.

What?

The light reflection. Oh, I didn't think of that.

Just tilt the camera forward a bit. There you go.

There we go. OK.

There we are. We're broadcasting from the spaceship.

Yes. So this is it. Hey, Tod. Included, you will find a very cool magnet from an awesome distillery in Chelsea, Quebec. Chelsea is a very cute little tourist town about 10 minutes from Ottawa. 'Keep speaking truth.' So thank you very much. This is from Tim et Dominique. Merci beaucoup, Tim et Dominique.

Okay, one.

Chelsea. Yeah, good, good one. All right, so I— can I put you in charge of putting them back in?

Put them back over here.

Okay, it came with like a little—

that's why I brought a stapler.

Oh, good call, just in case. Excellent. Uh, this is from Salt Spring Island, very close to us.

Oh yeah, provincial tally too.

Oh buddy, I love you too, man. I miss you. Yeti from gaming.

Oh, Yeti!

My squad, my Overwatch squad. I got back into Overwatch, Yeti. Don't hate me. This is, uh, we'd love for you to bring Mrs. Tod to Salt Spring Island. Fair.

Well, we were just there. We're happy to go back.

That's what this one says.

Pollination for the nation!

Pollination for the nation!

What do we do with it?

I think it's a bookmark. Oh, it is a project of the Coast Stewardship Conservative Society, and, uh, they say for the bestest info on native pollinator support, go to that address. So X-E-R-C-E-S, if, if that is a thing you'd like to do. Um, if you're just joining us, this is, uh, yes, introduction. So, uh, my name is Tod. I am, uh, YouTube's emotional support Canadian. And this is my other brother Steve.

But how bums.

It never gets old. This is my wife Jocelyn, and together we do stuff about Canada.

Hello! If you've seen me online, I'm Research Girl.

Oh yeah, Research Girl. Okay, so this one came in today. It breaks the rule. We only had two rules, and that was—

Way to go!

It had to fit in a letter-sized envelope to qualify for the prize, and it must not be radioactive because Saskatchewan people are weird. So we just had to make that. Whoa, my God, uranium! Oh, that's such a good show. So here, I'll give you that. There's a whole lot to this. This is a big letter. Enclosed, find some souvenirs of Muskoka. I live in Bracebridge, Ontario. Muskoka is quite a big area of Northern Ontario. I went out to get locally made goods in Bracebridge. Many things to see, very few made in Canada. "I'm just using to learn my cell phone on the internet. Soon to be 85 years young." Way to go, Marian. "I am a prisoner of snail mail. It works." So— thank you, Amy.

There's so much stuff in here.

There's a lot of stuff. So first of all—

How many entries is this?

These are candles bought at Bracebridge. And we have to put stuff ones aside that we think that might be winners. So there's candles, there's a sachet, sachet, sachet, sachet of, of, of, um, I hate this lighting, of lavender. And then there's some like random—

I think those are pins. Look, they're like—

oh, they are pins! They are pins, yeah. So thank you, that's really cool. I might actually keep this with us.

It's a maple candy sucker. I think it's used for like tea or something. Amazing. I don't know if it qualifies as letter size, but okay.

Lake Muskoka Loon.

Oh yes, it was a little too close. A little too close. I love this kind of poster, at least like art, travel art. It's so pretty. Thank you so much, Muskoka chairs even.

If you have just joined, we are opening all of the contest entries in Canada's Biggest Smallest Contest, where we ask people to send us trinkets, the smallest possible trinket from their hometown, along with a letter.

Oh, there's even— oh, that's the lavender.

That's the chicken.

Chicken.

Chicken.

This is the lavender.

The dinner. The thing that's beeping. Oh, I see.

This is how we converse on a day-to-day basis. That's the chicken. That's the lavender.

Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Dartmouth is across the harbour from Halifax and is affectionately, well, mostly called the dark side, as Haligonians looking at Halifax residents looking across the harbour would only see darkness. A very charming part of our city are the famous Sullivan Pond geese. This flock of snowy white geese live in a pond that is beside busy streets. These geese have taught themselves to only cross at the marked sidewalk when they want to leave the pond and go to another park area at Findlay Centre across the road. These geese are pretty beloved and overwinter at the nearby Hope for Wildlife Centre, who care for them during snowy winters.

Oh wait, there's also— is Bracebridge the Muskoka one?

Oh yeah, that was—

this one was from the last package. How do you do it? And it's like Bracebridge bear. How cute is that? I'm gonna have lots of stickers. Thank you so much. Okay.

All right, keep going.

Next.

Okay, this is—

commend you on your amazing writing.

Oh, I opened this. This came in yesterday. This came from Harbour Breton, Newfoundland.

Newfoundland!

Shout out to the Newfoundlanders, now that I've been raked over the coals on how to pronounce it properly. Hi, Todd, I've been watching your videos for quite some time. I make souvenirs in a gift shop here in my hometown I like— I hope you like this. This is from Sandra Pierce in Harbour Breton, Newfoundland. Homemade, apparently. Too big to put under the cam.

So cute.

That is very handmade.

I love it. It's on a birch slice.

Oh yeah, it is. It's on— yeah, I should mention this. It's on actual—

and this one is It's other letter. Oh, I can't show that, but other letter clearly did not make—

where's the done pile?

This pile here. We're gonna need a new pile.

What is the plan after you open all of this stuff? Uh, we have not thought that far ahead.

I suggested we open them all first and then the show would just be rankings, but yeah, we don't know. Where's the fun in that?

We don't know for sure. Thank you. Yeah, oh yeah, someone wins a prize. We pick a winner and someone wins a big prize. There is a prize at this. And there might be a couple if it's, like, super clever. All right, this is from Comanda, Ontario. From Grace. Population 300 or 9. That's what it says. It says population I put this in the worst possible place. Population: 300 or 9. Fuck, I really wish I'd done this right. Okay, so here it is. It is a— I'm not sure. It's 3D printed. It snaps open.

Oh, that's cool. It looks like a lid for something.

Looks like a lid for something. If you are here and this is yours, can you tell me what it is? What it is for. It's really cool. OK.

I've got a bin now for the—

Can we put this one on the shortlist pile until we figure out what it's actually for? OK. At least until we know what it's for. OK.

Here we go. The shortlist pile is over here.

The shortlist for the win. We have our first shortlisted winner. What?

Where are they from, though?

It says inside.

Oh, Comanda.

Yeah.

Comanda. Weird. Sounds like going A lady going naked. It does. Commanda.

Commanda.

Ah, Ontario. Ontario's in the lead.

Oh, I see what you're doing. Oh well.

I must have data.

We should measure it by per capita though, 'cause Ontario and BC and Quebec are gonna—

I'm already bullying the public health professional.

Alright. Sarnia, Ontario, from Shawna Carr, who by the way appears to be an economic development officer, possibly for the city, so— Wow, they're getting, they're getting serious about this. And they are stickers. Oh, they're really beautiful stickers. They are vinyl stickers of their area of Sarnia. So there's that one.

Vinyl stickers are very popular right now.

And if there's a lot of them, I'm just gonna put them on my—

Yeah, you opened the Dartmouth already.

Yeah, I think so.

Yeah, you did. Oh, I'm gonna start marking the envelopes because we're— this is gonna get crazy up in here.

Yeah, I'm trying to put them back in. So thank you from Sarnia, Ontario. I do love the vinyl stickers.

We don't— if we could get him to carry a water bottle to put them on, that would be amazing on both sides.

When I got the, the box, the mailbox, I just got the small size. It's at our drugstore and I got the small size and the first day I went to check the mail for this contest, it was completely completely jammed. Like, you— I— they had to open the entire cabinet open because I couldn't pull it all out. And one of the things inside of it was a card, and the card said, "You have a parcel waiting as well." So I thought, well, who would have sent a parcel? The rules were very clear. And it wasn't a parcel, it was like another big huge stack of them all, uh, rubber-banded together. You need to put everything on a map to display, Todd. We thought about it. This is from just down the road. This is in BC. Okay, Ladysmith.

Ah, just down the road indeed.

Thank you, Ian. Oh, shout out to PJ, who's, uh, not only a member but also one of our mods. PJ, yo! Oh, what? No! I thought it was empty. I thought it was empty, but it's—

oh, oh, wait, right at the same time, a Sydney glass.

Hey, hang on, hang on. Well, no, we can't be opening two at the same time. That's gonna be— okay, that's small. I will give them— is it actually functional? Is it a sticker?

Can we give one of them at the least because of how small it is?

That is— that is a sticker. That's from— it looks like Lynn. In Ladysmith.

Amazing.

I think we should, I think we should have a shortlist of the smallest.

Yes. And this is another one. You can show that one.

That's—

I'll take that.

Can you put that on a different shortlist though?

Different? Okay. Smallest shortlist.

Smallest.

Okay. Um, I have to mark it actually. Who knew I would be doing administration?

Automatic winner. I may as well shut down. Like, wait till you see the next one if you thought that was This is from Sydney, BC, also on Vancouver Island. Hold on a second. I'm just trying to make sure— some of you wrote your full names and home addresses on here, so we got to be careful. A very tiny piece of sea glass that says Sydney on it.

I feel like this one deserves some creativity points.

So the rule was that it had to have the name of the community on it. Yeah, and we didn't say how. We didn't say how. I think I may have gone back and forth on it, but anyway, that qualifies.

Well, that's okay because a lot of the submissions went back and forth on whether they needed to go along with the letter-sized characteristic.

Oh, and they have that cute— and they have like, it's a map and they've like marked things as well. Accessible walkways.

There's like Sydney is the town where my grandma—

free parking for employees— grew up and was born. State-of-the-art accessible bathrooms. There are lifts and more. So that's really cool.

She certainly knows how to play to her audience.

Yeah, I'm kidding. Okay, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

Um, my family, my mom's, or my, my dad and his grandma and her sisters all grew up in Sydney and have many happy memories of Sydney Spit. And barbecues and stuff like that in the summer. OK. This is going on the small pile.

OK. Another BC. This is from Cranbrook. Very close to where I used to work. When I worked my very first job in radio was in—

Can you give them the line? KBS.

Oh, we used to have to answer the phone by saying, "Hello, KBS. It's great to be in the Kootenays." And I hated everything about it.

I was thinking of the one you were like, "The Kootenay KBS Kootenay Cruiser!" Oh, my job.

KBS Coca-Cola Kootenay Cruiser. Check. That was basically my weekend job. Okay, so this—

ooh, patches!

Oh, and retro! So this is a fabric patch and this is Cranbrook District Cub Car 2001. I may put this on one of my coats.

Cool.

And this is from Lisa in Cranbrook. It is a vintage Cub Scout Canada badge from the Cranbrook Cub Cars 2001. That is a cool one.

That is pretty cool. I think vintage deserves— should this be our like distinction pile?

Yes.

Okay.

Yes. That's not a distinction.

That's not it?

No. Oh, savage. Well, it's, it's a little big. All right, hang on a second. Why did people like put— can you work on that?

Yes, this one's open for you.

People like put tape everywhere. Okay. This is from Ontario. It's from Almonte, or Almonte. I don't have my style guide with me to know how to pronounce that.

Excuse me, Mr. Seville, Brantford, Ontario. You need a bit of an intervention about your taping.

Careful with the address. Yeah. OK. From Cindy and Tim in Almonte. This is actually kind of a funny— maybe the— Maybe the letter— sorry about the light. Oh my God.

It's fine. Whatever.

So—

What if you just turned this one slightly on an angle so it wouldn't get the shiny things?

I can't. It's like locked down. It is. It's lo—

I—

you try. You try it.

I'm just being— I want a little light on myself. I'm good now.

So this is from Almonte.

It is—

there's a big letter. I'm not going to read it all. Encloses a souvenir of the closest town to our home in the valley, Almonte, Ontario. 'A word of explanation of the button is necessary, and it is included here.' And then it is like an entire letter of explanation about the button. So this is not an essay contest. If you're, if you're interested, it is an essay. If you're interested in Almonte, actually there's even more about Stuart MacLean's visit, uh, then Google Almonte, Ontario, or Almonte. I'm sorry. I kind of dig the, um, the button though. The button's cool. Like, it's just like maybe their former names. I don't know, I would read all of it, but we have a lot to go through, so yeah. Um, how about I just put the ones that we're done with over here in this?

No. Okay, I'm putting them— I have a bin here.

Oh, do you? Okay, okay, okay. Oh, these are— are these two open?

Yes, for you. I gave you— that's what I'm doing. I am helping. Please let me help you.

This is from Moranville, Alberta. By the way, if one of yours comes up, please let us know in the chat. Yes, Sue, this is live. This is really live. If you're watching this now. OK. Moranville, Alberta. From Greg. "Here is a lapel pin from my hometown of Moranville." Is it—

which province?

Alberta. Alberta.

Alberta's on the map! Finally.

Alberta finally gets on the map. It is wrapped, so I will take the wrapping off. And this is the entry from Morinvale, Alberta.

Oh, that's open.

It's really hard, kind of hard to do. Sorry. There we go. There we go.

Oh, that's a nice pin. We're gonna have to do a BC Bob, um, collab because he's a big pin guy.

Is he?

Yeah, and he's got all the pennants from like all the provinces in BC. Every province deserves a BC Bob. So these is— this is your pile.

Okay, 10 down, 190 to go. You joke, but— Brantford, Ontario.

This may become a 2-episode thing.

Yeah, maybe.

Brantford!

Thank you, Danny. You're very welcome. No problem. You need to make categories for items. I know, this became bigger than we thought it was going to be, to be honest. Alright, Brantford, Ontario. From Amanda in Brant County. Brant is on the front and Burford's on the back. Oh, good grief. I'm sending you this path tag that was made for the only geocaching mega event in Canada. In 2025—

That's a cool one.

Bobby. More than 1,200 geocachers will descend on Burford Oh, from September 25th to 28th of this year and participate in a ton of geocaching activities over 4 days, more than doubling the population of the town.

That's pretty cool.

Geocaching is a global GPS-based treasure hunt game, and Pathway— PathTags are a custom signature item made and collected by geocaches— geocachers around the world. PathTags is a small business, and we love supporting them. There are more than 50,000 1,000 path tags to trade and collect. This looks like a button. It's not though. It's just a coin. It's like— it's like a tiny coin, basically. We're really excited to welcome geocachers from all over the world to Burford and have confirmed attendees from 49 states, 10 provinces, and 5 countries. That is really cool. I'm gonna put that one on the shortlist. Okay, I think that's—

this is over here.

Yeah, so congratulations, you have made it to the shortlist.

I, I agree. I think it's fascinating. And also like the whole idea that it doubles your town's population, and I think that's really neat.

That is really cool.

And this is the Alberta one, right? No.

Oh, what?

This is Brantford, or—

I don't know, I thought it was Alberta.

Hang on, sorry, one sec. Burford, Ontario. So this is the wrong— that's okay, I see. I thought it was fine.

It's fine. Maybe we should have a better system. Did you take the chicken out?

No, was I supposed to?

Yes.

Okay, okay, okay.

St. Catharines, Ontario.

I need to be in a union.

No kidding. So— oh, good grief. St. Catharines, Ontario. Okay, so first of all, here is the official entry. It is a button. It's kind of a cute little button, actually. I can't— I don't know what to do with the light.

Just don't fuss with it.

I do. I am fussing with it.

That's apparent.

Oh, there. I don't know. Anyway, sorry about that. So this is from— what did I say? St. Catharines, Ontario. And very briefly, hello friend to the north, dear Canada from America, under Oh, you know, I want to share a little piece of my heart where I please came from.

I was trying to do the little heart, but I kept doing it the wrong way, and instead you did like the smallest violin in the world. I did not do that.

Uh, I was raised—

getting worse.

I was raised in a home established in 1826, once known as the Captain's House, overlooking the first Welland Canal. Growing up there was like being surrounded by living history, a daily reminder of the ships sailors and stories that help shape our community. It's quite a long letter, so forgive me for not being able to read it, but we will definitely read these all tonight.

That is Ontario.

And there's like a, there's like an article about— very, very cute. That is a cute button, isn't it? So thank you for that, Sheila. There. I'm just gonna give— all right.

That's a big button.

Yeah.

Oh, it looks like comics. I love it.

This is from Ottawa. Oh, I like it already. Oh yeah, that was a woodland owl. Um, um, so this is— I don't, I don't live— this is all— this is the only thing in the card. I don't live there, but Lanark Highlands Highlands is an overlooked treasure.

I don't think we— it even occurred to us that someone might submit a tour— like a souvenir from a different town. You get points for originality.

Sorry.

Lisa is filling out her application to move to Canada and is a nurse.

Great. Make sure that you go to this website over Here, nanaimoinfusion.ca. That will give you all sorts of information about coming to Canada, and you can look at Nanaimo and Vancouver Island, which is where we live. Ooh, all right, this is unmarked. Oh, it's from Zeballos, BC. Yeah, from Sherry in Zeballos. It is, first of all, it is a hand-knit thing with a zipper.

Oh, we've got someone from New York metro area, Florida.

This is the— honestly, this is the fanciest delivery system I've seen yet.

That is so cute. I like— I love a sewist. How pretty is that little like coin purse with a cute little cat on the inside? I don't know if anyone can see the cat. Um, hang on. This is very attractive.

There you go. Uh, also unmarked. Oh no, this is, this is Manitoba. Manitoba gets on the board first. First one. And it is, it is, hang on now, I thought the other one was empty too and it was It's very, very tiny, so let's just see.

Yeah, we don't want to lose the tiniest.

This is the first one that is just a card. It's just a— it's just a— it's just a very lovely card. So, thank you for that.

What a cruel irony it would be if someone sent truly the smallest souvenir and we lost it while we were opening the letter.

Michael from Winnipeg, thank you very much for the card. Is this next?

Yep.

This is Listowel, Ontario. Sweet. I don't think we've had anyone in the chat whose stuff has been pulled yet. Have we?

Well, I don't know if we can even see that. Someone from North Carolina. Someone from Arizona. Oh, no. Arizona daughter.

I'm sending you our junior B hockey team pin. We are from Listowel, Ontario, and they are called the Listowel Cyclones. They won the 2024 Sutherland Cup and our community is so very proud of them. Our grandson comes over for dinner every Friday night when they play in town and he gets to the game with his papa. That's a cool one.

Oh, Winnipeg. Winnipeg on the map.

That's a cool pin. That is a cool pin.

I do like that. This is, like, artistic.

Oh, that was your path tag. Okay, see, we got the GPS— no, not GPS.

Pasha, way to go!

The geocaching person is here.

That was the first entry on the, like, shortlist.

You have been shortlisted for the prize.

Way to go. Um, did I mark this one?

Listowel is where Letterkenny's based up. Oh, I didn't know that. That's cool. Okay.

Oh, sorry. I haven't opened this one. But it is partly open.

All right, this is from Pointe-Sapin, New Brunswick. Might be—

New Brunswick on the map!

New Brunswick gets in there, dudes. This is from Michelle in Pointe-Sapin.

That's the address.

Oh, thank you. And they are two magnets, and this looks like a really beautiful community. There's magnet number one with my stupid light. There's magnet number one.

Actually, it's not bad without the light on us. Like, it's not great, it's not bad.

Yeah. And this is magnet number two. You know, oddly enough, it's actually better without the light on, on that. Yeah, maybe what I'll do is I'll like Aim it up.

Yeah, there we go. I like it. Hope you can see us. Yeah, Todd will never rest if the lighting is not optimal.

Randall, thank you so much. Never voted for you know who. Thank you very much. Yeah, I guess that's visible. It looks really dark here, so that's why we're— thank you. Yes, that's those. We needed an assistant to do this. I was not expecting this. This is also ASMR. No, like an assistant for you.

That's fun.

This is from Vancouver, just across the pond. I think it's— it might be seppong. This is from Jane in Vancouver. You're asking for tiny treasures. I'm sending you a fridge magnet I made as a souvenir of my home community. Of my home community in Ontario where I was raised, but not even one person lives there anymore. Oh, although the name still appears on road maps. Back in the day, only my parents and 5 siblings actually lived at Murphy's Corners.

Ah, is her name Murphy?

Murphy's— Murphy's the middle name.

Ah, well, it's her— probably her unmarried name, right?

Um, and way before that it was a stagecoach stop on Old Hastings Road. So before now there's never been a souvenir of my community with or without its name on it, so thanks for the inspiration. This is the first— thank you, Amy.

Thanks, Amy. And I think there's one further up too. I can't—

there was—

there— did we thank them already? Randall, thanks guys.

So that's really cool. But the place got its name from Murphy. My Murphy Great-grandfather and his 6 brothers who came to Canada in the 1850s from the Irish famine. Wow, it's very cool.

I took it out, I didn't mean to. There we go. This one I think is on its own.

Okay. Oh yeah, it is a— it's really cool. It's Sydney. It is from— heading out to get my morning Timmies and a twofer.

It just has initials, so I just want to make sure we didn't miss this one.

Sydney by the Sea.

Is this the Murphy one? So Sydney, this is—

I—

was it called Sydney by the Sea once? And it's because I've heard people always say that, but I've never heard it called Sydney by the Sea. It's not far from Nanaimo, for those who aren't from BC. But, um, that is another Ontario.

Yeah, we needed a letter.

This one isn't— is about Ontario but is from Vancouver. Yeah, we'll make that an Ontario. I don't know.

Okay, this is from New Brunswick, another New Brunswick entry. A lot of New Brunswick entries. This is from Hartford.

Only 2 so far.

Hey Siri, turn on the living room lights.

Sorry for anyone that we just—

oh, sorry. Yeah, mute if you have that. Mute your— mute your thing for a second. Hey Siri, change the living room lights to white.

Hi, do you want to come up?

That's a little better. So I hope this finds you fair to middlin'. I'm writing to you today from Heartland, New Brunswick. Heartland is a small but mighty— underlined twice— town located along the banks of the beautiful St. John River. Pictured is our beloved "and world's longest covered bridge. Our bridge puts Heartland on the map and attracts busloads of tourists from all over the world. She's a real beauty, ain't she wah?" Ain't she wah? "You strike me as being a reader, hence the attached magnetic bookmark featuring our bridge. Thank you." Aww. "Love your work. Pick me, pick me," says Jackie. And then we have, I guess Jackie is a hair person, a hairstylist. Because we got an appointment card and it says, "At a time and a place that works for you." Which is very pleasant.

Does that mean that she's coming out to do our hair?

Or maybe she just will take you whenever she needs it. Where would you like me to put completed things? Up there?

Up that way.

Okay.

I suppose you could dump them on the floor, but that seems mean.

Pen ticktin. This is BC. Oh, best letter yet, honestly. So it is a bumper sticker of Ogopogo, which is like our Loch Ness Monster. And, and this person has got checkmarks by them.

Why are we— I love that.

And they are— I know, I know. Must say the community name on it, check. Must fit in a letter-size envelope, check. Nothing radioactive, check. It's useless. Who would put a bumper sticker on the car unless you're from Saskatchewan? Unless you're a Saskatchewanian protecting the paint from radioactive fallout. That's pretty good.

Is that real? Is that what you call—

that's really good.

I always thought Saskatchewaners would be a great name.. But I think people from Saskatchewan don't wander that much. I don't know. Tell me. Tell me if I'm wrong. We're doing a little square dance with our letters. Oh, this is so cute.

This is Port Hope, Ontario. Thank you, Sheila. Barb from Port Hope, Ontario. I— here's what I didn't expect out of this, is all the stories of the communities. Like, I knew that we would get a couple, but like, everyone has put a story.

This is like a Classic CBC summer content right here.

Oh, it totally is.

We're gonna have to like sell them on a show for next year.

Hello, Todd, from Port Hope, Ontario, a beautiful small town on Lake Ontario with the Ganaraska River running right through it. A lot of small town theater festivals. Also, the IT movies were filmed here. We also have an Olympus Burger.

IT or it?

IT. Olympus Burger that was featured on the You Gotta Eat Here and voted number 1 burger in Canada a few years ago. This tattoo we all got on Canada Day.

Yes, and it's backward. You can go back and watch from the beginning. You don't have to start right now.

Yeah, you can just drag the little red bar to the back and/or to the left and start it wherever you like. It's backwards because it's a tattoo.

Oh. Cool. I don't think we've had a tattoo.

I don't think we've had it.

OK. Can I just say, whatever—

Barb from Port Hope. Yes. Trish, Barb's last name starts with a C, if that helps.

Um, what— one of you crazy people sent us a postcard wrapped in plastic and tape. I saw someone mention that they wrapped it all in tape to get it past the customs officials. It's only available to people in Canada.

Yes, Amy, you have to tell people not radioactive because Saskatchewan people are freaks.

Radioactive, radioactive.

Thank you, Esther. No problem. Oh, we're happy to do this.

Okay, where did the thing inside go? Wasn't there like— oh, there it is.

Did we not— I thought you opened this.

I tried. I didn't want to completely open it because I wanted you to see the travesty of the plastic.

I got it. Kingsville, Ontario. And then Ontario. And it's, it is a, uh, it's a photo of a tall ship at Kingsville dock, Canada's most southern town, by the way.

Oh, Kingsville, Ontario.

And there you go.

Can I, can I just mention that this is a postcard, and where the normal writing would have been There's writing on the plastic, and there's writing on the back of this. So that, I assume, so you can use the postcard? Well done. Well done.

D. Lake from Tiny, Ontario.

Oh! Well done. Well done.

And it says Elmville. I made it too big. There you go. Elmville. From Margie. Thank you, Margie.

Is that like a Mennonite community with the— Horse-drawn carriage? Is it Ontario?

Yeah, it must be Ontario.

Ontario, yeah. Tiny Ontario! Love it.

I hope we have nurses and doctors watching.

Um, can't, uh, there's been one. Lisa is a nurse from New York.

Oh, good.

And someone in there has a nurse, um, someone from, a daughter from Arizona.

If you are a healthcare professional, especially if you're in the US and you are looking for a safe place to be, be like Canada, go to this address down here that says nanaimoinfusion.ca, and there's information about where we live, and we would love to have you. And if you want to learn more about Canada or you're Canadian, I have a free newsletter and you can join it. There's the address there. This is from— oh, I'm gonna get in trouble— this is from Suri. Did I do it right? Like Manitoba and Newfoundlanders?

Like Suri the—

actually, I think it's PEI—

mouse.

Sorry, no, S-I-R-I. Okay, um, Surrey, Manitoba, and there's one on PEI as well. Um, oh my God, there's a lot here.

Oh, this has a very tiny thing.

This is nice.

Oh, it's woodcut too. Oh, that's pretty.

It's gonna go on our Christmas tree.

I think I like— I think I want that in the from Surrey. In the ranking pile.

Manitoba. And the Chamber of Commerce business directory, in case you'd like to know there.

And just covering all the bases.

More information about Surrey, Manitoba there. I got in trouble because I pronounced Surrey, P.E.I. I pronounced it Sures.

Really?

There was a reason for it, and it escapes me why now, but I, um, Oh, here, this goes in that as well. Anyway, I now have a book that tells me how to pronounce things right. I mostly know how to pronounce things correctly. This is from Manitoba. Artona, Manitoba. I didn't, I didn't quite get it right.

Oh, that's two Manitobas in a row.

Hi, Todd. Altona, Manitoba is a great place for families to thrive. Lots of immigrants and activity choices. A place for young and old. Pick me, it says.

Pick me!

And the smallest possible object. Oh, it is a good idea. No.

Oh, I forgot to mark that one off. So a map. It's a case we're visiting.

Oh, it's not just a map, it's like, it's like the, the official town plan.

Oh, it's so tiny.

It does look really tiny. Um, can I— I might frame that and put it on.

Okay, do you want me to put down that one?

Um, yeah, can you put it aside? I might frame that one. That was kind of good art.

I love stuff like that.

Yeah, totally.

Todd has a bit of art that's the radio frequency chart. It's very cool. It's very modern.

Yes, medical fields are needed everywhere in Canada. New Brunswick is beautiful. Any province you want, they are all competing for you. If you are healthcare, we would be happy to take you. This is from—

ooh!

Ladies and gentlemen, we have our first American entry. Welcome.

I thought we said no.

No, we said that they were not eligible to win.

Oh, right.

But they are welcome to send us things.

Aw, nice.

So our first American friends have entered the game. They're from—

Oh, Sue's in the chat. There she is.

"Oh, Sue's in the chat. Yay." IA. What state is IA?

Iowa?

Is it Iowa or Indiana?

Sue, tell us. I think it's Iowa, personally. But I don't know.

From Pleasant Hill, either Iowa or Indiana.

Pleasant Hill is one of those city names that there's one in every Midwestern state.

Yeah.

I'm pretty sure. Oh, they're getting hearts.

From all of this, save this card. I have not looked at the inside yet. "From all of us. Save this card. Years from now you can look back at it and say, 'Who are all these people?'" So this is what they— I just want to make sure there's nothing— Docs, anyone? No. OK. So this is their entry. It is a pin. A little hard to see because my lighting is bad here. It says Altuna Balloon Fest 1991. Also a retro. We should have had a retro category.

Altuna, Altona.

So not, not possible to be entered into the contest because it's a Canadian contest, which is mostly because we don't want to pay the tariffs. I guess the tariffs—

well, or just get it across the border. But this, like, Non-machinable stamp is pretty much—

Iowa. It's Iowa.

Ah, okay. I was right. The, uh, non-machinable, not letter mail. That's okay. We enjoyed opening it.

Hamilton, Ontario. Ontario, Ontario.

Ontario.

I've been listening to your spots on YouTube. I've really enjoyed seeing them.

Ontario.

Hang on. I'll do this better. And this seems so much easier in rehearsal. There we go.

Did we rehearse?

I did.

Hehe.

Especially since the Pumpkin of the South showed up. I came across this pin yesterday. I hope it makes it. This pin is the front of the Dundas, Ontario Legion, which will be celebrating its 100th anniversary next year in Dundas, Ontario. Wow. That's a cool one.

That means they had a Legion from right after World War I. Like, oh yeah, 4 or 5 years after.

Oh cute, I'm a social worker. We do need social workers here, and if you go to that website down there, nanaimoinfusion.ca, you can get information about how to start the process. Thank you. I only found out about this contest a day ago.

Oh no, well, you'll have to wait till next year.

Exactly. Okay, we might do it again. We might do it again. We'll— it'll be something different, but we know it'll be a much narrower window. Another New Brunswick!

That's great.

Another New Brunswick. This is—

oh, I remember we opened this one when we looked at them the first time.

Yeah, there's a few we cheated and looked at. This is a duck pin from Sackville, New Brunswick.

Do you want to come up?

Only kind of half exists in that we've been amalgamated into a larger municipality called Tantramar. So this duck will never again be made.

Tantramar?

It is from—

that's an interesting name.

Oh no, strange name, Tantramar.

Like Sackville, at least you know how to spell it.

It's from a land of ducks, actual ones on the marshes that surround us. Ducky's on the Bar, Chirps the Bird, Ducks Aren't Real the restaurant. I have no idea what this means. They may have been having a stroke when they wrote it. Our crosswalks have little ducks on them, our hollow Holiday lights. Ducks. We're a little obsessed. You should be too with our duck pin. It is a beautiful duck pin.

I love the sales talk on that though. That's great.

It is a beautiful pin. Thank you for promoting our country to healthcare professionals. No problem. We're all— everyone's doing their part in this country.

Well, we could do better on water quality, but—

We can do better on a lot of things.

But the more healthcare workers, the merrier.

This is from Berwick, Nova Scotia. You gotta hand it to the Atlantikers. The Maritimers are like— the Maritimers are coming in strong. Yeah, from like the furthest distance away. Sending you a big Canadian hello from the heart of the beautiful Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia. We moved here 7 years ago to escape the ever-increasing smothering of the English language in Quebec, where we had lived our entire lives. Please accept this small memento of Berwick, Nova Scotia, our small town with a big heart.

Aww.

And this is from Wendy, who has included her email and says, just in case I win. This is really cute. Come on, my camera. There we go. The Apple Capital of Nova Scotia.

Say that 3 times fast. Apple capital.

That is, that is really cute. I do, I do like it. All right, we have not made a dent in that.

This may be a weekly thing for a while, or Tod Maffin do its I may have to do a second.

All right, again, New Brunswick. The Maritimers, man.

There's one province in the Atlantic that is not considered maritime, and I don't know which one it is, and they have sent me— I resent them. I don't understand.

They've sent me a sheet of paper towel. No, I think it was meant to, to be associated with this.

A cushion.

A cushion.

I remember we opened that. I like that one because it has a little bit of like plaid on it.

I am from the town of Oromocto, New Brunswick. It's always been— hang on, let me get it so I can— it has a, it has a tartan with it. That is really cool. It's always been labeled Canada's Model Town. Okay, we are home to base Gagetown. Our town is made up largely of military and civilian families. Enclosed is a pin and a sample of our tartan from Donna. It's on the shortlist. Congratulations, Donna. There you go, it has made it to the shortlist. Strictly because of the tartan.

Look, look!

Oh, magnetics! Shirtless, please. Oh no, sorry, sorry, sorry. Oh, thank you, Bernard. Thank you so much. Um, okay, setting this New Brunswickers, people, do you not have enough to do?

Maybe you should run for mayor there.

Maybe.

Well, I know it's not all one town. I get it. All right, Miramichi.

Miramichi is sending this from one of the best names, Red Bank, New Brunswick. The beautiful Miramichi River runs by my house. Keep watching. So this is from Margaret in Red Bank, Red Bank, New Brunswick. New Brunswick is gunning hard.

They're—

Churro, come here please. Leave the cat alone.

There's more from New Brunswick than there is from Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba put together.

Really?

Yeah.

You're gonna need a bigger piece of paper than that. Yeah. Uh, Judy from Cultus Lake, BC. Yeah, the tartan one is adorable.

The animals are getting restless.

Thank you for your content, I'm really enjoying it. My second favorite next to Rick Mercer.

Aww.

I'm trying to not read the things to me. I miss that. My husband and I passed by Nanaimo on our way to visit my brother in Tofino. He has been— Are you guys good?

Yeah, they're, they're having a little play. We have a little dog and she's not even 2 years old and she's part Schnauzer and part Dachshund and she runs like the Road Runner. Yeah, on the cartoons, she's like, woo, and she just runs. She's chasing the cat.

Cultus Lake, BC. I almost want to shortlist it just simply for the fact that what they sent fits perfectly in my little square, in my little show-off.

I like the sticker. I think it's really cute. Yeah. And "Go jump in the lake" is, like, perfectly representative of what we used to do at Cultus Lake.

This is a postcard from— ah! Guess what? Guess what province? New Brunswick.

That's Oromocto too, isn't it?

No, no. I mean, New Brunswick is killing it. Yeah. Greetings from French— the French fry capital of the world. Have you heard of us? I thought you would find it interesting. My street is named after a potato. Funny, so is my video game aiming. It happens to be the most beautiful place. There, the headquarters for McCain Foods is here where it originated. So there you go.

You guys, chill out.

That's really cool. I did—

that was not cheering at chilling out.

Is it? I think the cat is goading her on. That's why.

Yeah.

I could separate them.

Okay, no, you just keep opening. He's got a good pile here. Okay, okay, I'll deal with these.

Where do you want me to put them after? Put them here.

The used ones over here.

Okay. Burlington, Ontario is next. This is from Jan in Burlington, Ontario. Here is my contribution for Canada's Biggest, Smallest Contacts from Burlington, Ontario. Maybe not that, that not, maybe not that creative but could be useful. And oh, So there's a, there's a bunch of them. So there is—

here's the general, you've already read them. Okay, that's the special mention, and this is the ranking pile.

That's the shirtless pile. Yeah. Okay, what's this one again?

That's the, like, another reason for an award but not quite the best, right?

Gotcha. Smallest. Smallest. Yeah, I got you. Okay, so Burlington, Ontario. When I share your name with friends, I usually say he's like the West Coast Rick Mercer. I— is so— that is so lovely. No one can replace Rick. I am a weak— a weak— in fact, I ripped off his style of videoing. So, but that is— thank you. That is a huge honor, honestly. Rick's touring, by the way. So if you— it's called the— I can't remember— something Canada tour. I want to say Take Back Canada tour, but that's not it. Anyway, Rick is touring with a couple of really great comedians. And he's on Instagram if you want to follow him. So thank you, Jan from Burlington. OK. Yo, Batman! Why did you—? OK, so Tunk. Someone's called me Tunk, so I think we know who that is. Why is your name Batman? Why is your name Batman? OK. This one has no name on it, so I'm assuming it's radioactive. It is from— no, well, probably Nova Scotia, just judging from the email address. Many years ago, Stuart MacLean and Peter Zosky had a segment, What Can You Buy for a Loonie? As an art teacher, I used this idea for many projects. Buy something for $1 and turn it into a painting, a mini poster, a sculpture. Maybe it's time for this to resurface. All the best, Mar from Nova Scotia, in a very tiny— oh, okay.

Oh, it's tiny.

It's a stamp. It is a stamp.

Oh, that's already on the, the, on the list for me.

But it has like a note inside of it. Oh yo. Yeah, that's what I mean. It's a Oh, it's a book! It's a book! Oh yeah, you're right.

That goes on the list.

Yeah. Okay, so it's a book. In 1773, the ship Hector set sail from Scotland, bringing the first wave— oh— of Scottish settlers to New Scotland. Yeah, this is 100% shortlisted. "A replica of the Hector awaits your visit in Pictou Harbour, Nova Scotia." Oh, with a heart, with a fabric tartan. Oh, yeah. That one, 100% shortlisted.

Originality, artistic quality.

It's got everything.

History. All the things.

It came out of this. Envelope here. So Mar from Nova Scotia, congratulations, you have made it to the shortlist. That is adorable. Tiny book.

Oh, Irene's hometown. Oh, here. Tunk and his sequin top. Hey, how's it going? Oh, Cochrane, Alberta. Oh, not my relatives.

Not your relatives.

We're Cochranes with no E. Cochrane. Okay.

Love your Insta content, is wonderful. Regards, Maggie. Thank you, Maggie. Thank you, thank you. So that is Cochrane, Alberta. I'm gonna try and speed these up.

This is the most boring fun thing to do. It is, isn't it?

Yeah. Wanted to say hello from Sheet Harbour, Nova Scotia, and wish you a bright and beautiful day. Here it is. It is a tiny pin of the Nova Scotia flag. Beautiful. What a beautiful flag they have. Yeah.

Nova Scotia is my—

this is my hometown where I was born and raised from 1956. It is a small rural community along the eastern shore of Nova Scotia. We have a wonderful history of which we're very proud. Our Chamber of Commerce celebrated its 90th anniversary in May. Our Lions Club is celebrating its 78th year this summer, and the 50th anniversary of our Seaside Festival. We have a lobster fishery— I'm jealous— here, and a number of lovely businesses, and so many lovely residents. Come visit Sheet Harbour, Nova Scotia. And this also came in it. Oh, it was the email address. That's good. Excellent, excellent. Amber is waiting for hers to come up. Excellent. There's to come up. Sorry, Amber, did not— do not wish to assume. Tiny Book surpasses Duck. Yeah, I think Tiny Book— I think Tiny Book does surpass Duck. A Tiny Book. Tiny Book and Tartan are my favorites. Yes. Or they're in the lead in my head so far. Laura from Edmonton, Alberta.

Oh, Alberta's woken up.

Alberta's— was that the first one?

No, no. No, it's their third.

It's their third. And it is their airport code.

We've had more from Brantford, Ontario than Alberta. Yeah.

So thank you for that. Thank you for that, Laura from Edmonton.

That's cool.

I will spread news for healthcare workers. Thank you. Okay, this one is complicated and does not have a return address there. It is— I totally agree, Momo— from New Westminster. That's where I grew up. If you're ever—

the Royal City.

So this is from Leona who appears to run the Greens and Beans Deli. What a great name. "If you're ever in New Westminster, I would love for you to stop by my deli. I've been told that it is the best deli in Canada." So New Westminster, if you're ever by Greens and Beans Deli. And they— this person gave us an old school.

And I have to tell you, that was the button that the gentleman wore in the May Queen dance. It was like the city councillors would get up and dance with the May Queen girls. I don't know if they could do that anymore.

It is a shiny jacket, Jeff, yes. Shiny. Ontario. Oh, it's heavy. Eudora, Ontario. It is a pin.

Oh my lord.

If we do this again, the winner is just going to be the one that's easiest to get into the package. Instant win. I will zoom in on that shortly.

There'll be one week, only one week to get it in.

This is from Kellyanne in, in Eudora, Ontario. Town of Georgina. Small areas such as Eudora, Keswick Sutton, Pfefferlaw, Egypt, Jersey, and Baldwin. I want to live in Pfefferlaw. It sounds like an insult that the British would give you. Yeah, you're such a, you're such a Pfefferlaw.

Pfefferlaw. Pfefferlaw. Reminiscent of grade, show and tell in grade school, but less inappropriate things. Where did you go to grade school? Cool, Casey.

It's show and tell with Canadian stories.

I feel, I'm feeling the, like, super duper CBC Radio vibes. Oh, where did they say?

Are you planning a road trip? That would be amazing.

Momo Craft said, I was thinking of sending you my Expo Ernie volunteer pin but didn't want to part with it.

Oh, I don't blame you.

Tod is a huge Expo fan. I am.

I don't blame you for not wanting to part with it. So there are 2 pins here. This is coming from James Light, and I live in— oh, sorry, I'm trying not to use last names. I live in a small city in southwestern Ontario called Chatham-Kent. Our claim to fame is— I've heard of Chatham-Kent. I thought it was a region. Our— oops, hang on. Our claim to fame is hometown of Fergie Jenkins, the professional baseball player. Obviously. The Retro Fest, which is a classic car weekend. The first Hawaiian pizza was invented here. Country music singer Michelle Wright was born here. Olympic figure skater Shaelen Bourne was also born here. Geographically, we are 1 hour east of Detroit and 3 hours west of Toronto. P.S., we are booked a vacation in Vancouver and Port Alberni next year. Nice. So that's that pin. And then there's also this pin pin as well. Very cool. This looks like a— this looks like a municipal pin, doesn't it? Totally.

Like, it is probably—

probably is. Yes. Merci. Okay. Oh, good pins. Langley, British Columbia. Oh, Langley. Wow. Oh, okay, no, no, no email address, but a name. Mimi from Langley, and they are— oh, they are participant pins from the BC Summer Games. Hang on. Oh, there, I got it. Participant pins from the BC Summer Games. So I'm guessing Mimi was a contestant. And has sent us their pins. Mimi, do you want this back?

No, they, they, they give you more pins these days.

Oh, do they?

They know you're gonna trade them. I mean, that's in my experience.

So thank you, very cool. Um, so that was— makes me feel sporty because I never was. That was BC. Ow!

This one's a pile of pins from the BC Winter Games and the Canada Winter Games. I went to Bathurst, Campbellton, Ken's Winter Games, and Corner Brook.

Merlin, Ontario.

Already just an amazing name, Merlin.

It's wood. It's wood. It's like a balsa wood.

Oh, it's wood burned. That's the craft of it, is that it's like artistic wood burning. Oh, I hear people set themselves on fire with that sometimes. Oh, so they made this?

Yeah. Yeah, that's cool. I was excited to enter your contest. Our town, just over 600 residents, is not big enough to have our own souvenirs, so I made one as small as I could and still had my wood burning legible. I love it. Merlin is a small farming community not far from the shore of Lake Erie. The beer mug represents the start of the town, a bar. The saw blade is for another early business, a sawmill. The wheat, of course, portrays all of the local farmers, which included myself and my husband for 40 years until we retired in 2018. Merlin, Ontario was originally named Smith Corners. In 1816, it was renamed after the Merlin Hawk. There is plenty more history, but I'll leave it there. Thanks again, it was a hoot. Thank you, that's really cool. Very cool. So that's Ontario. Okay, what was this one again? The Return. Hey, what's up, bud?

Webmaster bud.

Uh, Q— Qunell. "Quenelle BC." What? It's a magnet for the Quenelle Septic Service.

That has to go in the shortlist. That is so funny.

The only thing the letter says is, "We get this magnet every time we get the septic pump." Oh, that was a good—

that's a good joke. That's a great joke, even.

Amber, which one was you? Which one was you? This is from Laurie. Unless two of you sent me a, uh, a septic. You want to shortlist that one, or do you want to put it in the special pile? I'm, I'm—

yeah, I'm gonna put it in the special pile for comedy. The comedy award. The, uh, honorable mentions for other things. Yeah, that was pretty— I mean, the humor alone was was totally worth it. Lucy Quinell!

Oh, and Lucy's a member! Thank you, Lucy. Lucy is a member of my YouTube channel.

Uh, way to go, Lucy.

This one— this one is— what are you doing?

Oh, this one hasn't been opened yet. Yeah, I got confused.

Go ahead. Niagara Falls, Ontario. Hi, Todd, I've loved your TikToks and told my friend to follow you. You have You were looking for souvenirs from different Canadian places. The item I'm sending to you was iconic in my youth. Don't take any wooden nickels. Have you ever thought of running for office? I don't know, it's gonna be a little hard to show.

Is it carved? Here we go.

Oh, cool. There we go. Canada's year round. It's a, it's a wooden coin. I really like it. I love it.

It's very cool. I kind of want to pick that for something. I don't know what.

It's super light.

Okay, I'm jumping at this ahead because this is very funny.

Um, have I ever thought of running for office? Not seriously. No, seriously, I have seen how hard those people work. Yeah, exactly, it's too much work. I'd have to leave the house and I don't like leaving the house. That's not a joke, I legitimately do not like leaving the house.

So he's an indoor cat.

Yeah. Victoria, BC. Hey, Vancouver Island! It's not official merch, but I had to send it because of how much it— I'm just gonna— I'm gonna read it first. I— this is my entry to Canada's Biggest, Smallest Contest. It's not official merch, I just sent it because of how much it amuses me. Our community Facebook group— this is going into the comedy, yeah, honorable mentions. Our Facebook group Oak Bay Local can get real heated up about some real small things, and many of us are merely there to scroll the comment section with a bowl of popcorn. One particularly hot-button topic in this area of precious lawns and gardens is the standard leaf blower. Tod, I cannot begin to sum up the number of hours that people in this community have spent complaining about this basic tool. It's now become a standing— please wait for this, the punchline is great— it's now become a standing joke. Any complaint or question about anything at all will invariably get at least 3 people commenting "blame the leaf blowers." One particularly charming member of the group, Zoltán, jokingly, I think, proposed that we make our own local Oak Bay local merchandise and sketched up a mock version with the caveat that the drawing would have to be better. Of course, everyone thought it was hilariously perfect as it is, and he uploaded it to a site for us to purchase as we saw fit. The plan was to donate proceeds to charity, but I'm not sure anyone took it seriously enough for anything except for me. I had to buy a mug and a sheet of these stickers. Are you ready, people? It says Oak Bay Blows, and it's a guy—

it's a sticker. It's a sticker of a guy, a stickman with a leaf blower to symbolize the True consensus of the community. I don't know, it's one of those jokes that's less funny when you explain it, but it was very funny.

Comedy shortlist, 100%. That's over here. It's over there. That's awesome. Parksville, BC. Oh yeah, Parksville, BC, just up the road from us. Literally. Yeah.

Oh wait, this is so cute.

This is from Pam. Please attach my browsing find. I am enamored by this pin as it contains endless stories. I'm new to Parksville. When I first moved here, I met an interesting chap upstairs in Quality Foods. He'd spread out his many finds— sorry, I'm reading ahead to make sure there's nothing personal on this. He spread out his many finds on a table and encouraged people to both look and/or choose one for themselves. He explained to me that his wife had passed, he lived alone, and recently suffered a stroke. He continued to say he walked up to Quality Foods with his finds.

Oh, that's pretty.

I like that one. With his finds. Set them out so that he could have connections with people. This helped in his recovery. I did find a jacket patch I could connect with It led us to exchanging memories of when we both worked and lived in Northern BC. I was happy to be able to be helpful to his recovery, and I know our conversation made his day. Very cool.

Is that from BC? That's Parksville.

Yeah, that is a lovely story.

A lovely story.

Okay, thank you for that one. That is really cool.

Okay, chat, from here on out for about 5 minutes, you guys have to track where the letters come from, okay? Don't trust them, they can't be trusted. You got it? You, you're with me? Look at me, look at me. Count from right now how many come in for each province, okay? I'll be back in 5 minutes. Shut up, this is gonna be a while.

I'm gonna—

I'm just going to get food and the dog because she's about to fall over. She's so hungry.

Chat, while you're doing that, also, can we take a bit of a poll? We are maybe a fifth of the way through, and it's been an hour. So do you like the stories? Do you like the stories and reading the letters, knowing that this will be a very long evening? Or should we just blast through them and just show you the trinkets? OK. To shorten it up. All right, you guys are responsible for the counting of the provinces. The first province is Saskatchewan. Greenfell, Saskatchewan. This is our first Saskatchewan entry, by the way, and it's from— sorry, Grenfell, Grenfell, Saskatchewan. And it's from Ken. Thank you, Ken. I mean, I love the stories too. You like the story? Yeah. All right, do it, or do it over two nights. We may have to, but Jocelyn is not going to be here tomorrow. Grenfell, Saskatchewan, with a, with a grain, uh, elevator. 1882. That's pretty good. Okay, the stories, we got it, got it. All right, what can you say, they follow a storyteller, so that's— that is true. There was no story in that one, by the way. I didn't— I'm not— I will— we will continue with the stories. Could you bring me one of my fake beers? Yeah. Thank you. Ontario. Chat, put a mark down for Ontario. This is St. Catharines, Ontario. Sorry, St. Thomas, Ontario. Oh, it's another coin. And it is— so first of all, there's a mural guide. So, so, uh, murals like, um, like Chemainus in BC. Yeah. And they have a whole bunch of them. Wow, they have a lot. And what has come is a coin, a jumbo St. Catharine's coin. Okay, literally it says jumbo. St. Thomas. Why do I keep saying St. Catherine? St. Thomas. Not the best video camera in the world, but there you go. Thank you, MJ. Thank you, MJ. Oh, there's a letter. There might be a story. That's yours! Yay, Mary Jo! Hey! I love it when people are in the chat and they get to see theirs. Our city— bruh, no, I'm not talking about you. I stopped because this is not where I thought this story was gonna go. Our city killed a famous elephant named Jumbo.

Oh Jesus, what?

So they made him up to— they made it up to Jumbo by making a coin in its honor. We are also known as the Railway City, so in commemoration of these things The city issued this coin. The "Sorry We Killed You Jumbo Coin." I'm trying to get it so you can see properly. "We have a full-size elephant and a large train at the entrance to our city. For obvious reasons, I couldn't send them." Fair. "Also enclosing a pamphlet of our mural tour. It can be just another submission to keep the coin secure. Sorry I didn't have a letter-sized envelope." That's OK. Thank you. So that, for those of you keeping score, is Ontario. And that is our first elephant killing of the evening, if you are also keeping track of elephant killings.

I try not to. I would like to not know about elephant killings.

All right, chat, write another one down for Ontario, please. Another one for Ontario. This is from Port Hope. This is from Jill in Port Hope, Ontario. "Truth is mighty and will prevail." This is the motto on the high school pin from Port Hope, Ontario that I included. A motto I hope is still relevant in today's world. I believe the pin is— this is on the shortlist, folks. I believe the pin is from the early '50s. It is tiny.

It's like one of those politician lapel pins.

It was with another one that had the year '51 attached to it. The pins are part of a box— thank you— of vintage jewelry that I had purchased at an auction, so I don't mind giving one away. I never attended the high school, but I've lived in this town for 12 years. My mom was born and raised from here. Port Hope is a beautiful little town in Ontario. It has been used as a backdrop for multiple TV shows and movies, including Murdoch Mysteries and Stephen King's It. It's been voted as one of the best small towns to visit. We also have the yearly— we also have the yearly Float Your Fanny Down the Ganny. In addition to being beautiful— where were you people when I was a CBC radio host? Port Hope is quiet and friendly and accepting, a nice place to visit. I think we shortlisted this one.

Okay, do you need any nurses or doctors or healthcare providers? It sounds like Port Hope is a cool place to go.

Yeah, um, so shortlist because look how tiny it is.

Um, Grenfell, Saskatchewan.

So Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Ontario. Okay, thank you. Yeah, this is shortlisted partially because it's old but also because it's tiny, and that was— it's a great And it's a great story. So congratulations.

I would like to suggest, um, Ms. Esther M. Iona said, "I think your chicken's getting cold. You haven't had dinner yet, right? Maybe do an intermission and return nourished. Tonight or another? This is too much fun to rush." I don't know.

I feel like we should just do it all one night.

Tod's a picky eater. I will happily eat my food.

I think YouTube cuts us off after 4 hours anyway.

So we We're not going that long. We might.

Well, look, we've done more than an hour and we've barely made a dent. No, it's about half.

It's not half. I think so, maybe a third.

A third, maybe. And are you feeling well? That's a good question. Burnaby, BC. This is BC. Oh, these are the ones you looked at already.

St. Thomas, Ontario.

Okay, I've lived in Burnaby my whole life. I've always taken pride in— this is a A printout of a Facebook post.

Where did the Port Hope one go?

I put them all here. Oh, that's the one I wanted to shortlist.

I know. I— yeah, nope, that's not it. This is Grenfell.

It's right around here somewhere. Stony Creek is home to returning salmon. This is a long letter, I'm really sorry. I'm really sorry. It's about the developments. The Great Salmon Send-Off. Pollution from ongoing development in the Burquitlam area up the hill. This once pristine creek is being dumped into its waters on a daily basis. Been going on for 5 years now. So yeah, thanks again for your great work. I've since shared your videos with my husband John, and he said, hey, that's Tod from CBC. He came into our maintenance shop in radio all the time. Oh, John! Ah, I'll say hi to John. Oh my gosh, yeah, yeah, yeah, the nerds were in the maintenance shop and I liked hanging out with the nerds. They had all sorts of cool gadgets in there. So thank you, thank you for sending that. An important story. So if you're interested in salmon preservation and so on, we have our very first Our very first Nanaimo, our first hometown local.

Uh, there's someone in the chat.

Queen of Canada, don't worry, this video will still be here tomorrow. It'll be on— this year's cookie gum, it'll be on replay. Nanaimo, it is, uh, it is from Brenda and it is a It is a pin. It is the Harbor City pin, which is the official—

that is the new, like, the more recent logo too.

Yeah, so thank you. Local entry, BC. All right, I'm gonna try— I keep saying I'm gonna try and go faster, but 4 hours. I know, Chris, like, what? Nakusp, BC.

Oh my God, you guys, Nakusp is so beautiful. I can't even explain it. If I was a little bit better with snow, which I'm not, I would want to live in Nakusp. It's so beautiful. Nakusp. It's like living in the Alps, but in BC.

Created by a local resident. This decal was created by a local resident that we have here at our Nakusp Visitor Center. It is— you turn off Highway 1 before you get to Revelstoke. We are known for hot springs, mountain biking, fishing. There's a subliminal message in the decal. Note the heart shape around the US.

I don't really understand why, but we love you. It's like a little la soupe.

Very cool. It is. That's very cute.

I went to Nicosia for my first adaptive mountain biking camp, and it was amazing. One of my very favorite experiences.

Kaiwala, don't worry. You'll be able to watch it at this URL anytime you want. As soon as we go off live, it becomes a replay, and you can watch it on demand whenever you want.

I think you can already watch it as a replay.

Yeah, you can scroll back to the beginning. And I would recommend doing it on, like, 1.5x speed. Acton, Ontario. There's a whole lot in here. So it says, "The treasure is inside the letter." This is very cute. Very cute. Treasure is inside the letter. This is from Lindsay in Acton, Ontario. This is really cool paper.

The dog's like, is a big—

I'm sorry, this is a big letter and it's just—

oh, look at that beautiful brown ink.

Yeah, it's really cool paper. Feel the paper. This is like someone into calligraphy.

It's so beautiful. It's like cotton paper or something.

Like that. Yeah. Can we put this aside so I can read it later? It's just—

well, we're going to have to go through all of them, I think.

Yeah. Separate paper with yes. So, uh, they've also included some other things in here. So thank you, Lindsay. Excellent. I will read that. We will both read that. Dude, it's okay. Toronto has finally made it in the house. We're— ooh, with a sorry not in service TTC bus. Oh, and it says, here's a tiny token of remembrance from Toronto. Literally, it's a Toronto Transit Commission fare token. We're inexplicably nostalgic about Toronto's Red Rocket streetcars that appear in a lot of Toronto-based art and souvenirs. These tokens were decommissioned on June 1st, 2025, so their value— ooh, it's tiny! It's like a little— it's like a baby toonie. Holy cow, those are so—

and it's their own bimetallic coin, way before the toonie ever came around. That's so beautiful. Like, this, this—

their value is either nil or whatever it might be become as future collector's item. This is the other side of it. At least it gets to make— to last a trip across Canada to Nanaimo. That's cool. The card was made by my talented friend Nina, who makes mosaic art form from old TTC monthly bus card passes. Oh, this is the card, but if you look closely It's all— they're all bus passes, maybe.

Cool, I love that. I've always— yeah, they're all—

they're all old. They're like little slivers from them.

In, in the Vancouver area, the bus system used to use these really thin newsprint style bus transfers, and I always wanted to make a big piece of art out of the little newsprint bus transfers, but by the time they got wet, they would just like become pulp in your hands. So it's not very fun. I, I want— I think this deserves an honorable mention. Okay, maybe even the real deal.

I don't know. Comox, Vancouver Island. Comox, BC.

Man, this person and her— is it literally just a piece of cardboard?

What am I missing?

No, there's something on the other side of it, or in between, I think. I remember this is one of the ones you opened before, so it may have not been able to get back in there.

So put it aside and we'll look for it. Yeah, they'll be— sorry about that, Comox. We will, we will find it.

We will find it, because that got opened on video or live a couple weeks ago.

White Rock, British Columbia. New Brunswick has stopped, apparently. I guess they're done.

Maybe it's, you know, we got all of the ones that took a long time to get there. Oh, oh, oh, lucky coins from White Rock.

This is the smallest souvenir I could find from my hometown of White Rock. This is a diagram of White Rock, the magnet, but it is a quarter inch thick. Whoa, it's a coin, lucky coin. That's cool. When you have the smallest souvenir from a country, it is a pendant I bought. I'm a little confused because they've printed out— oh, hang on— because they've printed out like what is essentially the entries. They've printed out the entries. So I am confused. I don't see the magnet in there.

So if this is the magnet—

no, that's a case. That's a case to hold the coin. It's like a little pocket for the coin. That's the coin.

And that, that one wasn't even open, was it?

I don't think so. I don't know if it didn't make it in.

Is it this one?

It's a cool coin. Where you have the envelope? I have the envelope. There's nothing in the envelope. Yeah. Perhaps they forgot it or something. Sorry. But oh, where would you like me to start putting this?

Here.

Ottawa, Ontario. Second Ottawa. This is from Marisa. And Marisa says, boy oh boy, I'm writing to let you know that I'm breaking most if not all of the rules of the teeny tiny souvenir contest. Having said that, it can You can ride shotgun in a Kinder Egg. I love that. And it is not radioactive. So I'm not using a letter-size envelope. I'm repurposing the envelope that was used by the maker to send it to me. Also, it does not show the name of my community. However, I felt very strongly that you, my favorite patriot, needed one of these pins. Oh, thank you. It holds a special place of Canadiana within its tiny die-cut maple leaf. The green. Oh, I know what this is. Yeah. So this is the whole card, by the way. I have one of these. Um, oh, where's the camera? There it is. So this, the green in behind here is not that you see here. The green here is not from the card backing. It's actually copper from the old House of Commons roof. That's why it's under one roof.

And it supports a charity. And it does support a charity.

The green is a small piece of the copper roof of our Parliament buildings. Come here. A lot of people will poo-poo Ottawa as the town that fun forgot. It's been my adopted home for more than 50 years now. Ottawa is lovely. I don't know why people have such a thing about Ottawa.

Those people who have a problem with it, they leave the house at night. Yeah. So, um, so you can—

if you want, you can get one of these if you just Google for like Under One Roof. Um, it goes to a charity. I think it supports developmental, um, developmental disabilities, I believe. So yeah, that is a cool one. I really like those. Um, okay, Hudson, Quebec.

Hudson. Guess who we know in Hudson, Quebec?

Cardinal Brewing! This is Suzanne in Hudson, Quebec. A very simple one. I love Hudson sticker. Cute. I love your videos, they've been getting me through recovering from a broken ankle sustained while stepping off my front step. " Went to my front step to see if my blueberries on the bush outside were ripe. They weren't." Oh, rough. Thank you for that. "How will they be judged? How can you possibly pick?" We're going to— we have a short list going. The way the spirit moves us. Yeah, it's however the spirit moves us. If it's a real— you'll see us argue at the end of which one should win. And if we really can't—

If we get it done before the end of the night, because I'm going to Calgary this week.

Yeah. Okay, this is un— this is from Ontario. Uxbridge, Ontario. Oh boy. If we do this again, we really have to limit people to—

oh, I know that the store stories. Um, Ottawa. There we go. Hudson, Quebec.

And this is, uh, they've included a studio tour, a map of the trails, and it says please accept this for your entry. There we go. See, very simple. Please accept this pin for your entry into your biggest smallest contest ever. Thank you. Thank you, Danielle from Uxbridge, Ontario. Apparently they have studios and trails if you want to go. I just put that here. This is—

oh, that's— wow, that's detailed.

Holy— Linda from Burnaby. That's you? That's you, Danielle? Hey, Danielle! I think it's so cool when people are in the chat. Studio tour. Oh no, wait a minute. This is one we've just— I just— I'm pulling from the wrong pile, I think.

OK. Which one's that one?

That's the Facebook group. Oh, right. This is— oh, another Nanaimo! Another hometown Nanaimo person. No, you haven't read this one.

One yet.

Let me see.

This is from Burnaby. This is not from the Facebook group, is from— like, no, I did read this.

They're talking about the salmon. I did. Okay, did I? Did I? Did— thank you for— I attended your meet and greet, wonderful idea. So they're talking about the Nanaimo infusion. We are still the bathtub city, Piper's Lagoon. So this is from Nanaimo. Wait a minute.

There's a big bathtub festival in Nanaimo.

Oh, oh, yo, I know, comedy shortlist. Yeah, okay, so the, that pile, the, um, the joke here, how many are left? A lot, a lot, so many. Um, the joke here is that it's not a joke, Canada, excuse me, Nanaimo has bathtub races, and so this person has brought a bathtub Not a cork. What would we call these? Plug? Stopper? A stopper. Yeah. And they've just literally written the words Nanaimo Race on it.

So that was very clever.

Comedy shortlist for sure. Comedy shortlist. Congratulations.

I kind of feel like it could be in the regular one, but we'll decide that after.

Right, this pile right here, that's comedy shortlist. Yeah. South Brace, Ontario.

I don't think any of us thought that we would get this much.

Well, I did not think that. I thought we'd get 10. I thought we would get 10.

Yeah, I was like, oh, what if we don't? Is that going to be embarrassing? Nobody sends you anything?

Do you remember the first time that I went to get the mail? I was so excited and shocked that I FaceTimed you. Yes. With like, I put out all, I ran outside the post office, the drugstore, and I laid them all out on the bench And I'm like, "You've got to look at this!" I love that Sue is so worried about your well-being.

She's like, "No, you really need to take a break." I'm getting there.

This is from Rick in South Brace Peninsula, Ontario. "Watch your Facebook posts all the time. I enjoy them. Here's my souvenir from Weerton, Ontario, home of the Weerton Willie." Weerton Willie! "I'm originally from Windsor, now living All right, so it's like a very light coin. There we go, there we go, there we go. Hey, oh, come on, camera.

Oh, it's one of those you put the coin in the machine and you crank it and it flattens it.

Yeah, I think that is what it is.

That's very cool. That's a cool idea actually as a small souvenir.

PJ, you're right, I did not think that many people would come for the infusion. Um, I have big plans for this secret video project as well.

Oh, oh, maybe— can I have to share this one? Okay, I want to share it. Okay, so a couple of, um, weeks ago we opened the first batch, and this one, um, I'll show you, it says Okay, it says small parts inside, and it's just— it's an envelope with a letter in it, and it's got some instructions. And I am the putter-togetherer in our family, and so I got to put this thing together like a Kinder Egg toy. Oh yeah, and it— this is all 3D printed and, um, like designed and 3D printed in, um, Uh, where does he come from again? Um, and it has the name on the side of it of where it came from and Tod's name. Oh, it does have my name on it. Yeah. And oh, this is— this guy's from Mississauga, and, um, he's— it's the Port Credit Lighthouse in Mississauga. And it came all in tiny little pieces, and I got to like put it all together. It was very funny. I loved it. You know, I begrudgingly loved it given that it was shipped to us in this definitely not letter size package. So that is for sure going on our tree, I think. Actually, this, this deserves to be in this hat.

This one is from Ontario. It's from Nipigon, Ontario. Nipigon, not Nipigon. No. Oh no. Wow. Okay, um, there you go. It's a magnet. This one's a magnet, by the way, not a pin.

I do love magnets. We're gonna have magnets all over our business. Um, you can open that one.

Are you keeping track of it? Yeah. Okay. Ontario. Yep. Oh, I see what you're doing.

Clever. Just so I don't mix them up.

Port Moody, British Columbia. I've lived there once. I did. How many entries did you get? I didn't actually count, but it felt like about 150, maybe. We will have a count.

I am counting right now.

We'll have a count. So this is a pin. "Love the videos," from Ron. It is a Port Moody pin. Thank you, Ron.

I am glad that I did not do what I thought I would do, which I was going to put all the names and items in a spreadsheet.

Nope. No, no, no, no, no. Oh, I ripped this and now I can't see the city name. Something Bridge, Ontario.

Oh, open it. I think it's up.

I'm sure they'll say it. Good grief. Okay. Uxbridge, Ontario. Yeah, this challenge was exactly what our fellow Canadians needed, another way to connect us in a fun way. Yeah, this is beautiful. Look at this, look at the color on that. Oh wow, it's almost like a gem.

Oh, it's a sports award. Township of, Township of Uxbridge. Uttbridge. I love the abbreviations, TWP.

You know what, I think that goes in the— like, it has a really nice— you see the gleam off of it? It looks like it's like a gem. I, I'm gonna shortlist this one. This is very curious. It's really a— it's a really pretty pin. Where the frick did it go? Congratulations, Uttbridge, we are— you have made it to the shortlist. Because that pin is really cool and really pretty. This is— no, poor Moody, I did that one. This is Calgary. This is Kim from Calgary. Pick me, pick me! Oh, I see. Okay, I get it.

I thought I'd lost it.

This souvenir is so tiny, 3 of them could ride shotgun. Shotgun in a single nostril. But don't do that. And rest assured nothing— and no—

How does she know that?

And rest assured this one has done nothing of the snort/sort. I love it. You can pick your nose. You can pick your friends'. But I don't recommend picking your friend's nose. Picking your friend's nose. That's a great idea. Unless, of course, they are into that kind of snuff. And it is a guitar pick from the Calgary Blues Fest. And It's also, it's got like a whole bunch of, it's just got like an enormous, it's got like an enormous list of like puns about picking.

That's clever. I love it. Pick, pick up, pick it out, pick on, pick off, pick a fight. I love it. That's pretty good creativity. That's creativity with that, with the letter especially. This one also is creativity with the card. It's beautiful.

Windsor— oh, I was gonna say Ontario, but that's Windsor, Quebec. Oh, okay. And this is Carrie-Anne from Windsor, Quebec. And Carrie— oh, isn't that beautiful? It's beautiful. And is it hand-painted?

Yeah, it is hand-painted. So pretty.

Apart from the handmade card, my tiny souvenir is a sticker from Parc historique de la Poudrière de Windsor. I, I butchered that. The park is located on the site of the oldest black powder factory in Quebec. Oh jeez. Opened in 1864 to provide explosives for the American Civil War. Wow. See, it closed.

Even then they couldn't do stuff without us.

It closed in 1990— 1922, and in 1993, the vestiges of the old factory were given back to nature and the town as a park boasting over 20 kilometers of hiking and cross-country ski trails. I start every morning in the park. I wasn't born in Windsor, but the park is the reason I could never leave. That is really cute. And, and the, the card that I think this person did is beautiful.

It is really pretty.

Like, this is not a print. This is something that— in my watercolor journal, someone actually painted this on this piece of paper. This is not a print.

I think that I might put that in a special—

yeah, special category. Yeah. Okay, special honorable mention.

Yeah. And we're not sure what's happening with the honorable mentions yet.

Yeah, we haven't figured that part out yet. Uh, here is someone—

this is the one that we could—

there's a very tiny envelope. This is from Kitchener, Ontario, from Ruth. Cheryl, come on. Ruth in Kitchener, Ontario.

Girl, do you want a little piece of chicken?

It is gorgeous, isn't it, bud? I misread this. I thought it says the Kitchener banger— Kitchener bangers. But it actually says the Kitchener Rangers. Can we start a petition to change whatever team name this is to the Bangers, please?

I'm just trying to pick you up, you silly dog.

Kitchener Rangers pin. Otis, come here. Otis, in. Thank you, Ruth. Ruth from Kitchener, Ontario with the Kitchener Bangers pin. All right, Otis.

You're inside. Not really bangers. You better be inside. That was Kitchener, I heard.

Yeah, Kitchener. London, Ontario. No name on the envelope. Hello, Tod with one D. We found our winner. Someone spelled my name correctly. It's all over. Good night, folks. Thanks for coming by. My name is Judy. I hope this is the type of souvenir you're looking for. Enjoy. I love your TikToks. I'm a follower. Thank you, Judy. And it is a coin of St. Thomas. Where's it from?

St. Thomas, Ontario. Oh, that's the second from St.

Thomas.

Yeah.

Good night. Hello, Amanda. Welcome. Thank you. I love this jacket too. It is my favorite jacket. It's an award show. I have to wear the jacket. This is from, maybe, it's from Powell River, BC. Maybe Patty. The envelope ripped a little bit. But Powell River? Up several ferry rides?

Yes.

I caught crabs in Powell River.

Oh! Clever.

It's a sticker. Clever. I'm sure there are pins smaller than what I can present in my entry, but I decided to stop in at my local souvenir shop to see what I could find. This caught my eye, luckily not my nose. And if this makes it through to you, indeed I did push the envelope to its maximum size.

Oh, you have no idea, person Patty. You have no idea. They had like huge, huge Manila style.

This sticker reminded me of those t-shirts from the '70s. Someone I know went on vacation, all I got was this t-shirt. Yep. Thank you, Patty. That's— I love that one. That's perfect. Oh wait a minute, there's more. Patty has sent more things. Oh goodness, pantyhose?

I don't know what it is.

Oh, oh, why is there green? Can you gently figure out what deal is with that. Oh, I see, it's glass, it's glass. That's funny.

The Sasquatch parts.

Okay, okay, can you unwrap? Yes. I think these are just— I think these are just here to protect the glass.

Yeah, I think so. Okay, yeah, very careful.

Oh my God, I love it. Comedy, comedy shortlist. Comedy shortlist. Okay, uh, they are Bottled Saskatchewan— bottled Sasquatch farts. And there's a little tiny bottle with Sasquatch fart in it. Yep, comedy, comedy shortlist. Comedy, comedy shortlist. Uh, this— oh, it also Chromox BC.

Does Tod need pantyhose? I don't think so. I do not. He has a can of tart though. I do have—

um, okay. I bought this bookmark at our weird Pharmasave in Comox.

Yes, weird Pharmasave! It's actually beautiful. And small coastal towns.

I've been in this Pharmasave on, um, oh, that's pretty beautiful.

I've been at the Pharmasave at, um, what's it called in Seashell? Uh, the bay on the north side of the peninsula. Half Moon Bay. Half Moon Bay. There is a Pharmasave in Half Moon Bay and a co-op grocery store, and that is it. It might even be just one. And I remember how weird the Pharmasave was.

All Pharmasaves are weird. They are. They're just weird.

Oh, oh, we got another token!

Another Toronto Transit token?

Yes! Oh, it's cute. It's in its little— Oh! Oh, we've got the other one.

We've got the transfer. So this is Etobicoke, Ontario. This is A, is the first initial, and it is a now defunct TTC token. I've included a transfer slip to give you an idea of its use and limitations. I remember— do you remember transfer slips from BC Transit?

Yeah, I was just talking about them like 10 minutes ago that I wanted to make an art project out of all the mushy transfers you find. Well, they don't use transfers anymore, but they used to.

So kids, the way these worked is that—

there's any kids on this that don't know what that is?

There's no one under the age of 30 will understand what a transfer is.

And is there anyone under the tree on this?

Well, I don't know. OK, I don't have to explain it. So basically, this is like, you can see the times, and they would rip it at a certain angle that would tell you what time it expired at. And then it also had the incredibly tiny TTC token. So that's Adrian. Adrian from Etobicoke. Thank you, Adrian.

I have one to share. Okay, so this is from Elaine from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. And Moose Jaw is where my mom grew up. Well, she grew up in Eyebrow, but Moose Jaw was where she went to high school because there was no high school in her town because it had a one-room schoolhouse. And she shares, she said, I'm from Moose Jaw, which is every comedian's favorite place to bring up, it seems. It's not the smallest of towns, but it doesn't compare to Regina or Saskatoon in size. This is a wooden nickel from 1985 that I have been kicking around for years and don't know what to do with. It's not radioactive, I promise. I don't think there's an address there. Oh, Army, Navy, and Air Force vets in Canada. Aww, that's cool. It's a good little history.

Yeah, thank you for that. Thank you.

I think I might put that in an honorable mention category. We'll, we'll— we're going to have to narrow them down, but that— I like the history of that.

First initial D. This person put their street address and their postal code but not their city name. What? But they are from—

it's from— whoops— P is the province. Oh, Ontario.

Lake Muskoka. Muskoka River. It is a— is a— is it a— it's a magnet. And it is for— oh, it's magnet.

And— oh yeah, okay, that was fun.

I can't read the writing. Barry and Mark, maybe. Beautiful. I love this. Where are we looking? On the bottom. Daryl. Oh, Daryl and Mark. And Mark. Or Mark.

Mark, probably.

I love that style of art. Me too. Thank you, Daryl and Mark, if we got those names right. Yeah, it's beautiful.

Um, I think this is the art one.

Yeah, sorry, I also not gonna— yeah, so basically they— it was a little piece of paper, a long thin one like that.. And then every 15 minutes the driver would have to adjust the angle of them. And you'd see them doing this. They'd be like— a little pack of them. A little beep. Yeah, the whole pack of them. The little beeper or something would go off. And every 15 minutes they had to, like, adjust them a little bit so that it would be like— it would expire at, like, 2:45. And then it would expire at 3 o'clock. And then 3:15. And then 3:40. It was the strangest system. But it worked.

It's very manual. But it worked. And it meant that when was ripped off to give to you, that it was accurate for your time left. Yeah, like this expires in, I think it was an hour and 30 minutes in Vancouver.

The Bay of Quinte in Ontario. Belleville. Okay, very, very pretty. Boats, we love boats. 3-minute drive will bring you to CFB Trenton, the Armed Forces Base. Yes, Canadian Forces, CFB. You know, the group that trains the American military. Beth from Brentwood Bay is a postcard. Brentwood Bay. This is all we have, she says. For a small little village, this is about all we have. Keep on making positive videos about our beautiful country. Thank you. Another postcard. Images of Regina. Hehe. This looks pretty old-school. What a strange selection of buildings.

It is a very odd—

is this from the '70s? When was this printed.

No, there's nothing else to take photos of.

No, Regina's got lots of cool stuff. It's just sort of like really interesting, slightly government-esque buildings, like kind of like if you're— yeah, if you like— like, these are buildings— architecture— these are buildings that on the outside say that they're offices, but I think we all know that they're government fronts for something, that they're like— so, edibles. Neil from Regina, thank you for that. Best— yeah. Oh, Halifax. This is my entry. I originally wanted to send one thin dime, but alas, the dime only shows the blue nose and it doesn't say it's from Nova Scotia. The Halifax-Dartmouth Ferry is the oldest saltwater ferry crossing in North America. It got a shout out on the Dartmouth Ferry by Joel Plaskett in his song Nowhere Without You. It's a lovely ride. On a summer day, an iconic symbol of our city. This is from Christie in Halifax, and it's a magnet, and this is going on our fridge immediately. And it's wood, it's really thick and wood, it's really cool.

Yeah, they are, they're very futuristic looking buildings, aren't they?

Roseland, Ontario. This is from Debbie in Roseland, Ontario. Wait a minute, no, hang on, did—

was that one done already?

Yeah, but this is not the same letter. I feel like we're mixing—

no, no, no, that one I know, I opened it. Okay, this is Belleville.

No, this is—

oh, it even mentions Belleville. You did— you did do this one. Yeah. Oh, I'm sorry.

Uh, this is Winnipeg, and this is missing a thing, so I think we're—

we've— there's nothing in that. I— there was nothing in it. I don't know what to do. I opened it and there I did not find it.

Was it okay? Thank you for the authentic piece of paper from Winnipeg, Manitoba. This piece of paper was purchased most likely in Winnipeg. You'll notice that it has— it looks like it's a two-tone color, but that's actually just the light. So just, you want to see it better, there's a tear on the side here. They've got like a nice little beautiful little tear. Of paper right there. Very authentic. Probably can't, can't get that elsewhere in the country. So thank you for this piece of paper from Winnipeg, Ontario— Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Ontario. Oh, I'm getting tired. Oh man. So that, that is a lovely piece of paper. I'll put that on the unknown list. Yeah.

I'm sorry, this one doesn't have an address. I don't even know where it came from. It's just like got here somehow. How did this get to me? I know, I'm so confused. It's possible that it was from one of these big, um, packages like this one.

But, but, babe— oh baby, yeah, I think it might be that one.

There's a thing inside there. Oh, maybe that's Victoria.

Yes, this came from this. Yeah.. So it's a beautiful— it's Victoria. Beautiful Victoria. Exactly. It's a Winnipeg tear, right? Exactly. I mean, it goes without saying, really. "Born and raised in Victoria. When I became a teacher, I moved to teach school very—" So this is— she's sort of telling me— it looks like there's some personal information in there, so I'm not going to share all of that.

And that was one of the ones It was opened on our live previously.

Right. But I will put it on the to-read-afterwards pile.

Thank you. Oh, and you saw the gift, right?

Oh! Oh! Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. It's a rock.

And there's a name on it.

And it's the rock that says Victoria, BC. But the reason that she included it is that it is a heart-shaped rock, if you actually look. Come on. It is a heart-shaped rock from Victoria. Laugh if you like, but Jocelyn and I give each other rocks because we're penguins. They're penguins. I hope this counts as a—

okay, where'd the rock go?

Okay, I'm losing track of these. Hang on, this is— all right, that's not okay because this is another one that doesn't have anything attached to it and it came out of this envelope.

That we should have opened them. Okay, this is how the sausage gets made, people.

I'm picking them from here, right?

Yeah, that's where you— that's the only place I'm— and I'm— they're not going anywhere. They're going right out and sitting on my lap and then getting opened.

Where— something's happening though. Well, this has been— yeah, they may have fallen. It's all right. There's one down there that might be related.

I don't know.

No, that's just a— this is our fault.

I'm really— tiny contest.

Elizabeth from Newfoundland, from St. Anthony, I'm really sorry. Something fell out. I'm sure we will find it at the end of the night. It's probably at the bottom. Yeah, it's probably at the bottom of the, of, uh, of that big thing. We are making headway on the pile of things, by the way. All right. OK. Ooh, buttons. Lots of buttons. Oh, wow. This is two postcards. Who are these? Town Hall. From Arnipour— Arnpryor, Ontario. Ooh, that's a hard one. Arnpryor, Ontario. Cool name, though.

Oh, they look like old, like vintage postcards. Pretty.

And then a bunch of really cute buttons. I love my library. These are great. Long live print. I love it. Oh, you'll like this one.

Those are ones that we can, you know, give to friends and wear.

And otter be at the library. That's cute. Thank you very much. Those are cute. And then there's also a September 14th— oh, that happened yesterday. It looks like they had a political discussion that people were invited to. Mine, I'm sure, will be last. Angela, I don't know yet.

Time to call in Ernst Young. Oh shit, Ronalee, come on, be nice. Oh, where? What? Oh, that's why we have a table. Okay, I'm, I'm certain that this one hasn't been looked at.

Okay, question mark. Sherwood Park, Alberta. Ooh, old school pin, old school. Look at that font, they don't make fonts like that anymore.

That's the old Alberta font. I love it with the curvy E. The— there was a civic building in Edmonton when I was a kid that had handles on it like that. E, it was great.

I keep dropping—

oh, it's right down there. Yeah, this one definitely—

I think we're gonna have to do this over two nights. Oh, and then in Alberta, Alberta— these are cool. These are really— I love this. I love the old school ones. So this is from Marcine in Sherwood Park, Alberta. 1980, what a year! I was born in '67. These pins were given out mostly at school. Many forms of them were available. Thank you, Marcine. It does— don't they? They do look like World Fair logos, don't they? They do. They have that like— those are really super stylized year look to them.

You never usually see plastic pins like that. Okay, I am certain that one didn't get opened, but it was in the discard pile.

Okay, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Yeah, yeah, we— this is the fairy. This is the one with the fairy. This is— this goes with this one.

Okay, okay. There's other stuff in it though.

No, it was just the fairy.

Yeah, all right, all right, all right. Then I— then it's there because I put it in the artistic mirror. Category. Wasaga Beach, Ontario.

Sand! We got sand! Oh, that— we have the longest freshwater sand beach in the world.

What a great— like, what a great idea for a souvenir.

Now, do we consider this as the tiniest since she literally sent a grain of sand? She sent multiple, but I don't know that you can do any—

I think that qualifies for the next one up, like, as to be considered.

That's tough. That's a tough one. Oh yeah, this is the— I was not expecting— yeah, exactly, right, bud? I was not expecting grain of sand as a contest entry, but someone managed to do it.

Don't groan at me, you didn't eat your food.

All right, this heavy.

I used to live in BC for 10 years and visited the island often. That most of BC does do that. That's true.

Edmonton, Alberta. I think this is going to go here. Check out Raymond Collishaw and the Black Flight by Roger Gunn. Oh, you know all about that. Raymond Collishaw was from Nanaimo. He was a World War ace. More kills, they think, than the Red Baron. This is beautiful. And our airport is named after him. This is a magnet, I think. Ooh, that's cool. Roger, my husband of 50 years, has written Masters of the Air and has just published Four of Our Finest about 4 World War I aviation pilots. Joe Fall was an amazing aviation aviator, and his son lives near Lady Smith. And look at— hang on, I— this is not doing it justice, but look at the glimmer on that. Alberta. It's Alberta. Look at the glimmer.

Okay, folks, I don't think we're gonna make it.

Yeah, this should be like a, um—

that is a really cool magnet.

I don't think I've ever seen one like that. It's like Northern Lights. It's beautiful. Okay, we do one more and then do the rest on a different night?

Yeah, well, you've got this pile and this one, so I won't take any more out.

Okay, so we have 5 left. 5 left. And then, and then a whole lot, and a whole lot left. Yeah, so we have 5 and then all of these still to go. Um, but we're gonna have to do them on another night because I gotta pack. Yeah. Sorry. And we have now crossed the 2-hour mark. And we're tired.

And we're tired. And I'm gonna take 20 minutes after this to reorganize it so you can do it without me.

Oh, I don't know if I would do it without you, though. So we'll probably do part 2 next week. Okay. I don't want to do it without you. Oh, baby. So this is from Sandra in Vancouver. I hope it arrives in time because I am a bit late. I am the queen of procrastinators. It arrived in time.

We have a rather loose interpretation of time here.

Oh, oh, is it a magnet? It's a magnet. It is a stitched—

oh, that's cool. I'm a sucker for handmade stuff.

Did this person make that? They must have.

You almost got Sharpie all over your jacket.

This is really— it's very small.

That's cute. Is it a magnet?

It's a magnet. It's a magnet. I think, I think we shortlist this one.

Okay, I like it. Yeah, very pretty. Congratulations. A little variety, you know. Shortlisted. Shortlisted.

Yeah, good point, Susan. Good point. It's midnight on the East Coast.

One quarter, one out of four. This is one of the coolest, most bizarre things I've ever spent this much time on.

Four more, and then we're going to reschedule part two for next week. Yep. And this is from Dawson, Yukon. Is this our first Yukon? First Yukon! First Yukon has made it into the round. And this one is really cool. And it says it is from Danielle in Dawson. I always thought that was Dawson City.

You know, I think it might have been called that before, but, um, you know, like the Quebecers call Quebec City Québec. Québec. Oh cool.

So what you're not seeing is the relief. This is actually quite 3D. Can you kind of see? It's like layers of plastic. Yeah, it's like carved melted plastic, maybe. It's neat. I love this. I love this one.

And Jennifer Roney says, we're sitting here watching a couple open packages and envelopes on camera while the animals party in the background. Snacks and non-beer are happening, as are yawns, coughs, and no one is quite sure what's happening in short real life. Thank you. Is this Perfectly Imperfect?

Do you think this is handmade? Like, look at— no, no, no, that is— no, but look, look, look at the C. Look at the bottom of the C. It's misspelled.

Painted. No, this is— this— it's beautiful, I think, but this is a very common type of souvenir. Or it could be a Shrinky Dink, I suppose.

I have never—

you guys ever seen a Shrinky Dink like this detailed though? The kind that you would make a big one and then shrink it down in the oven? I think that's like a made in China kind of souvenir. Not that I don't— not wrong with that, but Po Buddy's Nerfect.

Does it have—

Momo need the needlepoint.

Yeah, Momo. Oh, where's Momo? Is Momo in here? Oh yeah, yay! Oh, Momo, that got shortlisted, didn't it? Yeah, yeah, yours is a candidate for the prize. We shortlisted yours. Congratulations. Not there yet, but you know. I'm gonna— I might email— did she leave her email address? Danielle? No, Danielle did not leave her email address.

I, I can tell you though that those mail exists. You can just send her a letter.

I'm not going to send her a letter just to ask if—

anyway, that's what people did back in the day.

But we're not back in the day. Shrinky Dinks, Danielle. Yeah, they weren't. Yeah. Danielle, are you in here? If so, look at—

I, I, I, I love this. Sue, you guys are so sweet. I do love fun. I— okay, I'm gonna take a little credit. Yeah, the idea for this was mine. This was her idea. And because I, I love getting non-business, non-adulting mail— I'm a knitter and we do yarn and knitting swaps where you send someone a little gift of something knitted and, you know, some other little fun things. And I like turning mail into something fun fun. So thank you all for doing that with us.

I love that. Shortlist this one, please. OK. I love that one. That one's in my top 3.

You can make a new pen pal and start up the old craze. That would be funny.

3 more and then we're— I don't recognize Adulting.

Flinflon.

Cover up the email address here.

Tim and I are glad you're shutting it down soon, especially as Jocelyn Traveling Wolf. Look forward to seeing you again next week.

Yeah, we'll reschedule for next week. Make sure that you're following or subscribed to the YouTube channel because that way you'll get a notification when I schedule the next one. Yeah.

Katherine Camley, she says, "It's foam pieced together, commercially made." It doesn't matter. If you like it— I do really like it. Yeah. I remember that is a format of souvenir. OK. And I was— in fact, when we were in Australia this summer I was I looked for—

it's not a bad idea. I saw something like that.

Flynn fun!

I should have had a homemade and a non-homemade category. Sadly, there's just one grand prize. We'll know for next year. Um, Peggy in Halifax. Oh shoot, I like this one. Peggy in Halifax, and these are coasters.

Way to go, Glenn and Ellen!

Halifax coasters. Too big for the camera.

Oh wow, that's cool! I dig it.

I picked up the anchor coaster and realized— this is the anchor coaster— I picked up the anchor coaster the other day and realized it didn't say Halifax. Back to the Made in the Maritimes shop for another one. Now you have one for you and the missus. The dog is literally like I wish we could show you. It's so funny. She's confused as to why we're still sitting here.

Yeah, it's right by her meal. Like, she has a little, like, food jail because the cat will steal her food from her. And so she has a jail where she eats her food, and we are sitting right beside it.

So she's like a special, precious little thing. Sarnia, Nova Scotia. This is from Joette. Saulnierville. Cool name. Um, hello from the Acadian community of Saulnierville, Nova Scotia. Acadien. I actually live next to Saulnierville in a little place called Baie-Comeauville. But we don't have huge souvenirs unless you count the fog, seagulls, and wood ticks. But none of them have our name on them, nor would they fit in this envelope. And so what we got was a really cool lobster keychain. With, sadly, no name on the back. But that is really— I'm going to put that on my keychain. And then a— this is the name of the community, by the way. Thank you, Joëtte. And we have one left.

That's a cool name. Yeah. That was Nozco. Yeah, I think I did that one.

Is that the last one? Yes.

This one's from Esquimalt, which is on the tippy tip southern end of Vancouver Island, and it's where the military base is. Some people call it Esquimalt. Nobody calls it Esquimalt. Non-BCers call it Esquimalt. And this is another homemade It's so cute. Oh, there's something else in it.

Uh, what are you doing? Hey, churro!

Oh no, this is the Sylvania one. And who is this from? Uh, this is from, uh, Deanne. Uh, yeah, Deanne from— we didn't put her address on the outside, but she is from Squamouth. Hopefully we'll see you around the Squamouth.

And that ends part one. Part one. Boy oh boy. So here's what's left. That was so much. Oh my God. So here's what's left.

It was so fun though.

There may be, there may have to be a pro— let's just count how many there are. One. I, I'm going to put them in the, in here. No, I got stuff in there.

Why are we I thought we're stopping.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. Okay, I gotta transfer this to something better. 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18. Yeah, I'm not gonna count. So there's probably another 100, easily another 100 in there. And we will do those on another night. I was not expecting it to take this long. Thank you all for coming. If you do not get my newsletter, this is a good time to get it. It's completely free. It talks about Canada, obviously, Canadian identity, Canadian culture, and it's this address here: join.farandwide.news. Don't put a www, don't put a .com, it's just those letters: join.farandwide.news.

Tonight's Subtotal was not even 100.

Okay. Oh yeah, how many was it?

I just counted and now I forget. So all the, the groups of 5 together is 90, and then there's maybe 5 more spread around from the other ones. Wow. I think it might be 95. Wow. It felt like way more.

Felt like way more. Yeah.

Thank you. It's a— I'm going— it's a work trip, so I'll just be working my butts off. Butts, my butt, singular butt.

Uh, um, so thank you. So yes, so join the newsletter. If you are a healthcare worker and you want to come to Canada, we would love to have you. Um, just go to this address down here, nanaimoinfusion.ca. Um, there are— you, if you are a healthcare worker, there's a link to a Discord. You can join the Discord and there are people in there that will help you. We have immigration consultant in there, we have expats, we have recruiters from Island Health, um, all ready to go. So thank you all for coming. Uh, I will schedule— make sure you're subscribed to this YouTube channel so that you'll get a notification for when I do part 2. It'll be next week sometime. And yeah, that's it. Anything else you want to say?

No, thanks so much. This is so long and so many of you have been like consistently watching the whole way through. I so appreciate your attention. 2 hours, like, that's a long time. Yeah. Um, oh, hey, by the way, Tod is very close to 100,000 on YouTube and he gets one of those cool like silver play buttons, and I think he's great, and I'm, I'm married to him, and I think, um, more people should— I— okay, I just want him to get the play button, so tell your friends.

Thank you. Um, all right, thanks everyone. Good to see you, uh, and, uh, we'll, we'll see you again next week for part 2. Okay, bye!