The Community Edition: October 2018

VOLUME 7, ISSUE 1 • OCTOBER 2018

WATERLOO REGION’S BEST GREASY SPOONS

PAGES 8-9

BEST OF WATERLOO REGION 2018

FOOD IN WR FACEBOOK PAGE STIRS THE POT

TIME TO TIKI IN DOWNTOWN KITCHENER

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PAGE 11

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OCTOBER 2018 // @THECOMMUNITYED

IN THIS

ISSUE

VOLUME 7, ISSUE 1

OCTOBER 2018

WE DIDN’T INTENTIONALLY MAKE THIS ISSUE ALL ABOUT FOOD. IT JUST KIND OF HAPPENED. ARE YOU COMPLAINING? WE DIDN’T THINK SO. ANYWAY, THIS ISSUE OF TCE WAS FUELED BY WAY TOO MUCH BREAKFAST.

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FEATURE

8-9 WR’S BEST GREASY SPOONS

EDITOR’S PICK 11

FOOD IN WR FACEBOOK PAGE STIRS THE POT

3 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 10 10 12 12 13 14 15 16

IN BRIEF // EDITOR’S NOTE #BESTOFWR 2018 WINNERS NEW PASSENGER SERVICE FEAT. TESLAS LET’S TALK ABOUT DIGESTION & DOGGOS NEW GUELPH MUSIC FEST SUPPORTS KEYCHANGE JANET METCALFE: AN EDUCATION LEGEND THE SIDE HUSTLE: LUXE.ZEN EASY BEING GREEN: VOTING SUSTAINABLY CUTTING OUT PLASTIC WITHOUT SPENDING TOO MUCH SEXPLANATIONS: GET CLITERATE STEPHANIE FEHRENBACH SHOWS US HER FLORALS NEW TUNE REVIEW INSIDE COMMON STUDIOS TCE POETRY OONA MOON // EVENT LISTINGS GRAND SURF BRINGS TIKI VIBES TO DTK

INSIDE

COVER BY PAIGE BUSH

Volume 7, Issue 1 Next issue: November, 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

WLUSP ADMINISTRATION

Editor in Chief Beth Bowles beth@communityedition.ca

President TJ Mroz

Publisher Lakyn Barton lakyn.barton@wlusp.com Social Media Coordinator Brittany Kovacs Social Media Coordinator Ramona Leitao Web Manager Care Lucas

Executive Director Lakyn Barton Advertising Manager Care Lucas Treasurer Garrison Oosterof Vice-Chair Lisa Irimescu

Photo Editor Nick Stanley

Directors Shyenne MacDonald Maiya Mistry H.G. Watson

Photo Editor Paige Bush

Corporate Secretary Maiya Mistry

General Inquiries info@communityedition.ca

CONTRIBUTORS Gabby Borgerink Emily Crump Stacey Danckert Jessica del Rosso Jesse Derry Melissa Embury Cameron Hoddle Bashar Lulu Jabbour Stacey Jacobs Jon Johnson Cameron Klapwyk Ramona Leitao Allison Leonard Jennifer Lyon Eric Moon Sam Nabi Bryn Ossington Andreas Patsiaouros Natasha Rolleman Kaitlyn Severin Lindsay Totzke Cara Vandermey Racheal Walser Emi Zibaei TWITTER @THECOMMUNITYED INSTAGRAM @COMMUNITYEDITION

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

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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.

OCTOBER 2018 // COMMUNITYEDITION.CA

October hasn’t started off that great, weather-wise, so if you’d like a taste of summer, Darryl Haus’ new tiki bar the Grand Surf Lounge in DTK should help create the illusion of warmth. More on page 16.

NICK STANLEY PHOTO

EDITOR’S NOTE: BECAUSE YOU CAN DOESN’T MEAN YOU SHOULD

BY: BETH BOWLES

A few months ago, I was grocery shopping at the Zehrs on University Ave. When I was walking out of the store pushing a cart full of food, two men, about 18 or 19, were walking towards me to go into the store. As we passed each other, the one stepped in front of me, his face inches away from mine. “HEY!” he yelled, right in my face, so close I could feel his hot breath on my cheek.

I nearly jumped out my skin, but managed to ask, “Why would you do that?”

His back was to me, as he was walking into the store, but just before the automatic doors closed behind him, he turned around and faced me. I was still frozen in place, staring at him in awe.

“Because I can,” he shouted.

I walked back to my car and sat in the driver’s seat, alone.

Physically, yes, I was fine. I know this man didn’t have intentions to actually harm me. His intent was to scare me, to make me feel uneasy while doing a very normal task that I should feel safe doing.

Because I can. Because I can.

Because I can.

Last weekend was Laurier’s Homecoming weekend — a weekend that celebrates school

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IN BRIEF NEWS

ARTS

SHOOTING AT STARLIGHT

50TH ANNIVERSARY MUNICIPAL OF OKTOBERFEST ELECTIONS

Homecoming weekend got off to a rocky start this year, as two men were shot during an altercation outside Starlight Social Club in uptown Waterloo in the early morning hours of Sept. 29. The assailant fled the scene; the two victims were hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries.

2018 marks the 50th anniversary of Waterloo Region’s Oktoberfest.

This year will see the opening of a new festhallen at LOT42 Global Flex Campus, and the introduction of German beer to the event, which until now has been mysteriously absent. Catch us at TWB’s Craftoberfest on Oct. 5 and 6.

Oct. 22 is the day you should all go out and vote on who will be representing us on a municipal level. Municipal government affects us on an every day level. so it’s really important to engage in local politics. You can’t complain about all the construction if you don’t vote!

FATAL GUN ATTACK IN DTK

NERUDA ARTS FOUNDER WINS

ROCKET SHIP FOR SALE

A targeted shooting took place the morning of Sept. 20 in the downtown Kitchener area, leaving one man dead. There followed a short car chase on Hwy 401 with Waterloo Regional Police Services, but the suspect evaded arrest and remains at large. Flowers have since been put up at the scene.

The annual Waterloo Award, a civic honour bestowed on individuals whose work has improved the local community, was awarded this year to Neruda Arts founder Isabela Cisterna.

Cisterna, 45, founded Neruda Arts to improve the art and music culture of the Region.

The Satellite Motel in Cambridge will soon close to make way for affordable housing units. As a result, it’s selling the 1950’s-style retro rocket ship statue that currently sits on its property.

Maybe Chris Hadfield and Elton John will fight over the ownership of this precious Cambridge gem.

ARMED BANK ROBBERY

RAINBOW REELS FEST IS BACK

POST OFFICE REVISIONED

Yet more violence occurred this month in the form of an armed robbery of the TD Canada Trust bank on Pioneer Drive in Kitchener, on Sep. 27. Two men brandished a handgun and demanded money from a teller before fleeing. Police have released photos of the suspects.

It’s time again for the annual Rainbow Reels Queer & Trans Film Festival, happening at various regional locations Oct. 12-21. Events include film screenings, art, music, and workshops aimed at promoting and supporting the LGBTQ2I+ arts scene.

The old post office in uptown Waterloo, which sits at the corner of Bridgeport and King, was recently approved by Waterloo City Council to be transformed into two towers. The one tower will be 24 storeys high and used for condos. There will also be commercial and educational space.

spirit. In my four years as a Golden Hawk, I also participated in this event. I wore purple. I went to the football game. I drank too much. I had fun.

But year after year, the day that follows Homecoming is always the same. The news articles about several arrests roll through, the remnants of the day prior litter the streets.

This year, the main news story involved a group of men who hung a sign from their home. The sign read, “She called you daddy 4 [sic] 18 years. Now it’s our turn.”

The sign was reported by 12-year-old Isabella Spencer, who drove past the house with her dad on the day of Homecoming.

Police came and by and asked them to take it down. CTV interviewed both Spencer, who was appalled, and the men who hung the sign.

One of the men, who identified himself to CTV as Jeff, told CTV that: he is “baffled” by how much “attention is being paid to a bedsheet with some words on it” instead of issues such as “stricter laws for convicted rapists or the fact that women who falsely accuse men of rape get away with it.”

The sign was meant to be a joke.

It wasn’t meant to be a threat.

Much like the man who yelled in my face in the Zehrs parking lot.

Because I can. Because I can.

Because I can.

My response to Jeff’s statement isn’t a complex one. Your bed sheet sign inforced the commodification of women’s bodys. It reinforced the idea that women belong to their fathers, only to be passed on to another man when they’re old enough.

Your bed sheet sign was reported by a 12-year-old, who was driving with her father, who will be the talk of her school for being on the news. Now we have Spencer’s classmates talking about the sign, making their own interpretations of it.

Your joke reinforced rape culture, even if that wasn’t your intent. If you cared about enforcing stricter laws against rape, you wouldn’t have made the sign. You also wouldn’t label women who have experienced sexual abuse as liars who falsely accuse rapists. It’s statements like that that create barriers for those who have experienced sexual abuse to come forward and report their assault. And you did all

this on a weekend where rates of sexual assault skyrocket.

You and your friends made the sign because you could. It’s that simple. You made the sign because news reports would still refer to you as “boys” and not “men.” You made the sign because the onus would still be put on: “What would your mother think?” as if you’re not mature enough to take responsibility for your actions and how somehow, at the end of the day it is still a woman’s fault You made the sign because you don’t know what it’s like to be afraid to walk home alone at night. You don’t know what it’s like to have a man call you a whore because you don’t want him to buy you a drink at a bar.

You don’t know what it’s like to hold your friend as she sobs in your arms. Every woman who saw your sign has either been assaulted, loves someone who was assaulted, or has yet to be assaulted.

And you did all this because you knew there would be no consequences, and if there are, they won’t be severe.

You did all this because you could.

URBAN

Best of Waterloo Region S R 2018 E N WIN BEST OF WR IS COLLECTED THROUGH AN ONLINE SURVEY. WE PROVIDED THE CATEGORIES, YOU PROVIDED THE NOMINATIONS. THE SHORT LIST WAS THEN COMPILED OF THOSE WITH THE MOST NOMINATIONS AND THEN WE ASKED FOR YOU TO VOTE AGAIN. OVER 1,000 VOTES WERE SUBMITTED, WHICH IS PRETTY NEAT. CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE WINNERS.

Best visual artist

Best performance artist

Jonathan Munz Meg Harder

Janice Jo Lee

tie

Best beer selection

Best casual restaurant

Best vegetarian options

Best local brewery

Arabella Park Beer Bar

Ethel’s Lounge

Jane Bond

Together We’re Bitter

Best uptown restaurant

Best downtown restaurant

Best cambridge restaurant

Best fancy coffee

Jane Bond

The Grand Trunk Saloon

Cambridge Mill

DVLB

Best special occasion restaurant

Best new restaurant/cafe in 2018

Best place to get groceries downtown

Best social profit/not for profit

Bhima’s Warung

Loloan Lobby Bar

J & P Grocery

The Working Centre

Best Burger

Best food Truck

Best music shop

Best shawarma

Ethel’s Lounge

The Crazy Canuck

Orange Monkey

Arabesque Family Restaurant

best donut

Best LGBTQ+ Space

Best view

Best Patio

Debrodniks Donuts

Jane Bond

Victoria Park

The Boathouse

Best musician or band

Best community event

Best place to buy a gift

Best place to take a date

Romeo Sex Fighter

Bluesfest

Ten Thousand Villages

Apollo Cinema

Best tattoo parlour

Best public space

Best gallery or museum

Best Hair salon or barber

Berlin Tattoo

Kitchener Public Library

THEMUSEUM

Cowboys & Angels

Best Open Mic

Best bus driver

Best Karaoke

Best trivia

The Boathouse

“The guy with the spacers”

Chainsaw

Descendants Beer & Beverage Co.

Best local writer

Best ice cream

Best bookstore

Best filmmaker

Ellie Anglin

Four All

Words Worth Books

Becca Redden

Best Photographer

Best place to volunteer

Best live music venue

Most present politician

Jennifer Lyon

Kitchener Public Library

Starlight

Berry Vrbanovic

Best cafe

Best Sandwich

Best teacher

Best breakfast

Princess Cafe

Vincenzo’s

Yeliz Sherifali

The Yeti

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OCTOBER 2018 // COMMUNITYEDITION.CA

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NEW PASSENGER SERVICE OFFERS

NEW WROUTE SAM NABI CONTRIBUTOR Every day, people take nearly 60,000 trips between Guelph and Waterloo Region. Most of them drive alone.

Improving travel to and from Guelph has been a long-standing challenge. Highway 7 is currently being expanded to four lanes, although that could attract even more vehicle traffic to the corridor, worsening congestion.

We won’t get all-day two-way GO train service until negotiations over the rail tracks between Guelph and Kitchener are resolved. Greyhound currently runs 14 trips a day between Kitchener and Guelph, which is fine if you can make the schedule work, but hardly enough to serve everyone’s travel needs.

Given the lacklustre options that exist, it’s not surprising most people drive in their own car to get to Guelph. It also makes for a great opportunity for someone to fill those scheduling gaps. On Sept. 22, that option arrived when Wroute began

its first day of service.

Wroute is a new passenger service that runs every 15 minutes between Fariview Park Mall in Kitchener, and Guelph’s central station.

These locations were deliberately chosen to hook into the existing transit network, including Waterloo Region’s ION light rail and Guelph’s VIA Rail station.

With a fleet of all-electric 6-seat Teslas, Wroute can make more frequent trips than a full-sized bus.

Jason Hammond, the company’s owner and president, says he wants to use Wroute to make public transit options more convenient for people.

“If someone can take a bus or train for one direction of their trip, but to make the schedule work they use us for the other direction, that unlocks that journey for passenger services rather than driving, that’s what we want to see happening,” Hammond said.

“We’re trying to convert drivers into passengers by making passenger service something they can see themselves being a part of.”

The vehicles come equipped with bicycle racks, so passengers could also combine a Wroute trip with a short bike ride to get where they need to go.

Unlike ride-hailing startups like Uber or Lyft, Wroute isn’t looking to

LET’S TALK ABOUT DOGGY DIGESTION GABBY BORGERINK CONTRIBUTOR A few weeks after getting my new puppy, Winnie, she started having diarrhea — the type of diarrhea that kept us up all night.

Most people told us the best remedy for diarrhea is to feed her rice and cooked meat, which sounded simple enough. As soon as she started feeling better, we put her back on her kibble, but frustratingly enough, the diarrhea was back with a vengeance.

Naturally, as a nutritionist, I have learned the importance of digestion and nutrition, and how it can impact our immune system, mood, behavior and overall wellbeing. I constantly preach eating nutritious foods as prevention of disease and having optimal digestion. So why don’t we care as much about our pets’ diets and digestion?

Now I’ll stop going on about diarrhea — but there was something telling me that I needed to dig deeper. So I did a ton of research (like the helicopter fur mama I am) and heard about a local holistic pet food store that specializes in raw food, supplements and holistic alternatives — right up my alley.

Dogs are true carnivores. They do not have the same salivary enzymes that humans do, in addition to having a higher stomach acid content, which allows them to digest meat and kill off bacteria. Dogs are

able to digest some carbohydrates, but looking from an ancestral perspective, they are meant to eat meat and very little carbs. Starches, grains and fillers found in kibble are extremely hard for them to digest, therefore they don’t absorb most of it. They can start to have reactions such as diarrhea, allergies, constipation and irritability.

When dogs are having reactions and their immune system is compromised, eating a raw food diet is actually easiest for them to digest. Which makes sense because in the ideal world, we would want to be consuming mostly natural whole foods that our bodies are able to recognize. Ultimately, I came to the decision that raw meat with added vegetables, berries, and fruits was the best diet for Winnie.

Alongside the dietary changes, we have since added in probiotics, digestive enzymes and a good quality omega-3 fish oil. These will help to regulate bowel movements, increase absorption of nutrients, support growth, brain health and immunity.

Those are all things I suggest to my human clients, so it makes so much sense to give it to our dogs as well. When it comes to our health and dog’s health, it is all about prevention and ensuring they are eating the most natural foods, free from chemicals and additives.

You should always do your own research, make informed decisions for yourself and your pets. Treat them exactly how you would yourself or your own children — after all, they need your care to stay healthy.

Gabby Borgerink is a Holistic Nutritionist living in Kitchener.

As of Sept. 22, you can hop in one of these fancy Teslas that travel from Kitchener to Guelph, and back again, every 15 minutes. Not only will you help lower your carbon footprint, but you will feel cool as heck while you do it.

JESSE DERRY PHOTO disrupt an entire industry.

“At the end of the day, we’re trying to build up the passenger marketplace so that everybody has more passengers to work with. We want all of the existing carriers to succeed. So, the reason we’re going with high-frequency service is to fill in those gaps and make the whole system stronger,” Hammond said.

Another difference between Wroute and the Ubers of the world is in the way it treats its employees. All Wroute drivers are salaried permanent employees, not precarious “independent contractors.”

“One of the things we’ve done is

blend a lot of our positions between driving and an administrative function. So when driving is very busy, they can mostly be driving.

Likewise, if they have a big project at their desk, they can hand the driving to other folks. It means that they have that stability, because millennials can have mortgages too,” Hammond said.

Transportation startups are transforming travel in cities all over the world, and not always in a positive way. In many cases, they’ve actually increased traffic congestion by luring passengers away from public transit.

Hammond is confident that

Wroute won’t have that effect, by proving to operators like GO Transit and Greyhound that the Guelph – Waterloo Region corridor is worth investing in.

“I think a lot of our trips will come from trips that wouldn’t have existed otherwise. People who say: ‘I’d love to come visit but I can’t get there from here.’ There’s certainly no intention from our side of replacing transit trips,” Hammond said.

“The whole reason this company started was to support transit and make it more viable.”

OCTOBER 2018 // @THECOMMUNITYED

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HOLY SMOKES, TAKE A LOOK AT THIS LINEUP

ALL-FEMALE AND NON-BINARY MUSIC FESTIVAL WILL IGNITE DOWNTOWN GUELPH FOR THE FIRST TIME

BETH BOWLES EDITOR IN CHIEF This year, a new music festival will be hitting the streets of downtown Guelph. Spearheaded by Guelphbased musicians Charlotte Moore and Alanna Gurr, Holy Smokes Music Festival is creating space for female-identifying and non-binary musicians by putting them in centre stage.

“We’re both women-identifying musicians within the Guelph community. We saw a need for this type of festival in Guelph, as well as in the music industry as a whole,” Moore said.

“We really felt like we wanted women and non-binary musicians to be more well represented.”

Holy Smokes Music Festival will begin on the night of Friday, Oct. 12, and continue throughout the day on Saturday, Oct. 13, wrapping up that evening. The Friday and Saturday night shows will be ticketed, taking place at The Common Cafe, while the daytime shows on the Saturday will be taking place in various retail locations around downtown Guelph.

Those shows will be free, or paywhat-you-can.

In January, Moore and Gurr decided to make the dream of creating an all-female and non-binary festival

a reality. They started by securing sponsorship with the downtown business association in Guelph, as well as Hillside Festival.

“They were on board from the getgo, and we’re really lucky that we’ve gotten so many great sponsors,” Moore said.

Next, they put out a call for submissions. They received about 50 to 60 applications — more than they thought they would.

Moore explained that curating the lineup was probably the biggest learning curve. They wanted a wide range of genres present, while also ensuring that the acts complimented each other.

But, it’s just not just the musical acts that celebrate the underrepresented. All the venues are run by female or non-binary business owners, and all the tech and sound is also being done by female or non-binary people.

“It’s a pretty holistic approach, because it’s not just musicians that are underrepresented from those demographics, it’s really everyone in the music industry,” Moore said.

After the first night, which will be headlined by BBQT and co-presented by Toque magazine, there will be a comedy show at the Making Box. All the comics will also be female-identifying or non-binary people. Additionally, after the Saturday night show which is headlined by Phèdre and co-presented by Hillside, the after-party will act as a fundraiser

for Girls Rock Camp in Guelph.

Ultimately, Moore cited that the need for a festival like Holy Smokes came from Keychange, an international initiative that music festivals can pledge to maintain a 50:50 gender balance by 2022.

“There were bigger festivals that didn’t pledge. They didn’t get into it,” Moore said.

“So that was a bit frustrating for us, and also from our own experiences of just being from this specific demographic that we want represented, [and] just wanting to create that space for others who might feel the same way that we do. We just think it’s important for people who feel underrepresented to have representation.”

But, promoting representation in the music industry can occur at a consumer level, too, by being more selective when buying the ticket or the CD. “From a patron/visitor perspective — support the booker or people who are responsible in that aspect,” Moore added.

“Support the festivals that do want to be involved in [Keychange].

Support lineups that you see that do have people in those demographics in them. If we make that the standard, then the industry will just have to change.”

This artsy photo was taken on a fun trip we took to Guelph last spring. The ceiling you’re looking at is in The Common Cafe, where both of Holy Smokes’ headling shows will take place.

BRIT KOVACS PHOTO

Suddaby Public School housed Canada’s first ever Kindergarten class in 1882. NICK STANLEY PHOTO

CANADA’S FIRST KINDERGARTEN CLASS IN KW

LAST MONTH, JANET METCALFE PUBLIC SCHOOL OPENED ITS DOORS, BUT WHO EXACTLY WAS JANET?

KAITLYN SEVERIN CONTRIBUTOR In November 2017, trustees from public schools in the Waterloo Region District School Board were given the opportunity to name a new public school, which was then being constructed at the corner of Seabrook Drive and Amand Drive in Kitchener.

According to The Waterloo Record, the public school board reviewed over 190 suggestions for its new school, including current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Nellie McClung and Gord Downie.

In late November, trustees decided on naming the school after Janet Metcalfe, a Canadian pioneer of kindergarten education. Janet Metcalfe was the first kindergarten teacher in Canada, and her legacy and teachings have shaped the way educators perceive public education to this day.

Before her death in 1935 at the age of 82, Metcalfe left more than a mark in the Waterloo Region educational system. Before she became a teacher in Kitchener, or what was originally Berlin, Metcalfe taught in Galt and in Stratford.

Eventually, in 1882, Metcalfe was assigned to teach the first kindergarten class at The Central School, which was originally the first school to open in Kitchener. The school was

home to Canada’s first public school kindergarten classes, later followed by classes opening in Toronto in 1883 and Hamilton in 1885.

The Central School, what was later renamed to Suddaby School, opened in 1808 on the corner of Mill Street and Shoemaker Avenue in the South Ward.

Jeremiah Suddaby, of which Central School was named after following his death in 1910, was the first principal of the model school for training teachers in 1877.* It is now indicated by local historian Todd Bowman’s records that Suddaby’s public school work, along with Metcalfe’s, played a significant role in the principles of the national education system throughout the late 19th century.

Later in her career, Metcalfe was transferred from the kindergarten department at the Central School and became the principal of Margaret Avenue Public School, which was built in 1894 and became the fourth public school in the original city of Berlin. It now sits at 325 Louisa Street in Kitchener.

Metcalfe continued to teach young students and work as an educator in Waterloo Region for over 31 years, until her death at the age of 82.

News of her death was published in the front page of the Waterloo Region Record. A public funeral for Metcalfe was held at Schreiter Sandrock Funeral Home, now known as the Westmount Memorial Celebration Centre.

On Sept. 4, for the first time, Janet

Metcalfe Public School opened to students between kindergarten and grade seven. It has space for approximately 550 students at a cost of $16 million. It is now the largest public elementary school in Kitchener, according to CTV, and construction is set to be completed by mid-October.

While our Region may appear to be in a constant state of change, it’s important to remember those who contributed to it’s foundation. We’re each contributing to the history of this Region, Janet Metcalfe is no exception.

*With notes by Todd Bowman, author of “A Man of Sterling Worth: Searching for Jeremiah Suddaby.”

OCTOBER 2018 // COMMUNITYEDITION.CA

7

MIXING GEMSTONES AND AMBITION WITH LUXE.ZEN

THE SIDE HUSTLE

EMI ZIBAEI PHOTO

ELECTIONS AND SUSTAINABILITY

THE MUNICIPAL ELECTION IS COMING. WHAT SHOULD YOU ASK YOUR CANDIDATES IN TERMS OF SUSTAINABILITY?

EASY BEING GREEN

STACEY DANCKERT COLUMNIST With the municipal election approaching so quickly, I wanted to touch on how the municipal elections fit into the bigger picture, and the role it plays in environmental efforts.

Participation can be particularly important with municipal elections, especially since they often have the lowest voter turnout. When I have talked with people about voting in the past, many have told me that they choose not to participate because they don’t know enough.

I know that if you haven’t been paying attention to politics it can seem confusing or overwhelming, but the good news is that you don’t need to be an expert to vote. Realistically, it’s impossible to have all of the information. Your only goal is to choose the people who will represent you best.

Regardless of your decision making process, if you are armed with a basic understanding of the responsibilities of each level of government, you can know the type of questions to ask. Here’s a very basic overview.

The federal government is in charge of everything that crosses borders — some of the large infrastructure, primary waterways, international

decisions, trade and others. The provincial government handles most of the health and welfare, education, energy and infrastructure including highways and intercity transit. Finally, municipal governments make decisions about waste, water and sewage management, intracity transit, urban design (where to build and the design of neighbourhoods), and emergency services.

Locally, this delineation of oversight is a bit muddled because we have the additional layer of a regional government (comprised of a chair, the mayors, and eight elected members), on top of the municipal governments (for each of the three cities as well as the four townships), all sharing the municipal decision making.

Sustainability-related decisions and oversight are divided among the different levels of government, making it even harder to keep track of who has the power to implement change. Most of what our municipal governments oversee will have an impact on both our natural environment, as well as our ability to manage the effects of climate change and to mitigate the worst of it. This impact makes it even more important that we select people who understand how their leadership affects our future.

The best approach? Take whatever opportunity you have to ask questions.

Call, email, attend events, whatever you have time to do. I’ve included a couple of potential questions to get you started.

CAMERON KLAPWYK COLUMNIST In just over two years, Sarah Healey has transformed a fledgling hobby in custom jewelry design into a thriving brand with customers around the world.

During the day, you will find Healey at local startup MappedIn, where she works as a Technical Project Manager.

Off hours, you will find her in her studio, producing one-of-a-kind gemstone goods to stock her latest collection for her side hustle luxe.zen.

Originally from Wingham, Ontario, Healey moved to Waterloo Region to study arts and business at the University of Waterloo. She landed a job in human resources with Manulife after she graduated.

“I kind of realized I wasn’t happy in what I was doing,” she said about her five years at Manulife. “I knew that I liked the human interactions of my role, but I found it restrictive in other ways.”

During this period of career questioning, Healey became ill and was forced to take time off work. Wanting to find something new to occupy a schedule lacking structure, she began to apprentice with a local jewelry designer. If not for her time off, she believes luxe.zen would not have been born.

“I’m not good at doing nothing and

so when I was sick I needed something to keep my brain occupied and to make me feel like I had a purpose and an end goal,” she said.

“So I started making jewelry again because I was really interested in learning more about gemstones.”

Healey said that she felt very disempowered after becoming sick and having to go through the insurance process and see a lot of doctors.

“I was just being told to take this medication and fill out this form. There was not a lot of room for me to have much of a say,” she said.

Having different gemstones to wear and to symbolize something for her on this journey of healing meant a lot.

Healey says it means a lot for her customers as well.

“I know so much of their story because they tell me that they, themselves, or their friend are going through this thing and they ask what I would recommend,” Healey said.

“And in that instance, I can say, for example, ‘I think aquamarine would be great for that and here’s why.’ ” If you’re wondering, aquamarine supports both calm and courage.

“There’s a lot of lore about specific gemstones,” Healey explained. “A lot of it is rooted in history of various cultures and why they prized a particular stone.

For example, the ancient Egyptians prized lapis lazuli because it was mined in Egypt and they used it as a gem for kings, they ground it up and used it as eyeshadow.”

While Healey noted that not everyone

believes in the benefits of gemstones, for her, the real benefit comes from the positive thinking associated with the narrative story we attach to a piece.

Next January, Healey is taking silver smithing courses with the goal of beginning to fabricate her own metal components. This will allow her to do custom fittings.

“I like being able to bring the designs in my head to life, and I need those skills to be able to do that, because I would like to start working with solid gold and starting to do more fine jewelry, like higher-end engagement rings and wedding bands,” she said.

Healey also has other grand ambitions for the future.

“My big hairy audacious goal is to retire my husband and myself to Vancouver Island,” she said.

Given that most of her sales are online, Healey explained that she could operate luxe.zen from practically anywhere.

Given that luxe.zen officially opened for business in March 2016, Healey is shocked at how quickly her once-casual side hustle has taken off.

“It’s kind of crazy to think about the fact that I’m a technical project manager and I’m handling high profile implementations for my company and then I’m going home and potentially spending half that amount of time making jewelry but still making more money than I am in my 40 hour a week job some months,” she said.

QUESTIONS TO ASK CANDIDATES UP FOR RE-ELECTION HOW DID YOU VOTE ON THE RECENT MOTION TO CUT GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS BY 80 PER CENT BY 2050?

The best predictor of future behaviour is past behaviour.

This is evidence of the Region taking leadership on mitigating climate change. It’s true that this cannot be achieved alone, but it helps to provide a context for other decision making in the Region.

WHAT SUSTAINABILITY EFFORTS OR DECISIONS HAVE YOU PLAYED A PART IN OR SUPPORTED?

QUESTIONS TO ASK ALL CANDIDATES Implementation of the ION will have a big impact on its success, as integration of all active and public transit are essential. Re-focusing urban design on active and public transit, with less emphasis on single-occupancy vehicles and parking is a step in the right direction.

WHAT IS YOUR POSITION ON OUR URBAN BOUNDARIES? SHOULD WE BE CONTINUING TO BUILD BEYOND THE CURRENT BOUNDARIES?

WHAT POTENTIAL ISSUES DO YOU SEE WITH PUBLIC TRANSIT IN THE CITY/REGION, AND HOW CAN WE INCREASE THEIR LIKELIHOOD FOR SUCCESS?

Our previous council was bold in restricting growth to the current boundaries, which protects our farmland, our groundwater supply aquifers, and strengthens our municipalities by decreasing our urban sprawl.

Lanes and trails need to be connected to improve the safety and ease for cyclists. Additional safety measures such as raised sections, and removable bollards should also be considered.

WHAT OPPORTUNITIES DO YOU SEE WITH CYCLING INFRASTRUCTURE?

HOW CAN WE INCREASE OUR URBAN CANOPY?

Climate change has increased the number of devastating insects and diseases that are affecting the number of trees within our Region. Since there are numerous health, economic and environmental benefits that come with having urban trees, we need to ensure that we have a clear plan to protect and increase our urban canopy.

This goal will affect the way we design our neighbourhoods, build infrastructure and focus our communities.

SINCE TRANSPORTATION IS THE LARGEST CONTRIBUTOR TO LOCAL GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS, WHAT DO YOU THINK WE SHOULD BE DOING TO CURB THOSE EMISSIONS?

DO YOU SUPPORT OUR GOAL OF CUTTING LOCAL GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS BY 80 PER CENT BY 2050?

We need to design our cities, create programs that focus on the shift from single-occupancy vehicles.

Waterloo

GREASY HARMONY LUNCH I’ll be honest, I never went to Harmony Lunch before Fat Sparrow Group took it over last year — but I was familiar with its reputation. After 86 years of business, the Benningers swooped in and rescued Harmony Lunch from closing its doors forever, and ultimately, maintained and upheld a little piece of KW history.

Despite the change of hands, this greasy spoon still has the “all in the family” feel. You seat yourself and the menus are printed on coloured paper.

It’s accessible, it’s bright, it’s simple, yet Instagram-able. I also believe it’s the only breakfast place uptown that makes the dream of adding a milkshake to your breakfast order a legitimate reality.

While Harmony has always been known for their pork burgers, I think more attention needs to be put on their breakfast. The menu is small, but has exactly what you need. Every component of their “Lil Breakfast” is well thought out; the eggs are always cooked perfectly and complemented with some sort of tasty seasoning. The bacon is thick-cut with little to no fat.

Instead of homefries, Harmony offers a potato pancake, which acts as a base to the dish. When you finally get to the potato pancake, it’s absorbed all that bacon grease and runny yolk — if that doesn’t remind you of your grandma, then I don’t know what does.

- Beth Bowles

BUD’S Tucked into a plaza on Louisa St., Bud’s Restaurant welcomes customers by way of a fallen sign with washed print reading “Magic #2” along with the hours of operation. With portraits of menu items pressed onto their front window, a self-pour coffee station, and mismatched tableware, Bud’s quickly became the neighborhood’s go-to greasy spoon.

However, as the owners scoop shredded potatoes out of a white bin beside the steaming stove top and you reach down to filter through the crumpled newspapers below the

register, you begin to feel as if you’re right at home.

To my dismay, as I pulled up to their storefront to reacquaint my palate with all things greasy, I was greeted with a notice of vacation until Oct. 22.

Conclusively, I’ve learned that only the owners of an authentic greasy spoon can shut the doors for over a month at a time because they know that their regulars will be awaiting their return with empty stomachs.

Until Oct. 23, Bud’s.

- Brit Kovacs

Going out for breakfast just feels like a fall act bodies for the upcoming chill of winter, but wh and the leaves fall to the sidewalks, littering a b demand eggs, greasy meat and a heavy carb — o In 2015, the team that once lead the Commun of Waterloo Region’s best greasy spoons. When Ossington wrote: “When everything we eat nee neighbourhood greasy spoon remains the fixtu the “foodies” or food tourists. The greasy spoon who are looking to eat food, drink coffee and ca And that still rings true. So, we decided to rev restaurants opening and closing, as well as busi The restaurant chosen must be independently breakfast every day and it must be in the Regio Spoons Part 2 was born.

WHAT WERE OU FOR A GREA

INDEPENDENT

HAVE A DISTIN

SERVE BREAKF

IN THE REGION

A DISH CALLED WANDA You have to want to go to A Dish Called Wanda. If you’re not looking for it, you’re likely to miss the shadowed sign that’s sandwiched between Giant Tiger and Young Drivers in a plaza just south of Highland and Westmount.

While the massive parking lot is pretty empty on a Sunday morning, A Dish Called Wanda is not. The 15-or-so-table diner services a mix of people — families, seniors, an old man reading the newspaper at the bar with a coffee.

Wanda’s version of the farmer’s or trucker’s breakfast is “the Big Kahuna,” a hearty assortment of all things breakfast including pancakes, delicious thick cut bacon, ham and well-spiced chorizo sausage. The home fries and eggs left us grasping for the salt but they do the job of ensuring you’re full by the end of the meal.

ists for the regul ex n oo p s y greas e h eat food, drink coffe o T t g n i k loo

For something decadent, go with the Canadian Benedict. The generous serving of peameal and hollandaise sauce — which Wanda says is homemade — feels different than what you’d get a trendier breakfast place.

No smoked salmon or avocado slices here; it’s nice.

The decor isn’t anything to write home about (red walls studded with faux wine barrels) and the coffee, while always quickly refilled, could be a little bolder. But when walking into A Dish Called Wanda, you get a sense that no one is there for fineries — they’re in it for the reasonable breakfast, the come-as-you-are environment, and maybe for the ‘80s movie-inspired name.

- Allison Leonard

D

On Queen Street b Charles lies my go t Darlise Cafe is the l endeavour for husb Darryl and Liz How Liz = Darlise), who m themselves running Pub in the basemen Hotel. Now, instead into the early hours Darryl and Liz are u to serve some of the in the Region. Darli standard breakfast or not.

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tivity. I don’t know if it aligns with prepping our hen the temperature drops to around 10 degrees, bright mosaic of colours, our bodies seem to or, at least mine does. nity Edition went on a quest to compile a list n introducing the list, former publisher Bryn eds to be Instagramed and Pintrested, your ure of common sense dining. They aren’t here for n exists for the regulars and the practical diners arry on with their day.” vamp this list, as there are new faces on the team, iness owners changing. Our criteria was simple: owned, have a distinct breakfast menu, serve on. And thus, Waterloo Region’s Best Greasy

BARNACLE BILLS When looking for that classic diner breakfast, the people of Cambridge head to Barnacle Bills, located on the outskirts of downtown Galt. Most folks think that it’s only a place for fish and chips, but those who are in the know have been coming here since the ‘70‘s.

Open seven days a week, and serving breakfast everyday, they’re still as busy as ever — slamming out roughly 200 breakfast dishes on a typical Saturday morning. It’s always packed with locals who are known by name to the serving staff — everyone and anyone is welcome. This spot feels inviting and classic, but with an east coast twang that you only get in Galt.

I always sit near the open kitchen where you can really soak up the

atmosphere. Every time my family goes, almost everyone gets the old fashioned breakfast: home fries, eggs, toast. But I always choose it served with fried bologna (a Newfoundland classic) instead of your usual bacon, ham, or sausage.

While my mom opts for the pancakes with added blueberries, I tend to prefer a savory breakfast over a sweet one. But for a place known for their fish and chips, they make a mean pancake. Next time you find yourself in downtown Galt with a hankering for breakfast don’t head out to the business of Hespeler road, when the true gem is Barnacle Bills.

- Natasha Rolleman

CHECKERBOARD

UR QUALIFIERS ASY SPOON?

TLY OWNED

NCT BREAKFAST MENU

FAST EVERY DAY

When you come in the door of Checkerboard, you’re usually greeted with a “sit where you like!” and a question of whether you need a menu or not. I kind of love this extra casualness, and the idea that a lot of the people who walk in already know what they want.

I love a place where I can order my breakfast by just saying “scrambled, bacon, white,” and Checkerboard gets that breakfast right, with eggs that are the perfect mix of dry, fluffy, and not slimy, and bacon that’s crispy

enough to make my wife happy, but not so crispy that I don’t like it. But a basic breakfast is pretty easy to do, so it’s Checkerboard’s homemade hash browns that really make it my favourite. They’re done on the flat top, and are a seasoned, crispy, salty, delight.

The bigger pieces are soft on the inside with a crispy fried outside, and there’s always tasty little fried crunchy bits all over. The only problem with Checkerboard’s hash browns is that there’s never enough.

- Jon Johnson

N

DARLISE CAFE

between King and to breakfast spot. latest culinary band and wife team wie (get it? Darryl + made a name for g the Rum Runner nt of the Walper d of pouring drinks s of the morning, up bright and early e best breakfast ise has all your options, healthy

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that they are the best in town. If you’re like me, you’re sticking with one of their fluffy omelettes that comes folded and bursting with filling. Or, just taking whatever is on special that morning.

At Darlise, you really can’t go wrong. The coffee is bottomless and unlike most places it tastes great.

Most breakfasts come with toast and weekly made in house jams. If there is anything wrong with Darlise, it’s that what once seemed like DTK’s best kept secret is now everyone’s go to breakfast spot.

- Bryn Ossington

HOMESTYLE DINER At the far corner of Hazel and Albert, Homestyle Diner sits. Family owned and operated, they’re serving food that is as comfort as it comes.

Offering the quintessential homemade breakfast — the Ole Faithfuls section has the classic eggs, meat and home fries. The home fries come with options of extra-crispy and with or without a bacon, onion and pepper topping. I’ve been assured by the omnivores in my life to go with the topping. Also take note that when ordering an eggs benedict (a personal favourite), you can even swap out the home fries for pancakes. If you make it there before 11 a.m. on a weekday, their $6.49 breakfast special is a delicious, delicious steal.

There’s often a mixed crowd eating breakfast which is offered until 4

p.m. every day. There’s the young families, old friends, and the students that probably live just outside of the student bubble and perhaps stumbled across it when heading to the Beer Store in the same plaza. And of course, the after-Church crowd on Sunday mornings, a clear sign of any community staple.

Off the menu, Homestyle is unique in its ever changing seasonallyappropriate decor. Breakfast is comfort food - and being surrounded by rustic wooden signs that say things like “Fall is here” or “Gobble-Up!” is its own unique and special comfort.

It feels like you’ve stumbled into a relatives house for a holiday family breakfast.

- Lakyn Barton

PHOTOS BY PAIGE BUSH AND ANDREAS PATSIAOUROS

OCTOBER 2018 // COMMUNITYEDITION.CA

10

HOW TO CUT BACK ON WASTE WITHOUT BREAKING THE BANK

BKR WATER BOTTLES ARE MONOPOLIZING ON TRENDS, BUT YOU DON’T HAVE TO SPEND $75 TO CUT BACK ON PLASTIC OPINION

JESSICA DEL ROSSO CONTRIBUTOR BKR water bottles are a new brand that you may have seen around town at Chapters or Sephora. These glass bottles range anywhere from $48 to $75, each. Yes, that’s the retail amount for a glass water bottle.

The only justification for this price tag seems to be that because the water bottles are just so damn beautiful, people will drink more water from them, leading to less plastic water bottle waste in the environment and better looking skin for make up applications.

The price tag and advertisement promises of this brand lead to a bigger issue. Corporations are always trying to make money off of something, including making better choices for the environment. Only a specific population is able to spend $75 on a water bottle, which subtly indicates that if someone is unable to hash over that kind of cash, their eco-friendly contri-

butions are somehow not equal.

I wanted to take the opportunity to de-bunk this notion and bring to light all the actions one can take to be more eco-conscious in our local community without having to purchase an unaffordable reuseable water bottle.

We all know that straws are horrible for the environment, so asking your barista for no straw with your beverage is a small action with a domino effect on our environment. With a little bit of planning ahead, you can also ask your favorite coffee place to make your drink in your own mug, thermos or iced drink cup. In our own community, Aroma Café and Seven Shores, are big supporters of this initiative. If you are a Starbucks lover, ask for your drink with a Nitro lid, which is basically the adult version of a sippy cup.

Bulk Barn, Full Circle Foods and the soon-to-be new edition to uptown Waterloo, Zero Waste Bulk, all offer no packaging options for your grocery and bulk needs. With all of these grocers, you are able to bring in your own containers to cut down on single-use plastic.

Reusable bags are a no-brainer at this point in the game. They are relatively inexpensive and last forever.

Many reusable bags are now compostable as well.

Leaving the plastic produce bags behind is another small change leading to less plastic waste. You are going to wash your produce anyways, so protecting them with plastic is unnecessary. Locally, Pfennings Organic and More and Full Circle Foods are leaders in this concept.

Many yoga studios are prime examples on how to re-use and recycle items. Queen Street Yoga cuts up old towels and makes them into mat cleaning rags, they make their own yoga mat cleaner, hand wash the cups in their studio and refrain from using non-eco friendly products. Picking a workout spot that is eco-friendly will have an effect not only on your physical body, but the environment around you.

You don’t need a $75 water bottle. Any water bottle that is not a single-use plastic water bottle is a positive action. Remind me, why does bottled water even exist anymore?

Remember, corporations have one goal in mind: to make money. Think critically and remember that even small, free and inexpensive lifestyle changes have a positive impact on our environment.

@COMMUNITYEDITION ON INSTAGRAM

JENNIFER LYON PHOTO

GET CLITERATE:

THE IMPORTANCE OF

PLEASURE EDUCATION SEXPLANATIONS

STACEY JACOBS COLUMNIST The school year has begun with a 20-year-old sexual health curriculum.

A curriculum which does not discuss consent, diversity in relationships, gender identity, sexting, social media or pleasure — yes pleasure. The 2015 curriculum didn’t do a good job at discussing pleasure either, but it did at least mention the clitoris and masturbation.

For some reason we think that talking about pleasure is an adult topic, when in actuality, children and teens know what pleasure is, even if we haven’t given them the language.

Do young children not touch their genitals? They do this for many reasons, but it is often because it feels good; it gives them pleasure.

We know that fear-based, abstinence-only sex education does not work. Research has proven this time and time again, and yet we continue to focus solely on sex for reproduction.

The focus on negative consequences such as STIs, unwanted pregnancy and non-consensual sex, leaves out the enjoyable, pleasurable aspects of sexual activity, while also promoting abstinence, without the option of masturbation.

And why do we do this? Are we scared young people will have a good time, get to know their bodies in a positive way, feel connected to another person, or have an orgasm? Maybe we are scared they will enjoy sex more than us, or never feel the shame and guilt we did for touching ourselves or sneaking off to experiment with another.

We know there are positive physical and mental health benefits to orgasms,

arousal, connection to another, feeling good about our bodies, understanding how our bodies work. And yet, here we are, denying this information to an entire generation, in order to what?

Protect them, save their innocence?

I was recently at an event run by LSPIRG called, “Get Cliterate” where Karly Rath discussed the results of her master’s thesis about the clitoris.

The left out of discussions, poorly understood, not given any credit, clitoris. Although pleasure is rarely discussed with young people, when it is, it focusses on the penis and the penis ejaculating. The clit is rarely mentioned because the clit has one purpose – pleasure. It is not involved in reproduction, or urination or child birth. It is 8,000 nerve endings ready to make you feel good.

But wait — this is just the tip. The majority of the clitoris is hidden under the skin. It has the same amount of erectile tissue as the penis, it engorges with blood just like the penis, it becomes erect just like the penis! But who knew? Very few of us because this is not part of our sex education. We live in a world focussed on the penis and those who have them.

Could this be why we do not discuss pleasure with young people? Are we worried we will have to discuss the clitoris?

Young people are not going to stop being curious about their bodies and sex. But they can stop feeling guilt and shame about it if we let them. I implore you to talk about and explore pleasure — and the clitoris!

Stacey Jacobs is the sexual health educational manager at SHORE.

OCTOBER 2018 // COMMUNITYEDITION.CA

“FOOD IN WATERLOO REGION”

FACEBOOK PAGE

STIRS THINGS UP

WORDS BY MELISSA EMBURY • PHOTO BY PAIGE BUSH

11 The “Food in the Waterloo Region” Facebook page has grown considerably since Tony Bành created it in 2011. The page is well known in the restaurant industry for offering both positive and negative reviews of local restaurants.

The positive reviews posted on the page have driven customers to the doors of many restaurants in the Region, creating more business for their owners.

Conversely, the page has been known to offer negative feedback to certain KW eateries; oftentimes the conversations had on the page can be overly critical opposed to constructive and group members take to their keyboards and offer their two cents.

“I searched for a local food group and there was none, so I created one,” Bành said, when asked about the creation of the group.

“I used to work as a line cook in the local fine dining scene and invited former coworkers, classmates, and friends. Aura Samara, who I later made my co-admin, was one of the first to join, and it steadily grew from there, mostly with local chefs, restaurant owners, managers, etc. being active in the group in the first few years.”

It’s no secret that the “Food in Waterloo Region” page doesn’t really have house rules. Posts don’t have to be approved ahead of time. Almost anything goes. For some members, this doesn’t sit well.

“Like many active online groups, we get a fair bit of drama every few months, so I ended up making this post a few months ago to help explain the creation and how the group is run,” Bành said.

Bành posted in January 2018 addressing members’ complaints and concerns in order to shed more light on why he runs things the way he does and the overall goal of the group. The post said: “I have a very laissez-faire way of running this group. Really the only thing I want to do is keep off-topic spam posts and too much advertising out, add new legit members, and share whatever interesting news I see about local food and restaurants here…Just try to continue sharing and contributing, helping and answering questions, of all things related to “Food in the Waterloo Region”; the good, the bad, and the ugly, but mostly the good hopefully.”

The group has grown and changed considerably over the years since it’s initial creation in 2011 with merely 20 people. It’s now at 13,982 members as of today.

“I wasn’t really expecting this,” Bành said.

“My goal was a place for everybody to share local food. That’s it.”

When asked what the hardest challenges were since starting the group, Bành talked about the volume of private messages and posts asking him to censor members.

“Everybody wants me to censor anybody that has negative opinions and I’m just not willing to do that,” he said.

“As long as people are posting something about local food, I allow them to express their opinions. The biggest challenge is when people are private messaging me and demanding things. I basically have a policy, I don’t delete anything unless it’s off-topic.”

Bành said he only removes users if they are spamming the group. For example Bành asked a relatively new member who kept repeatedly posting pictures of his own recipes to stop spamming. Bành’s requests were ignored, and this person kept posting.

In the end, Bành ended up removing this member, which also caused approximately 300 people to leave the group. Bành then received countless private messages from other members saying that the removal was unfair.

Despite all this, the group has positively impacted several local restaurant owners.

Jill and Mica Sadler, owners of Swine & Vine were contacted for a statement on reviews received through the group, and whether they found the group helpful to their business.

“Luckily, for Swine & Vine, the group has shed more positive than negative on our business. We have been fortunate in that many customers who have visited us have told us they have dined with us because they heard so many glowing reviews on

the Facebook group,” Jill Sadler said, in an email statement.

When asked about Bahn’s lack of rules and his approach to running the group Sadler emailed back this statement: “I understand [rules] would be hard to monitor and enforce. Personally, as a restaurant owner, I just try to continue to focus on providing quality guest experience and train my staff to do the same. While I do monitor and pay attention to what the internet is saying about my restaurant, I try to sift through what is valid and bring it back to the staff so we can improve and make the restaurant better and better …”

In our email thread with Sadler, she concluded that the group doesn’t act as a threat to business.

“Overall, I find the Food in the Waterloo Region’s heart to be in the right place.

The intention was to bring together local lovers of food and shed light on new (and old favourite) local establishments … I look forward to the continued growth and success of the group as I do for our little restaurant,” Sadler wrote.

But, not all restaurant owners share this optimistic opinion of the group.

Nick Benninger, chef and part-owner of the Fat Sparrow Group — Marbles, Uptown 21, Taco Farm and Harmony Lunch — agreed that negative feedback is a big part of the customer service industry.

“We’re not in the food industry, we’re in the customer service industry and we value customers’ feedback, whether it’s good or bad and we know we have to listen to it,” he said.

When asked how “Food in the Waterloo Region” fits into the local restaurant community and its usefulness as a tool for feedback Benninger said: “That place turned into a circus where you can’t even tell who’s posting or if they are genuine comments. A long time ago it became fairly useless as a tool for us. It’s wildly entertaining to my staff. I certainly wouldn’t give it any credit for doing any good for the community other than comedy. It’s sort of a running joke.”

Benninger was also a long-time member of the group and decided to leave entirely for his own reasons.

“I took myself off that page a while ago because people were saying really personal things. The day I decided to get off was when someone posted that I had lost my zest for life and it’s obvious in the food at my restaurant,” Benninger said.

“My family would disagree; that was going on personal territory.”

Direct feedback is much more useful according to Benninger. He explains that if you have an unpleasant experience in a restaurant and bring it up to a staff member or management immediately, it allows for something positive to be done to remedy the situation.

“The customer who talks to you directly is a different type of person. These people who aren’t afraid to say anything when it’s on twitter or Facebook are not really that valuable because if they were so sure of their opinion they would put together an email later that night and say, ‘hey, you know, we’ve always enjoyed your services but last night didn’t meet our expectations.

We thought you’d want to know and here’s the reason.’ And we could reach back and mend that fence,” Benninger said.

“We also take those emails, print them off and we sit down with the staff and we talk about it. We monitor Tripadvisor and Yelp and OpenTable and our emails and a million other ways. We’re constantly trying to improve and we’re currently trying to get better.”

The food scene in Waterloo Region will continue to be vibrant, and customers will continue to engage in conversation about what’s the new best place. How we have those conversations, however, appears to be evolving. What that means for small restaurant owners, we can’t predict, but the “Food in Waterloo Region” Facebook page will still remain one of the largest and most active Facebook groups geared towards Waterloo Region’s foodies.

12

OCTOBER 2018 // COMMUNITYEDITION.CA

NICK STANLEY PHOTO

TAKING THE TIME TO SHOW US HER FLORALS RACHEAL WALSER CONTRIBUTOR Standing about 5’4” tall, is the powerhouse of the #showmeyourflorals movement. Stephanie Fehrenbach, a local watercolour and oil paint artist has evolved from a lost post-grad to a woman with a family, a blossoming career, and possibly my favourite basement — ever. Oh, and she has 22,000 Instagram followers.

In her basement, which also serves as an incredible art studio, Fehrenbach eyed one of her paintings critically.

“I wasn’t sure about this one at first,”

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she said when I asked if she has a current favorite project. “But it’s growing on me.” She smiled. Flower puns — who would have guessed?

Fehrenbach graduated from Queen’s University in 2006, travelled and came home to Toronto only to work in the non-profit sector.

“I was afraid,” she said. “It’s intimidating to graduate, knowing you haven’t broken into the field. I got busy with work and just sort of stopped painting. I stopped believing in myself.”

Losing that outlet was hard for Fehrenbach, who has been painting since childhood. “[Looking back], I just needed to give myself the permission to keep experimenting. So one day I set up an

easel in my tiny little kitchen, and just started,” she said.

But that was just the beginning.

Fehrenbach then moved to Kitchener-Waterloo, and contribute to Paula White Diamond’s Annual Square Foot Show, where was invited to be an artist regularily represented in the gallery.

“It was a really big moment for me,” Fehrenbach said. “But Instagram is what changed my world. I did a giveaway, actually. It was for these little watercolour, handpainted ornaments, and someone who won one just happened to be friends with another artist who saw my work, and looked me up.

Now we do workshops together!”

She laughed a bright, sparkling laugh.

“I used to think I had to be perfect,”

she continued. “But you don’t have to know everything, you just start where you are. You always get better and grow.”

Fehrenbach’s work now can be found locally, in the Paula White Diamond Gallery at the Bauer Marketplace, and in Toronto at Canvas Gallery.

Fehrenbach faces a new challenge now as a busy mom to her 18-monthold son. She is constantly scrambling for time.

“He lays down for an hour nap and I go paint,” she said.

Despite the difficulty surrounding the balance between motherhood and work, she’s still found time for more endeavors.

“There’s no such thing as balance,” she admitted, “but I love my art.”

She’s also passionate about teaching, as she sells online workshops, hosts private lessons and co-owns a collaborative design team called Ochre & Bough.

“My partner [@purplefreesia] and I did a workshop at the Lavender Farm in Ayr recently where we taught participants how to make bouquets, and paint them!” Fehrenbach said.

For the self-proclaimed floral obsessed Fehrenbach, success has been in the networking.

“It doesn’t happen overnight,” she said. “It’s about being open to opportunities and showing your work along the way.”

NEW TUNE REVIEW

GETTING A BIT WISER SONG: “Know That” by Wiser LINK: https://soundcloud.com/wiserhiphop New Hamburg-based hip-hop duo ‘Wiser’ consists of emcees Matthew “Ethiks” Morrisey and Taylor “Kareless” Okum. The pair have only been making music together for a little over a year now, but in that short period of time, have performed with artists such as B.C.’s own Merkules and Snak The Ripper. They’re planning to release their first EP with production from Ren Thomas, C-Lance and Young Aspect before the end of this year.

They currently only have four tracks on SoundCloud, but if these songs are a prelim to what the EP will sound like, we’re in for some solid conscious hip-hop.

The first track titled ‘F.I.F.I.’ featuring Diztrikt Apolo has a real current hip-hop sound. It’s not the cookie-cutter sound that is dominating the charts right now, but more of the underground, or conscious hip-hop scene, with the likes of Kendrick Lamar or Vinnie Paz/ Jedi Mind Tricks. Their lyrical flow is refreshing with bars comparable

to southern hip-hop pioneers like Outkast or Goodie Mobb, or current artists like ScHoolboy Q. ‘Blow My High’ starts off slow and ominous then breaks into a true boom bap beat laced with hard bass and snare drums. The East Coast sound shows the imprint the golden age of hip-hop has on the group.

The final track, ‘Know That,’ is my favourite on their SoundCloud. The way the two spit the chorus in sync brings to mind groups like Jurassic 5 or A Tribe Called Quest. The lyrics talk of how their music is truly driven by the old school hip-hop they were brought up on. Once more, their lyrics present the knowledge and respect they have for the history of hip-hop, while skillfully displaying their own abilities.

You can check out Wiser’s music at wiserhiphop.com, or on their Facebook page.

- Cameron Hoddle, Local DJ

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OCTOBER 2018 // COMMUNITYEDITION.CA

THE COMMONS STUDIO MAKES

TECH ACCESSIBLE IN DTK RAMONA LEITAO SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR “It’s kind of a best kept secret,” was Martin DeGroot’s response when asked about the Commons Studio in Kitchener.

Located on King Street East, the Commons Studio is a non-profit organization that is affiliated with the Working Centre and helps community members who are interested in creating multimedia-related projects, such as videography, photography and audio.

“Basically it’s to provide the community with these tools which not everybody can accumulate on their own,” DeGroot, one of the co-founders of the arts service, said. “We are community based and we are here to serve the community.”

DeGroot was first involved with the service while he was the executive director for the Waterloo Arts Council back in 2006. Joe Mancini, co-founder of the Working Centre, made contact with him and told him about Azam Fouk Aladeh, a filmmaker from Syria who moved to Canada and was interested in creating a filmmaking and film appreciation club.

And so, the Multicultural Cinema Club was formed, where community members could take part in their film screenings, workshops and collaborate in filmmaking.

Eventually, Fouk Aladeh left the organization to pursue his career in the U.A.E (he later returned back to Canada to pursue other filmmaking projects), which provided DeGroot the opportunity to take over half-time and initiate some new projects.

“I thought we could get more in line with community oriented programs and relationships with other organizations,” DeGroot said. “So that’s been my role … programming, development, writing some grants here and there, seeing if we could get more support in buying equipment, that kind of thing.”

The studio, which has been in the same building on King Street for now about one and a half years (it used to previously operate on Queen Street with the Working Centre main office and Fresh Ground Cafe), makes the

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most out of the space that is provided.

With a (mostly) soundproof room, a large equipment room filled with technology such as cameras, audio equipment, lighting and grip equipment provided by Tony Smith of Lighthouse Equipment Inc., and a computer station that has editing tools like Premier Pro and Final Cut Pro, the studio is a haven for local creators who are on a budget.

“That’s the core of our business,” DeGroot said. “You get a membership here. It’s $75 to rent, and that covers insurance and stuff like that, and after that you can rent at the rates that [are given] and [are] set at a level that are about the same as Ed Video … and other media centres.”

But that’s just the main floor of the Commons Studio. Downstairs provides even more space used for community-based creators to rent for their own needs.

“

BASICALLY IT’S TO PROVIDE THE COMMUNITY WITH THESE TOOLS WHICH NOT EVERYBODY CAN ACCUMULATE ON THEIR OWN. - MARTIN DEGROOT

“It’s a little suite of rooms; it has its own washrooms,” DeGroot said when describing the rooms. “This is like the green room or waiting area if you’re doing casting. I can close this grate and give people 24/7 access, so if people want to work on a project in all of winter or a whole weekend, they can.”

There’s also another room that is used as a photography/videography studio, a soundproof, low-ceiling almost tunnel shaped room.

“It’s called the cove,” DeGroot said.

“There are coves in Toronto but there are no other coves in Waterloo Region.”

According to DeGroot, “coves” are normally painted green, like a threedimensional green screen, but he has gotten members who have rented the room and have paid to to paint the

room white and repaint it green once they were done using the space.

“Courage My Love, the rock band, have come in to make their videos here too,” he said. “They were so excited about this because they use these places in Toronto.”

In addition to providing these spaces and equipment to the KW community, DeGroot also hopes to initiate more collaboration between other KW organizations for creative projects.

In the past, the Commons Studio created a project/workshop called Hidden Stories, which was also in partnership with the New Horizons Seniors Program, a federal funding program that helped pay for the technology that was needed. “[It’s] really a shared learning program with emphasis on digital story-telling,” he said. “We have a set of tools, like three kits with a decent DSLR, a good microphone, a separate sound recording unit … the way it works is you try to find some people who want to learn with you … you form a team and then you get an assignment like you’re writing for a magazine. There [were] certain parameters, like the story has to be local, they have to have a longer shelf life because its going to be a while before we can build up historically.”

Right now, DeGroot is proposing another collaboratively-aimed project, called the Digital Community Scrapbook, which is in partnership with The Women’s Institutes, a group of senior centres, 98.5 CKWFM and the Preston Scout House Band.

“The idea of the scrapbook is that you collect digital bits and pieces like a sound byte or a video clip, or whatever you can find,” he said. “And you put it into a depository, and people can play around with this stuff and do a digital scrapbook made of these little bits and pieces.”

To learn more about the Commons Studios initiatives and services, visit theworkingcentre.org.

RAMONA LEITAO PHOTOS

OCTOBER 2018 // COMMUNITYEDITION.CA

14

ON JOY WORDS BY BASHAR LULU JABBOUR ILLUSTRATION BY PAIGE BUSH TCE POETRY

1. when my sister graduates, the whole family does. my father brings the DSLR. we line up, immigrants against a backdrop, ‘you made it.’

2. when I graduate, I tell my mother I will not attend my convocation. I have failed too many classes. I have not earned a celebration, simply a diploma. She says, I did not leave my sisters behind only to skip your convocation. I don the gown. I see my mother in the audience, her eyes glistening. my father holds the DSLR, shouts my name and snaps a photo.

3. when my sister graduates, I wear a pink dress shirt and my nicest grey pants. I smile in all the photos. we sit together for dinner. my mom makes yebr’ for dinner, my sister’s favorite. a picture of us is framed, two immigrants, two diplomas.

4. in first-year, I fail more classes than I pass. when my mother calls in the mornings, I am still in bed. I say I am attending a later lecture, the professor is better, anyway. during the later lecture, I am texting a woman from Lattakia, she smiles like home, and longingly remembers how blue the water got at Ras Albaseet.

5. in third-year, I am in class every morning. rings & fields office hours in the afternoon. when my mother calls, I say perhaps I will make the dean’s honors list this term. I do not. yet my father congratulates me. he says it was close.

6. when I graduate, I tell my sister that perhaps I do not deserve this degree. she says that — perhaps — it does not matter how I feel. the joy in mama’s tears, it is enough

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US! THIS MONTH, THE COMMUNITY EDITION TURNS 7!

OCTOBER 2018 // @THECOMMUNITYED

15

EVENT LISTINGS

WE’VE HAND SELECTED SOME COOL UPCOMING EVENTS AND WRITTEN SOME WITTY COMMENTARY. YOU’RE WELCOME.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5-6

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23

CRAFTOBERFEST KITCHENER MARKET

TCE HARRY POTTER TRIVIA CHAINSAW

TAP ROOM TRIVIA FOUR FATHERS BREWING CO.

Join us at Together We’re Bitter’s Craftoberfest celebrating KW’s craft beer community, one stein at a time.

It’s a festival by the people, for the people and Friday’s already sold out so get your hands on a couple of tickets for Saturday night before you finish reading this sentence. Why are you still reading?

Do you know the words to the Sorting Hat song? What about what exactly is on page 394? Better bring your remembrall just in case. So study like Hermione as we frown on cheating, so leave your Felix Felicis at home. However, we do welcome all house colors. Enemies of hard questions beware!

I’m writing this as I visit an article on, “The Funniest Trivia Team Names Ever.” Do better than me by attending this event with your smartest pals equiped with their wit and ability to consume an absorbent amount of hops. Do you know stuff and things about stuff and things?

Clink. Cheers.

Oktoberfest • $30 • 7pm-12am

Trivia • $5 • 7-9pm

Trivia • Free • 7-10pm

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27

LOKAL FESTIVAL WORKPLACE ONE

LAKYN’S BIRTHDAY WATERLOO REGION & ELORA

BUTTERBEER BAR CRAWL WATERLOO

Showcasing the small-batch makers and young entrepeneurs of the food and bevvy industry, Workplace One introduces a new age way to indulge in the long-held tradition of Oktoberfest. They note the transition directly reflects the evolution of the modern workspace.

Registration required.

It is our Publisher, Lakyn Barton’s, birthday and although we won’t delve into the specifics of age, partially due to the fact that she confuses it herself. She may be watching Scream or filling up Maeby’s teacup, but either way order your favorite veggie dish and delight in this glorious day.

If you aren’t just your average muggle or perhabs you’re even a witch, the Stumble Series is calling you to their bar crawl. So, grab your broomsticks, wipe the butterbeer off your top lip, and tighten the strings on your invisibility clock. With every ticket, access to their “Yule Ball” After Party will appear.

Market • Free • 5-8pm

Birthday • Free • All Day

Fun • $10-$35 • 3-10pm

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27

DIY MAKEUP NIGHT SETTLEMENT CO.

TAPS AND APPS WALPER HOTEL

AYCE CEREAL AND CARTOONS APOLLO CINEMA

Ever wanted to learn how to create your own makeup? Eyeliner, eyeshadow and bronzer of all shades and shimmers. Blind our community with your carefully, curated highlighter. You’ll get to make three custom products yourself, so leave your chapped lips and pale cheeks at the door!

Hosted by Big Brothers Big Sisters of Waterloo, they cater this networking event towards young professionals interested in lip-smacking apps and the condensation that trickles down a pint glass. So grab your pals and enjoy 10 local restaurants, 10 local breweries and live music all while supporting our local youth.

With the promise of monsters, scifi, sleuths, superheroes and various 2D animations from the ‘60s to ‘80s, nostalgia will be knocking on your bedroom door as you wake up with this carefully crafted trip down memory lane. Book an appointment with your dentist, they’re offering all you can eat sugary cereals.

Fun • $50 • 6-9pm

Food • $50 • 6:30-10:30pm

Movie • $10-14 • 10am

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27

BERLIN FLEA MARKET 350 MARGARET AVE

DANCE MIX ‘90S: VOLUME 2 THEMUSEUM

HALLOWEEN DRESS-UP TRAIN WATERLOO CENTRAL RAILWAY

With few words posted on their event page, we’re compelled by the handdrawn flea on their advertisement along with the promise of a book swap table and buskers. Additionally, they’ve stated there will be a food bank donation bin present at the flea market. Who doesn’t like a good flea market?

Is your loneliness killing you?

Must you confess, you still believe when you’re not dancing to ‘90s jams you’re losing your mind?

Are you asking for a sign? Well, THEMUSEUM After Dark is hitting you one more time with their Dance Mix ‘90s event and calling for your plaid skirts and mood rings.

Do you spend nights pining over the potential of riding in a train whilst dowsed in Value Village’s finest fake blood and holding props made of plastic? If that isn’t enough, you’ll be riding in the engine, a vaguely terrifying description for those who are novice riders, with a real live engineer!

Market • Free • 8am-2pm

Dance • $25-40 • 8pm-11:59pm

Fun • $15-20 • 10:10am-2:10pm

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14

MONDAY, OCTOBER 22

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 28

ELORA FALL CRAFT SHOW 29 DAVID ST W

FEMINIST POETRY SLAM THE BOMBSHELTER PUB

COMMUNITY CONVERSATION 350 MARGARET AVE

It’s fall and I want to smell pine while my skin itches under the 5lbs of wool that covers my body and surprise, this event includes woodworking. This is their fifth annual craft show and they promise the best of the best in all things crafty. Our glue guns are plugged in and heating up!

This event is a non-competitive showcase hosted by the UW Women’s Centre with jingle, “Roses are red, violets are blue, words can dismantle patriarchy, and so can you!” If you’re interested in contributing, they’ve requested everyone send trigger warnings with sensitive content.

With the Ford government introducing new legislation at a swift pace, Laura Mae Lindo commits to holding community conversations held in an accessible space in order to provide updates, participate in open discourse and to strategize. Refreshments and discourse? I have butterflies.

Market • $3 • 10am-3pm

Poetry • Free • 7-9pm

Information • Free • 2-4pm

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14

MONDAY, OCTOBER 22

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31

MEET THE CANDIDATES FIRST UNITED CHURCH

VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! WATERLOO REGION

HALLOWEEN EVERYWHERE

The Social Development Centre in Waterloo Region is organizing its traditional participatory ‘Meet the Candidates’ session, inviting all candidates for the Regional Chair, regional council and city mayors.

With a plethora of contentious issues in WR, evenings like these are crucial for the community.

Have you seen all the signage around town? Do you care about the community you live in? If you’re reading this paper then we sure hope so. On Oct. 22, exercise your democratic right by choosing who represents our local community. The municipal elections are coming fast, so get informed and vote, dammit!

Halloween falls on a Wednesday this year, which is a little bit of a buzzkill, but whatever, we’re still going to eat candy ‘til we puke. There’s no reason to stay this night — unless you’re doing your neighbourly diligence of handing out candy to children — so seek out one of the spooky events happening around the Region.

Information • Free • 4-6pm

Vote • Free • All Day

Fun • Free • All Day

COMMUNITYEDITION.CA @THECOMMUNITYED

OCTOBER 2018 // @THECOMMUNITYED

16

NICK STANLEY PHOTOS

DARRYL HAUS BRINGS TROPICAL SUNSHINE TO DTK

THE GRAND SURF LOUNGE IS A NEW TIKI BAR IN KITCHENER THAT AIMS TO OFFER AN ESCAPE

NATASHA ROLLEMAN CONTRIBUTOR Full disclosure: the first job I ever had was in one of Darryl Haus’ kitchens. I worked in the dish pit, where I spent every weekend of my grade nine year scrubbing pots and cutting French fries in the Peel Street kitchen. Although my career in the kitchen didn’t last too long, I never stopped being an enthusiast of Haus’ cooking and his unique take on food and dining.

Since those days (roughly 10 years ago) I’ve kept a close eye Haus’

culinary moves: from cooking at Peter Martin’s 20 King, to opening Hogtails and The Grand Trunk Saloon, and now with the opening of his latest venture: The Grand Surf Lounge in downtown Kitchener.

I had heard rumors over the summer of a new cocktail/Tiki bar opening down the street from the Saloon. I even heard that this new place would feature vegan options, so I had to call up Darryl to get the details.

What inspired him to open a Tiki bar, and why in downtown Kitchener?

“Ever since the day after I opened The Grand Trunk Saloon, I was eyeballing what I wanted my next project to look like. I wanted to do a Tiki bar because ... they’re kitschy but fun,” Haus explained.

“I think the fun aspect is something

we’ve lost track of in our dining industry today. But with this, it’s a Tiki bar, you can’t take anything too seriously … well, except the drinks. We take those seriously, and the food we take very seriously.”

The moment you walk into The Grand Surf Lounge it feels like you’ve been transported elsewhere — maybe to Hawaii, perhaps even a bar in Vancouver, but for me, it’s reminiscent of bars I used to patronize frequently when I lived in Osaka, Japan. It’s a small bar lit by the warm glow of a red lantern that puts you at instant ease and comfort. It feels welcoming, relaxing, and earnest.

Part of this vibe comes from the small and narrow setup of the restaurant, as it seats only 30, but you come to realize quickly that it’s more than just the seating count that gives it

this unique intimate atmosphere.

“We don’t even have a phone to take reservations,” Haus said. “I wanted it to be like, if you’re in the mood for a tiki drink, come down for one. It’s not something you need to plan days in advance. I like my whiskey neat or I want something served in a coconut with an umbrella in it. There’s a time and place for everything, it just depends what you’re in the mood for.”

So why specifically a Tiki bar? Where did this idea originate from?

“A lot of my inspiration for this place actually came from my grandfather whose favourite restaurant in Kitchener was Tien Hoa Inn Restaurant,” he said.

“When I was growing up, we used to go there for all our family occasions.

They had a bamboo bridge over a koi pond, a lounge, lanterns — it was a

Chinese restaurant but had this very Polynesian feel to it.”

For Haus, part of the Grand Surf’s charm lies in his own nostalgia. “... a large part of why I wanted to open a Tiki bar is because it focuses on the aspect of escapism,” he added.

The origins of Tiki themed bars is based in this, he explained. He described how Tiki pulls inspiration from many different cultures, and creates a place where we can forget what’s happening in our day-to-day lives and feel like you’re transported away from everything.

“We keep the windows dark on purpose,” Haus said. “We keep the music a little loud on purpose, all to create that sense of this could be anywhere.”