The Community Edition: December 2017

VOLUME 6, ISSUE 3 • DECEMBER 2017

DECEMBER 2017 // @THECOMMUNITYED

IN THIS

ISSUE

VOLUME 6, ISSUE 3

DECEMBER 2017

2

FEATURE

8-9 TWO SMITHS KEEP METAL ART ALIVE IN KW

EDITOR’S PICK 11

NEW HOUSE OF FRIENDSHIP IN CAMBRIDGE

3 4 4 5 5 6 7 7 10 10 11 12 13 14 15

IN BRIEF FOUR ALL’S WINTER PLANS SHORE LAUNCES NEW APP BOOGIE HOUSE KW’S MOONLIT DANCE SWINE AND VINE TAKES OVER TCE FICTION PEDESTRIAN SAFETY IN KW THE STIGMA AROUND SMEGMA CAFE JOY UNDER NEW OWNERSHIP ECO-FRIENDLY WR POST COLLEGE STRIKE ANXIETY THE TRUTH BEHIND SANTA OUR INK, OUR STORIES HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS? OONA MOON // EVENT LISTINGS

INSIDE

COVER BY LAKYN BARTON

Volume 6, Issue 3 Next issue: January 10, 2018 75 University Ave. W Waterloo, ON N2L 3C5 519-884-0710 x3564 All advertising inquiries should be directed to Care Lucas at 519-884-0710 x3560 care.lucas@wlusp.com THE COMMUNITY EDITION TEAM Editor in Chief Beth Bowles beth@communityedition.ca Publisher Lakyn Barton lakyn.barton@wlusp.com

General Inquiries info@communityedition.ca

WLUSP ADMINISTRATION President Andreas Patsiaouros Executive Director Lakyn Barton Advertising Manager Care Lucas Treasurer John Pehar Vice-Chair Lisa Irimescu

Web Manager Care Lucas

Directors Benjamin Cooke Rosalind Horne Alan Li Noa Salamon H.G. Watson

Photo Editor Nick Stanley

Corporate Secretary Noa Salamon

Assistant Editor Ramona Leitao

CONTRIBUTORS Nathalie Bouchard Paige Bush Lea Clarin Stacey Danckert Megan Dawe James Gowland James Howe Will Huang Chris Hussey Stacey Jacobs Monica Lee Nicole McCallum Sam Nabi Kurtis Rideout John Roche Dylan Siebert Kaitlyn Severin Matt Smith Cara Vandermey Darin White Karlis Wilde TWITTER @THECOMMUNITYED INSTAGRAM @COMMUNITYEDITION

The Community Edition is an alternative monthly intended to engage and inform the community.

Started in 2012, the Community Edition is an editorially independent newspaper published by Wilfrid Laurier University Student Publications, Waterloo, a corporation without share capital. WLUSP is governed by its board of directors.

Opinions expressed within the Community Edition are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the editorial board, the Community Edition, WLUSP, WLU or Centra Web. All content appearing in the Community Edition bears the copyright expressly of their creator(s) and may not be used without written consent.

The Community Edition is a member of the Ontario Press Council, which is an independent ethical organization established to deal with editorial concerns.

For additional information or to file a complaint, contact info@ontpress.com or call 416-340-1981.

Preamble to the Community Edition Constitution The Community Edition will keep faith with its readers by presenting news and expressions of opinions comprehensively, accurately and fairly. The Community Edition believes in a balanced and impartial presentation of all relevant facts in a news report, and of all substantial opinions in a

matter of controversy.

The staff of the Community Edition shall uphold all commonly held ethical conventions of journalism. When an error of omission or of commission has occurred, that error shall be acknowledged promptly.

When statements are made that are critical of an individual, or an organization, we shall give those affected the opportunity to reply at the earliest time possible. Ethical journalism requires impartiality, and consequently conflicts of interest and the appearance of conflicts of interest will be avoided by all staff. The only limits of any newspaper are those of the world around it, and so the Community Edition will attempt to cover its world with a special focus on the community of Waterloo Region.

Ultimately, the Community Edition will be bound by neither philosophy nor geography in its mandate.

The Community Edition has an obligation to foster freedom of the press and freedom of speech. This obligation is best fulfilled when debate and dissent are encouraged, both in the internal workings of the paper, and through the Community Edition’s contact with the community. The Community Edition will always attempt to do what is right, with fear of neither repercussions, nor retaliation. The purpose of community press is to act as an agent of social awareness, and so shall conduct the affairs of our magazine.

DECEMBER 2017 // COMMUNITYEDITION.CA

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IN BRIEF

AS OF DEC. 1, UPTOWN WATERLOO IS NO LONGER DIVIDED BY THE EAST AND THE WEST. THE FENCES ARE DOWN, THE PYLONS ARE GONE AND WE CAN ONCE AGAIN LIVE IN UNITY. WILL HUANG PHOTOS

NEWS

ARTS

URBAN

KITCHENER OPENS INNOVATION LAB

KW CHRISTKINDL MARKET IS BACK

WPL GETS EAST SIDE LIBRARY BRANCH

The City of Kitchener launched its first innovation lab on Nov. 28. According to Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic, the lab will be used to find ways to use new technology for city services that are efficient and less expensive. The lab will be looking at a way to convert the city’s streetlights to LED bulbs that work collectively, with built-in Wi-Fi to be carried through them.

Kitchener City Hall will be having its annual Christmas Market Dec. 7 - 10. This year, expect more booths this year, where attendees can try food and Gluhwein, as well as take part in workshops, see a live nativity scene, model railways and blacksmiths. Parking is free Dec. 8-9 in selected city lots. Admission is free for all days. For more information, visit christkindl.ca.

City of Waterloo councillors voted in approval for a new east side library branch for the Waterloo Public Library (WPL). The branch will be located at the RIM Park Manulife Financial Sportsplex and Healthy Living Centre. The design was approved after a funding agreement between the City of Waterloo and WPL and will be in effect beginning Jan. 1, 2019.

NEW RECORD FOR BALLOON ARTIST?

IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE SCREENING

KING AND ERB STREET ARE OPEN

Kitchener balloon artist Drew Ripley has presumably set an oddly specific record for travelling the longest distance on a monkey bike while having his head inside a giant balloon. In November, Ripley posted his video submission on YouTube that showed him successfully cycling his mini monster bicycle for 100 metres. You can check out the video online; we promise it’s entertaining.

Princess Cinemas in uptown Waterloo will be hosting its 32nd annual and free screening of It’s A Wonderful Life on Dec. 19 from 7:30 p.m. - 10 p.m. Donations are welcome to support The Food Bank of Waterloo Region, a nonprofit organization where twenty dollars can support a family with food for four days.

Visit eventbrite.ca for more information.

2017’s reconstruction on King and Erb Streets in the uptown Waterloo area officially ended at 5 p.m. on Dec. 1. The open roads allow more accessibility for all vehicles, as well as pedestrians.

Miscellaneous work will continue on Erb Street in December, as will minor landscaping work and bike lanes on King Street. These projects are set to be completed by spring 2018.

A NEW PRIDE FLAG FOR CHURCH

ARTS MARKET AT BUTTON FACTORY

CAMBRIDGE DAM TO BE REBUILT

Community members gathered around Emmanuel United Church on Dec. 2 to witness the raising of a replacement pride flag, as their original one was vandalized. “The church shall remain holy” was spray-painted across the church’s historical brick, as well as a biblical quote from Romans 1:32 on their stained-glass window.

Parkminster United Church was also similarily vandalized.

The Button Factory is hosting their annual Holiday Arts Market on various dates throughout December. The event, which is located at 25 Regina Street South, will consist of items that range from handmade crafts, knitwear, jewellery, wood serving ware, eco-friendly beauty products, and so on. Visit the Button Factory Arts Facebook page for more information.

The majority of Cambridge residents who attended a public information meeting on the future of the Riverside Park Dam on Nov. 29 voted in favour of restoring the 130-year-old structure. The City of Cambridge is going to allocate approximately $7.5 million to rebuild the dam in its 2020 budget, with $5 million of that already set aside back in 2013. The alternative proposed was to demolish the dam.

WR OWED $35 MILLION IN FINES

BENEFIT SHOW AT CHAINSAW

REHABILITATING WATERLOO PARK

Waterloo Region is owed $35 million in defaulted fines, with the majority coming from driver tickets. According to council, expenses in driver tickets are increasing due to drivers choosing to take the matter to court rather than paying the tickets outright, thus reducing the amount of fines collected.

Council is currently trying to find solutions to collect unpaid fines.

KW Food Bank is hosting a benefit show at Chainsaw in uptown Waterloo. The event, which takes place Dec. 30 from 7 p.m. - 11:30 p.m. will feature musical acts such as Rawls Royce, Among Legends, Antisocial Surf Club, Coming Clean and Alex Unger. Admission is either five dollars or three nonperishable food items. Proceeds go towards the KW Food Bank.

A Public Information Centre (PIC) is being held Dec. 12 at the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex to present information on the current conditions of Silver Lake and Laurel Creek in Waterloo Park. Community growth around the park has had an effect on the nature of the lake and creek. More information about can be found at waterloo.ca.

DECEMBER 2017 // @THECOMMUNITYED

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Ajoa Mintah of Four All Ice Cream, back when they opened in the summer.

NICK STANLEY PHOTO

FOUR ALL’S PLANS TO TACKLE WINTER IN KW ICE CREAM SALES WERE NO ISSUE IN THE SUMMER, BUT WHAT ABOUT THIS UPCOMING WINTER? NATHALIE BOUCHARD CONTRIBUTOR Four All Ice Cream is a locally sourced treat with inclusion and dietary restrictions in mind. Their tasting room is located at 141 Whitney Place in Kitchener and their ice cream is available at various locations around Kitchener Waterloo. But what happens when we approach the colder months? Do people still buy ice cream, a dessert typically associated with summertime?

The owner of Four All, Ajoa Mintah and marketing coordinator and ice cream maker Larrissa Jerome, explained that ice cream is not only a summertime treat and can be enjoyed all year round.

Four All has a lot more to think about then the average ice cream factory due to the fact that they have new flavours

each month. As well, in the winter months they will be focusing on a specific theme in order to engage the community with their curiosity and their taste buds.

“It’s challenging to come up with a flavour for the time of year and [for] each month and then to come up with a flavour and keep it interesting and to stay within that category and think about dietary concerns,” Jerome said. “[Four All already] has a huge list of constraints now we are going to constrain ourselves further by making [ice cream] that wraps around a theme — but that’s what we do and that’s the challenge of what we do,” Mintah said.

Mintah explained that the tasting room isn’t the only thing that makes Four All unique. Four All is a provincially licensed ice cream factory, which means that they work all year round to produce quality ice cream with diversified flavours like cream of earl grey and honey, as well as accessible options like vegan candy cane hot chocolate with

candy cane sprinkles “We [just] don’t see ourselves as an ice cream shop,” Mintah said.

“We are an ice cream factory. We went through all the extra effort to go through the licencing process, were provincially inspected and so we run year-round so we make a product that people consume year-round.”

Many surprises are in store for customers who want the latest scoop on all things Four All this holiday season. Four All will be starting an online ice cream subscription program expected to launch in the beginning of December.

“The online store has been our creative focus and baby … We’ve got some Christmas flavours and holiday flavours coming out and then winter lasts for several months so were kind of going with a different theme to focus on each month,” Jerome said.

Mintah explained that the online store has always been a priority. “[At the beginning] we were only ever going to be a delivery company initially

because we wanted to make it accessible for people,” Mintah said. “[However] … it didn’t go that route but it was always in the back of our minds. The reality is ice cream is seen as something that is seasonal, so the idea of these home deliveries is to break through that seasonality.”

Jerome and Mintah explained that their ice cream subscription service will allow customers to have four ice creams chosen for them and then have them delivered right to their door step or picked up in store.

“Each month we will have four unique flavours for you based on our seasonal flavours. You never really know what you’re going to get. It’s always just going to be a surprise at your door step. This is probably the greatest subscription program you can ever sign up for,” said Jerome.

Another service that Four All plans to introduce is their online store that will have ice cream swag like their already introduced pins, a collaborative project

with local graphic designer Jon “BRFC” Johnson.

Four All is definitely not slowing down these winter months. If anything, they’re heating things up with this cool treat.

The seasonal ice cream flavours based on specific themes, a delivery service focused on accessibility, as well as an online store and subscription program is how Four All plans to keep customers eating ice cream during Canadian winters. However, Mintah believes that only eating ice cream in the summer is a myth.

“I firmly believe that people eat ice cream year-round,” she said.

“People don’t just stop eating it because it’s winter. People may [walk] outside less to go and get, but we wanted to break through that and we wanted to have a way to get ice cream to people that love our ice cream.”

SHORE LAUNCHES NEW APP TO PROVIDE ABORTION RESOURCES BETH BOWLES EDITOR IN CHIEF In January, Lyndsey Butcher, the executive director of SHORE Centre (Sexual Health, Options, Resources, Education) attended the Fierce Founders Bootcamp at Communitech. As the first not-for-profit to be invited into a space predominately for female leaders of tech companies, Butcher found herself thinking of ways that she could blend tech and advocacy.

“I was immersed into everything innovation, tech, all the systems and processes that they use to start up tech companies,” Butcher said.

It was after this bootcamp that Butcher developed the idea to start a web-app for SHORE’s clients. The purpose of the app would be to connect women and trans people seeking safe abortion services with medical professionals in the Region.

“We were seeing a shift [with our clients] from phoning us and coming into the office to meet with a counsellor; we saw this huge spike in the last couple of years to people reaching us via email,” Butcher said.

When discussing medical information,

communicating via email is not ideal.

Butcher explained that multiple security issues can arise when discussing medical information in an email thread.

These issues may have been resulting in clients not getting the help they needed.

“We were trying to find a responsive way to ask these questions and so we thought, maybe someone can build an app for us,” she said.

Butcher started to pitch the idea to various tech companies in the Region, as well as the GTA. Some quotes were as high as $80,000 to build the app. She didn’t want to be frugal with the project, but as a not-for-profit, funds were slim.

“We really wanted a professional, secure, safe app,” she said.

She eventually met Mark Connolly of Zeitspace, a software product design and development consultancy in Kitchener. Connolly and his colleagues agreed to make a prototype for SHORE, something they could show other tech companies when giving their pitch.

“We went around and we showed [the prototype] to different people, but we weren’t able to raise any money during that time,” Butcher said.

Eventually, Zeitspace agreed to build the app for them, free of charge.

“We decided to do it because what SHORE is doing is quite important for obvious reasons. Lyndsey had really impressed us, personally. She had really done, not just her homework

for approaching a tech company, but she obviously knows about her domain and working with people who need the services at SHORE,” Connolly said. “So she’s completely passionate about that and able to talk about it articulately. She had done her homework about how to translate that into an app.”

“They really listened to what we had to say which was nice, and valued our expertise in this area and they were just a joy to work with,” Butcher added. “They cared just as much about the women we serve as we do.”

As a company that consists of only three employees who are all men, Butcher stressed how important their involvement in the app was to SHORE. “I’m sure at some point they’ve had some people in their lives access abortion care but it wasn’t a personal experience that they had and so they wanted to learn everything they could about what that looks like for people, what that experience was,” she said.

“Having gone through this with SHORE, it really helped us get a better understanding of who we are and our place in the community and how we can be doing good in the community,” Connolly said. “[Accessing abortion care is] an important thing and this should not be an issue. This should not be a problem, yet in Waterloo Region, apparently it still is.”

Unlike most surgeries and procedures,

you can self refer for an abortion. This means that you don’t need a doctor’s referral; you can just book an appointment on your own. But, if you’re seeking abortion care in the Region, and a doctor hasn’t given you a specific number to call, where do you even start?

SHORE’s new web-app is a series of medical questions about a person’s pregnancy. You answer the questions anonymously, and based on your answers, the app suggests several medical facilities close by that can offer the services you need. The phone numbers are direct lines, to avoid calling a general front desk number that may not be specialized in providing that specific kind of care. Because it’s a web-app, you don’t need to download anything to

LAKYN BARTON PHOTO your phone. There is no trace that you used this service.

At the launch event on Nov. 22 at Communitech, Butcher walked the audience through the app, showing how user friendly and accessible it is. The hope is that the app will make an impact on how women and trans people access safe abortion care in the Region, a service that has always had so many barriers.

“A year from now, we hope that about half the clients who call us go through the app. Many people who call us are already certain about their decision, they just really need that phone number,” Butcher said.

DECEMBER 2017 // COMMUNITYEDITION.CA

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GROOVIN’ UNDER THE LIGHT OF THE MOON

BOOGIE HOUSE KW IS A LOCAL COLLECTIVE THAT BRINGS TOGETHER DANCE, PARTYING, MUSIC AND COMMUNITY

KARLIS WILDE CONTRIBUTOR Under the light of the full moon, the Waterloo Region has birthed a definitive, unifying event that celebrates the heart and soul of community. Public spaces come to life as young and old alike are given a place to gather and dance on trampled grass to inviting house beats.

That is the mission of the Boogie House KW — the brainchild of Kirstie Smallman, Jessica Fleguel and Travis Kell. Utilizing their collective passion for dance, fun, music and community, the three have developed a group that works to harness the local spirit of excitement and involvement through the exercise of pop-up dance parties.

The origins of the party were minuscule, beginning with smaller gatherings at the house Smallman and Fleguel shared. That space quickly became insufficient; while the first party was raucous and successful, the second was shut down by noise complaints.

Instead of throwing in the towel, that

created a need and an urgency for the trio to transform their ‘best party ever’ into a community event.

“We decided to start hosting them on the full moon because … why not?”

Smallman said. “There’s a spotlight in the sky for us.”

“We tried it in May,” said Kell, who DJs the events under his stage-name, DaddyDisko.

“Just sort of as a real slapped together thing, maybe four days notice — we just launched a renegade pop-up full moon party in Victoria Park.”

Fleguel sat beside him, nodding. “We didn’t know if people would come, and people came. It was amazing,” she said.

“It was all the vibe that we kinda got from that,” Kell continued. “It was like: well, there’s a full moon every month and we could probably do this.”

With more than 250 members now attached to the Facebook group — listed as ‘Boogie House KW’ — the locations are forced to be diverse and accommodating enough to prepare for large crowd sizes and any kind of inclement weather. But because of the low-cost model, that flexibility is used to characterize the events — the location is kept a secret until mere days before the party begins.

“We just wing it every month,” said

Fleguel.

“We’ve been using public parks. We’re all just citizens of Kitchener, so we can use the public space.”

“I just started to get addicted to Google Earth,” Kell said.

“And zooming in and try to find places where there’s park space and we could just pop up and have our event — and not disturb people.”

The vibe of the party is built around the ethereal sounds pumped out of Kell’s electronic setup. A seasoned disc jockey who spent the first few years of the millennium touring around Europe and Russia, his involvement with the event — like his moniker, DaddyDisko, which playfully alludes to his stayat-home-dad status — affect the very authentic drive behind his craft.

For Kell, family is the important thing.

He even owns and operates a small brand of hand-made mustards, of which the name alludes to the importance of his family: Kellsons. As we spoke, his two-year-old son Torbyn sat beside him, drumming rhythmically on the table with a straw wrapper.

“I’ve been in this a long time,” Kell said.

“I’ve travelled internationally, DJing. I’ve done a whole life of raves, of everything.

First and foremost now, I’m Daddy.”

Travis Kell is not only the Daddy of Disko, he’s a real life dad, too! Look at this freakin’ adorable photo of him playing with his kids.

NICK STANLEY PHOTO

SWINE AND VINE MOVES INTO PUBLIC SPACE RAMONA LEITAO ASSISTANT EDITOR Meet Jill and Mica Sadler. Jill is experienced with food, while Mica is experienced with business.

Together, they decided to use their knowledge and expertise to open Swine and Vine, a charcuterie and wine bar in KW that’s currently in the works of being launched.

“We’ve been talking about this for the past two years,” Jill said. “We obviously kind of always had a love for food and good wine. So we noticed over the past few years that this is kind of an untapped market in KW.” “Our backgrounds are very complimentary,” Mica said. “I’ve spent the last ten years in the tech industry from large conglomerates, [like] Blackberry RIM, right to smaller companies [like] Magnet Forensics.”

As for Jill, she’s been in the food and restaurant industry since she was 15 and has worked at local restaurants and like Oscar’s, the Charcoal Steakhouse Group and Red House.

“I’ve seen a smaller restaurant setting open and kind of been involved in that,” Jill said.

Jill and Mica both saw an opportunity to create Swine and Vine when Public Kitchen and Bar was moving from its Lancaster location.

“We kind of just thought ‘let’s take a stab at it’ and then it [fell] into place … and now we’re here and it’s crunch time,” Jill said.

While the couple wants to maintain the warm and intimate atmosphere that Public created, they also want to mainly focus on making their food unique and

approachable.

“One thing that I’ve noticed [about charcuterie] in general is that you have fifteen or thirty different kinds of meat and you have no idea what they are,” Mica said.

“That can be a little bit daunting,” Jill said. “We want to make it very approachable. You get to try something new, but you’re not afraid of it.”

Jill and Mica are aiming to have locally sourced food, including meats and artisanal cheeses, as well as hand-selected wines from all regions of the world on their menus.

In addition to having locally-sourced food and a variety of wine, they also plan on serving and catering a variety of custom and live-edge boards.

“The big component for us is that we want these boards to be epic,” Mica said.

“I never want to hear somebody walk out and say ‘I could have done that at home.’ To us, that board has to be phenomenal … It’s got to be something that’s … still local but it’s unique. And again, it’s still not pretentious. It’s still something you can pronounce and go ‘Hey! That’s pig!’ or ‘That’s cow’ or whatever it may be.”

“We’re actually hoping to try to do a play on a charcuterie board and do an ocean board,” Jill said. [That way] we can [serve] oysters, ceviche, mussels [and so on].”

The couple also plan on having wine pairing options with all of their boards, as well as shareable plates.

“We kind of want a [scenario where] you sit down with your friends, family and order a bunch of things you get to try and taste everything,” Jill said.

“That’s what we really like and how we like to eat. It becomes a social experience where you go out with your loved ones, get your drinks and try a bunch of different food.”

Because this is the first time Jill and

RAMONA LEITAO PHOTO Mica have opened a restaurant, they have found the experience to be both fun and stressful.

“I think right now, it’s something that we love and we kind of thought about it on the side for so long outside of our daily jobs,” Jill said. “And it’s a fun kind of stress. You know you’re not sleeping because you’re constantly thinking of these things.”

“The other aspect is the business side,” Mica said. “[Creating] POS systems and [arranging] who’s going to do the accounting. There’s just so many moving parts and variables that you need to be completed before opening.”

Both Jill and Mica also agree that the experience of creating a restaurant has been humbling and rewarding,

especially in terms of the the knowledge that they have learned from others, including Red House chef Dan McCowan and Public owners Carly Blasutti and Ryan Murphy.

“It’s a huge learning curve running a restaurant and owning a restaurant,” Mica said. “Just because you like good food and you like good wine doesn’t make you an entrepreneur.”

“Even just sitting down and talking to people in the industry,” Jill said. “People are doing so many cool things in the area that we just want to soak it all up and constantly be learning. You definitely don’t know it all, we’re not going to pretend to know it all. But we’re in such a great area for this. We’re just trying to soak it all in.”

“From that regard we’re very blessed in that manner,” Mica said.

Jill and Mica both emphasized their gratitude for the support that they have been receiving from the KW community during the process of launching their restaurant. Swine and Dine has moved into Public’s original location on Lancaster Street as of Dec. 1 and the restaurant is to be in full swing by early January 2018.

“I like the Kitchener-Waterloo food scene and I’m just happy to be a part of it,” Jill said.

“We’d make very slight posts on social media and the feedback [is great] … It gives you tingles and such pride. We’ve only really scratched the surface. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

DECEMBER 2017 // @THECOMMUNITYED

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AT THE DOOR OF

GREEN CHAPEL TCE FICTION

DYLAN SIEBERT CONTRIBUTOR A cold wind whistled down the ravine as the two figures rode on. Snow clung to the high crags above, and the horses snorted and tossed their heads as they picked their way among tussocks and tumbled rocks.

The lead rider halted and raised an arm, pointing down the slope into the broad valley beyond. “There,” he said, glancing sideways at his companion. With sunken eyes he looked the second rider up and down, then sidled closer on his nervous steed.

“My good lord, throw not your life away.” He glanced all about them, and when he spoke again it was in a lower voice. “When I return I shall tell them you rode on, even if — even if it were not so.”

The other shook his head. He was a young man, red-haired, in full armour beneath his winter cloak. “A promise is a promise,” he said, and his voice was small in that desolate place.

The first man shrugged.

“If you make promises with the Devil then no one can guard you.”

With a cry to his horse he wheeled and rode off, back up the steep rocky way they’d come. The young man watched him for a moment, then crossed himself and advanced.

Down in the valley it was windless and still. A stream burbled there, and green grass grew tall between swathes of snow. Ahead of him, there rose out of the wintry mist a round green hill, pierced on one side by a low doorway of hewn stone that led into the deep darkness beneath the hill. His horse came to a sudden halt, and a chill seemed to pass through him.

“The Green Chapel,” he breathed.

At that moment a horrible noise rent the air, a screeching, clattering roar that seemed to shake his brain inside his skull: the sound of steel on a grindstone. Swiftly he dismounted and strode forward.

“Hail, who’s there?” he called out over the din. In another moment the sound ceased, and from behind the shoulder of the hill, his foe bounded into view.

Tall as the doughtiest warrior and half again, long-haired, bearded, he carried in his right hand an enormous axe. Nimbly he vaulted over the stream and strode right up to the young knight. Resting the haft of his mighty weapon on the ground, he leaned upon its curved head with two hands as he gazed down upon his challenger. From head to foot — skin, hair, and clothing — he was green, bright green: the colour of new grass in midwinter.

“Hail and well met, Sir Gawain,” he called out in a booming voice. “You are a man of your word. You remember the terms of our compact?”

“I do,” said Sir Gawain, moving not an inch. “At this time last year you rode into Arthur’s court on a green horse, just as the king and all his company sat down to their Christmas feast. You challenged any man there to match you a blow for a blow, and offered that you yourself would take the first hit.”

“Go on,” boomed the green man, grinning.

“All were speechless, but as Arthur’s nephew and his right hand I took up your challenge. You set that very axe in my hands and knelt before me. I swung and struck, and before all the lords and ladies I ... I hewed off your head there in the hall.”

“Go on,” said the green man, licking his lips as if in silent laughter.

“With one green hand you picked up your head, and from it you spoke, telling me to meet you at the Green Chapel in one year’s time, there to fulfill my end of the pact. Then you grinned and rode out of the hall like thunder, head in hand.”

“And here you are, ready to take from me now what I received at your hands one year ago,” said the green man.

“Truly, the knights of Arthur’s court are men of worth!”

“I know not who you are or what your purpose is, but I am here, and I am ready,” said Gawain. He knelt in the snow and bowed his head. “Take now what you are owed. I am at peace.”

“It is a pity,” murmured the green man, running a finger slowly along the axe’s razor edge. Then, without a word more, he hefted the great weapon aloft as though it were weightless in his hands. In that instant Sir Gawain glanced up, shrinking in fear from the curved blade poised against the sky.

“Ho!” cried the green man, turning aside the axe. “At peace, are you? Did I cower so, when you took your turn?”

“Lay on,” said Gawain sternly, dropping his gaze to the earth. “I’ll not move again.”

Once more the axe swung high, and now the young man seemed as though rooted in stone. Down it came, and this time halted an inch above his bare neck.

“Better,” grinned the green man.

“Your nerve is returning.”

“Toy not with me,” growled Sir Gawain. “I have kept my word, now keep yours! Strike, by the green earth!”

“So be it,” said the green man, and now his smile vanished. A third time the bright axe wheeled against the sky, and this time he swung with all his strength. The blade bit deep into the soft ground, and blood sprang out onto the snow.

Gawain leapt back and drew his sword. From a thin scratch along the side of his neck the blood dripped, but he was otherwise unharmed.

“Enough!” he roared, pale and shaking.

“You’ve taken what you were owed.

Have at me now, and leave aside your taunts!”

Brandishing sword and shield, he took up a fighting stance.

But the green man merely set the haft of his axe on the ground and leaned once more upon its head. “The bargain is fulfilled. By the green earth I struck, and of your own red blood you have given. As for my taunts, it may be I have tested you overmuch. Yet all is not as it seems with you, Sir Gawain.

That girdle you wear concealed, were you not told by the one who gave it that it would ward all harm from its wearer? That it would shield him by enchantment from all shedding of blood?”

Gawain’s pale face flushed crimson and he clapped a hand to his neck, where a single drop of blood could be seen. Swiftly then he reached beneath his cloak, unfastened the jewelled belt, and flung it to the ground. ‘You speak truth,’ he said, drawing a deep breath.

‘I was deceived, and I have tried to deceive you. Take the girdle, it is yours.

My false heart has cost me my honour this day.”

“But not out of cowardice!” smiled the green man. “You loved your own life, and for that I blame you not. The girdle I give to you again, in friendship, and in spirit of this glad season.

Wear it, and remember me.”

Sir Gawain bowed and retrieved the girdle from where it lay upon the snow. “I shall,” he said, “and I shall remember too your largeness of heart.

But tell me, when they ask me who it was I met this day, what shall I reply?”

“There are more powers in heaven and earth than you have dreamt of, Sir Gawain, of these I am one. I am he that gives, and he that takes, and no art of man or mage can withhold from me that which is my due. I am called the Green Knight.”

Gawain bowed again. “Then that shall be my answer.” He sheathed his sword and called for his horse.

“Understand, Sir Gawain,” called the Green Knight softly, before the young man could mount up into saddle. “I have given you a great gift this day.”

He smiled. “Your life.”

Gawain paused, one foot already in the stirrup. At last he nodded. “It is as you say.”

He rode off, away from the green hill in the wintry vale, and came at last home to King Arthur’s court. There the bells pealed to welcome him, and the lords and ladies gathered round to hear his tale. When he had told it and had shown the green belt he wore, all that company swore that ever after they would wear a sash of green, in honour of Sir Gawain and his strange return that Christmas season. But I ask you, gentle reader, in that fair and gentle court so long ago, did they understand its meaning?

DECEMBER 2017 // COMMUNITYEDITION.CA

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WILL HUANG PHOTO

MAKING KW’S STREETS SAFE FOR PEDESTRIANS WR AND HOWE

JAMES HOWE COLUMNIST How often do you find yourself walking down the street and staring at a phone, or other device? The simple distraction could now warrant you a ticket according to the Phones Down, Heads Up Act introduced recently at Queen’s Park. The bill caused quite a stir when it was introduced in late October by Yvan Baker, MPP. While I objected to the bill, there’s

not much point spending a lot of effort fighting it. First off, it’s a private member’s bill which means that its chances of becoming a law are slim.

Even if it does pass, there’s not likely to be any more enforcement than there is of the distracted driving law, which has a much greater chance of protecting pedestrians from death and injury. I also recognize that as a proponent of Vision Zero, the traffic safety project that calls for the elimination of death and serious injuries on our streets, this bill does help address a problem.

Still, I find the law to be like using a sledgehammer to kill a fly that is bugging you. You’ll almost certainly miss the fly and cause unintended damage.

It’s just not the best tool to solve the problem.

According to a 2015 Toronto Public Health study, 1 in 8 collisions involved someone walking who was not paying attention. While that’s not insignificant, people who are inattentive due to a phone are only a portion of that stat.

The same study reports that the person walking had the right of way in two thirds of all collisions with a vehicle.

It doesn’t matter if you’re looking at your phone or not, if you’re in the right place at the right time, you should be safe. That includes the sidewalk that Toronto woman Kristy Hodgson was using when she was killed by a driver who successfully fought the charge of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death.

So while people walking and using cell phones may be a problem, they should

not be our priority for ensuring our streets are both safe and walkable. Let’s address the real problems that make our streets so dangerous for people walking.

Each year In Toronto, seniors account for 60 per cent of the pedestrians killed after being hit by a vehicle and 80 per cent were 55 or older. My guess based on the stereotypes of that demographic is that few of them were too busy looking at their phones. More likely they were hit by a driver making a turn who only paid attention to other drivers.

Another big problem is the distance people are asked to walk across major streets. The shorter the distance, the fewer people who are walking that get hit. We must narrow these crossings if we are really concerned about the safety of people walking or using mobility

devices.

No matter the distance, the time given for people to walk across is too fast for most seniors and an even bigger problem if they require a mobility device.

Let’s follow the lead of the Dutch city of Tilburg where seniors are issued an app that automatically extends the time allowed to cross a street.

We need to start to be less concerned about who is looking at their cell phone while walking and more concerned about ensuring everyone, including seniors and others with mobility concerns, are safe when they are in the right place at what should be the right time. As our society ages, too many people are certain to be killed when walking.

THE STIGMA AROUND SMEGMA SEXPLANATIONS

STACEY JACOBS COLUMNIST

BETH BOWLES PHOTO

I recently overheard a group of people talking about their favourite words. As a result, I started thinking about my favourite words. I happen to love swear words. You can derive pleasure from the way your mouth forms the actual words.

Why wouldn’t you want to say them! But I have also been having a love affair with the word smegma since I first heard it mentioned early on in my sexuality studies.

What is smegma? Other than a really cool word and a terrific holiday dinner conversation topic, smegma is a buildup of dead skin cells, skin oils, bacteria and moisture that can be found under the foreskin of the penis, along the ridge on the head of the penis, under the clitoral

hood on the vulva and in the labial folds of the vulva. It is a pasty white colour and can have a foul odour.

It is also something we all have! Everyone excretes oil and water from their body and everyone sheds skin cells.

However, smegma remains transparent and harmless when genitals are regularly cleaned, as well as useful as a natural lubricant. So why the stigma around smegma? Because we equate smegma with being unclean and smelly, and we prioritize cleanliness in our society.

Because smegma is something I will assume most people do not want to see on their genitals, it is important to prevent the buildup of smegma. How do you do this? Simply clean your genitals on a regular basis. Often a soft wash cloth and warm water is sufficient. Mild unscented soap if you choose, but soap can often cause dryness and irritation to the genitals. And remember never clean inside the vagina. As I have said many, many times, it cleans itself.

If you are not circumcised and have a foreskin, gently pull it back to clean underneath. If you have a vulva gently

clean in the folds either with a soft cloth or your fingers, always moving in the direction of front to back, from the clitoris to the anus. If your genitals smell and the smell does not go away after you clean, and/or you have discharge coming from the tip of the penis or the vagina, this may be a sign of an infection, and a sign that you should see a healthcare provider.

If you have children it is important to teach them how to clean their genitals properly. When they are young doing it for them, when they are older helping them do it, and when they are older still, reminding them to do it themselves.

Smegma is not an infection or a disease, you cannot pass it on to another. However, if you are sharing your genitals with another person they may appreciate no visible smegma or foul smell. Regular cleaning may increase your chances of getting some and remember, oral sex can be a great last minute gift idea.

Stacey Jacobs is a sexual health educator for SHORE Centre.

TWO SMITHS KEEP METAL ART ALIVE IN KW KAITLYN SEVERIN CONTRIBUTOR

Old medieval hobbies and skills have made a huge comeback in the 21st century. Spaces that teach individuals how to throw an axe or shoot a bow-and-arrow is a nostalgic trend, a reminder of the days when learning something new didn’t involve a digital computer screen. Businesses such as The Backyard Axe Throwing League in Kitchener, have seen a rise in young adults who want to experience the joys of manual labour and to acquire a prominent skill that they can show off on social media.

Two Smiths, a blacksmithing and coppersmith business operated by internationally recognized blacksmith Sandra Dunn, has been in operation for over 17 years in the Kitchener-Waterloo region. The shop has created numerous art pieces and sculptures

for clients and community centres, including a monument created for Veterans Week. They have also recently began to host workshops for those young and old who want to master the craft of copper and blacksmithing.

The workshops at Two Smiths is intended for those interested in learning about contemporary blacksmithing and coppersmithing. Two Smiths even has a workshop for kids under 14-years-old, where they can learn the techniques to forge hot steel – a fairly badass skill for an eight-year-old to have. The introduction to blacksmithing workshops, while they have only just begun, are already sold out from January to April.

“It’s introducing them to the basic material properties [and] how the materials work. We look at images of

work that’s been done in the past — we have physical examples of pieces,” said Sandra Dunn, owner of Two Smiths and workshop instructor.

According to Dunn, students of the coppersmithing workshops start out with a copper disk and ends up with a copper bowl. In the blacksmithing workshop, students are introduced to forging processes and end the course with a homemade toasting fork and a door handle.

“We tried to design the courses so people are leaving with projects, but they’re also really learning the fundamental aspects of working with each type of materials,” Dunn explained.

“Everyone’s character ends up being expressed in the work.”

Before opening Two Smiths, Dunn, a recent grad, had little to no experience with blacksmithing or coppersmithing. With a degree in English and fine arts from the University of Waterloo, Dunn had no interest in the skill until she was 25-years-old, when a friend of hers, working at Artefacts in St. Jacob’s, introduced her to blacksmithing.

One year went by, and Dunn made the jump to work on blacksmithing full-time, learning bit-by-bit and picking up skills and techniques through various blacksmiths across North America.

“I have a problem with not being able to say no. People would say ‘can you do this?’ and I say ‘oh sure I can do that’ and then I would figure out how to do it. That’s kind of how I got involved in it. I’m committed to it,” she said.

In 2000, Dunn formed a business partnership with coppersmith Steven White, who Dunn originally hired to help her file a set of 26 forged hinges. The name Two Smiths, originally called the Ironing Broad, went on to represent the founders of the business – a coppersmith and a blacksmith.

Today, Two Smiths team consists of Sandra Dunn and her team: blacksmiths Bronson Kozdas and Aimie Botelho, with White retiring in 2013.

The team’s involvement in a project

usually comes from the request of a client, or if they decide to enter a collaborative public art competition.

Last month, Dunn and her team were commissioned to create an interactive sculpture for Veterans Affairs Canada. The sculpture, which features three forged poppies, three bronze disks and lines from the Act of Remembrance, took the team 40 hours to design and forge the sculpture. The sculpture was shipped to Belgium to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Passchendaele.

Before Dunn took on this significant project, she had experience in creating large monumental sculptures for public displays. Two years ago, Dunn and over 180 blacksmiths participated in creating a peace monument in Ypres, Belgium.

“One of the most important things about that piece being successful is that it was a group of us, the work that we do in our shop is all collaborative,” Dunn said. “Even though my name is the one that’s usually attached to the business I don’t work alone – I’m always working with other people.”

While Dunn has now been a part of the blacksmith community for approximately 25 years, she said that one of the most difficult aspects of running a blacksmith and coppersmith business is that every project is a prototype.

“You’re always inventing something

new and inventing new tools and you’re inventing new ways of putting material together, you’re trying to develop concepts,” she said.

Building pieces of furniture, for example, varies in scale, size and material. While it may be easier to laser-jet cut metal and welding them together, Dunn and her team prefer to go the traditional route – to heat the metal up and completely change the shape of it.

“The real potential in blacksmithing is you completely change the profile of a piece of metal,” Dunn explained.

“A lot of what we do is functional work so you do something that’s a beautiful design but also functions – a gate, a driveway gate, a railing, a piece of furniture – but, you can also do sculptural pieces.”

While functional artifacts, such as furniture, are common for blacksmiths to create, Dunn considers the craft a form of art. There is the art of blacksmithing itself, and then there’s the art of learning the skill, which for many takes years to master.

“I think [the reason] that blacksmithing can still survive in the 21st century is because pieces that are well designed and because of the potential of it as a form of art, because it’s really labour intensive so there are all kinds of things that people would’ve made before that everyone would’ve had to buy.”

When the common individual thinks of a blacksmith, what stereotypical image comes to mind? It’s most likely big, husky men in the 13th century, hammering hot metal onto a sword for soldiers to go to battle. Something audiences usually see in Game of Thrones or medieval action movies.

It’s no surprise that the craft of blacksmithing has been around since the Iron Age, and in Greek and Roman mythology, the blacksmith Hephaestus, a male, was the god of metalwork, fire and craftsmen who constructed weapons for the gods. In fact, one of the only times audiences may remember a female blacksmith was in the 2001 film, A Knight’s Tale, who was constantly disregarded by the other male blacksmiths and knights.

DARIN WHITE PHOTOS // MAKEBRIGHT.COM

In the Two Smiths workshop, however, Dunn hopes to create a more female-inclusive environment within the blacksmithing community. Over 12 years ago, when Dunn taught the blacksmithing certificate program at Haliburton School of the Arts, she claimed that half the class of students were females, but those numbers slowly decreased over time.

“My hope is to really make […] people aware that it’s not something that is only a guy thing, that it’s only for big, strong guys, kind of thing. It doesn’t really have to do with that. It has to do more with your ability to be creative and understand the material and be able to manipulate it,” Dunn explained.

Dunn’s hope for more women in blacksmithing came out when she had

to create a new advertisement for her blacksmithing course for kids – poster of a young girl in a white dress forging a hunk of metal.

Now, Dunn is thinking of new ways to make her workshops more inclusive for women. She is currently thinking of creating an all-female blacksmith workshop for those who prefer a more feminine learning environment.

“We talked first in the past month beginning of November just to try to say okay, this is something that we can do and to try to create an awareness,” Dunn concluded.

“It’s just about learning the skills and knowledge and having to do it whether you’re male or female or young or old — just have a sense of curiosity and willing to learn.”

DECEMBER 2017 // COMMUNITYEDITION.CA

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CAFÉ JOY SPREADS THE LOVE UNDER NEW OWNERSHIP

NICK STANLEY PHOTOS

MONICA LEE CONTRIBUTOR James and Melinda Toonk were on their honeymoon when they received an email from Café Joy’s previous owners with some bittersweet news.

James had secured a managerial position with the cafe on 235 Kitchener Street right near the Kitchener Farmers’ Market and he was excited to start his first day after their honeymoon. However, the email began with the previous owners, Ryan and Tracy Jacobs, writing that they decided to step down from the café due to health complications. James was too distraught to read on and handed his phone to his new wife, who

kept reading the email.

“I had to read the rest of the email to him because he just dissolved,” Melinda said.

Ryan and Tracy continued by asking if James would like to take over ownership of the café altogether. After touching down from their vacation, the pair hit the ground running on their newest adventure: taking over a coffee shop. Cafe Joy opened under James and Melinda’s ownership on Oct. 2.

After being open for a month, James remarked on how they are learning something new about running a business each day. They had always dreamed about owning their own coffee shop in the next ten years, but never dreamed that this opportunity would happen so soon.

“It’s really funny how life works out that way, but when you’re given an opportunity you need to make the best

of it even when you make mistakes along the way,” James said.

“I was excited from the get-go and thought: why would we run away from something we wanted?” Melinda added.

James, who had previously worked for Smile Tiger as a barista and salesperson has a background in coffee, while Melinda has never worked with coffee but has a business degree in hospitality and tourism management.

Café Joy is located in a commercial business building filled with a telemarketing company and other small corporations in the downtown core. They cater mainly towards to the 9 to 5 crew and offer drip coffee with quick but comforting eats such as sandwiches, toasts, salads and grilled cheese. Occasionally, Melinda fills the building with aromatic scents of her baked goods and draws in customers

from their offices and paperwork.

“When Melinda starts baking ... everyone comes in because it smells so good,” James said.

James and Melinda have maintained the minimalist black and white furniture and tiling that Ryan and Tracy installed, but have included some DIY touches and crafts that Melinda made such as bistro lights, coffee beans and chalkboard art for their coffee themed wedding.

“We’re just trying to add more a little bit at a time and make it our space,” Melinda said.

James explained that the possibilities for the cafe are limitless. Currently they are the only ones working in the cafe but they do hope to expand and open multiple locations.

James made it clear that they wanted their café to be a comfortable space where anyone could go for a warm cup of coffee and caring customer service.

Their mission is to make the café more community focused and they want to move forward in contributing to the local community through events, supporting local and wholesome business decisions. They order their coffee beans from Social, an Ontario fair trade roasting company. They source their grocery needs from J&P Grocery on Queen Street.

While maintaining the integrity of the name Café Joy, the pair look forward to integrating their cafe more into the community and to eventually expand with more espresso based drinks and larger focus on coffee.

“We love the name Café Joy; it’s just so warming,” Melinda said.

“We want to keep the business growing for Ryan and Tracy by actually spreading Joy throughout the city.”

ECO-FRIENDLY IN WR STACEY DANCKERT & NICOLE MCCALLUM CONTRIBUTORS

WE SERVE BEER (and wine)

APOLLOCINEMA.CA

Many people who are new to Waterloo Region or newly engaged with issues surrounding climate change often don’t know where to start when trying to inform themselves on their local environment. For the last several years, the Waterloo Region Environment Network (WREN), has made it their goal to make it easier to connect, share and work towards sustainability in the Region.

When we delved in, we were astonished by just how much is going on in the Region. If you don’t have a background in environmental issues or sustainability, here’s an introduction to our local environment scene: Our region is leading the way when it comes to building local sustainability. ClimateActionWR (CAWR), for example, brings together local municipalities and utility companies to set goals for decreasing our regional greenhouse gas emissions by six per cent by 2020.

For the everyday community member, REEP Green Solutions offers useful information on energy efficiency, water conservation and decreasing waste in our homes. A visit to REEP House will show you how they lead by example, with displays that demonstrate how we can live more sustainably in action.

Businesses can get help from Sustainable Waterloo Region (SWR), who also have ongoing learning events. Both REEP and SWR are also part of the ClimateActionWR powerhouse. There are several local avenues to engage with sustainable action, from using one of the cars in our Community Carshare, to connecting to TransitionKW.

There are the folks at BlueDot, who are working tirelessly to add the environment into the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, or local solar cooperatives who encourage smart investing that does not include the oil and gas industry. You can read fascinating stories about the environmental movement in Canada from Alternatives Journal, or visit the natural space and research at RARE Charitable Research Reserve, and more.

If you’re participating through schools, WSGI, Laurier EcoHawks and Sustainable Youth Canada are all excellent ways to get involved.

Essentially, there are more ways to connect everyday, sometimes in places you might not expect. For example, the KW Chamber Symphony recently played a concert centred around sustainability and Extenda-Family will soon host a Library of Things which will grow our local sharing community, enabling us to own less but accomplish more.

Quite simply, there are too many local initiatives to list them all. In fact, a 2014 regional study highlighted 79 different environmentally-related organizations in the region.

Whether you are just curious, new to the area, or a self-proclaimed passionate eco warrior like us, we encourage you to take in all this region has to offer. It only takes a quick look of the local #WREnviro hashtag, or a visit the WREN online calendar to connect to the local movement.

So grab your reusable water bottle and come on out, because there’s something for everyone.

Stacey Danckert is the co-director of WREN and Nicole McCallum is the co-director and co-founder of WREN.

DECEMBER 2017 // COMMUNITYEDITION.CA

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Is it smooth sailing for Conestoga students now? MATT SMITH PHOTO

ANXIETY BEGINS AT CONESTOGA AFTER THE S TRIKE ENDS CHRIS HUSSEY CONTRIBUTOR The current location of House of Friendship, 174 King Street North. WILL HUANG PHOTO

TIME TO GET COMFORTABLE

BEING UNCOMFORTABLE

ON THE IMPORTANCE OF THE NEW HOUSE OF FRIENDSHIP IN CAMBRIDGE

JAMES GOWLAND CONTRIBUTOR I received a call to pick up my friend as soon as possible. I didn’t need an address; I knew exactly where he was.

I sped across town, hurling towards the local traphouse. I drove up onto the curb, halting one foot from where he stood; there was no time for driver’s etiquette. Slouching and pale, he dragged his limp 28-year-old body into my car, avoiding eye contact.

Hunched over, he slurred out a “hey bro.”

Rushing him to emergency, I weaved in and out of traffic as he bounced in all directions across the front seat. I was in a such a panic, I had forgotten to do up his seat belt. After two nurses and I dragged his dead weight out of the car onto a gurney and into the first available emergency room, the doctor administered naloxone. With fresh bruises to his head from my dashboard, he awoke, in a daze. I was relieved. I left him that night in his hospital bed assuming he’d learned his lesson.

He hadn’t. Addiction is more complicated than that. He left the hospital against doctor’s orders a few hours later and banged the rest of his dope in his own bed, instead. His mother found him dead the next morning.

174 King Street North is moving to Cambridge. The men’s long-term addiction treatment centre will soon

wrap up its stay in Waterloo after 40 years, as the old farmhouse is no longer a viable haven for recovery.

The new property in Cambridge, formerly the women’s shelter called Haven House, will soon help to sustain the successful House of Friendship program, as well as improve it.

The current issue has seen some resistance from certain members of the Cambridge community of Preston.

A petition was started online from a Preston community member challenging the move to Cambridge. With almost 4,000 signatures, it falsely claims that the new House of Friendship property is a shelter. It is not a shelter, it’s a rehabilitation centre for men suffering from addiction to work towards sobriety. This misinformation is not only a barrier for the new project, but it also adds to the negative stigmas that already surround people experiencing homelessness.

The petition also states that there will be more discarded needles laying around the property because of the “violent” and “criminal elements” of the recovery program. The issue is the needle cleanup program itself within Cambridge, not the men within the program, many who don’t even use needles. This second piece of misinformation also aligns those who suffer from addiction with dangerous criminals, another stereotype that adds barriers to those seeking and receiving help.

John Neufeld, executive director for House of Friendship, went on to defend the clients that will be staying at the new recovery home. At a Cambridge City Hall meeting on Nov. 14,

he explained that, along with random drug tests, any attempt at substance use in this facility propels immediate dismissal. He explained that clients housed at the new property will be choosing to get help, meaning no one is forcing them to be there. That is a big difference from someone who is committed against their will.

The petition also cited the proximity to schools. Yes, everyone is and should be concerned about a child’s welfare.

But remember, there is a school directly across from the current 174 King Street North property. According to Neufeld, since the program’s initiation at this location, there has not been one complaint or issue from a student, family or the school itself, regarding the men who live on the property.

According to neighbours, the only complaints made involve the university students who live close by.

The petition goes on to ignite fears about mental health. Instead of further stigmatizing mental health and addiction, how about shining a light on mental health and educating our community? No one has the right to say it’s okay to get help, but only where they can’t see it. The arguments against moving the addiction centre to Cambridge are built on a foundation of stereotypes and misconceptions.

These arguments are not progressive, but rather adding to the barriers that are currently in place for addicts to achieve sobriety.

It is time to get comfortable being uncomfortable. I know my friend would have appreciated it. And I know his mom would have too.

At first it was a vacation. Then it became a nuisance.

That’s how Alex Mason, a second-year general arts and science diploma student, described the the strike that kept nearly 14,000 Conestoga College students out of the classroom for five weeks.

He had been studying straight through a seemingly endless barrage of semesters, including the typical summer break.

“This was a much-needed recharge time,” he said.

But after four weeks without many definitive answers, the strike started to take its toll on Mason.

“In week five, my anxiety began to kick in,” he said.

And it’s easy to see why. Around 500,000 students across the province were out of class for five weeks when the strike by 12,000 professors, instructors, counsellors and librarians began on Oct. 16. And after that lengthy and uncertain stretch, the provincial government stepped in, forcing the picketers back to work. For some students, it felt like going back to square one.

What was particularly unbelievable to Mason, however, was Conestoga College’s message to students after the strike concluded. On Nov. 19, just two days before classes resumed, the college published a statement on their website from Mike Dinning, vice president of student affairs.

“When you return to class, some of your faculty members might want to provide an update on the strike,” reads one paragraph. “I would ask that you not engage in protracted discussion about this issue, but instead focus your attention and efforts on your course work and making progress towards the completion of your semester.”

That was a message that especially irked Mason.

“I think that’s the most bullshit answer I’ve heard in years,” he said. “If we want to engage (in that conversa-

tion), we’re going to because some of us want to know these answers and the process. I want answers.”

The desire for clarity was a common one for students like Daniel Musselman, a third-year international business management degree student at Conestoga College. He said he felt like a pawn in an elaborate chess game.

“I didn’t want to be used as leverage to get what someone else wanted,” he said. “The fact that the strike took five weeks to resolve nothing is unacceptable.”

“I understand that issues like this are not black and white and don’t become resolved with simple answers, but what I do know is that students paid or took out money to pay for an education, so that they can be contributing members to society and have a better future for themselves. If someone pays for a service of any kind, they should receive it when and at the quality it was promised to them. This should not be different for education.”

Baraa Elbaf, a third-year business administration – accounting student at Conestoga, almost had a job directly impacted by the strike. He received a job offer for a job set to begin on Jan. 8, 2018 after he completed his program.

His new employer was made aware of the strike and he informed them the strike shouldn’t affect his start date.

But as the final days of the strike grew near, that started to appear more and more unlikely.

“This made me very anxious,” said Elbaf. “I didn’t know if my new employer would have been too happy with me starting 15 days late.”

In the end, the strike didn’t have an impact on the job, but the experience influenced his view of some of the parties involved.

“I would still recommend college, but I’m disappointed with how the union and the college handled the strike,” he said.

For Mason, one of the biggest stressers for the rest of the semester will be the rapid pace it moves along at.

“We’re going to be going at 200 per cent trying to cram everything I needed to know,” he said. “I don’t feel like it’s fair because I’m not going to be really retaining any information.”

12

DECEMBER 2017 // COMMUNITYEDITION.CA

THE MAN BEHIND THE BEARD WE SENT KURTIS TO INTERVIEW SOME LOCAL SANTAS AND TO FIND OUT IF HE WAS STILL ON THE “NICE” LIST

KURTIS RIDEOUT CONTRIBUTOR “Ho, ho, ho!”

Hearing that hearty chant come through the telephone receiver instantly brought a smile to my face.

“You know what Kurtis? I saw what you did last Friday night around four o’clock in the afternoon and what you did was amazing!”

“Myself?” I asked.

“Yeah, you keep up the good work, okay?” the voice on the other end of the line pleaded. “Keep up the good work and I’ll keep you on that good list!”

For a moment or two, I was completely lost in the conversation. But that was exactly what I needed to hear at that point somehow.

Chatting with some of the people who play Santa Claus in the community has helped me to unearth – or re-remember I should say – the true spirit behind the holiday season.

Jason Weiler is one of KW’s respected Santa’s for hire.

“Oh buddy, I love it,” he said, excitedly. “I love being Santa, I really do.”

Weiler first donned the suit for a family Christmas party more than twenty years ago.

“I was doing Santa Claus for my family boxing day,” he explained. “My

sister asked me to do it, so she bought the suit.”

He quickly fell in love with everything about playing Santa Claus.

“I was doing it for like 10 years,” he said. “Then I met Mrs. Claus, my wife and we had two kids – twins – a boy and a girl.”

As his children grew up, Weiler began to realize that the end of his days dressing up as Santa at family Christmas parties were drawing near.

“When they were around four years old, one of them went on my knee,” he said.

“And I was talking to them and they looked up to me [like] ‘Daddy, is that you?’” he paused. “Huh … okay.”

“So that was the end of my ‘ho-ho’s’ for my family parties,” he chuckled.

It didn’t take long for him to realize that he could never hang up the suit altogether.

“The year later, I had the suit, I liked to do it,” he said. “So I put myself up for hire … and I’ve been getting busier and busier every year.”

Weiler stays busy, alright. While he has avoided appearing at malls for a span of time in favour booking appearances, this doesn’t mean the work isn’t steady. Weiler is booked everywhere from day-cares to company Christmas parties; he even referred to himself as one of Bingeman’s go-to Santa’s.

“Anybody can wear a Santa suit,” he said. “But you’ve got to be able to play the part.”

Matt Jeary is another Santa for hire that stumbled upon the suit and never looked back. He can be found over the holiday season seated in Santa’s chair at the Conestoga Mall.

“It was an opportunity that kind of came my way by chance,” he explained.

“When I retired, [my wife and my daughter] saw an opportunity for me to play that role [at Conestoga Mall] and they approached me to do that and I thought it was just a wonderful idea.”

“It’s so much fun,” he said excitedly.

“There’s really no downfall to it at all.”

Jeary quickly grew an affinity for the suit and beard, the same way Weiler had.

He explained how his tenure playing Santa at Conestoga Mall has exposed him to a large range of people with unique narratives and interesting stories.

“The oldest person I have had come see me was well into her nineties and the youngest I ever held was five days,” he said.

“It doesn’t matter if you are poor or if you’re rich or what walk of life you come from, if Christmas is something you celebrate, Santa is a big part [of that].”

He went on to tell me a heart-warming story about a family visiting from Saudi Arabia, the most excited of which was a young boy who explained how the family had never seen Santa Claus before.

“They were going to go home [to]

write their exams in Saudi Arabia and then they were immigrating to Canada; they were excited to come to Canada in February,” he explained.

“That’s an experience that I got to share with them that you wouldn’t normally get to share with someone; it’s a cool story.”

Weiler and Jeary were both lucky enough to play the role of Santa Claus

CREATIVE COMMONS PHOTO and both of them similarly fell in love with the part. Their attitudes towards the role were both similarly infectious and each of them had me thinking that a Santa suit could even be in the cards for me — who knows?

They make it seem like a privilege to be Santa Claus and I can totally see why. I guess a Santa suit is the only gift that truly keeps on giving.

WAVES OF THE UNDERTOW Album: Undertow Artist: Jerelle Released: November 24, 2017 Link: https://soundcloud.com/jerellefisher/sets/undertow

HOLIDAY ARTS MARKET Open: Tuesday-Friday: 10-5, Saturdays: 10-3 until Dec. 22, 2017 25 Regina St. South, Waterloo ON N2J 1R8 | 519-886-4577 | buttonfactoryarts.ca

What do you call a hip-hop MC who has a rock guitarist and live keys backing him up?

Jerelle calls it Alternative R&B. Jerelle’s crew includes Colton Maddigan on lead guitar, and Sofia both DJing and on keys. The collective is rounded out by a videographer and graphic designer, too.

Their new project, Undertow, was released on Nov. 24 as Jerelle opened for SonReal at Maxwell’s in Waterloo.

Navigating the boundaries of hip-hop and bringing a new sound to the table, this album blends hi-hats with electric guitar solos, this album bounces back and forth between trap and rock.

The album’s third track, Typhoon, quakes with barely-held-together confidence. Set just after a breakup, Jerelle takes us through the creeping doubt of romantic second-guesses.

If Jerelle seems vulnerable, that’s because he wears his heart on his

sleeve. He confesses, “I went through a very tough breakup. It went really sour. They wanted all of me and it was that pull and that push of different interests.”

“After that, I went through a bit of a phase where I was going out partying, meeting new people and went though a couple little relationships here and there. And a lot of the songs are just stories. I mean, every song has a real-life story that I’ve been through.

And I just build it from raw emotion.”

Working as an independent artist for 10 years, Jerelle is comfortable producing and writing his own material and booking his own shows. But the Waterloo native is now branching out with a larger collective and bigger dreams.

“They’re supporting me 100 per cent, I’m supporting them 110 percent and it’s love both ways.”

Jerelle has his eyes set on stardom, and the trajectory looks good. He’ll be opening for Moosh & Twist on Dec. 27 in Toronto, then a gig in Montreal.

- Sam Nabi

13

DECEMBER 2017 // COMMUNITYEDITION.CA

OUR INK, OUR STORIES BETH BOWLES EDITOR IN CHIEF On the inside of Victoria Wood’s left elbow, is a tattoo of a folded butterfly. The tattoo is small, consisting of only thin, black lines. To anyone who doesn’t know her, the tattoo can almost go unnoticed, but for Wood, the butterfly signifies strength, resilience and family.

“The official symbol of thyroid cancer is the butterfly and the thyroid itself butterflies in your neck, so that’s why. You have your left side and your right side, so it looks like a butterfly,” Wood explained.

The official symbol for thyroid cancer, the butterfly, holds deep meaning to Wood and her family. In 2012, Wood’s father, Todd Wood, found a lemon sized lump in his throat while shaving. After finding the lump, doctors confirmed that it was thyroid cancer and had the lump, as well as his entire thyroid, removed. After doing radioactive iodine treatment, Todd’s experience with cancer appeared to be over.

A year later, the cancer came back in his lymph nodes. He had another successful surgery, and once again, the process appeared to be over. Around Christmas time in 2015, however, cancer was found in his lymph nodes again. This time, doctors did a full

ear-to-ear removal, and he’s been cancer-free ever since.

“The doctor did mention, though, that in his lifetime he’ll probably have to have one or two more of those,” she said.

Wood explained that although they have a tremendous amount of family support, the experience of having a sick parent is still stressful and emotionally draining.

“You hear the bad news, but then you hear the good news and you’re like, “Oh, it’s done.” And then obviously you have to go through the cycle again,” she said.

Since the two-year mark of her dad’s last experience with cancer is approaching, Wood finally decided to get her butterfly tattoo, something she had been planning for a while.

She wanted a tattoo that had to do with her dad’s experience with cancer, without being too direct, like the common ribbon. The tattoo was done

by Sam Mansbridge at Mom’s Tattoo Shop in Waterloo.

“I wanted to get something that resembled a butterfly, but wasn’t the typical butterfly tattoo. I like tattoos that are simple line drawings [to match my other tattoo]. I came across a drawing online that was just a simple folded butterfly, something not too graphic or intricate, just something simple, like my dad almost. He’s pretty simple and carefree,” she said.

The tattoo was supposed to be a surprise for Todd, but he saw it while helping Wood move a month ago.

She got warm and took her sweater

off, showing her bare arms — and the tattoo.

“He loves it and he loves anything supportive I do for him for thyroid cancer. He’s really touched by it,” she said.

Although Todd is cancer-free, he still feels the effects of being a cancer-survivor every day.

“Having your thyroid removed — your thyroid produces calcium for your body, so he has to have daily medication, daily calcium pills, which obviously puts more stress on him to have to remember to take those,” Wood said.

“And then, just from all the surgeries, his neck and his back are so stiff, just because when that heals again, your nerves tighten, your muscles tighten, so he goes to physiotherapy. That’s probably his biggest struggle now, is the soreness that he constantly feels.

But even through all that, he fights through it every day. My mom’s [also] an amazing help for him.”

And that’s the whole point of her tattoo. The butterfly acts as the beauty after the storm, a perfect metaphor for healing, strength and family.

“I wanted a constant reminder of his strength permanently on me,” she said. “Just to remind me that there are tougher things that you can get through in life when I think about my minuscule little stresses.”

Our Ink, Our Stories is a collaborative project we have with The Kitchener Public Library. Read more stories at ourinkourstories.com.

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DECEMBER 2017 // COMMUNITYEDITION.CA

14

PHOTO COURTESTY CREATIVE COMMONS

THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

THE IMPORTANCE OF SETTING BOUNDARIES WITH FAMILY- BECAUSE NOT EVERY HOLIDAY IS A MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE

MENTAL MATTERS

JOHN ROCHE COLUMNIST As a kid, the holiday season meant opening lots of presents. As an adult, it could mean opening lots of childhood wounds during tense, awkward interactions with loved ones. I definitely got more stoked about the presents.

The good news is, boundaries can help us reclaim some of the holiday good times.

We all need boundaries to protect us from repetitive and unhealthy

patterns of interaction. Maybe your dad lectures you on how you should have gone into law. Maybe your mom vents to you about what a dick your dad is. Or maybe your partner picks fights with you in front of distant relatives.

Whatever the case, your brain does a great job of signaling to you when you need to set a boundary: you feel uncomfortable, anxious or trapped.

In examples of outright abuse, you’ll probably feel terrified, helpless, or hopeless. You may also notice that you feel drained after being around a certain person. We’ve evolved our feelings to communicate important information to us, so it’s a good idea to pay attention to them.

So what are these feelings telling you? Probably that these interactions aren’t working for you,

and something needs to change.

And that’s where boundaries come in. Setting a boundary is basically saying to yourself and someone else, “Here’s the line between what is and what is not acceptable to me.”

Since controlling other people is impossible, it’s a pretty good rule of thumb that your energy is way better spent controlling your own behaviour rather than someone else’s. So setting a boundary isn’t about saying to someone, “You have to stop doing that.” Instead, we’re simply saying, “This behaviour is not acceptable to me, and I will no longer be participating in it.”

It’s a good idea to communicate your boundaries to most people ahead of time. A great way to do this is to frame it as a way of avoiding conflict, because you love them and

don’t want to fight with them. “Hey Dad, I know you wish I’d gone into law, but that conversation seems only to lead to arguments. I want you to know that in the future I’m going to try to change the subject, and, if we can’t do that, I might need to walk away so that we don’t get into the same old fight.”

Once you’ve made your boundary clear, the next step is enforcing it.

This is difficult, extremely difficult — and kind of awkward. You can start by simply reminding the person that you don’t want to be interacting that way anymore. Then, if they continue to do the thing, it’s time to take some space.

People are generally not happy when someone starts enforcing boundaries and they usually do what they can to re-establish the

status quo. Guilt trips and other forms of manipulation are pretty common responses. That being said, once most people realize you’re serious enough to take space, they eventually change their behaviour.

Even if they don’t, at least you’re not having the life drained out of you by the same old bullshit over and over again.

Setting and enforcing boundaries is one of the great skills of human relationships. It can mean anything from redirecting a conversation to ending a marriage. It’s not an easy skill to develop, but it’s well worth the investment. And it will probably make your holidays a lot more pleasant.

John Roche is a therapist in Kitchener Waterloo.

Awww shucks!

Thank you for making me feel so special!

-Sincerely, Ellie Anglin (on being named Best Local Writer, TCE Best Of Waterloo Region, 2017)

LET OUR NEW HOST ENTERTAIN YOU WITH HER SMOOTH, SMOOTH RADIO VOICE. TCE RADIO, ONLINE AT COMMUNITYEDITION.CA

DECEMBER 2017 // @THECOMMUNITYED

15

ARTS & CULTURE EVENT LISTINGS THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7 THE ONE WITH THE FRIENDS TRIVIA CHAINSAW Join TCE in debut of our monthly trivia nights. All proceeds go to helping support independent community media. So you can sing all the words to “Smelly Cat” and you’re pretty sure that Chandler does not work as a Transponster but do you know that you were not supposed to put beef in the trifle?

Trivia • $3 at the door • 7pm-9pm

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14 AN EVENING WITH GREG SESTERO PRINCESS CINEMAS Now you can finally say “Oh hi Mark!” to Mark himself. The Room actor Greg Sestero will be coming to Waterloo to celebrate the cult classic’s 15th anniversary. Sestero will be presenting behind the scenes information about the making of the film and will be reading excerpts from Tommy Wiseau’s first screenplay draft.

Film • $14-$25• 7pm-9pm

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8 ARTIST IN RESIDENCE FINAL EXHIBITION: MEET AND GREET KITCHENER CITY HALL Explore KW’s climate-action mosaic and other mosaics created by local artist Julie Sperling, herself.

Sperling will also be present to answer any questions pertaining to her work.

Art • Free • 6pm-8pm

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 9 GALAXY OF GIFTS ANNUAL CRAFT SHOW LUTHER VILLAGE ON THE PARK Get your Christmas shopping done by visiting more than 50 vendor tables. Proceeds will go to support the Lutherwood Child & Family Foundation.

Shopping • Free • 9am-3pm

HOME ALONE: ALL YOU CAN EAT CHEESE PIZZA APOLLO CINEMA Watch the Christmas classic Home Alone on the big screen downtown.

Apollo Cinema will also be providing all-you-can-eat cheese pizza. Kevin McCallister would approve.

Film• $24 at the door • 7pm

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 10 KW ORCHESTRA CONCERT WATERLOO PUBLIC LIBRARY The KW Guitar Orchestra will be playing Christmas music and will feature work by Delores Claman (Hockey Night in Canada), William Beauvais and local composer Ken Hadley.

Performance • Free • 2pm

MONDAY, DECEMBER 11 PIPE ‘N’ ASCOT SPOKEN WORD SCRAN AND DRAM SCOTTISH PUBLIC HOUSE Take part in an open mic night and show off your short-stories, comedy, or long-form writing skills. Email pipenascot@gmail.com for more information or to register for the event.

Open mic • Free • 7pm-9:30pm

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 13 BEER + ESSENTIAL OILS THEMUSEUM

As part of the Beer Series, THEMUSEUM is providing an information night about essential oils. Ticket fee includes one pint of beer, an essential oil roller, one of three blends to create and access to a free e-book. Event is 19+.

Crafts • $35 • 6:30pm-9:30pm

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16 SIP, AXE & RELAX (KW) ABE ERB Tour KW’s local breweries with TWB Co-Operative Brewing and get physical with some axe throwing.

Transportation, craft beer samples, lunch and dessert will be provided.

Closed toe shoes are required ... because, you know, axes.

Partying• $95• 12:15pm-6:15pm

PLAN B CO-OP: OPEN LGBTQ MEETING TREEHAUS COLLABORATIVE WORKSPACE Plan B Co-Operative KW wants to collaborate with the community to create strategies to address the needs of the queer community in the region. All LGBTQ+ members and services are welcome to attend.

Email info@planbcoopkw.com for more information.

Think-tank• Free• 2pm-5pm

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 17 HOMEMADE FOR THE HOLIDAYS DESCENDANTS BEER & BEVERAGE CO. In typical KW fashion, Tri-City Roller Derby is hosting a crafts sale, featuring items created by local artists, food and craft beer.

Shopping • Free • 12pm-4pm

KWLT HOLIDAY PARTY KITCHENER-WATERLOO LITTLE THEATRE KWLT is hosting a casual Christmas party, where board games and food will be provided. KWLT also encourages party-goers to bring in their favourite board games.

Donations will be collected for the KW Food Bank. Email pastprez@ kwlt.org if you’re interested in volunteering.

Partying • Free • 1pm-4pm

MATT WEIDINGER AT THE JAZZ ROOM THE JAZZ ROOM Kitchener rock/soul singer and musician Matt Weidinger will be having his annual holiday show at the Jazz Room. Online tickets are available at ticketscene.ca Music • $20-$25 • 2pm-3pm

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21 PAINTING NIGHT WHALE & ALE PUB Enjoy a glass of wine or a pint of beer while getting creative with some paint and brushes. Painting equipment will be included.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21 AN EVENING OF LIGHT: STORIES OF INTEGRITY OPEN SESAME Described as “The Vagina Monologues meets TED Talks,” Feminine Harbor is hosting a talk featuring four women of four different generations speaking about emotional resiliency, female voice and leadership.

Talk • $15-30 • 7pm-9pm

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 23 CHRISTMAS MARKET KITCHENER FARMERS’ MARKET If you’re that person who procrastinated with Christmas shopping (like us), then you best go to this. There will be local vendors, food, Christmas carolers and Santa Claus. Maybe it will be like all of the other Christmas markets that are happening this month, but hey — it’s happening on the day you’d need them the most.

Shopping • Free • 7am-2pm

MONDAY, DECEMBER 25 A SEASONAL CELEBRATION OF COMMUNITY SPECTRUM COMMUNITY SPACE If you’re in need of spending the holiday in a safe environment and welcoming company, SPECTRUM is having their Christmas party in their office. You are welcome to bring some food, but food will also be provided by the organization.

Party • Free • 12pm-10pm

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 26 GOOD LAUGHS TRANS & ALLIES NIGHT OUT SYMPOSIUM CAFE Good Laugh Trans & Allies is welcoming those who are in town for the holidays to their Christmas get together to meet new people and socialize. We’re expecting a few “good laughs” to be had at this one.

Party • Free • 7pm-11pm

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 31 NEW YEAR’S EVE CARTOON PARTY KITCHENER CITY HALL The City of Kitchener will be having a retro-cartoon themed NYE party to ring in 2018. There will be retro cartoon arcade games (bring your quarters!), live music, free skating, and a breakfast cereal counter (donation to the Rotary Club of Kitchener is encouraged). This party sounds like a great option if you’re lost as to how to spend your NYE ... like us ... every year.

Party • Free • 6pm-12 am

NYE WITH SLOAN AT MAXWELL’S MAXWELL’S CONCERTS & EVENTS Come find “the good in everyone” by ringing in the new year with everyone’s favourite Canadia rock band, Sloan! DJ Cloudy Cuts will be opening. This is a 19+ event.

Concert • $50 advanced • 9pm-1am

Arts • $45 • 7pm-9pm

COMMUNITYEDITION.CA @THECOMMUNITYED