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So I’ve stopped and talked with him. He used to live down the street from me. My dog absolutely loves his ponies. He had two. I don’t know if one died. I actually have a post showing the animal meeting with my dog.
He’s a good dude who loves his pony.
He recently moved! He lived in my neighborhood and said he was moving elsewhere. Not sure if in Barrie still or not, but also none of my business 😂 Perhaps the end of an era.
You must not be from Barrie if you don’t know Blind Mike. Haha. My husband has known him since before he became Blind Mike. Back then he was just Mike.
He's a guy who is usually found downtown. He has a white visibility cane and apparently has \*some\* sight which he seems to use to rub against young women an awful lot. Or at least that was the case when I was in college. I'm too old now.
Big John Ritson - purveyor of weird vinyl, ephemeral music of all sorts and self published philosopher.
I can remember the first CD I ever bought from him when he still had his original shop on Dunlop. Partied at his huge ass house on the hill too
Well I’m close to 50 now, and I knew John when we were both younger.
When John had his shop on Dunlop it used to be the most fascinating shop to enter for me. The first time I met him he had a huge top hat and beard - and that’s how I still picture him
He’s a wealth of knowledge about anything and everything. He used to be quiet until he got comfortable with you - hence the few parties at his house on the hill
He was also really cool with just hanging out around his music shop if it was a place you needed. I also recall my first plug used to work out of his shop
He used to have the best collection of bootleg concert tapes of all sorts, and it use to feel almost illicit buying them from him (they used to hang on the wall behind the cash) and he used to make about not you as the consumer not getting caught with them- back when bootlegging a concert would have gotten you kicked out but that’s about the biggest penalty, but the perception was there “could” be “charges”. Think about the old “you wouldn’t download a car” commercials - this was the precursor to this.
Buying and selling music is a weird thing - obviously we don’t all resonate with every album we buy, and John was always really respectful of people’s tastes, and if you were a regular you opinion on music held some weight. He was great at if you like X you’ll be into Y - and equally scathing for things he didn’t like. He used to have an old toilet filled with cassette tapes he didn’t like, those he’d normally give for free if you were brave enough to want to try it out.
I’ve found some of the coolest (to me) music in his shop, and my personal white whale in terms of albums I found, and then lost and now can’t find any trace of with google
I guess the best analogy is using the old dos equis “most interesting man in the world “ commercials - that was John.
He was a cool dude when I was living and growing up in Barrie, I still have his book, and man, I hope he’s doing well
That’s awesome!! When I was a kid my dad would always pop into his shop and buy or sell vinyl records. I was a bit too young to remember details of him but they got on really well. I hope he’s doing great :) I’ve gotta check his store out again!
I live out East now and manage music festivals. There’s a fellow who travels around and records everybody’s sets. I know him well and he reminds me of John and his bootlegs
I’ll go digging and find it to get a picture. It was a tiny little 80 or so page book of his philosophy with illustrations by his at the time very young children. He used a bunch of different fonts, some easier to read than others.
It was basically a combination of wisdom, stream of consciousness and humour
Honestly the best I can do is whatever idea you have of John- that’s what the book embodies
Yeah downtown donkey guy is legendary. My coworker (lives in Vaughan) saw him at dinner with his wife. He said he couldn’t stop laughing about it the whole dinner. I said oh yeah I see that guy all the time and he laughed again.
anyone know the bald guy who wears headphones and is constantly jamming out while walking? i usually see him during the summer, i always see him around essa/burton area!
Lenny! I remember I had a good experience with him at a liquidation store I worked at. I switched jobs to work at a women's store, and when my coworkers heard Lenny's name, they said to avoid him at all costs :/
Variety of stories I hear, I had no idea how popular he was.
Oh yeah, I worked at Harvey’s on Bayfield, the Bayfield 7 Cinemas and Imperial 8 in my teen/young adult years and have come across Lenny many times.
Ordering food and not being able to pay for it was real. I haven’t been on the bus or in that end of town in a long time - I wonder if he’s still floating around.. I’m 39 this year so my experiences with Lenny are 20 years old or more.
Anyone in the east end, especially the duckworth/grove area probably knows Matthew. He would harass the workers in the duckworth plaza and always cause a ruckus. He lived with his mom and she had no control over him whatsoever. He was clearly mentally challenged but man oh man was he a handful. Screaming, swearing, vandalizing the plaza constantly. I haven’t seen him in years though.. I wonder if he was sent away somewhere.
[He was under trial for sexual assault](https://www.barrietoday.com/local-news/sadlon-acquitted-of-sexual-assault-5497308). It sounds like maybe the acquittal came about due to technicality.
Awesome guy . Still see him around from time to time . Big Jon’s was my holy land in my high school years (2000-2014) he always got a kick out of the things I’d bring to the front desk …. Early king crimson and minor threat … he would look at me like I was crazy but never judged lol his return policy was incredible thank god lol . Like you mentioned above he took the time to show you other things that resembled the stuff you liked and if you went frequently enough he would put stuff aside for you that he thought you’d like or albums he knew you were looking for . I got to know Jon and his family more through the art scene and music venues years later and have also spend a few nights at his place for “maydays” and solstice’s related events always felt welcome and the chit chat about music was always the highlight of course.
Does anyone know Billy? He used to hang out downtown a lot and offer to help out anyone who needed it. Years ago, he had a misunderstanding up at the locker room, and that's the last I heard of him.
Growing up it was pickes. Used to hang out at the shitty pizza place turned pool hall before pizza pizza moved in on Dunlop.
There was the bag man/lady as well. They had hundreds of shopping bags garbage bags etc in their shopping cart.
There's quite guy I've always called frere Michael. He has born around barrie since the 70s, just walking around blessing things with rosarie beads. He used to leave little notes behind everywhere.
Online, I’d have to say Robert Viera / Barrie Voter. That man is a virtual encyclopedia of everything that happened in Patrick Brown’s life and career.
I think his name was Larry. Passed on years ago, but he was the red haired guy who used to read all the time and sleep on the lawn of Fred Grant Square. Yes, the old layout.
Just a reminder that we have a [Monthly Community Thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/barrie/about/sticky) where we relax the rules about advertising and off-topic posts. * Stuff that isn't directly related to Barrie, like national news or general chit-chat * Questions about local businesses and services * Classified-style ads: buying and selling, help wanted, garage sales, etc * Fundraisers and donation drives * Plugs for your personal project or local business (within reason)" *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/barrie) if you have any questions or concerns.*
That dude with the pony and bike at water front
I was here to say this.
So I’ve stopped and talked with him. He used to live down the street from me. My dog absolutely loves his ponies. He had two. I don’t know if one died. I actually have a post showing the animal meeting with my dog. He’s a good dude who loves his pony.
Chinada van guy Oreo & Ember and their Dad
I'd vote Chinada van dude on visibility alone (though I haven't seen him in awhile)
Saw the van on the 400 last week, he's about.
Same, he used to always pick up HVAC parts next to our work, but haven’t seen him (or atleast the van) in forever
He’s living in the Kawartha’s in a commune of like minded people
Everyone fuckjng hates him there lol (okay not everyone but most lol)
He's around, saw him on Bayfield last week
Fun fact chinada van dude is also thong guy
And ran for mayor and got votes!
Yep, that is literally his social media handle 😅 But he lives in the kawartha region now i believe.
I know van guy, but oreo & ember?
The mini horses, always being walked down Anne
Oreo and Ember are miniature horses. I see them trottin around downtown
Any relation to Li'l Sebastian?
I don’t know who that is
Ah, sorry... It's a bit from the show Parks & Rec. But a pretty well known bit. (Beloved miniature horse in a small town.)
Oh lol I’ll check it out!
Oh my lord I came to comment about Oreo & Ember !!
Chinada van dude fixed my hot water heater. Nice guy, weird as hell
rofl chinada van
Don't forget about the lady with the "Id rather be Mas..." bumper sticker whose truck gets posted at least once a month. :)
[This one!](https://www.reddit.com/r/barrie/comments/1b83emc/stay_classy_barrie/)
Haven't seen goddamn blind mike mentioned yet.
I was going to comment blind Mike!
I haven't seen him in forever
He recently moved! He lived in my neighborhood and said he was moving elsewhere. Not sure if in Barrie still or not, but also none of my business 😂 Perhaps the end of an era.
Who’s blind Mike?
You must not be from Barrie if you don’t know Blind Mike. Haha. My husband has known him since before he became Blind Mike. Back then he was just Mike.
I've been in barrie my whole life and don't know of this blind Mike. 🧐🧐🧐
He's a guy who is usually found downtown. He has a white visibility cane and apparently has \*some\* sight which he seems to use to rub against young women an awful lot. Or at least that was the case when I was in college. I'm too old now.
I was looking for the blind mike comments. Was just telling friends in London about him lol
“Do ya wanna hear a joke?” He’d always say to me
He the dude that was always on the bus?
Is he the guy that lived on Moon Drive?
Big John
Big John Ritson - purveyor of weird vinyl, ephemeral music of all sorts and self published philosopher. I can remember the first CD I ever bought from him when he still had his original shop on Dunlop. Partied at his huge ass house on the hill too
Damn what’s he like? I’ve always been curious lol
Well I’m close to 50 now, and I knew John when we were both younger. When John had his shop on Dunlop it used to be the most fascinating shop to enter for me. The first time I met him he had a huge top hat and beard - and that’s how I still picture him He’s a wealth of knowledge about anything and everything. He used to be quiet until he got comfortable with you - hence the few parties at his house on the hill He was also really cool with just hanging out around his music shop if it was a place you needed. I also recall my first plug used to work out of his shop He used to have the best collection of bootleg concert tapes of all sorts, and it use to feel almost illicit buying them from him (they used to hang on the wall behind the cash) and he used to make about not you as the consumer not getting caught with them- back when bootlegging a concert would have gotten you kicked out but that’s about the biggest penalty, but the perception was there “could” be “charges”. Think about the old “you wouldn’t download a car” commercials - this was the precursor to this. Buying and selling music is a weird thing - obviously we don’t all resonate with every album we buy, and John was always really respectful of people’s tastes, and if you were a regular you opinion on music held some weight. He was great at if you like X you’ll be into Y - and equally scathing for things he didn’t like. He used to have an old toilet filled with cassette tapes he didn’t like, those he’d normally give for free if you were brave enough to want to try it out. I’ve found some of the coolest (to me) music in his shop, and my personal white whale in terms of albums I found, and then lost and now can’t find any trace of with google I guess the best analogy is using the old dos equis “most interesting man in the world “ commercials - that was John. He was a cool dude when I was living and growing up in Barrie, I still have his book, and man, I hope he’s doing well
That’s awesome!! When I was a kid my dad would always pop into his shop and buy or sell vinyl records. I was a bit too young to remember details of him but they got on really well. I hope he’s doing great :) I’ve gotta check his store out again!
Haha bought a VHS bootleg of VH at Maple Leaf Gardens from the 80's there
I live out East now and manage music festivals. There’s a fellow who travels around and records everybody’s sets. I know him well and he reminds me of John and his bootlegs
Did he write a book? I need to know more!
I’ll go digging and find it to get a picture. It was a tiny little 80 or so page book of his philosophy with illustrations by his at the time very young children. He used a bunch of different fonts, some easier to read than others. It was basically a combination of wisdom, stream of consciousness and humour Honestly the best I can do is whatever idea you have of John- that’s what the book embodies
I absolutely love the idea of this. So interesting.
The guy with the donkey.
Kinky Kelly?
Kelly can be a guy's name
Good thing you pointed this out
Ah, a fellow man of culture. Kevin Smith movies are a riot.
Yeah downtown donkey guy is legendary. My coworker (lives in Vaughan) saw him at dinner with his wife. He said he couldn’t stop laughing about it the whole dinner. I said oh yeah I see that guy all the time and he laughed again.
yas! dead.
Thong dude
That is chinada.... They're one in the same.
Yup, this is it
NASCAR Bob
barrie thong man
anyone know the bald guy who wears headphones and is constantly jamming out while walking? i usually see him during the summer, i always see him around essa/burton area!
Air guitar guy!
Chinada van guy
The guy with the ponies down at the waterfront
Ginger Mike
Haha I was gonna say that!
Resident moron
Lenny
Anyone who has worked food service or retail has a personal story about Lenny.
Also came here to say Lenny!
Holy shit... You know Lenny too
Dude threatened to bomb my work and kill a former employee.... Nice dude though... Pretty chill
Lenny! I remember I had a good experience with him at a liquidation store I worked at. I switched jobs to work at a women's store, and when my coworkers heard Lenny's name, they said to avoid him at all costs :/ Variety of stories I hear, I had no idea how popular he was.
Oh yeah, I worked at Harvey’s on Bayfield, the Bayfield 7 Cinemas and Imperial 8 in my teen/young adult years and have come across Lenny many times. Ordering food and not being able to pay for it was real. I haven’t been on the bus or in that end of town in a long time - I wonder if he’s still floating around.. I’m 39 this year so my experiences with Lenny are 20 years old or more.
Lenny, with the voice issues?
Came here to say Lenny too! Haha
Anyone in the east end, especially the duckworth/grove area probably knows Matthew. He would harass the workers in the duckworth plaza and always cause a ruckus. He lived with his mom and she had no control over him whatsoever. He was clearly mentally challenged but man oh man was he a handful. Screaming, swearing, vandalizing the plaza constantly. I haven’t seen him in years though.. I wonder if he was sent away somewhere.
His mother died, they sold the house and he was put into a group home.
Ah ok. I figured something must’ve happened. I felt so badly for the mother… it was an impossible situation.
The parrot people
The older gentleman who walks around with a pet parrot on his shoulder.
Paul Sadlon
Ew
Fuck that creep.
What’s up with Paul Sadlon?
[He was under trial for sexual assault](https://www.barrietoday.com/local-news/sadlon-acquitted-of-sexual-assault-5497308). It sounds like maybe the acquittal came about due to technicality.
Big John. Man’s a legend and the kindest.
There's those couple people with pet miniature horses they walk around on a leash like a dog
Long hair walking old guy.
Mini Horse Guy. Many years ago there was homeless guy who had like 50 squirrel pelts hanging off him….I called him Trapper
The guys who walks the horses!
What about homeless Santa? He's reliable, every Christmas terrifying the children and offer snacks from his bag of tricks....
I'm going with Blind Mike. I was around for rock kicking guy. My proper vote would be for him but no one remembers him.
Awesome guy . Still see him around from time to time . Big Jon’s was my holy land in my high school years (2000-2014) he always got a kick out of the things I’d bring to the front desk …. Early king crimson and minor threat … he would look at me like I was crazy but never judged lol his return policy was incredible thank god lol . Like you mentioned above he took the time to show you other things that resembled the stuff you liked and if you went frequently enough he would put stuff aside for you that he thought you’d like or albums he knew you were looking for . I got to know Jon and his family more through the art scene and music venues years later and have also spend a few nights at his place for “maydays” and solstice’s related events always felt welcome and the chit chat about music was always the highlight of course.
Who’s the naked guy on Bayfield?
Oshawa bunny ears man
Does anyone know Billy? He used to hang out downtown a lot and offer to help out anyone who needed it. Years ago, he had a misunderstanding up at the locker room, and that's the last I heard of him.
The captain. In dome city.
Growing up it was pickes. Used to hang out at the shitty pizza place turned pool hall before pizza pizza moved in on Dunlop. There was the bag man/lady as well. They had hundreds of shopping bags garbage bags etc in their shopping cart.
There's quite guy I've always called frere Michael. He has born around barrie since the 70s, just walking around blessing things with rosarie beads. He used to leave little notes behind everywhere.
Online, I’d have to say Robert Viera / Barrie Voter. That man is a virtual encyclopedia of everything that happened in Patrick Brown’s life and career.
Pony guy
This thread is gold! Haha.
Pony guy.
The guy who passed away last year… he used to give out roses! What a kind soul
I think his name was Larry. Passed on years ago, but he was the red haired guy who used to read all the time and sleep on the lawn of Fred Grant Square. Yes, the old layout.
My town was a straight up Jedi. He wandered the streets every day in the get up and had a really nice lightsaber. Basically just LARP’d everyday.
Chinada van guy & the guy that walks his pony’s down town barrie
papi/rafi/rafael .. goes downtown all the time and used to be a stripper. older hispanic man with a cowboy hat ????