This was a gathering of Toronto stockbrokers who were invited to dine with senior officers of public companies, at their invitation and with Vern's co-ordination. It was, and is, the proverbial free lunch.

And, oh my, some of those lunches were something. I remember one where we took over a well-known Toronto beer parlour in the heart of the Toronto financial district from noon til five, where we partied " to heck with the work day " on fresh Malpeque oysters flown in by Rodney " where we were entertained for hours by Rodney himself. I can't recall which company paid for that deal, but I think it was a photography company that had just been Toronto Exchange listed.

Vern McCreary then took that club to Montreal and later across Canada. He became, as the chairman of his broker-dealer firm once told me, a better restaurateur than broker. I'll qualify that by saying Vern became a terrific restaurateur.

Now he just buys the city's best restaurants for the day " his corporate clients are paying of course " and entertains a crowd of about 50 to 100 (depending on the client) of the most important movers-and-shakers in the money business.

Vern now calls his club just the Stockbroker Club, and he even has a professional looking web site. Good on him.

If you happen to be CEO of a NYSE, AMEX or TSX-listed company and have a need/interest in getting your dog and pony show in front of a stellar audience in Canada, Vern is the guy to call.

The Stockbroker Club sent me out the following invite reminder this morning:

It's about comfort and a leisurely walk thru the park.

It's about tasting the meal that took days to prepare.

It's about knowing and recognizing good values.

menu:
Saffron-Roasted Cod
Almond Waffles with White Chocolate Mousse 0r alternate dish available

The George Brown Chef's School
300 Adelaide Street,
Eric Tremblay, Overlord Financial
and its new junior-oil flow-through $20 million issue
Tomorrow, Friday Sept 15

I'd love to be joining them just for the cod of it, but I'm afraid I'd be keeping them in stitches, so I respectfully declined.

As long as I'm in Toronto, however, I'll be frequently attending. There have been a lot of outstanding presentations made to the Club, including one by U.S. Gold Company's Rob McEwen, who for years was actually a member of the club. He, like his Dad, was a broker.

But, a nicer man than Vern McCreary would be hard to find in the tough broker-dealer business. Mr. Hospitality himself.

A funny story about Rodney the oyster man. He later set up shop in downtown Vancouver a block from my home during the time I was setting up Qtrade Canada. My son Will had come out from Toronto for a few days so I took him for dinner at Rodney's. The restaurant featured a big live Alaska Crab special " about $19.95 a pound -- so I ordered one for each of us plus some local draft beer. The waitress later shouted to us from across the room at the crab tank to see if the two crabs she was holding up would be fine. Since I took note they were still alive I nodded my approval. After the meal, Will said to me: "Dad, that sure was a lot of crab!" I didn't think about how much until the bill came; $195; and we just had a total of two crabs and three beers. I shoulda picked the Malpeque oysters!

Yesterday my son and Fiona Fitzpatrick announced they had set a wedding date with the priest for September 29, 2007. His future father-in-law has already laid down the law: no beer but Guinness. I suppose that means I'll have to come up with the Italian vino.

Will and Fiona had me concerned for a while when they first came back from the Church. Seems that the new priest had said: "Fitzpatrick, so you must be German!" The joke of course is that Fiona is an Irish lass, with flaming red hair, as Irish as they come.

I had this article ready to put up 25 minutes ago and just as I was about to hit the upload button, Crystallex's CEO Todd Bruce called me. I report on that this afternoon. But I did tell him about the Stockbroker Club, and now I'll call Vern to set it up for Crystallex to come in. So, just like U.S. Gold earlier today, I think that was a timely phone call.

Take note.