Sitting on the deck of our cottage in Ontario, Canada, from left to right are Barb Crawford, Tina Fleming and Meg Haber.
Lloyd Fleming
What started out as a simple introduction for two Robson Ranch couples in 2009 has evolved into a friendship that now extends beyond the Ranch. Lloyd and Tina Fleming (from Ontario, Canada) and Allen and Barb Crawford (from Colorado) purchased their homes months apart in 2009. Both have been part-time residents with the Crawfords spending time back in Colorado and the Flemings spending most of their time at their home in Ontario, Canada.
Their introduction, however, may not have been a chance meeting. They both bought their homes from agent Steve Haber, and both were invited to join the Habers for dinner on the same evening. This ‘introduction’ over a nice dinner and a few bottles of wine led to the Crawfords inviting Lloyd and Tina to join them for a week in Colorado in the summer of 2011. Their hospitality was second to none, so it was only fitting the Flemings reciprocated by inviting Allen and Barb to join them in Ontario the following summer, which they did. In what has now become an annual tradition for the Crawfords and Flemings, Lloyd and Tina returned once again to Colorado in the summer of 2013 and Allen and Barb made a return visit to Ontario earlier this summer.
The discussion during these visits covers a wide variety of topics with politics and the economy usually finding their way into the discussion. Over the past four years they’ve addressed some pretty complex topics that are important to Americans and Canadians alike. In fact, after a bit of dialogue and a few bottles of wine they can often find a resolution to most of these issues.
What was special about this year’s visit was that they were joined by Steve and Meg Haber. And in true bilateral fashion, the visit took place over Canada Day, July 1, which included a pretty impressive fireworks display at the Fleming cottage. The 4th of July festivities were observed from the top deck of a cruise boat in the heart of the Thousand Islands on the St. Lawrence River, which separates our two great nations.
No bilateral visit would be complete without the exchange of suitable gifts signaling the true friendship that has developed among the three couples. The Crawfords and Habers presented the Flemings with a case of fine American wines, while the Flemings treated their guests to a wine tasting afternoon and dinner in historic Prince Edward County.
What’s exciting for these couples is the opportunity to enhance these bilateral relations, resolve even more of today’s pressing issues, which will only improve this fall as the Crawfords have taken up permanent residency at the Ranch and the Flemings will be celebrating retirement as they spend their first full winter at the Ranch. Now that’s worth a toast!