We moved to the country from a large Canadian city, which statement to any Canadian means we had ample opportunity to get coffee and doughnuts from Tim Hortons*.
So common are these shops, that I’ve even heard a large double-double & a dutchie from Tim’s called the Order of Canada. (In actuality, it’s a large coffee with double cream & double sugar, along with a large doughnut (without the hole) with raisins.)

That the city we moved from was Hamilton, Ontario is a double whammy. Every Hamiltonian knows that the city lays claim to being the birthplace of the first Tim’s shop, and they are fiercely loyal to the chain. So you will understand that most of our Hamilton friends, were concerned for our sanity when we announced that we were moving to a community that had no Tim Hortons.

But Tatamagouche claims a Hortons’ link too—as the birthplace of Tim’s co-founder. You see, Ron Joyce was born and raised in our new hometown of Tatamagouche.

In the mid-1970s, Ron built the first Tim Hortons’ children’s camp just a few kilometres down the highway, and in more recent years he’s developed an exclusive golf club/resort in neighboring Fox Harbour.

He has a ‘presence’ here and is probably better known to the general populace of our village than he is to the fine citizens of Hamilton. You see, there’s a strong Tim’s connection here, it’s just a different flavor!

But alas – we have no Tim’s coffee shop. And it’s a 45-minute drive in any direction to the closest outlets in the neighboring towns of Pictou, Truro, and New Glasgow and even further to Amherst. So how do we cope when the urge to warm our fingers and tummies with a French Vanilla cappuccino strikes? What about missing out on “Roll Up the Rim”?

I’ll let you know tomorrow.

* Wikipedia says, ” The ubiquity of Tim Hortons…makes it a prominent feature of Canadian life. Tim Hortons’ prevalence in the coffee and doughnut market has led to its branding as a Canadian cultural icon and the media routinely refer to its iconic status. A series of Tim’s television commercials promotes this idea by showing vignettes of Canadians abroad and their homesickness for Tim Hortons. Noted Canadian author Pierre Berton once wrote: “In so many ways the story of Tim Hortons is the essential Canadian story.

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