Tim Hortons 60th Birthday

Anyone who has spent time in Canada over the years is familiar with Tim Hortons, the ubiquitous restaurant chain founded by the great Toronto Maple Leaf defenceman and Hall of Famer Tim Horton. 

From the chain's humble beginning as a coffee shop in a remodeled gas station in Hamilton, Ontario in 1964, Tim Hortons has grown to more than 5,000 restaurants today. It's the largest quick service restaurant chain in Canada. And it has more than 800 locations in the United States, including more than 100 in Ohio.

The first outlet in Hamilton

And today, Tim Hortons celebrates its 60th Birthday.

In honor of the occasion, and since I had a hankering for some Timbits (the small 'donut hole' delicacies), I headed down to Ashland, Ohio last weekend to visit that city's Tim Hortons, located on Main Street not far from I-71. Since I only make it up to Windsor, Ontario once a year, it's nice to be able to visit a Tim Hortons whenever I want.

The sign outside the Ashland, Ohio restaurant

Many people aren't aware that Tim Horton was a well-known professional hockey player that played in the NHL for 24 seasons. So it's nice to see that the store has a framed reminder of his career with the Toronto Maple Leafs hanging on the wall.

I love Tim Hortons coffee (I drink it at home and at work) and I was happy to see that the paper cup it came in had some special 60th anniversary graphics.

I picked up my usual 10-pack of Timbits (Birthday Cake flavor, appropriately enough) in its little cardboard carrying case, and it too had some nice birthday graphics.

It was a nice surprise to see that Tim Hortons invited its long-retired Timbits mascot to the birthday party, giving him a place of honor on the side of the box. He has two big eyes (that look like olives) atop a body made of a Timbit, a small white nose, and two large, flat feet protruding out beneath him.

To many people (including me), Tim Hortons is Canada. I always feel like I'm enjoying a brief, pleasurable escape to our friendly neighbor to the north whenever I visit one of the Ohio restaurants, or sip a cup of the famous Tim Hortons coffee.

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I would be remiss if I failed to acknowledge the passing this week of Toronto Maple Leaf forward Ron Ellis, who played 16 seasons in the NHL with the Leafs, many of them with Tim Horton. 

For the last month or so, I've been reading his autobiography, Over the Boards: The Ron Ellis Story. It's a great read, and not only covers his fantastic hockey career, but also his bout with clinical depression. By becoming a spokesperson about this particular disorder, he helped remove much of the stigma about it. He was quite a guy.

Ellis was on the cover of the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey program I posted back here.