Special Features - Prairie Living Winter 2020

rairie PLIVING THE HEART OF ALBERTA

Q&A WITH DRAGON, BUSINESS MOGUL AND AUTHOR

Arlene Dickinson I N SI DE :

GAME OF THRONES ‘GHOST’

BLINDMAN BREWING

AISLYNN GRIFFIN FEB - MAY 2020

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FROM THE EDITOR

CONTENT

W W

With the Christmas season just around the corner and the year once again coming to a close, I’m again struck with how fast time goes by.

Our Prairie Living family is growing with every cherished interviewith and article, showing justdecade and spring the dawning of a us new how many diverse,just talented, and wonderful around the corner, the time for change, people Central Alberta holds. as well as the opportunity for reinvention, From a brave and beautiful poet to a wise has never more relevant.

Inside this and witty psychologist, not been to mention an edition of Prairie Living, you’ll find a host of unforgettable English belle and her lovely equine sidekick, this edition is sure to be both inspiring individuals who have persevered inspiring and empowering. I feel privileged to through both personal have met such strong, world-changing people.and professional struggles, all our the while staying true to themselves and So please yet enjoy stories, our recipes, their aspirations. our most recent craft beer Tasting Room adventure, and please accept our thanks for Fromoverwhelming an entrepreneurial maven a multi-talented musician your support in ourtoefforts to showcase Central Alberta’s veryfind best. and a wolf whisperer, you’ll a host of Alberta’s finest gracing every page.Christmas season and Have a wonderful a prosperous New Year!

So please enjoy our latest adventures in brew-tasting, our newest recipe from local artisans, and, most of all, our homage to those talented and brave Albertans who dare to dream.

from the editor

Danielle Lee

Danielle Lee

prairielivingca7

@PrairieLivingCentralAlberta

EDITOR

DANIELLE LEE • danielle.lee@reddeeradvocate.com

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Omission and Error: The Publisher does not guarantee the insertion of any particular advertisement on a specified date, or at all, although every effort will be made to meet the wishes of the advertisers; further, the Publisher does not accept liability for any loss or damage caused by an error or inaccuracy in the printing of an advertisement in which the error occurred. Black Press cannot be responsible for errors after publication of any advertisement. Notice of errors must be called to the attention of the advertising department immediately.

04 04 07 08 12 18

Cover Feature content Dr. Jenna Butler Cover Feature Arlene Prairie Dickinson Fashion with Prairie Queen ‘Ghost’Bea Clothing Quigley Marketplace

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Prairie Q & A with Kitchen Dr. Jody with Joe Carrington Messinger World Cup Tour Wonderland Paraof Ice at Athlete Parkland Nathan Garden CroweCentre Swords

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Living

feb - may 2020

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Q

A

Your new book Reinvention: Changing Your Life, Your Career, Your Future really speaks to the idea that you can reinvent yourself at any time in your life and it’s not just a young person’s game. People often say there’s a glass ceiling for women and for age, do you think there is and how do you break through that double-glass ceiling?

I think we can put glass ceilings over our own heads and breaking through them requires resilience, strength, and commitment to being all that you can be and not letting somebody else dictate what that is.

I do think that we have to be careful that we aren’t putting a glass ceiling over our own head. The reason I wrote the book is I think age has nothing to do with reinvention. Age is about making yourself better, not about losing weight or reinventing yourself with a makeover. It’s about living the life you want to live and believing that you can, in fact, get yourself to a place of purpose. So I talk a lot about finding what your core purpose is and thinking about what you’re good at, thinking about the world you live in.

I think in order to move forward you have to look back at your life and understand who you are, and that’s probably something many of us don’t want to take the time to do.

Q

A

Many women in the Red Deer area are juggling careers, children, and husbands who are away in the oilfield, do you have any advice on how they can navigate that line between work and personal?

I think it’s a constant struggle to balance your own personal needs against the needs, wants, and demands of everyone around you. I think particularly when you’re a woman and you come from a place of wanting to nurture, support, and be a resource for everyone else’s success, I would say that the most selfish thing you can do is not think about yourself. I think we think the most selfish thing is thinking about ourselves, but it’s the opposite. If you can find your own peace and happiness, and make sure that you are spending time taking care of yourself physically, mentally, emotionally, you will have so much more to give to everyone else that you care about and that’s something that we struggle with as women.

It’s not easy to put yourself first, but as I said, I think the most selfish thing you can do is to not put yourself first because then you end up harming yourself and you can actually become a bit of a martyr, and martyrs are not generally people who, I don’t think, you’d want to emulate anyway and erase your own life and the life of your family.

You want to demonstrate that you can be successful. That you can be a woman and still have courage and strength and that might mean they work outside of the home; that might mean they work in the home. It doesn’t have to be defined by anybody. It has to be defined by you standing up for what you believe in and who you are. I think when you do that you demonstrate to your children that you can be all you want to be.

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P rairie Living

Arlene

Dickinson 'I think age has nothing to do with reinvention'

Q

A Q

A

Who do you consider a mentor?

The biggest mentor I ever had in my life was my dad. He has passed away, but he was a very late-stage entrepreneur who was also an educator. He had a PhD in education. He believed in education and continual learning. He was a fellow who taught me to believe in yourself, that you needed to work hard and think about all that you’re capable of—and be generous and grateful. He probably, of all of the people and humans in my life, mentored me the most and it relates to believing in who I was.

There’s a perception that women have had made big strides in the workplace, do you feel that’s true and how?

I do think it’s true. I think we have thousands of years to catch up on and, really, in the time that I’ve had my career which is now 30 years, things have changed enormously. Are they still where they need to be? Absolutely not. Are they better where they were? Absolutely.

A

A

Q

Q

What is your personal definition of success?

For me, success is complex, but I would say certainly it’s my family. It’s feeling that I have lived my life fully. That I have done the things that I set out to do, whatever those are, and try to learn along the way. It’s never been a financial reward for me.

It’s always been more of a personal journey. We all face our own obstacles and when we can overcome any obstacle, that’s the success.

I think the conversations are different. The opportunities are different. But at the end of the day, it requires women supporting other women. It requires men supporting women. It requires this notion of equality and we get wrapped up in the gender issue, but really, equality is not just about a gender issue. It’s about any sort of issue. Whether it’s race, whether it’s colour, whether it’s religion, whether it’s gender, equality is the fundamental belief that all human beings have equal rights. I think when we start from that place, we can kind of shed this notion of women being marginalized and think about instead trying to help the world get to more equality in general.

Q

I feel like I help women, though not specifically because I’m only trying to help women, but in trying to help entrepreneurs, I end up helping a lot of women because they’re predominantly in this division. So really it’s a win, win for me. I get the best of both worlds.

With your entrepreneurial initiatives, you’re known to help other women achieve success, can you tell us about that and why it’s important to you?

I’m a big supporter of entrepreneurs in general, but it happens that the space I’m in, which is the food and health spaces, are very dominated by women because we have skills and expertise in nurturing, and caring for other people. So food and health became the foundational legacy that I wanted to leave. That I can help feed the world better through Canadian resources, and when you think about that, it has been a predominantly female-driven aspiration and industry sector.

Do you think that the #Metoo movement has affected women in the workplace and how?

A

For sure, it has. I think it’s affected everybody. I think it’s affected women.

I think it’s affected men. I think it’s affected the whole environment in which we collaborate and work. I’m hoping that things are changing and voices are getting stronger and people are starting to be able to recognize again that being heard is everything.

Q

A

Can you tell us if being an Albertan has been an advantage to you in your life and how?

For sure, I started my business in Calgary thirty years ago and I’ve often thought that if I’d started this business in any other city in the country, I probably wouldn’t have been as successful as I was. But in Alberta, I believe that there’s the attitude of allowing people to stretch themselves and dream big. I never got questions from people about my gender.

I never felt that way. It was always about: what can you do for me?

How is your expertise going to help my business grow?

Certainly there were moments when I was gender-marginalized and there was certainly times when I felt like my voice wasn’t heard as well because I was a woman, but I never felt like I couldn’t achieve things because we come from a province where people go out and do things that have never done before. They try technologies, processes, and efforts that are really quite amazing.

I always felt like it was about what I could do, not who I was. I think that was very much an Albertan perspective. Very much a pioneering, get it done, make it happen, perseverance, the things that made us good pioneers I believe still exist in Albertans today.

Nuts for Bolts etc.

Jackie Swainson 403.588.2445 1428 TWP RD. 381 Red Deer County, AB T4E 1W1

www.nutsforboltsetc.com | nutsforboltsetc@yahoo.ca

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feb - may 2020

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s m o o R t Sal The Oldest New Trend in Alternative Healing

T

he hottest new trend in holistic medicine sweeping North America and Europe actually had its beginnings a couple of hundred years ago in the salt mines.

The popularity of salt rooms has soared in recent times, popping up across North America and Europe. Ambitious homeowners are even investing to the tune of thousands of dollars to transform entire rooms in their house into floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall salt chambers.

Salt rooms, or more formally Halotherapy, derived from the Greek word for salt, are a form of alternative therapy that uses salt crystals to relax and rejuvenate.

Spanning back to the early 1800s, a European doctor observed that the men working in salt mines rarely had respiratory conditions and their skin appeared younger. As a result, he opened the first salt health spa in Poland.

Delving even further into history, the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans were known to seek relief from ailments by bathing within and inhaling the salt-laden vapors of the Dead Sea. Ten times saltier than the ocean, hence its inhospitality towards sea life, the Dead Sea’s therapeutic abilities are renowned.

Adèle Poratto 403.391.8819

Fast forward to today and many modern salt rooms have added a Halogenerator, a high-quality grinder that crushes the sodium chloride crystals into fine microparticles, to disperse salt into the air as a dry aerosol.

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Upon stepping inside the salt room, it’s not hard to see why this would invoke a calm and comforting feeling.

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Akin to the anti-bacterial home remedy of a neti pot or inhaling a solution of saline mist, salt therapy claims to ease the symptoms of allergies, asthma, sinusitis, skin disorders, and many other inflammatory issues, although there is yet no science to back these claims.

With the trend sweeping North America, it was only a matter of time before Red Deer gained its own salt room. The Soul Center room uses 18,000 pounds of imported Himalayan salt bricks and soft lighting to attract those wanting to try the experience.

With soft LED lights illuminating the bricks, the salt room feels like standing inside a pink igloo. Though scentless, the air is noticeably clean and fresh. Small, cool pebbles of Himalayan salt line the floor and there is an inviting corner hosting a plethora of soft pillows to make the 25 to 30-minute spa experience as welcoming as possible.

From a metaphysical standpoint, salt rooms are said to harmonize energy by reducing anxiety and stress, thus improving health and wellbeing. But they can also incite a common curiosity – what do the walls taste like, leading to the no-lick rule.

“If you’d like to taste the salt, we’ll happily give you a sample,” The Soul Center’s Santana Friesen says with a laugh.

Red Deer AB | www.beautedecor.com 6

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P rairie Living

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a prairie celebrity

Quigley

Game of thrones direwolf

D

At first, there is only a quiet skittering, a disturbance amid the fronds—then the rabbit bolts!

awn bleeds across the frozen landscape, but his nature woke him long before the darkness receded.

The pack is nearby, always. He senses them, smells them, but does not see them.

They sleep in a group outside while he, since he was a pup, dozes in an unlikely den.

The horizon is still, deathly so; the prairies buried beneath a season of bitter cold and snow, held prisoner by a North Canadian winter. Icicles hang like crystallized fangs from the boughs of pine trees. Hoarfrost paints the evergreens in a palette of ice.

Movement catches his eye—a streaking glimpse of soft, white fur. Something small. Something vulnerable.

His stomach stirs with hunger and he pads stealthily over the fresh-fallen snow, making his way, silently, towards the thicket. Stark-white hair covers his body, camouflaging him against the alabaster tundra.

His breath is a ghost before him. Eyes narrowed to an ochre glare, he scans the brush.

His long canines flash as he launches forward. The duo darts through the forest, nearly too fast for the eye to follow. An ancient urge races through his veins. His gaze is locked on the target. Though the rabbit is swift and nimble, his own powerful legs are agile, his mind keen as he gains purchase on his prize. Around the poplars and over the drifts, they race.

Then, the rabbit falters on a gnarled branch and loses traction for a breath— but it’s long enough to give the wolf an advantage. He opens his maw, stretching his neck to snap his teeth shut onto the fuzzy, little tail…

“Quigley!”

He stops short.

The rabbit vanishes into the snowy obscurity, escaped to live another day.

“Where are you, you silly bugger?” his master shouts from the house. “Time for breakfast!”

With a shake of his thick ruff, as though slipping out of one skin and into another, he abandons his prey with a bit of remorse and turns back to heed the call, loping to his place on the porch where a clean bowl of water and fresh-cut red meat awaits.

Experience and instinct has taught him patience.

Tongue lolling, almost in a smile, the wolf permits the man to pat his head, to ruffle the white collar of fur around his neck. He has forsaken his wildness, choosing instead a life in a domesticated world ruled by humans. Tamed, though of his own volition, the wolf has chosen a different kind of pack.

Lowered, haunches ready to spring, the tips of his ears quiver in anticipation of the hunt, long snout tasting the scent of breakfast in the air. The glittering ice crackles around him, over-burdened limbs rain drifts of snow.

That evening, when the frigid hush has fallen over the prairies, he curls up before the hearth, at his master’s feet. Later, he will sleep at the end of the man’s bed, guarding him as vigilantly as he would his own kind.

But he does not move.

In his dreams that night, he again chases the glimpse of white fur over the cold, snow-laden landscape with just the sound of his own breath in his ears—only this time, he catches it.

He stills.

He waits.

Finally, his diligence is rewarded.

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P rairie Living

Alberta born and raised, you might recognize Quigley from his starring role in the epic HBO Series Game of Thrones as John Snow’s dire wolf, Ghost.

Digging deeper Andrew says that to train a wolf, you have to forget everything you know about training a dog.

To world-renowned animal trainer Andrew Simpson, Quigley is family. The owner of Instinct Animals for Film and founder and operator of the Central Alberta Wolf Sanctuary, has raised Quigley from just a few days old. The snow-white wolf was named after Tom Selleck’s character on Quigley Down Under, a movie set on which he worked.

“You’re dealing with insecurities. You’re dealing with a different attitude and a different brain pattern. They’re incredibly intelligent creatures, but they’re capable of showing amusement and having comic moments with each other. They’re very unique animals, but very challenging to work with in the film industry.”

“We got little Quigley a few days old and “His first acting gig was in Siberia many, many years ago,” Simpson says.

Though predominately a wolf-whisperer, Simpson has worked with a number of different animals from dingoes to kangaroos. You will see his work in popular movies like Elf and The Revenant. During a more recent project, on the set of John Wick 3, Simpson spent eight months teaching Halle Berry how to handle the movie’s many canine actors.

Wolves are one of the hardest animals to train because they go totally on their instinct, Simpson explains.

During a recent project in Siberia, Simpson decided to film a documentary, Wolves Unleashed: Against All Odds, to dispel the negative perceptions of how animals in movies are treated and the image of wolves.

Endearingly termed by those closest to him as the “Brad Pitt of wolves”, we ask Simpson what made Quigley the perfect choice for the role of Ghost.

“The first reason he got it was he’s so handsome,” says Simpson with a laugh.

“If he wants to do something, he will, if he doesn’t, you’ll have to persuade him sometimes. He’s just very easy-going and when you know him intimately like we do, he’s just a goofball.”

While Quigley is free to roam Simpson’s sprawling sanctuary located outside of Calgary with the four other wolves in his pack, he prefers to spend his days close to the house.

“My home is his home. I see him every morning. I see him every night” says Simpson.

With the conclusion of Game of Thrones final season, Simpson says twelve-year-old Quigley still does the occasional acting job, but he leaves all the action to the younger pups now.

“He did a good run on Game of Thrones and he’s earned his spot by the fire now.”

While Quigley received all the adoration, however, his sister did a lot of the stunt work in the show because she was faster, lighter, and more agile.

“You have to raise them before you can train them, and you have to have trust before you can have control.

If a wolf doesn’t trust the situation, he’s simply going to walk away” He goes on to say that wolves must be raised in a way that if you give them what they need, they’ll give you what they need—but there has to be a mutual understanding.

“In the first year, it’s all about spending the time building that relationship.”

Once that bond is established, says Simpson, he can get them to do all that stuff we see in movies.

andrew simpson/halle berry, set of john wick III

P rairie

Living

feb - may 2020

9

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The Blue Stones with Mute Choir Bo’s Bar & Stage March 19 | 6:30pm

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Royal Canadian Legion Branch #35 March 20 | 8:00pm

Colin James Blues Trio Memorial Centre March 20 7:30pm

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Parkland Pavilion, Westerner Park March 21 & 22 10:00am

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rairie P kitchen Messinger Meat’s joe messinger prepares one of his specialties

A

fter immigrating to Alberta in 2000, culinary power couple Joe and Mercedes Messinger have become synonymous throughout the business community with award-winning success, delicious food, and, above all, their generosity to various charities both local and international.

Through a farm-to-plate partnership with Peony Farms in Lacombe, the Messingers meld mouthwatering Italian, German, and Albertan culinary traditions, bringing only the highest quality meats to the table.

What began as a small butcher’s bistro in Germany, Red Deer’s Messinger Meats proudly continues to practice their craft with the utmost respect to the animals, encouraging humane and ethical practices.

“No one touches the animal but us,” said Mercedes in respects to Messingers’ processing facility located a short distance from Peony Farms.

“From the farm to the packaging, to the meat cooler in the stores.”

In the Messinger Meats’ kitchen, Joe shares one of his specialties with Prairie Living.

“I keep it simple,” said the 45-year veteran butcher.

“I want everyone to be able to make it at home.”

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P rairie Living

Beef bourguignon Ingredients 2 kilograms of high-quality inside or outside beef round, cut into 1.5 square inch pieces 2 cups of red wine 2 teaspoons black pepper 4 teaspoons powdered beef stock 500 grams mushrooms, quartered 3 large onions 4 medium carrots Olive oil for roasting 2 1/2 teaspoons of salt 3 teaspoons of coffee powder

Prairie Kitchen

Instructions Pour a little bit of olive oil, salt, pepper, and powdered beef stock over the beef chunks and massage into meat.

Pour a dash of olive oil into a pan, heat, add meat and brown.

Remove meat and set aside.

Add chopped onions and carrots to pan of juices and lightly caramelize.

Add spices, wine, and coffee, and reduce for 15 minutes.

Reintroduce meat. Add water if needed, but do not submerge meat completely.

Cover pan and place in a preheated oven (350 degrees) for 2 1/2 hours.

After 2 1/2 hours, remove and add quartered mushrooms, stir and replace lid.

Return to oven for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and thicken with cornstarch or flour.

Technique to thicken stew or gravy: Begin with a small bowl, approximately 1/4 full of cool water. To a maximum of five, add one heaping forkful of cornstarch or flour at a time and mix thoroughly.

When a texture like heavy cream is established, add a ladle of stew or gravy to the small bowl and mix.

Remove pot of stew from heat. Add bowl of cornstarch mixture to the pot and stir.

P rairie

Living

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13

Reuben and the Dark

“I

had tears in my eyes when I found out,” says Calgary musician Reuben Bullock of the surreal moment he learned his song Black Water was going to be used in El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie.

“It’s pretty magical.”

Bullock will be bringing some of that magic, along with his other hits like Hold Me Like a Fire, to Albertans as part of a cross-Canada tour that he and his band, Reuben and the Dark start in February.

“There’s a sense of coming home when we play Alberta. The province and the landscape have found its way into so many songs of mine,” Bullock says.

“I think there’s a lot of pride from Albertans.”

“It’s special in Alberta.”

Long before his recent fame, however, Bullock claims he didn’t really have any intention of pursuing a musical career.

“My brother gave me a guitar when I was in my early twenties, so I decided to try to learn a song or two,” he says of his early beginnings.

After perfecting the first few chords, he quickly abandoned imitating other artist’s songs and began writing his own.

“It just kind of took over my life at some point.”

Inspired by his stories and poetry, his songs are often described as raw and emotional, rich with dense imagery and soul.

“I’m always kind of writing something,” he says. “I was always so obsessed with sentences that would go nowhere.”

At 21, Bullock started playing at open mics, but struggled with stage fright, admitting he had a hard time playing because his hands would shake and his voice was weak. Working through his fears, Bullock focused on the people who had come to hear him sing and he now considers every venue a celebration.

“It doesn’t scare me anymore,” he says.

“It’s a very calming thing to realize there’s a room full of people who are there hear you play. My passion for it grew stronger and stronger every time I’d go out.”

While the longtime band mates joined forces in Calgary in 2012, they are now spread out across Canada and the West Coast of California and reunite for tours.

Bullock elaborated on the band’s name, The Dark, stating it was a recurrent theme that represented the loss, grief, and pain he taps into for inspiration.

But music itself, he says, gives a sense of joy and hope and celebration.

It’s this kind of world where music comes from, from himself and these dark places, he explains. It’s an attempt to pull the darkness into the light.

Since releasing his new album un | love in October, Bullock says he’s already writing and recording for the next.

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Reuben and the Dark is set to embark on a twenty-city tour across Canada and the U.S. in January, playing in Calgary, Edmonton, and Lethbridge in February 2020.

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rairie P

blindman brewing, lacombe

tasting room

Stephanie Rhodes: A West Coast import. Consultant at Red Deer Advocate. A pilot’s wife and a mother of one. Music fanatic and creative weirdo. More Grigio than Granola. I’m usually about the drinks.

Stephanie: Dear Blindman: You had me at the meat and cheese board.

Hands down, before even tasting their beers, Blindman wins for the best food options...perfectly local, just like their beer selections. #charcuterieporn #winning

Mary Kemmis: A happy transplant to Central Alberta. President of Black Press Media Prairie division, wife of one and mother of two. I’m usually always about the food.

In all we tasted eight beers, each with its own origin and taste story to tell. The stories were such an integral part of the experience, I thought I would let Mary focus on the flavours of our favourites and allow me to share their locally-conscious stories behind each beer.

We’re excited to continue exploring the many amazing distilleries and craft breweries that are transforming Central Alberta into a mecca of small-batch brewing and distilling.

We encourage you to support these local artisan businesses and share your experiences and photos with us on our Facebook and Instagram pages. Please remember to always drink responsibly and decide on your designated driver ahead of time.

This time we made our way to Blindman Brewing in Lacombe, which honors the deep connection they have to the region in the ingredients they source and the stories they tell. They’re committed not only to brewing great beer, but ensuring that everything they do embraces what it is to be a Central Albertan, from the locally made fishing lures they proudly display (and sell) to the platter filled with local cheeses and meats, an amazing deal at $10 ($15 with all fixings).

The taproom has a cozy feel, kind of like an Albertan version of Cheers, where everyone seems to know everyone’s names and conversations weave in and out as interest spikes and wanes. The upstairs seating area continues the feeling of a home away from home.

Mary: The experience began even before the first sip, with the friendly smiles and warm hellos that greeted us from taproom manager Jylena Smillie and co-owner Hans Doef. More of a back-to-the-wall kind of person, I was amazed at how quickly I felt at home and relaxed. We ordered a charcuterie plate along with our tasting. For the price I was more than pleasantly surprised (or if we want to call a spade a spade, amazed) at the taste experience.

Locally sourced meats from Sixth on the Block in Lacombe and cheeses, including a cheese made with Blindman’s Triphammer Porter from Sylvan Star Cheese. Even the grainy mustard is Alberta made, again with one Blindman’s beers.

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c0-owner, hans doef

Five of Diamonds Pilsner

Mary: Definitely Blindman’s gateway beer for those new to the craft beer experience. Their only lager, it’s a step up from its mass-produced cousins and still had the familiar taste notes to make entre into the craft world more like dipping your toes into a warm pool than jumping off the deep end. One of their newer selections, the Five of Diamonds is quickly becoming one of their best sellers.

Stephanie: Five of Diamonds Pilsner is a strong nod to all things Len Thompson, including the largest fishing lure in the world right here in Lacombe. Partnering with their neighbours just down the road, their newest core beer Five of Diamonds Pilsner is all about his story. Portions of the proceeds from each can sold goes to fisheries restocking programs right here in Alberta. FRESH AIR AND OPEN SPACES. - those were the doctor’s orders to Mr. Len Thompson upon returning from the First World War badly injured. He chose to settle right here in Lacombe and it’s still home to the famous fishing lure maker that carries his name. And also this beer. Len’s story inspires Blindman, among countless others, and reassures them as a brewery that some things are timeless. Trusted tackle (ask the see the Blindman Brewery-branded lure!), calm waters, craftsmanship, quality and community all inspire this clean Pilsner . They brew this beer with the same steadfast dedication as Len Thompson Co has for 29 years. If you need more of this story ask Brewery co-owner Hans Doef, he tells it better than anyone.

New England Pale Ale

Mary: Double-dry-hopped, this pale ale makes the most of the flowery notes without retaining the bitterness that can sometimes take over. This beer is also a little heavier on the oats, giving it a hazy look and and a smooth mouth feel.

Married with the scents and flavours of orange and grapefruit on the nose and palette, this is a great beer for those looking for a refreshing change of pace.

Stephanie: Blindman’s New England Pale Ale was one of the first of this style released in Alberta. This type of IPA is most often described as hazy and juicy. The haze comes from higher protein malts as well as yeasts - their English house yeast to be exact - that don’t flocculate as well as standard American Ale yeasts. Since Blindman is of the mind that filtration removes too much flavour, the haze stays.

It looks like a milkshake and tastes a bit like a juice - and that’s the whole point.

Bumbleberry Sour

Mary: Bumbleberry isn’t actually a berry, but an assortment of berries that can change with the season. This sour makes good use of the the Haskap berry, native throughout the Northern Hemisphere including Canada and Japan, but only recently grown in Canada as a commercial crop. Mixed with smaller quantities of cranberry and pomegranate to up the flavour quotient, this sour was definitely the tastier of the two sour options we tried and a great first taste of the new berry.

Stephanie: A very unique beer, this shows the creativity of the folks at Blindman.

This is a small-batch beer not available in the can, just the keg for a limited time.

Brewed for a local challenge, it is worth a try.

24-2 Stock Ale

Mary: Made with local grains grown on a local farm that uses horse-drawn equipment, 24-2 packs a robust punch, filled with the biscuit and caramel notes you would hope for in a malted brew. You can really taste the freshness of the grains. There’s also the great feeling that comes along with supporting local farm to table operations.

Stephanie: For this special beer, Blindman teamed up with fellow Lacombe agriproducers Red Shed Malting and the old-school 24-2 Draft Horses farm that uses animal-power instead of tractors to plant and harvest its grains - this beer is truly a product of collective experience, knowledge and sweat. The story begins with the 24-2 Draft Horses, dedicated to working the land they way it’s been done for thousands of years, with the help of teams of horses actually pulling plots, discs, rakes, seeders, harrows, binders and wagons. With the 12 powerful Percherons they helped plant and harvest the Newdale varietal barley. The barley was then hauled to Red Shed where it was malted and roasted. This beer is dedicated to showcasing this special malt. You will notice that there are a series of 12 different cans for this beer each highlighting the name of one of the 24-2 horses instrumental to creating this one of a kind stock ale. When you’re drinking this you are enjoying the fruit of all that collective labour. Makes it taste extra special.

Longshadows IPA

Mary: A quintessential west coast IPA with pine and resin in the flavour profile, making it more bitter than other selections we tasted. If bitter is a must for your beer experience, give this one a try. It will wake up your taste buds.

Stephanie: This core beer is all about balance. The can design takes its inspiration from a friend and artist Sara Prins-Hankinson’s artwork. The original was a gift for Doef’s wedding a number of years ago. It portrays the shadows cast from a forest on a sunny winter day...and Longshadow was born. You can see the original itself in the Blindman taproom.

Blindman Brewing Bay F - 3413 53 Ave, Lacombe www.blindmanbrewing.com

P rairie

Living

feb - may 2020

17

Renew! Refresh!

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P rairie Living

RedDeerHomeShow.ca

by stephanie rhodes Red Deer para-athlete Nate Crowe-Swords is snowboarding towards the stars, or more specifically, the 2022 Paralympics in Beijing.

red deer snowboarder carves

Olympic Dreams

Currently on the World Tour this year, 42-year-old Crowe-Swords has come a long way from a snowboarding accident in 2006 resulting in a spinal chord injury that left him learning to walk again and with little strength remaining in his legs.

Not only did the devastating injury not stop him, but he is now ‘carving’ out an international name as one of Canada’s top snowboarding athletes.

In 1988, at 10 years old, Nate bought a second hand Burton elite 150 and learned to ride at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary. Since 1992, upon moving to Red Deer, Crowe-Swords goes between Calgary and Red Deer, or any local mountains where there are fresh turns to be had.

A familiar face at Canyon Ski Resort, Crowe-Swords claims the local spot has shaped his snowboarding skills and honed his speed, as well as his creativity within the sport.

Prairie Living caught up with Nate to get a little more info on his quest to improve his World Cup standing and be a part of the Olympics come 2022. Follow Nate as he embarks on his exciting snowboarding tour at @natedogrdab.

Q

A

The head coach is Greg Picard. He is a former Snowboard Cross athlete and owns Elite SBX in Quebec. He has an incredible way of teaching the technical aspects of snowboarding to athletes who have different physical characteristics. Mark Fawcett is an assistant coach and a former Olympian. I had his poster on my wall as a kid. Canada Snowboard has put together a really supportive team including a sports physiotherapist that travels with us to World Cup races and works with us at some training camps. Typically the team is away at a training camp or race for ten days to two weeks per month.

Q

Where will this World Tour take you?

A

November through March is the World Tour this year. So far we have been to Dubai for a training camp, The Netherlands for a banked Slalom World Cup race, and Mt Sima in the Yukon Territories for a training camp. Our next race is a Nor Am SBX in Big White then we’re off to Lillehammer, Norway for the last World Cup race of the year. I didn’t attend all races as I’m a next gen-athlete. It’s my first year and I’m not yet on the National team. Next year’s schedule will be busier as we build towards the Para Olympic Games in Beijing and I can’t wait to see where this journey will take me. Sweden, Finland, Japan, and Italy are all stops on the world tour.

Q

What advice do you have for other aspiring paraathletes?

A Nate Crowe-Swords

What is your training schedule like? Who are your coaches?

This is a question near and dear to my heart. My daughter has Cerebral Palsy and being a part of the para-team with Canada will hopefully give me a platform to inspire her and other children like her with special needs and different abilities. The best advice I can give is to just follow your dreams. Keep doing what makes you happy and persist beyond expectations if you love doing something as much as I love snowboarding.

You will find a way to do what you love no matter your disability.

If you haven’t found your passion yet, reach out to the community! As a para-athlete there are opportunities for you. CADS (Central Alberta Disable Ski Association) is a great organization that can introduce people to skiing, snowboarding, and a growing number of adaptive sports.

There’s even a national para-surf team, along with the more traditional wheelchair sports.

P rairie

Living

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19

the evolution of

n i f f i r G Aislynn

Quote sitting here?

The road to success isn’t always linear, but as one multi-talented Red Deer musician proves, if you stay open to the possibilities the dream can unfold in the most unexpected ways.

Aislynn Griffin knew from a young age that music was her future, but an early desire to teach morphed into broader ambitions.

“Music is the way we vibrate in this world,” Griffin says of her love for all instruments, of which she can now pick up almost any and learn to play the basics within a few hours.

Following her graduation from high school she realized she wanted to be more ‘a musician that happens to teach’, rather than a teacher and she enrolled in the music program at Western University in Ontario to fulfill that ambition. After only a year, however, Griffin was forced to cut short her education, along with her dreams, to assist with a family emergency.

“I had to start taking on different roles really quickly in order to really take care of the people who needed it,” says Griffin.

A move to Red Deer in 2013 gave her the space to reorient herself. After embarking on a number of different paths, including a brief foray in midwifery, she always came back to music, although she was still unsure how it would manifest in a tangible way.

Despite worrying she might end up the proverbial starving artist, Griffin followed her passion and enrolled in the Red Deer College music program. Even after graduating in 2015, she continued to rely on the college for musical fulfillment,

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playing two nights a week with the college’s Symphonic Winds group. When the program was cut in 2018, she was again at loose ends.

“I had to figure out how to create my own opportunities,” she says, explaining she started networking and playing at open jams. Often, she would research musicians she admired, attend their performances, and introduce herself. Despite never having heard her play, the musicians recognized her passion and soon asked her to join them on stage.

“The value of networking is crazy,” admits Griffin, stating she’s “just a saxophone player trying to butterfly into another area.”

Petite and soft-spoken, Griffin’s powerful and often male-dominated instrument choice sometimes raises brows in the music industry.

“Especially in the jazz world, there’s really huge dominance of male figures on instruments. The women are really great at the vocal stuff and we have that space, we’ve claimed that, but instrumentally, and saxophone-wise, I don’t meet very many females.”

When she’s on stage, she says, she surrenders her whole self to entertaining the audience.

“We don’t know what kind of person walked in that door. We don’t know if they’re broken-hearted. We don’t know if they’re having an amazing day. We never know what kind of healing we are meant to be doing, it not ours to know.”

Griffin has now come full circle, adding teaching to at École La Prairie to her resume. Griffin finds fulfillment in helping her students discover the instrument with which they resonate.

“I don’t believe there is such a thing as not having that capacity, it’s just whether we can find the patience and the avenue to unlock that. Everyone, in my opinion, is intrinsically motivated to some aspect of music.”

When Griffin first started teaching, she admits she was anxious.

“I don’t want to be that one who ruins music for them, but at the same time I have to balance that someone else’s love in music is not going to be that other person’s. But how can we all be in the same room together and have me unlock those things and blow on each of their fires to make them bigger—that balance was really, really hard.”

Over the years, Griffin has collected a variety of instruments, all of which adorn a wall in her home.

One that’s particularly close to her heart, made its way to her when she was working at Red Deer’s 53rd Street Music. While performing routine maintenance on the company’s rental instruments, Griffin happened upon an old tenor saxophone that was being refurbished and sold. As she lovingly disassembled the piece and polished away the tarnish, she soon realized it was never going to grace the shelves—she was going to buy for herself.

“This is a labour of love and I’m not going to want to sell you to anyone else,” she recalls whispering to the refurbished sax.

Alongside writing some music of her own, Griffin is excited to collaborate more, with new people, in new spaces, in ways that she never thought about before.

“The mystery is part of the discovery,” she says.

“If I already know the path, what’s the point in walking it?”

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P rairie

Living

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21

Ladies celebrating ladies. It''s like Lilith Fair minus the angst. Leslie Knopes, Parks and Recreation While it began as a celebration of Parks and Recreation star Leslie Knope’s ladyfriends, this pseudoholiday is widely becoming a preferred way to celebrate that most common and yet most unremarkedupon of things: female friendship.

Coined by the political satire sitcoms second highest rated episode ever, Galentine’s Day has now transcended the television screen far beyond the show’s fictional location of Pawnee, Indiana.

No longer simply a micro-holiday in the blink-and-you-miss-it manner of National Pizza Day, businesses and people around the world are hopping on the Galentine’s Day train.

Craft breweries have had Galentine’s Day parties featuring crafts, beers and - in a sweet tip of the hat to Knopes’ character - waffles. I’m curious to see which one of the plethora of craft breweries in Central Alberta will be the first to pioneer this idea.

St. Martins press released a book called BE MY GALENTINE: Celebrating Badass Female Friendship.

In 2017, Target posted about the holiday on Twitter and even offered up Galentine’s Day gift suggestions.

Global media company Mashable released a series of tips on how one might throw one’s own Galentine’s Day Party, the final piece of advice being: “While eating waffles and drinking fizzy cocktails, celebrate the women in your life, Knope-style, by sharing with each one in attendance why you treasure her friendship.”

To further speak to its growing establishment, Galentine’s Day has earned itself that ultimate mark of cultural affirmation: a think piece, attempting to condemn its entire existence, in the New York Post titled GALENTINE’S DAY - GIVE ME A BREAK. “Ironically,” the story scoffed, “Feb. 13 has long been considered ‘Mistress Day’,when unfaithful men take out their side chicks, leaving Feb. 14 for wives and girlfriends. Hope no one has any scheduling conflicts.”

There are so many reasons to embrace this holiday instead of Valentine’s Day. For myself, being in a marriage and having children, I’d MUCH prefer my spouse unload the dishwasher and get up with the littles so I can enjoy breakfast and mimosas with my girlfriends than have him go out and buy the standard red cellophane heart shaped box of chocolates at Shoppers so he can contribute to the economy. According to CNN, Valentines Day sales will reach 18.6 billion this year. Really??

For those who are happily (or unhappily) single, well you just get left feeling left out completely, or like no one loves you. But don’t be fooled - all those couples around you at dinner , forcing romance, are also just caving to the pressure of the day itself. Trust me, we’ve been one of them.

Sure. It’s a great idea to have one day a year set aside to celebrate love. To do something special for the ones most important to us, and to feel like someone cherishes you enough to send you the very best. But what’s good for the cash registers in card, candy, gift stores and restaurants, isn’t necessarily good for a relationship.

Historically, Valentines Day has origins in the Roman festival of Lupercalia, held in mid-February. The festival, which celebrated the coming of spring, included fertility rites and the pairing off of women with men by lottery. At the end of the 5th century, Pope Gelasius I replaced Lupercalia with St. Valentine’s Day. I don’t know about you but I’d much rather celebrate something that originated in Pawnee, Indiana.

Expectations for the day and pressure to be more in love, more romantic or further along in a relationship than they are can in my opinion derail the relationship all together rather than enhance it.

So this year, Central Alberta, let’s ditch the pressure and the cash grabs. Ladies, get out there and celebrate the women in your life that are your tribe. Partners, make a breakfast reservation for your significant other and their besties. That’s my kind of foreplay. That’s love!

Host your own Galentine’s Day Party!

Set the table in style! Show your tribe they are special.

with various toppings. Try strawberries, whip cream, chocolate or bananas.

Mimosas are great breakfast cocktails and can also be made in a variety of fruity flavours.

Have everyone at the table write out on small pieces of paper one unique thing they love about each attendee. Put all the paper into a bowl on the table. As you are all grazing, each person can pick one out, read it aloud and try to guess which guest it’s referring to.

If your tribe is a little spicier try a Caesar bar.

Swap the celery garnish for bacon and presto!

Stick to finger foods. They’re not as heavy and people love to graze as they sip. Some great ideas are mini quiches or mini eggos

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Make sure to invite me! :)

the rise of

s ' e n i t n e Gal

day

by stephanie rhodes

improv f f u C e h t Off U

nscripted and spontaneous, improvisational comedians somehow make it appear fun and easy, but as we learn from three actors from Red Deer’s Bull Skit theatre, there’s a lot more to improv than just looking for laughs.

Documented as early as 391BC in Italy, improvisational theatre is a form of theatre in which most or all of what is performed is largely unplanned by the actors.

In its purest form, the dialogue, plot, and characters are created collaboratively by the actors as the play unfolds without use of a written script.

While the art form can often be geared towards the dramatic or emotional, its most recognized format is comedic. The popular television show, Whose Line is it Anyway, starring Drew Carey and Canada’s own Colin Mochrie, offers a hilarious plethora of short, improvised skits.

Nestled downtown within the Scott Block Theatre, Red Deer harbours its own treasure of talented, impromptu actors.

Co-creator of Bull Skit Comedy, actress Jenna Goldade has almost 20 years of acting experience.

“I was always in love with Carol Burnett,” says Goldade on her comedic inspirations.

Bull Skit Comedy

“She was the person that drove me to do sketch comedies specifically. It’s always so different, always dynamic. Bull Skit was the sketch show and then it became an improv-based company.”

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After signing up for a Bull Skit workshop, Ash Mercia, now a seven-year acting veteran, feels the hardest part of improv is getting past the five-year mark, admitting that to do improv, you have to be able to embrace failure.

“For me,” says Mercia, “it’s definitely about being vulnerable with, feeling a real emotion with, and making a connection with a person.”

“After a while it becomes like second nature,” chimes in Goldade.

Michelle McLernon,the relative new-comer to the group with just two years of improvisational acting experience, was a professional clown for five years before being inspired to join Bull Skit.

“There’s a lot to be said for passing along joy and sharing joy and being a part of it.”

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P rairie Living

While they sometimes take the stage with a premise in mind, like the Harry Potter themed play they recently put on, they often go out without any idea of what they’re going to say or do.

“You have the vehicle but you don’t know getting in the vehicle where the vehicle is going to go,” says Goldade.

“The hard part is getting people to realize that improv is not necessarily for just getting laughs.”

The audience will immediately reflect the energy of whatever you’re doing, she says.

“When we try to be funny, the less funny it is. Sounds counterintuitive, but it’s true. Truth is funny,” adds Mercia.

After the curtains close and the stage falls silent, however, the improv group maintains a feeling of family and support, creating friendships and bonds through being vulnerable and authentic.

“Our company is super inclusive to everybody,” says Goldade.

“Regardless of race, colour, or sexuality, if you’re just looking to connect with people again, which I know we’re all desperate to do, I would say improv is a great place to have that opportunity.”

With Bull Skit in its 12th year, Goldade has hopes that the theatre will continue to thrive for twelve more years and beyond.

“I just want to see Red Deer continue to support what we do, and fall in love with what we do, because we offer such a vast array of entertainment.”

A books

mid a pendulous economy, one business that is still thriving has its roots in an ancient art.

Since the creation of the written word over 4000 years ago, humans have strived to express their stories, love, and lives through a medium of permanence.

Using a reed stylus fashioned to a point, the ancient Sumerians of Mesopotamia impressed their invented language into small slabs of damp clay they’d then leave to harden in the desert sun.

Dating as far back as 2500BC, the early Egyptians manufactured one of the first forms of paper with which to pen their prolific spells for the dead. Grown wild along the river Nile, the stalks of the papyrus plant were sliced into long strips and laid atop one another, basket-like: one horizontal, one vertical.

Pressed flat and allowed to dry, one sheet often reached 100 feet and, once set, was rolled into a large scroll.

A Love

Story

In da Vinci’s time, paper was a rare luxury, as demonstrated by the pages of his 500-year-old notebooks, many of which are preserved in a private museum within Bill Gate’s library. The Codex Leicester, a 72-page collection of scientific writings, shows the late master’s prudence as he used every inch of each page to safeguard his discoveries and ideas.

Thousands of years later, our love affair with the printed word still smolders—though it’s taken on some new and rather bountiful forms.

Since the printing press was invented in 1440, it’s

estimated that more than 130 million individual titles have been published. In the US alone, over 840 million books are published every year, with 20% in e-book format and 80% in print.

While digital books have attempted to replace the hefty tomes, thus reducing shipping costs and environmental waste, the technological novelty continues to decline as used print books are now experiencing a second chance at life.

Joyce Clark, owner of Second Glance Books in Lacombe, sees this literary resurgence first-hand.

After taking over the business about a year ago, Clark is often surprised at the sheer quantity of books customers drop off in exchange for credit in her shop.

With an average of 1000 books hauled through her east-end location every month, she often deals with storage struggles.

“I think people are just realizing that buying new is so expensive,” Clark states on why she feels used books have become so popular, of which mystery, romance, and history tops her customers’ lists.

Despite the rise in technology redirecting our attention towards apps and games, not to mention the alarming rate of bricks and mortar book retailers folding, Clark says she is often shocked to see how many people are still reading.

Inspired by her success in Lacombe, Clark is considering opening a second location in Southern Alberta.

Comparing bookstores to a candy store, Clark says with a smile, “The best part is, no one ever comes in cranky.”

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Living

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25

Amid the throes of blossoming romance, it’s hard to imagine a more glorious feeling than love.

From the dawn of culture, people have professed their love through poetry, literature, and song. Shakespeare himself mentions the word love 1,640 times.

Infamous couples in love, like Antony and Cleopatra or the fictional Romeo and Juliet, chose a tragic ending than to face life without the other.

While meeting your soul mate may feel guided by the hands of destiny, however, there’s actually something far more powerful at work—biology.

The stages of love can be allocated into three categories: Lust. Attraction. Attachment.

Visual interest is just the beginning. At the moment of attraction, a series of chemical reactions are awakened inside your brain. Airborne chemicals released from the skin, called pheromones, further conspire to draw us in.

Lust is inspired in both sexes by testosterone and estrogen—but in opposite quantities. Studies show that in the first six months of courtship, men are found to have lower levels of testosterone than usual in their bloodstream, whereas women have more. Paradoxically, in women, estrogen levels decreased amid the early stages of love while men’s estrogen levels increased.

Science explains this as nature’s way to encourage the unbalanced chemical signatures to harmonize, thus using one another to fill the void.

The main perpetrators of attraction are dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. High levels of these chemicals can make us giddy, energetic, and prone to euphoria. Prolonged exposure can suppress appetite and induce insomnia, which is probably why we’re happy to stay up until 3:00 A.M. talking to our sweetheart despite having to work in the morning.

The final stage, attachment, is instigated by oxytocin and vasopressin. Nicknamed ‘the cuddle hormone’, oxytocin is released during orgasm, as well as breastfeeding to stimulate the bonding process between mother and baby.

Vasopressin is an ancient peptide molecule that plays a role in facilitating social attachment and the feeling of safety. Combined, these chemicals serve to deactivate a set of regions inside the brain associated with social judgment and scrutiny of other people’s intentions.

Your heart is pounding.

Sweat gathers on your palms and your cheeks are flushed.

Butterflies take flight inside your stomach.

No, it’s not the flu. You’re falling in love.

aspire children’s RAFFLE

From a scientific standpoint, love is essential for the survival of our species, inducing the desire to procreate and create long lasting relationships crucial to thrive in a precarious world, but from a simply human point of view, love feeds our soul, it gives us purpose, inspires, motivates, and makes us feel truly alive.

Love is, after all, why we are here.

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Raffle draw date: May 8, 2020 Parkland Pavilion Westerner Park 4847 19 Street, Red Deer At Aspire’s Evening of Decadent Dessert

Tickets are available at:  All sponsor locations  Aspire Special Needs Resource Centre  Online at www.aspirespecialneeds.ca All proceeds will support programs, specialized equipment purchases, and services for local children with special needs.

Tickets may only be purchased or sold within Alberta.

Licence #548464 Only 11,000 printed.

No cash alternatives will be awarded for the prizes.

Prize details and rules can be found at www.aspirespecialneeds.ca/events/raffle

Supporting local children with special needs and their families

4x4, 3.2 Litre V6, 9-speed automatic, hydro blue pearl

Friday, May 8, 2020

d 2n Prize

Doors open 5:30 pm

Gorgeous White Gold Diamond Ring

Parkland Pavilion, Westerner Park 4847 19 Street, Red Deer

Valued at $7,500.00

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Tickets now on sale! $100/each or $750 for table of eight

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Thank you to our sponsors:

For complete details, visit aspirespecialneeds.ca/events/edd Charitable tax receipts will be issued for a portion of the ticket price.

4826 47 Street

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P rairie Living

Red Deer, AB

T4N 1R2

Tel: 403.340.2606

www.aspirespecialneeds.ca

what i’m

L oving with

Alyse Hogan

Q

A Q A Q

A Q A Q

A Q

A Q A Q A Q A Q

Born and raised in Central Alberta, Alyse Hogan is currently completing her Masters in Counselling Psychology through the University of Calgary with plans of becoming a Registered Psychologist. Hogan grew up in Lacombe and spent most of her young adult years in Red Deer. Alyse has been working in the field of human services since she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in psychology in 2009, working with youth and adults struggling with addictions and mental health issues.

She is currently working as a counsellor for a government agency supporting those who are managing mental health and addictions concerns and completing her practicum at a local non-profit agency.

When she is not working or fulfilling her practicum hours she is either trail running, at yoga or spin class, diving deep into astrology, or enjoying quality time with friends and family.

A Q

A

Favourite local band JoJo and the Woods. They put on such a great show. They no longer live in Canada, but come home to put on a show every now and then, and when they do, I never want to miss out.

Favourite local beer It’s a 4-way tie between Blindman Brewing’s Longshadow IPA, Troubled Monk Brewery’s Bucktooth, Sawback Brewing Co’s Hazy Blonde or RedHart Brewing’s Sour with that almond syrup.

Favourite place for a cocktail Bo’s Bar and Stage. Great scene, great service and the lights are always perfectly dimmed.

Favourite place for coffee.

Dose Coffee Company. Best crafted coffee in town. I usually get their almond milk latté but mix it up every now and then. Everything is so delicious.

Favourite outdoor spot I love all of the running/ biking trails in Red Deer. We are really lucky to have such amazing paths. We have lost a lot of natural trails due to residential developments but there are still a couple through Heritage Ranch and Mackenzie Trails. I love it in there. It feels like I am far away from any city.

Favourite local breakfast spot Like many of my friends, I have dietary restrictions which make breakfast less fun. We usually go to Brown’s Socialhouse or Bo’s Bar and Stage.

Favourite place for a massage Weber Physio’s massage therapists are amazing. They have repaired me a number of times over the years.

Favourite show at a local spot in the last year.

The Drag show and Dance during pride week! Always one of the best shows of the year.

Favourite place to shop for clothes My favourite places to shop are The Bay and Winners. But when it comes to locally owned, I never walk into Pink Society and leave empty handed.

What you’re looking forward to for 2020 in Central Alberta.

I am looking forward to gaining a sense of balance in 2020 and enjoying my time outside on the trails. I’m also looking forward to getting back to the yoga studio. The annual Red Deer Food and Beverage Expo never disappoints me. The vendors are great, and my friends and I always have the best time. It’s also a great way to say, “see ya later winter.” It will be good to enjoy some down time and taking in a couple of local runs this year now that I am done with school.

Favourite place to take a tourist.

I like taking out-of-towners to Heritage Ranch, Bower Ponds or Sylvan Lake as well any of the above-mentioned businesses. Having travelled across two major continents I can honestly say we have some great spots here in the city.

P rairie

Living

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treasures rairie P

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P rairie Living

4934 50 AVE · BENTLEY WE’RE SOCIAL @THEBOHOAPOTHECARY

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Living

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29

Looking back in honour of international women’s day March 8

Nellie McClung 1873 - 1951 From Edmonton, Nellie McClung was the most well-known of the group.

A popular novelist, teacher, and suffragist, she campaigned for allowances for mothers, free medical and dental for school children, and divorce rights.

irene parlby

emily murphy

henrietta edwards

the Famous

louise mckinney

five

With fifteen published books under her belt, she was the first woman elected as CBC’s Director to the Board of Governors. Even before her historic acclaim, she sat as a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba and was later invited as a delegate at Geneva’s League of Nations.

In 1938, McClung spoke of the historic struggle to overturn the misogynistic law, “Women had first to convince the world that they had souls and then that they had minds and then it came on to this matter of political entity.”

nellie mcclung

Emily Murphy

It seems incomprehensible now that there was a time a woman wasn’t legally considered a ‘person’, but less than 100 years ago that was the case.

1868 – 1933 “I believe that never was a country better adapted to produce a great race of women than this Canada of ours, nor a race of women better adapted to make a great country.”

Women were only legally considered persons after five Alberta women, later known as the Famous Five, challenged accepted laws and customs to win personhood in 1929.

Also from Edmonton, Judge Emily Murphy served as President of the Canadian Women’s Press Club and was the first female Police Magistrate in the British Empire in 1916.

The women filed their petition on August 27, 1927, but on April 24, 1928, Canada’s Supreme Court announced its unanimous decision that women were not to be considered persons and therefore were not eligible to sit in the Senate.

Alongside supporting the passing of The Dower Act, a law to protect spouses not included on their homestead’s property title, she fought to establish accessible playgrounds for families and the election of women as trustees.

Come to be known as the “Persons Case”, the Famous Five appealed this decision to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council—and this time they succeeded. The judgment was overturned in October of 1929, allowing women to be considered a person within the Canadian constitution.

With a desire to protect the rights and welfare of women and children, Alberta’s Famous Five went on to represent an entire generation’s political activism including a nationwide campaign for women’s suffrage.

While some controversy lingers around The Famous Five as they appeared only to champion for the rights of white women and children, their actions kindled the movement for equality between men and women that still burns today.

On the 70th anniversary of their victory in the ‘Persons’ Case’, the Famous Five Foundation placed a commemorative sculpture in Calgary’s Olympic Plaza in 1999, and then on Parliament Hill in 2000.

Henrietta Edwards 1849 – 1931

“If women had the vote there would be no need to come twice asking for better legislation for women and children.”

A journalist and artist, her miniature portraits exhibited at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, this Famous Five member published Canada’s first women’s magazine, “Women’s Work in Canada”.

Henrietta Edwards originated from Fort Macleod, Alberta and helped establish the National Council of Women and The Victorian Order of Nurses To provide poor working girls with vocational training and help find employment as well as housing and recreational facilities, she organized The Montreal Working Girls’ Association.

A self-educated legal expert, Edwards focused on prison reform and equalized parental rights.

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“Whenever I don’t know whether to fight or not, I fight.”

Irene Parlby

1868 – 1965 “If politics mean…the effort to secure through legislative action better conditions of life for the people, greater opportunities for our children and other people’s children…then it most assuredly is a woman’s job as much as it is a man’s job.”

Irene Parlby from Lacombe became the first president of the United Farm Women of Alberta and was also the first woman in Alberta and the second in the British Empire to be appointed to a government cabinet position.

She worked to improve the lives of rural woman and children, travelling the province to press for better health care, schools and libraries.

Louise McKinney 1868 – 1931

Passionate about increasing public awareness against the unjust status of widows and separated wives, Claresholm’s Louise McKinney was instrumental in the passing of The Dower Act, which protected spouses by giving them rights to the homestead.

MLA of Alberta in 1917, McKinney was the first women elected to legislature in the British Empire.

“The purpose of a woman’s life is just the same as the purpose of a man’s life: that she may make the best possible contribution to the generation in which she is living.”

rairie P Living

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