HOMETOWN HERO?

Follow Our Mission To Have A Calgary Landmark Named After Stoner Icon
Tommy Chong

The Cheech & Chong light up Canada tour appears Friday at the Jubilee
Auditorium.

Tickets are sold out.

And why not?

Why not reward the world's most famous pot-smoking high-school dropout
by naming a street in Calgary after him? He's Tommy Chong! And love
him or hate him, you know who he is without searching Wikipedia! Can
you say that about James Macleod? John Laurie? Cornelius 17th Avenue?
I think not.

Although he was born in Edmonton and came to fame in Vancouver,
comedian-actor-musician Tommy Chong spent most of his formative years
in Calgary. Face it Calgary, you made Tommy Chong who he is. Don't shy
away now.

Chong is a counterculture hero and a champion to those who believe in
the decriminalization of marijuana. Along with partner Cheech Marin,
he popularized the comedy album and invented the now-ubiquitous stoner
comedy genre in movies such as Up In Smoke (1978) and Nice Dreams (1981).

Does Tommy Chong deserve a street named after him? Should something in
Calgary be named after him? Let us know what you think on our website.

Today he continues to entertain audiences with his standup comedy act.
In fact, he may be the most influential and popular pop-culture figure
the city ever produced. Which is why he deserves a street in his
hometown named after him.

Naming public assets after Albertans who weren't Mounties or
politicians isn't unheard of. There's Wayne Gretzky Drive in Edmonton,
Terri Clark Park in Medicine Hat and George Fox Trail in Cochrane.
Surely Tommy Chong carries enough stature to get a street in Calgary
named after him, right? In fact, we asked Chong himself about the idea
and, flattered, he suggested a back alley in China-town, since that's
where he spent so much time during those formative years.

So I ask Robert Jim, the president of the Sien Lok Society, which
preserves Chinese Canadian heritage in Calgary.

"Are you serious?" he asks.

"Well, I'm somewhat serious," I say. "But Tommy is an international
figure and I'm wondering what you think about Calgarians naming a
street in Chinatown after him."

"I guess it's really for the community to decide, not me," he says.
"It's a bland, politically correct answer, I know, but part of the
problem is I don't know him. I know of him through his movies, but
that's about it."

"Is it a valid suggestion though?" I ask.

"Um, generally, it would be a good idea," he says diplomatically. "We
should name streets after prominent Calgarians, but it should be based
on the merits of what they've done for the city."

I can't say I know of anything Tommy's done for the city of Calgary,
but he's always been good to Calgarians and always made mention of his
childhood here.

I ask Ald. Druh Farrell, whose ward includes Chinatown, what she
thinks about one of the back alleys in her district renamed "Tommy
Chong Lane."

"Well, we're trying to clean up our back laneways downtown," she says
with her tongue in cheek, "so perhaps we should run it by him and see
what he thinks about leaving it the way it is."

It was time to try the mayor for some straight answers. If anyone
could get this initiative started, it would be him.

But after a couple of phone messages over a few days, the mayor's
assistant called me back to let me know that Dave Bronconnier does not
wish to comment.

"He doesn't know him,"Marc Henry says.

"But surely he knows OF him," I say. "He's internationally renowned.
The mayor probably knows him about as well as he knows Jarome Iginla."

"No, he knows Jarome Iginla," Henry says.

Er, OK, that was going nowhere. Besides, Chong was kicked out of
Calgary in 1958 by then mayor Don MacKay, so there's be no reason to
believe The Man was off his back.

Time for Stage 2.

Since nobody seems ready to jump on the street-naming bandwagon just
yet, I thought I'd try a different route. Would Crescent Heights High
School be willing to rename its library after its most famous alumni?

Um, maybe.

The trouble with Crescent Heights, which has been operating since
1915, is that it has a number of famous alumni, including former
Alberta premier Ralph Klein, rock musicians Tegan and Sara, and
country singer Paul Brandt, which doesn't make Chong stand out as
much. Heck, the school's first principal was William Aberhart, who
went on to become premier of Alberta (and then have another Calgary
school named after him).

While the school's current principal, Arvin Rajan, is gracious and
congenial, I quickly learn that he really has no say in the matter.
The naming and renaming of facilities falls under the board of
trustees jurisdiction at the Calgary Board of Education.

"I don't think we've ever named a library," says Calgary Board of
Education spokeswoman Joanne Lamont, "but if we did, it would fall to
the board of trustees."

I don't get the impression they'd be willing to assemble to discuss
this initiative, so I decide to move on to Stage 3.

Can I get a hotdog in Calgary named after Tommy Chong?

The answer? Heck yeah!

Jon Truch at Tubby Dog (1022 17 Avenue S. W.) is a gentleman and a
patron of the arts who is totally willing to name a dog at his store
after our favourite Calgarian.

"No problem," he says. "Just ask Tommy what he likes on his hotdog and
we'll make it happen."

Why can't bureaucracy work this well at the municipal
level?

Chong's publicist Stacey laughs when she hears the idea. "It's funny
that you guys want to name a hotdog after Tommy in Calgary," she says.
"They just named a hotdog in L. A. after him as well. What is it with
Tommy and hotdogs?"

So it turns out what Chong likes best on his hotdog, apparently, is
mustard. Not the fancy Dijon kind, just good ol' squeeze bottle
mustard. And that's it.

Not surprisingly, mustard is the most popular condiment on a ho dog
- --32 per cent of people polled by the National Sausage and Hot Dog
Council chose it as their favourite topping.

"Mustard is the best way to eat your hotdog,"Truch
agrees.

So beginning Thursday, you can grab yourself an officially endorsed
Tommy Chong Hot Dog at Tubby Dog, and honour the man that put Calgary
on the cultural map.

Well, its weed at least.