The Community Edition: September 2019

VOLUME 7, ISSUE 12 • SEPTEMBER 2019

BEST OF WATERLOO REGION PAGE 4

#KWFAMOUS PAGE 5

THE FLIP SIDE WITH ALEX KINSELLA

IF STREETS COULD TALK: KING EAST

SHOOTING POOL LIKE A GIRL

PAGE 5

PAGE 8

PAGE 12

SEPTEMBER 2019 // @THECOMMUNITYED

IN THIS

ISSUE

VOLUME 8, ISSUE 12

SEPTEMBER 2019

THIS ISSUE OF TCE WAS FUELED BY PRINCESS CAFE’S MONTHLY SANDWICH. SO HECKIN’ GOOD.

2

FEATURE

8-9 IF STREETS COULD TALK: KING EAST

EDITOR’S PICK

12 SHOOTING POOL WITH JAYDE MALEK

INSIDE

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

IN BRIEF #BESTOFWR: THE SHORT LIST ARE YOU EVEN KW FAMOUS? THE SIDE HUSTLE: MIDLIFE SKATE FRIDAY NIGHT DINNERS AT CITY HALL CRAFT DRAFTS: WET HOP SEASON SHOPPING IN HER SHOES SEXPLANATIONS: NEW SEX ED FALLS SHORT COZY CHATS WITH TODD DONALDSON LUCID DREAMING WITH WESLEY BUTLER EASY BEING GREEN: BACK-TO-SCHOOL HYPERLOCAL TRAVEL: APPLE BUTTER AND CHEESE! HEALING THROUGH WORDS WITH J. DREWS CURATED KW REVEALS THE DEALS 519 SCHMECKS: NEIGHBOURS UPLIFTING NEIGHBOURS NEW TUNE REVIEW HARU NOON // EVENT LISTINGS

COVER BY PAIGE BUSH CONTRIBUTORS Volume 7, Issue 12 Next issue: October, 2019 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 Aaron Hagey

Publisher Lakyn Barton lakyn.barton@wlusp.com Social Media Coordinators Brit Kovacs Ramona Leitao Staff Writer Melissa Embury Racheal Walser Rachael MacIntosh Staff Photographers Nick Stanley Paige Bush Jesse Derry General Inquiries info@communityedition.ca

Executive Director Lakyn Barton Advertising Manager Kurtis Rideout Directors Rosalind Horne Emily Crump Arshy Mann Alyssa Di Sabatino Kashyap Patel

Fitsum Areguy Marinus De Groot Aaron Hagey Safina Husein Lucia Liu Laura McBride Madeline McInnis Victoria Panacci Kaitlyn Severin Sam Toman Cara Vandermey Racheal Walser Emily Waitson

COLUMNISTS Jenna Aquino Nick Benninger Justin Clouthier Stacey Danckert Stacey Jacobs Bashar Lulu Jabbour Juanita Metzger Erik O’Neill Kurtis Rideout John Roche

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.

SEPTEMBER 2019 // COMMUNITYEDITION.CA

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NEWS IN BRIEF TRANSIT FEE INCREASE

POSSIBLE CANNABIS SHOPS

AND THEY CALLED IT MACARONI

GRT increased fees three per cent on Sept. 1 — citing needs to offset operating costs and providing new services, specifically in Cambridge. Although the $3.25 cash fare stayed, other fees changed. For example, the Single Adult Fare paid with the EasyGo card increased 10 cents and the monthly pass increased four dollars.

The cannabis application lottery system has been a series of ups and downs — highs and lows if you will. The initial results looked bleak for the Region. However, the latest lottery selected a location on Fairway Road South, and a storefront on King and Ontario is on the wait-list two different times. Next, applications will be reviewed by the AGCO.

A plate of uneaten macaroni was left on a pedestrian barrier at the intersection of King and Water on Aug. 27. Later that day, an unknown art curator placed a placard next to the plate reading “Abandoned Snack (2019).

Macaroni and sundried tomato on ceramic. Unknown Artist.” The plate was gone on Aug. 29 — a missing poster took its place.

PARTY ON EZRA GETS LIT

FLUSHING WIPES DOWN THE DRAIN

ELECTROHOME BUILDING REPAIR

An unsanctioned street party held on Ezra Avenue on the night of Sept. 3 resulted in a makeshift bonfire using couches and mattresses as kindling. The party attracted nearly 1000 attendees.

Police Services and the Fire Department were called to the scene. We thought we at least had until Homecoming before writing about an Ezra party.

Kitchener City Council unanimously passed a motion on Sept. 2, to have the city lobby the federal government to consider removing the word “flushable” from wipes that people use for personal hygiene.

The wipes, although technically flushable, do not break down the same way as toilet paper and can cause issues in the waste stream.

The owner of the former Electrohome building located at 152 Shanley has decided to repair the existing structure instead of demolishing it. The city declared the 132-year old building unsafe in May 2019 and repair work was supposed to begin by Aug. 14.

The inspection report said it was imperative that remedial work begin before the winter.

pentatonic scales on the piano at 10-years-old, I’m struggling to connect with a piece of myself I used to be so in tune with.

I’m a highly emotional person.

Parents often brag about their kids in tangible skills: “Oh my Johnny is so good at math for his age, you wouldn’t even believe it,” or “Lucy’s hockey team won their championship this year; we’re so proud!”

But for me, it was that I could “feel” more than other kids. I don’t know whether it was a brag or a search for pity, but I was often described as “highly compassionate, emotional, the kind of kid who carries the weight of the world rather than completing her math homework.”

I was so bad at math homework.

A healthy way I began to express these emotions was through writing, and now that I feel my writing has become more “robotic,” I’m afraid that I might lose the outlet that kind of kept me at bay.

I asked anyone who saw my post what they do to nurture their

creativity, and I found a lot of the responses quite helpful. I wanted to share them in case you might be feeling the same way.

Caitlyn of My Tech Wardrobe told me that when she has a couple of free hours, she thinks about how she would have used that time before full-time jobs and adult life. This usually sets her back on a creative path.

Katie, an old high school friend, told me that she thinks we assume friends and other important people in our lives should take priority over the things that bring us serenity. She said she plans time in her week to paint and read.

Diana, a photographer, said that routine is what can sometimes cause us to lose passion. She encouraged me to read other writing to inspire me to start my own projects.

Jen of Oh Hello Bug suggested I try something new — a new craft or recipe — to keep things fresh. I liked this suggestion because I do get an intense satisfaction from trying something new and getting

it right.

The most valuable piece of advice, however, came from my friend and visual artist, Kate. She told me that she stopped feeling creative because she started filtering her process through how she imagined other people would see her work. She said: “I was trying to create from a foundation that wasn’t even mine.” Kate said after reading The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, she’s finally able to make things again without a plan, and just for the sheer enjoyment of it.

I should get myself a copy of that book.

I think a lot of creative people lose a sense of their own foundation. I know I have. The idea to create for yourself, I think, is when our most authentic work will come out.

My goal for the end of the year is to start rebuilding that foundation, and then once I feel like I own that creative foundation again, following the other pieces of advice will prove to be easy.

In honour of Staff Photographer Paige Bush’s last issue with the Community Edition, here is a photo of her as a cowgirl in addition to a farewell note from Paige, herself: Goodbye TCE. Thank you for the last few years. You kept me engaged with the community, forced me to pick up my camera and allowed me to meet some pretty cool folks.

Like Nelly Furtado said, all good things must come to an end. xoxoxo, Paige

EDITOR’S NOTE: NURTURING YOUR CREATIVITY

BY: BETH BOWLES

As someone who often expresses vulnerability on social media, I recently made an Instagram post about my current woe: the challenge of nurturing my own creativity.

Like any skill — playing a sport, driving a car, learning an instrument — practice makes perfect. I can just hear my mother’s voice now, as my 10-year-old self struggled in front of our Yamaha keyboard an hour before piano lessons. I hadn’t practiced all week and my teacher would know, my mother warned.

I find myself now in the same position. Since finishing my English degree years ago, I struggle to really connect with books when I used to live for fiction. I used to play guitar as a way to destress, but now they sit in their cases, collecting dust.

In my teen years, and even in university, I would spend hours writing personal essays or short fiction, and now, the thought of writing for fun seems more like a waste than a valuable use of time.

Just like I struggled to master

SEPTEMBER 2019 // COMMUNITYEDITION.CA

BEST OF

WATERLOO REGION 2019 THE SHORTLIST THE BEST OF WATERLOO REGION IS COLLECTED THROUGH AN ONLINE SURVEY. WE PROVIDED THE CATEGORIES, YOU PROVIDED THE NOMINATIONS. THE SHORT LIST IS COMPILED OF THOSE WITH THE MOST NOMINATIONS AND ARE PRESENTED HERE IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER. VOTE FOR THE WINNERS AT COMMUNITYEDITION.CA. WINNERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED NEXT MONTH.

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BEST FOOD & DRINK CAFE

SHAWERMA

VEGETARIAN OPTIONS

Princess Cafe

Shawerma Plus

Jane Bond

Cafe Pyrus

Mozy’s Shawarma

Cafe Pyrus

Seven Shores

Arabesque

Queen Street Commons

DONUT

BURGER

FANCY COFFEE

Debrodniks Donuts

Ethel’s Lounge

Show & Tell Coffee

Red Eye Cafe and Donuts

Jack Burger

Smile Tiger

City Cafe

The Works

DVLB

SANDWICH

CASUAL RESTAURANT

LOCAL BREWERY

Vincenzo’s

Ethel’s Lounge

Together We’re Bitter

Princess Cafe

Graffiti Market

Short Finger Brewing Co.

The Yeti

The Grand Trunk Saloon

Descendants Beer & Beverage Co.

Bao Sandwich Bar

Jane Bond

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FOOD TRUCK

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The Crazy Canuck

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BEER SELECTION

BREAKFAST

DTK RESTAURANT

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SPECIAL OCCASION

OPENED IN 2019

ICE CREAM

Bauer Kitchen

Stacked Pancake & Breakfast House

Four All

Bhima’s Warung

Sugar Run

Ambrosia Corner Bakery

Gilt Restaurant

Village Biergarten

Ice Cream 2

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Pickle Barrel

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UPTOWN RESTAURANT Ethel’s Lounge Jane Bond Red House

NOTABLE FOLKS & GROUPS BEST PLACES TO LIVE, WORK AND PLAY COMMUNITY EVENT

LGBTQ+ POSITIVE SPACE

ACTIVE & PRESENT POLITICIAN

REGIONAL- FOCUSED SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNT

Berry Vrbanovic

@CuratedKW

Laura Mae Lindo

@DTKitchener

Mike Morrice

@communityedition

LOCAL MUSICIAN / BAND

VISUAL ARTIST

BUS / ION DRIVER There is a 9-way tie for this category. Visit online to see the list.

PHOTOGRAPHER

Jane Bond

JoJo Worthington

Trisha Abe

Kultrún World Music Festival

Patent Social

Hyness

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Joe Martz

Kitchener Blues Festival

SPECTRUM

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Paige Bush

KW Multicultural Festival

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SOCIAL / NON PROFIT

Jennifer Lyon

LOCAL WRITER

Boathouse

Chainsaw

Torin Langen

The Eco Market

Beth Bowles

Patent Social

Prime Bar-B-Q

Astrodog Media

The Working Centre

Bashar Lulu Jabbour

Rhapsody Barrel Bar

Churchill Arms

Taylor Jackson

Sexual Assault Support Centre

Sam Nabi

LIVE MUSIC VENUE

PUBLIC SPACE

PERFORMANCE ARTIST

Centre in the Square

Victoria Park

Janice Jo Lee

Maxwell’s Concert’s & Events

Waterloo Park

Tess Martens

Starlight Lounge

Waterloo Town Square

Richard Garvey

Rhapsody Barrel Bar

Kitchener Public Library

Ciarán Myers

VIEW

PLACE TO TAKE A DATE

Boathouse

Apollo Cinema

Victoria Park

Waterloo Park

My Balcony

Princess Cinema

PLACE TO VOLUNTEER

PATIO

TEACHER There is a 30-way tie for this category. Visit online to see the list.

Andrew Coppolino Ciarán Myers Glodeane Brown

BEST SHOPS & SERVICES BEST PLACE TO BUY A GIFT

BEST TATTOO PARLOUR

BEST BOOKSTORE

Grand River Hospital

Boathouse

Gifted

Berlin Tattoo

A Second Look

KW Humane Society

Ethel’s Lounge

Living Fresh

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KW Bookstore

The Working Centre

Jack Burger

Conestoga Mall

Frazzle Kat Tattoos

Old Goat Books

MUSEUM OR GALLERY

TRIVIA NIGHT

BEST MUSIC STORE

BEST HAIR SALON/BARBER

KWAG

Descendants

Long & McQuade

Cowboys & Angels

THEMUSEUM

Princess Cafe

Encore Records

Voila Salon

Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery

Abe Erb

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Black & White Barbers

Worth A Second Look Words Worth Books Indigo

SEPTEMBER 2019 // COMMUNITYEDITION.CA

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WISECRACKING THEIR WAY TO #KWFAMOUS SAM TOMAN CONTRIBUTOR Robin Lindner and Elaine Decleir, co-founders of the #KWFamous hashtag, are hot off the release of their latest creation. The design, nicknamed “the squad,” is a nod to four beloved local booze cans — Ethel, Jane, Morty and Phil.

The pair, dressed in #KWfamous t-shirts, settle in for some much deserved late afternoon drinks on the patio at Jane Bond Cafe — or just Jane, if you’re on a first name basis.

The hashtag has yielded its own level of KW fame for the two. In roughly two weeks, their hyper-local Kitchener-Waterloo inspired designs earned them shine from The Record, 570News and CBC (web and radio).

Plus, “Jeff Pickle from CTV slid into my DM’s,” Lindner joked.

Noticing the pair came mediaready, and sensing an opportunity, our server Zach comes over and asks where his free stickers are?

“Zach probably wants Otis the Swan,” Lindner said. “He doesn’t give a fuck about Jane. He sees her everyday.”

The two wisecrack relentlessly. It’s hard to tell what’s a joke and what’s serious. It offers a clue as to how they generate new material. “#KWFamous started off when we were out with the bitties, um, our girlfriends,” Lindner said. “We would say, ‘you’re KW famous,’ — not actually famous by any means, but KW famous. I mean people may have been saying it before us, but I got the Instagram handle first.”

“That night we also bought the

All jokes aside, Robin (right) and Elaine’s (left) community-centric shirt designs are a must-have for any KW-lovers.

PAIGE BUSH PHOTO Robin+Elaine website,” Decleir added.

Decleir, a University of Western finance student turned marketer, grew up in Waterloo’s Westvale neighbourhood. Lindner split her childhood between Fergus and Scarborough, and settled here after taking graphic design at Conestoga College.

“I didn’t think I’d come back to KW...” Decleir said.

“Maybe that could be a sticker?”

Lindner interjected.

The two friends and business partners met at a mutual friend’s boozy screening of ABC’s The Bachelor. When a Record story about

Victoria Park’s celebrated Otis the Swan proclaimed he was, “a bachelor, and he’s happy to stay that way,” they saw an opportunity.

Decleir launched an anonymous Twitter account speculating on Otis’ life as a love-lorne bird, and shortly after, Lindner designed the now #KWfamous Otis sticker.

“At first, it was about lead generation,” Decleir said of the design. They handed some stickers out at the True North Conference as a kind of business card. It was a chance to show a different side creatively.

Before teaming up, both Lindner and Decleir bounced around the

Region’s tech scene excelling in various high-profile marketing and design jobs. New found KW fame aside, the two are strangely humble given their cred.

Otis the Swan’s social media notoriety likely played a part in the naming of the Region’s latest luxury condo project. Lindner also played a huge part in planning Communitech’s True North Conference.

“I think I just sent you a message one day saying, ‘do you want to start a business together?’,” Lindner said.

“Yeah — I wish I’d screenshotted that message,” Decleir responded.

It took some trial and error

learning how to run a business. But they’ve mostly sorted things out.

“Robin takes it from branding to design and we work on the messaging together, and then I’ll work on the marketing strategy, analytics and things like Google ads,” Decleir said.

“She’s the super smart one,” Lindner said.

As for the particular challenges of starting a business, Decleir said it’s important to not take themselves too seriously.

“We’re not Toronto, but we have good stories — things we all share, things that make everybody laugh,” she said.

Their design of an LRT-inspired train with the phrase, “Choo Choo MF’er,” is defiant, funny and ultimately cathartic for a community who agonized for through eight years of approvals, construction and delays before getting the ION LRT. “Most of our clients are local, so it’s important to talk to the community, about the community, like real people,” Lindner added.

Decleir said that she would love to see #KWfamous become a curated brand with events that reflect the community’s values.

“We always say it’s collaboration over competition. We’re doing this bigger picture kind of thing, and do you want in?” she said.

This looks like just the beginning for Robin+Elaine. They’re taking meetings and launching a video.

They won’t say exactly what they’re working on next, but whatever it is will be another chance to add their stamp (or sticker) on the community.

HE WAS A SK8ER BOI ... AND A MARKETER

THE SIDE HUSTLE

JENNA AQUINO COLUMNIST From the monitors that multiply our screen-view at work, to the social media platforms that entertain us in our idle moments, technology continues to claim our attention on a daily basis. As a freelance content marketer, Alex Kinsella understands this reality all too well. Craving a screen-free, analog activity to fill his free time with something different, Kinsella found nostalgic satisfaction in building skateboards with custom designs — a project which he now calls Midlife Skate.

“I used to skate when I was a kid, around 13 or 14, and I thought I’d love to make a skateboard with my daughter so we could go outside and do something fun and physical together,” Kinsella said.

“I spend a lot of time on the computer in my line of work, so the angle of doing something with my hands again really appealed to me. Everything we do is so digital now, and I grew up in a time where we could enjoy the physical output of something we did. I really just wanted to make something for myself again.”

Kinsella discovered a company in Toronto called Roarockit Skateboard that sells kits containing all the tools you need to craft your own board.

Having purchased the core materials from them, he now applies his creative talents to covering them in graphics, logos, and other designs as requested by coworkers and friends.

“I love the idea of putting artwork on something physical, and I think skateboard art is really interesting because it’s another kind of canvas,” Kinsella said. “It’s something you don’t tend to see as often – it’s got a little big of edge to it.”

“I’ve done a couple [boards] for start-ups in town that feature their logo or company values on them, and they love to have it just hanging on the wall in their office. I get it, it’s cool. It’s like company swag – everyone has hoodies and t-shirts and toques and that’s great, but you’re always looking for something a little bit different,” he added.

Kinsella experiments with different ways of transferring the art onto the boards, often through hand-drawn work.

“I drew the Waterloo sign on the first board I made, and it was really fun because I used Illustrator to get the dimensions right and laid it out on the board myself,” Kinsella explained. “When I started working with more complex logos, I visited Westmount Signs who make custom vinyl products locally. I ordered some to use as stencils which allows

me to work with other methods like spray paint.”

As an active member of the KW community, Kinsella has always had an itch to pursue side hustles. For the past four years, he has published a community newsletter called TLWR which showcases events, meet-ups, concerts, and more happenings around the Region.

“I got tired of people saying there is nothing going on in KW when there is always plenty of things happening.

All I want is for people to love living here as much as I do,” Kinsella commented.

Having expanded his interests to crafting skateboards, Kinsella believes that some of the best side hustles are those that give you a way to get back to making things yourself – the effects of which can be extremely liberating.

“My daughter and I finished our boards with trucks and wheels and all which we bought from a local skate shop called Funhouse Skate,” Kinsella noted. “For my daughter, it’s given her independence in a couple of different ways. She made her own board, painted it herself, and it’s her own beast. We go everywhere with

JESSE DERRY PHOTO them now.”

Joking that the project’s name stems from a midlife crisis wherein he made a skateboard to reconnect with his younger self, Kinsella reflected on the reason he enjoys it so much.

“It’s an artistic outlet because I get to design something. It’s a physical outlet because I’m actually doing an activity, and mentally – I mean, everyone needs a hobby,” he said.

“If this is mine and I can make a little bit of money at it at this same time, I’ll take it.”

SEPTEMBER 2019 // @THECOMMUNITYED

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MATT SMITH FILE PHOTO

MY FAMILY’S FRIDAY NIGHT DINNERS

FOR ALMOST TEN YEARS, SARA AND MATT JONES* HAVE SERVED DINNER TO LESS PRIVLEDGED COMMUNITY MEMBERS — OR RATHER, THEIR FAMILY

RACHEAL WALSER STAFF WRITER “Since 2010, we’ve spent our Friday nights this way,” Sara* said.

Sara’s not her real name, but Sara and her family didn’t want to use their real names. Why? “Because, what we do isn’t about us.”

The Jones* family have spent almost every Friday night since 2010 downtown Kitchener, at City Hall, giving out sandwiches, drinks, snacks and building relationships with other, less privileged, community members.

“Are some of them up to no good?

Yeah, some of them are,” Sara said with a laugh.

Some of them are running from warrants or finding illegal ways to meet their needs. Some live in precarious/dangerous situations, or in their own hard-fought apartments.

Some of them live with developmental and cognitive challenges, with experience of unsupported mental health, abuse and exploitation. Some live with addictions, and with histories they can’t escape in an ER or an interaction with police.

“But they’re family,” Sara said.

“Our family just looks different than others.”

When asked how long Sara and her family had been doing this, she sat back, and looked up to the ceiling of her kitchen to count.

“It feels like I’ve been doing this forever,” she said. “I worked in uptown Waterloo when I was 18, so yeah, it’s just something I’ve always done in one way or another.”

In 2010, Sara took over coordination of the Saturday Night Out of the Cold program at her church. This was a program running out of local churches to provide people experiencing homelessness, who weren’t able to access the local shelters, with a safe, warm and dry place to pass the night.

The Out of the Cold program faced the same challenge that every winter temporary shelter faces: how do you provide this essential service to someone who another shelter has deemed so dangerous, so challenging to support, that they turned them away?

“We had conversations, real, heartfelt talks,” Sara’s partner Matt* said.

“When the program ended in the spring,” Sara said, “we just missed them.”

So Friday nights started. Sara and Matt would do all of the shopping for what they needed, out of their own pocket, buying fresh vegetables and fruit from the farmers market,

then going downtown to spend time with their growing group of friends.

Over time, these friends became family. And the strength, safety, and love for these relationships inspired the Jones’ to take the next step.

“My favourite thing,” Sara recalls, “are the Christmas dinners. And it’s not us throwing a Christmas dinner for them — it’s our own, personal, family celebration.”

The Jones’ continue to be supported in their efforts by their church, and use it’s dining hall. “There’s not enough space here,” Sara says in her own kitchen. “Because everyone comes. All of them. They look for each other and make sure everyone gets there.”

“We let them pick the menu,” added Matt. “During the holidays, everyone, all of the churches and community services are serving up turkey. People just get sick of it.”

He goes on to talk about how they’ve had hamburgers one year, lasagna another. But he also acknowledges that in the past few years they’ve noticed a change.

“These relationships are becoming so important,” Matt said. “More now than ever. Sometimes when we see them, that’s the last time we ever will.”

Because of fentanyl, their friends are dying.

“Two weeks ago, I was talking to someone. And now they’re gone,”

Sara added.

“People fear what they don’t know.

Whether it’s someone new, or someone different. The fear keeps people from getting to know each other, and understanding other people’s needs. That is why there has been so much hesitation surrounding the Consumption Treatment Site. People are afraid. But we need this.”

So I put the question to the Jones’ — a family that extends beyond blood and marriage lines, into their community — what do they think would encourage people to get past that fear, and offer their help?

“I think,” Matt answered, “that the most important thing, the best way to help, is to can the judgment.”

“And for people to get the fuck over themselves,” Sara added. She held up my cellphone to make a point.

“Do you think you could go a day without this?” she asked, waving my phone around in the air. “What makes you any different from someone addicted to substances?”

I thought about it for a moment — my cellphone, it costs me money, sleep, time. It can make it dangerous to cross streets, makes me feel physically different. It’s not the same as ingesting, smoking or injecting a substance, but it certainly counts as something I categorize as a need — more than I even need coffee in the morning.

“We need to stop looking at each

other as different, or better than, or less than,” Sara said. “And just look at each other for who we are.”

Sara said that a lot of people are hesitant to give money to those in need because of the assumption that it will be used for drugs.

“If this person uses substances and is asking for money, giving them a sandwich isn’t going to help,” Sara continued, speaking to the reality of life with an addiction. Opiate and alcohol withdrawal, can, and does, result in death — even here in KW. The physical challenge of going through withdrawl leads people into choices simply to avoid dying.

Things like break and enters, theft, or street level unsafe sex work.

“At least by giving them a couple bucks, you’re giving them the opportunity to do it in a way that’s safer than the alternative,” Sara said.

“You need to let them determine their own needs,” Matt said, with a contemplative pause. “Pick a person.

Just one person. Check in on that person, regularly. Get to know them, find out what that person thinks would help them, and see if it’s something you can do.”

And maybe, if we learn from the Jones’ story, you’ll meet a new friend.

*Names have been changed to protect the privacy of the parties involved.

HOPPING INTO WET HOP SEASON

CRAFT DRAFTS

JUSTIN CLOUTHIER COLUMNIST As we move into the fall, you may see the appearance of wet-hopped beers on tap lists at local breweries.

You may be familiar with seeing “dry-hopped” on tap lists, but these wet-hopped beers are a different thing — and I’ll tell you all about them.

Wet-hopped beers are truly sea-

sonal products as they are made during the short window of time when hop harvest happens, from the end of August through to the end of September. These beers use freshly harvested hops straight from the bine (the plant structure), unlike most beer where the hops are dried and lightly kilned before use.

These unprocessed hops can degrade very quickly and are usually added to a beer 24-48 hours after they are picked.

Hops can be used in beer to impart bitterness (added during the boil where the hot temperatures create a reaction leading to bitterness) or to impart flavour and aroma. Hops are delicate and high heat usually flash-

es off a lot of the aroma, leaving only the bitterness behind, so brewers can turn to dry-hopping in order to get the most aroma from their hops.

Dry-hopping is the process of adding hops to the beer during fermentation, usually at temperatures around 20 degrees Celsius for ales, or lower for lagers. By adding the hops at this lower temperature, bitterness is not extracted, but the flavours and aromas of the hops are preserved and can shine through.

Using fresh hops can be a bit of a challenge for brewers, as the precise specifications usually provided by suppliers are not often available for this unprocessed product. Just like grape varieties for wine, hop plants

are affected by soil conditions and weather that creates unique expressions of flavours and aromas for each plant (referred to as terroir).

These hops impart unique aromas and flavours to beer when compared to their processed counterparts, akin to the differences in dried herbs compared to fresh. Most of the time, this leads to a beer with more pronounced earthy and grassy notes that highlight the plant itself in addition to the usual flavours and aromas produced by particular varieties. Brewers often use these fresh hops as dry-hop additions and really let the unique flavours of these fresh hops shine through, without having to worry about unknown bittering

properties.

These beers are only available once a year and often differ significantly from one year to the next. One interesting wet-hopped beer that I’ve enjoyed trying each year is from Royal City in Guelph — they use a pooled supply of fresh hops from people who grow them in their backyard.

Royal City hosts an open house and a brew day at the beginning of September for this wet-hopped beer, which then leads to a release party at the end of the month where you can taste the end result.

Justin is currently enrolled in the Brewmaster program at Niagara.

College.

SEPTEMBER 2019 // COMMUNITYEDITION.CA

7

NEW YEAR, NEW SEX ED,

LESS OPPORTUNITY SEXPLANATIONS

STACEY JACOBS COLUMNIST

Above: Kiran Aslam (foreground) and Emily Dyck (background) .

LAURA MCBRIDE PHOTO

TAKING A WALK

IN HER SHOES MELISSA EMBURY STAFF WRITER

Dreaming of the perfect pair of designer shoes or handbag for a discounted price? In Her Shoes is helping women who are visible minorities, as well as cis, trans and non-binary women gain valuable job skills and hands-on experience in their downtown Kitchener shop.

The social enterprise is an innovative employment and entrepreneurship program run by YW Kitchener-Waterloo which all began with Jennifer Gordon, the YW’s director of youth services. She started running a one-year pilot program with 15 women back in 2017. In Her Shoes then received the Ontario Trillium provincial seed grant of nearly $75,000, securing the future of the eight-week program for people facing significant barriers to employment.

Emily Dyck described Gordon as a social worker and a community builder, saying that she was inspired

by Gordon to apply for the role of technical trainer and social enterprise coordinator.

“I love it. It’s my dream job. I love figuring out, okay, what is the best way to do this? And how can we do this? You kind of have to be a Jill of all trades and that’s really cool,” Dyck said.

Both their physical and online stores sell new and used women’s accessories to give women and girls in the program the opportunity to gain employment skills and/or develop their own business.

“We’ve talked about Esther a lot on our social media — how she came into this program, and she didn’t know how to use a computer. She’s 63 and a refugee from Liberia. She sent her first email on the first day and had a Facebook page by the end of the week. And at the end of her course, she had a Kijiji ad [selling her own products],” Dyck said.

Dyck described Esther as their real success story.

Their women’s program is now funded by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) which facilitates the arrival of immigrants, provides protection to refugees, and offers programming to help newcomers settle in Canada.

Every session they run is tailor-made to the group. With the

women’s program, they were finding that the applicants had a wide range of skills ranging from being skilled, to never having touched a computer, so they’ve improved the training by separating it into two streams: beginner and advanced. Karen, who teaches the beginners program, is a graduate of the program herself and is a thriving entrepreneur selling her art through social media. The advanced programming is for the same population who already have a product they want to sell, or have other entrepreneurship ideas.

“We have quite a spectrum. We teach them … how to do photography, how to do product descriptions for a website. So we’re working pretty closely with Shopify and we have a platform where the participants can develop their own website underneath our platform until they’re ready to launch,” Dyck said.

Shopify has been involved from the very beginning. On top of hosting their website, they provided furniture and refurbished Macbook computers to In Her Shoes’ four fulltime employees.

Dyck said that Shopify has donated more than $20,000 to the program, in addition to having speakers come in and talk about website development.

This year, In Her Shoes is also running a youth program for 15-30-year-olds geared towards employability and skill development, after seeing the success of the women’s program.

“There’s eight youth that come in from 2-8 p.m. every day and they take turns working in the store.

They get some life skill time as well, throughout the day,” Dyck said.

They will also be adding in a mentorship piece. Each person will be set up with a mentor in the community who will continually provide resources and networking for each participant when they are finished with the training.

MP Raj Saini said in a release that women who are visible minorities in addition to being a newcomer to Canada face more challenges than any other group entering the workforce, but that it isn’t just about finding a job.

“It’s also about providing a sense of dignity and belonging,” he said, and that’s just what In Her Shoes is doing.

You can help by visiting the store or dropping off donations at the centre. In Her Shoes is open Monday and Tuesday from 4-8 p.m. and Wednesday - Friday 11 a.m.-8 p.m. at 84 Frederick Street in Kitchener.

A new school year, a new Sex Ed Curriculum.

The Ministry of Education has released their new 2019 Health and Physical Education Curriculum for grades 1-8 and also made an addendum to The Kindergarten Program.

This is to replace the 2015 curriculum that was pulled last year and temporarily replaced with the 1998 curriculum for the 2018-19 school year.

Much of the curriculum looks strangely familiar, as it is similar to the 2015 curriculum released by the previous government even though the “largest ever consultation on Ontario’s publicly funded education system” was held. Some positive updates have been made such as adding the topic of consent into every grade (including Kindergarten), adding discussions of pornography into grade 6 and adding the topic of online safety into many grades.

However, the curriculum has the

potential to do harm by clearly stating that gender identity and gender expression cannot be learned until the second half of grade eight.

We know that gender identity and expression are formed well before grade eight (research shows children can understand gender identity by age two or three).

We know that there are many trans, non-binary, genderqueer and other emerging identities of students and families within our Ontario school system. The school system should be encouraging acceptance and respect for all identities and all students, not blatantly marginalizing them.

The government has also made it very clear, almost to the point of promotion, that students can be exempted from learning the Human Development and Sexual Health curriculum in any grade at the request of their parents. I agree that parents play an important role in their children’s learning and it is their right and role to teach their children personal, cultural and religious values and beliefs. I agree it is beneficial for schools and families to work together. I do not agree that children should be exempt from learning about sexual health.

Sexual Health Education is so much more than sex, gender and orientation. It is about bodies and puberty and preventing harmful relation-

ships and abuse. It is about consent and decision making and learning how to communicate with others. It is about media literacy and navigating a world full of mixed messages, reality TV and social media.

Comprehensive sex education teaches the value of diversity, respect for others and the right we all have to feel safe and be ourselves.

Does this sound like something students should not learn?

Many of us are unfamiliar with the sexual health curriculum and have heard negative, often false, messages about it, leading to misconceptions about what is being taught and at what age. Many parents are new to Canada and our school system and how to best navigate it. I encourage school boards to make information about the curriculum accessible to parents. I encourage people, especially parents, to read the curriculum, or at least the summary. I encourage schools to work closely with parents to answer their questions and address their concerns.

We must all work together for the sake of the children who will benefit immensely from this information, as it is their right to have it.

Stacey Jacobs is the sexual health educational manager at SHORE.

Great neighbourhoods start with you... and some funding from us!

Mini grants

Matching grants

We’ll give you $50-$300

We’ll match you dollar for dollar up to $7500

Street BBQs, message boards, movie nights, book clubs, outdoor rinks, snacks and supplies bring neighbours together.

Tell us about your ideas so we can help!

Next application deadline gives you lots of time to plan: Wednesday, October 23, 2019 (BEFORE 2 P.M.) waterloo.ca/NMF

neighbourhoods@waterloo.ca

IF STREETS COULD TALK:

KING STREET EAST

WORDS BY MARINUS DE GROOT • PHOTOS BY NICK STANLEY It’s been a year and a half since my workplace, the Commons Studio, moved from Queen Street near the Walper Hotel to a freshly renovated storefront on King Street East, a few doors down from the Kitchener Market.

The new location is a ten-minute walk from the old, in an area I thought I knew. I’d been to the Market countless times, but as the comings and goings of the neighbourhood became part of my daily existence, its special qualities started to reveal themselves.

There’s uptown, midtown, downtown — and there’s the East End — waydowntown. When you’re here, it can feel like you’re in a whole different city.

Technically, King East begins at Queen. But the gateway to the East End is at Benton-Frederick, with the Crowne Plaza Hotel on the right and the shadowy passage along the south wall of that monument to civic folly — Market Square Shopping Centre — on the left.

This is where City Hall, the Cenotaph and the original farmers’ market once stood.

For the motorist coming from points east, south or west, the primary gateway is marked by the fountains and flowers of Rockway Gardens.

But let’s stay within comfortable walking distance of the Market — from Stirling or Cameron, say. Or from Madison, where the lower entrance to the district is marked by Ted Fullerton’s sculpture “Animanimus.”

The bronze human figure, legless, with long arms, raised on a pole over westbound traffic has always struck me as awkward. But it means well; according to the official explanation, the words anima and animus in the title signify “a fusion of soul and spirit, hospitality and business.”

When I hear “King Street East,” the first thing that comes to mind is probably the area’s extraordinary diversity.

I see people from all parts of the world walk by the Studio window: some experiencing economic hardship, some prosperous (I’m amazed at the number and variety of luxury cars that park in front of our building). Some passersby are elderly, some are youthful.

Now that it’s September, students from Cameron Heights Collegiate are animating the sidewalks once again. Next year, a thousand or more Conestoga College students will join the promenade from their new campus in Market Square.

Sweet Pea, the terrazzo fountain with water flowing over huge copper peas in a pod on the Scott Street side of the Kitchener Market, signifies another outstanding King East feature: food.

That means groceries. With the traditional Saturday Farmers’ Market, two substantial Asian food stores, a couple of great bakeries, and a range of specialty shops (Variedad Latina, SMK African Foods, Kiki’s Kitchen), the area is an oasis in what some consider a food desert.

But prepared food offerings are the district’s greatest strength, especially

for breakfast and lunch (the Yeti Cafe on Eby and the International Cuisine stalls at the Market close at 3 p.m.).

The area offers a wealth of additional choices with varying hours. Besides the daily Market offerings, which are truly a wonder, current favourites among people in my circles include Banh Mi Givral Deli (Vietnamese subs), Korean BBQ (second level, Hong Kong Plaza), Nova Era Bakery (Portuguese custard tarts, tosta mista sandwich, soup of the day, but only in winter), Elevenses (home-style soup and sandwiches, friendly, formerly on Scott, now upstairs in Market Square), and above all, Izna Japanese Donburi House (in the former KW Labour Association building at 137 King East).

It is fascinating to observe how, over time, through trial and error, even an egregious architectural blunder like Market Square can find a purpose.

The Kitchener Market itself falls into this category. It was a disappointment when it opened 15 years ago and, I believe, has never fulfilled its potential. The success of a mid-week market experiment this summer was a very encouraging sign.

I’ve developed a genuine affection for the eccentric ‘70s-style split level complex with the big round window at 265 King East, across the street from the market. Long known as the Hong Kong Plaza, it’s great to see the proprietors taking the trouble to paint rusty railings and repair the modest fountain out front.

Hong Kong Fashion, which occupies the lower, not-quite-ground floor, is part of a strong retail clothing cluster, complemented by a remarkable range of barber shops and hairdressing salons.

When a group of visual artists opened a co-op storefront in the East End, they optimistically called it the “Art District Gallery.”

The artists of ADC (now at 187 King East) are working with my workplace, the Commons Studio, The Working Centre’s Green Door Art Space on Market Lane and Inter Arts Matrix (hosts of X-Camera, a fabulous experimental program of workshops and Friday talks in the Café next door).

The aim is to to showcase the growing artistic presence in the Market District on the Friday and Saturday of Culture Days weekend, held on Sept. 27-29.

There’s no book store, no cinema, no performance space and no artist-run centre. But the district is the home of Kitchener’s venerable Encore Records, which moved from Queen to King East a few years before we did.

An effort to re-brand the area as the Market District has had some success.

But now the owners of Fairview Mall down the road have announced a major redevelopment centred around a replica factory complex, complete with a fake water tower, called the Grand Market District.

Authenticity is King Street East’s greatest strength.

If there’s a characteristic architectural style, it’s a modest twostory storefront built in the 1920s like the one the Studio is in.

There are some treasures, like the narrow structure with modest art deco

features at 243 King East that once housed Pinto’s Youth Shoppe and has now been tastefully repurposed by NEO Architecture.

I was happy to see new windows installed at 137 King East, a handsome three-storey edifice that dates back to 1922.

Regardless, the area has always been in flux. King East appears to have flourished briefly during the early days of the motor car. The Depression came next, then the war. With the rise of automobile-centred suburbs, shopping centres and strip malls in the 1950s, stagnation in the East End started to look permanent.

As result, the area has had a reputation as Kitchener‘s “skid row” for almost a century.

The marked presence of people who live on the margins of our community is an aspect of King East culture that cannot be overlooked. The Commons Studio is a project of The Working Centre, which is one of a number of agencies in the area that help marginalized groups.

For me, this is part of what makes the East End authentic. When you get to know people, stereotypes tend to disappear. They are individuals, each with their own stories, longings and proclivities.

There is no denying, however, that the presence of so many who live precarious lives is an all too real problem that, despite all efforts, is likely to get worse before it gets better.

But, this need not be an insurmountable obstacle to a flourishing Market District.

The new LRT system promises to be a boon for the area. If you’re on the train, you can get off at Frederick Station to reach the upper gateway, or at Market Station to reach the heart of the precinct. Borden Station, a 15 minute walk away, is a third option.

With the system’s 90-minute transfer limit, you can hop on from anywhere along the line, stop by the Market District for a meal, a stroll, maybe a quick purchase and then make your way back on a single fare.

Thanks to the LRT, a number of major construction projects are currently underway in and around the area that will bring thousands of new residents.

If you look over the fence around the building site at 387 King East at Cedar, you’ll get a glimpse of the very ground the city is built on: Sand Hills, they called it at one point, because Cedar Hill is a massive pile of sand.

A friend reminded me of a slogan from the Paris protests of 1968: “Sous les pavés, la plage!” which translates to: “under the pavement, there is a beach!”

It’s a motto that could be applied to central Kitchener, East or West — for if you look beyond the concrete walls, there lies beauty.

SEPTEMBER 2019 // COMMUNITYEDITION.CA

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GOOD CHATS OVER GOOD COFFEE TODD DONALDSON IS THE HOST OF THE COFFEEHOUSE CROWD, A KW-FOCUSED PODCAST, THAT HAS RECENTLY “UNBRANDED”

KAITLYN SEVERIN CONTRIBUTOR For over a decade, Todd Donald has worked to make his voice heard in Waterloo Region. Now, as the host of the local podcast, The Coffeehouse Crowd, Donald is ready to evolve with the renaming of his show, The Todd Donald Show.

The Coffeehouse Crowd is a weekly podcast that features local artists, musicians and community advocates based within Kitchener-Waterloo and is hosted, of course, by Donald.

What was originally an unbranding of a podcast Donald had participated in before, The Coffeehouse Crowd has been posting their episodes to listeners for over a year.

While it doesn’t take place in a coffee shop itself, the idea surrounding the podcast originally stemmed from the atmosphere of a local cafe, where individuals can talk freely and openly about art, music and community events.

“I wanted to recreate the experience of chatting with other artists and hearing them play at a coffee house,” Donald said.

“Cafes have a thing where people who didn’t really feel like they fit

in [can go in to] have intellectual conversations about art.”

Now, Donald is renaming The Coffeehouse Crowd podcast to the “Todd Donald Show.” While the show is going through the rebrand, Donald notes that the Todd Donald Show will continue on as The Coffeehouse Crowd — it will include some of the same guests, touch on the same themes and will be relevant in KW. “I would consider the renaming of the show almost like an unbranding,” said Donald.

“It forces me, as someone who’s not good at branding, to keep evolving what I do.”

In the mid-to-late-2000’s, Donald attended Conestoga College to specialize in radio broadcasting.

While attending, Donald took over the college radio program “The British Invasion,” which he rebranded from a punk rock radio show to an indie rock show. Being a singer/songwriter, Donald invited his fellow musician friends to come on the show to play their music, promote their work or just goof off.

After moving on from Conestoga College, Donald has shifted his creative side and passion for broadcasting to the world of digital podcasting, hence the conception of The Coffeehouse Crowd.

Since its first episode in September 2018, Donald has interviewed a variety of fellow podcasters, artists and musicians in the Region, many

LUCIA LIU PHOTO of whom are close friends and colleagues on his podcast. He has brought on the hosts of fellow KW podcast Ape Audio, as well as the hosts of the KW feminist podcast FemWaves, Wendy Huenul and Kate Schlitt, to The Coffeehouse Crowd.

They have discussed everything from the local music scene, to growing up in the everchanging Waterloo Region.

“We all find people interesting on social media from a distance, [but

it’s great] to actually have a genuine relationship that exist in two hours,” said Donald. “[Having a podcast has] informed me a lot about myself and how others analyze what they’re trying to do creatively and how candid one is. You deal with people who have prepared things to say and people who do not.”

While the podcast is currently in the midst of changes, Donald still wants his listeners to believe

they’re not just listening in on a conversation, but rather they are being comforted by familiar and new voices that make up the Region.

“I also feel that the greatest podcast will always be the most entertaining ones, the most interesting ones rich with giving you an experience and have no agenda,” Donald concluded.

“My desire for the listener is they feel like they’re hanging out with people.”

LOCAL AUTHOR

FOLLOWS “DREAMS”

KW’S WESLEY BUTLER’S NEW SELF-PUBLISHED BOOK EXPLORES LUCID DREAMING AND LO-FANTASY

RAMONA LEITAO SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR Given his curiosity and love for writing and fantasy literature, it’s no wonder Kitchener-Waterloo based author Wesley Butler was able to self-publish his first novel, Passage to Portrainia.

“I’m always interested in learning about new things, and thinking outside the box,” Butler said.

“In terms of writing, I’ve always loved it. I’ve been an active user on Fanfiction and fantasy has always been a sub-genre I’ve enjoyed.”

Passage to Portrainia came out in December. It is is a young adult and lo-fantasy novel that depicts the story of three teenagers who are able to explore the world, Portrainia, with their ability to lucid dream.

“It’s set entirely in an unconscious mind,” Butler said. “The characters have to rely on their imagination to protect themselves from literal nightmares.”

While the novel was loosely inspired by a cancelled video game when Butler was in highschool, it was also Butler’s experiences with being able to control and alter his own dreams that contributed to writing the story.

“I first got the idea to write this in my high school years,” he said.

“The novel has been through five unpublished drafts, with each one

having many different changes inputted in it. It was quite the writing process because I wanted to combine [both elements of] lo-fantasy from the video game and the ability to lucid dream in a way that made sense.”

After finishing his novel, Butler decided to choose the self-publishing route to sell it.

“When you self-publish, you have more autonomy in choosing how and who you want to market your work to,” he said.

“So even though it takes a lot of work and you have to get out of your comfort zone, you have the ability to spearhead the whole thing. Plus, you have more credibility should you decide to find a publisher to publish your next book.”

According to Butler, the reception to his first published novel has been positive, and hopes that more readers are able to be taken on a journey when they read his story.

“I hope that [the readers] see something that they have never seen before in fantasy, especially in the story I told,” he said.

“You would think that lucid dreaming would be explored more in works of fiction, but it surprisingly isn’t. I really think lucid dreaming is very unexplored territory, and I think this novel really brings that to the table.”

Passage to Portrainia is currently available at the Books Express store in Cambridge, as well as online through Amazon Canada and Indigo.

SEPTEMBER 2019 // COMMUNITYEDITION.CA

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MAKING BACK-TO-SCHOOL

SHOPPING SUSTAINABLE

EASY BEING GREEN

STACEY DANCKERT COLUMNIST

JUANITA METZGER PHOTO

DIVING INTO FALL

IN WELLESLEY

HYPERLOCAL TRAVEL

JUANITA METZGER COLUMNIST When something unique and oneof-a-kind comes around only once a year, I recommend putting it on your calendar, in ink, and guarding the day from other plans.

There’s only one Wellesley Apple Butter and Cheese Festival and your sole chance to indulge arrives on Saturday, Sept. 28.

September is high season for harvesting, which means the perfect time to plan a day in rural Wellesley Township, 20 minutes northwest of Kitchener and Waterloo. The oneday festival and the surrounding produce stands will fill bellies and cupboards with a bounty of veggies and all things apple and cheese.

The Apple Butter and Cheese Festival began in 1976 as a way to promote the town of Wellesley and its major businesses, A.W. Jantzi & Sons Ltd (now Wellesley Brand Apple Products) and the J.M. Schneider Cheese Factory, at the time.

Festival Coordinator, Jamie Reid, has been at the Festival every year since it began.

“I was born around the same time the festival first started and my parents were involved from the beginning so I had no choice. But, I grew up knowing how important this day was to the community,” Reid said.

43 years later, the ABC — as it is locally known — is still steeped in the traditions with which it began; the festival is entirely volunteer-led and funds raised from the day’s events support community projects in the town of Wellesley.

Other “once-a-year-festival-only” events include two must-see free tours.

You can tour the cider mill at

Wellesley Brand Apple Products to see where they press over one million litres of sweet apple cider each year. Kevin and Steve Jantzi, third generation owner-operators of the almost 100-year-old company, say it’s a “special day of the year” and their family has been welcoming guests since the festival began in 1976.

You can also take a free 45-minute tour of the Hogendoorn Farm, a very modern dairy operation milking approximately 450 cows. Bus transportation to and from the farm is also free.

Other special events at the festival include a horseshoe tournament, an all-day music stage and a boat regatta hosted by Golden Triangle Marine Modelers.

In between the entertainment and tours, fill the day with the pancake and sausage breakfast at 7:00 a.m. or the smorgasbord lunch beginning at 10:30 a.m. Graze your way through food vendors selling apple fritters, applesauce, apple butter, candied apples, fresh apples, apple cider and of course, cheese — all the cheese.

For a break from the festival scene, hop in the car and drive the backroads of Wellesley Township in search of produce stands at the end of the farm lanes. As a rich agricultural area, the flowers, vegetables and fruit are top quality. Bring a pile of coins and change or fill your basket until it totals an even $5 because most stands have a lock-box honour payment system without the ability to make change.

If there’s still room in that bulging belly full of sausage, pigtails, apple fritters and cider, I suggest you make one last stop at the Sunnycrest Bakery in Hawkesville on your way home (open Saturday 8-5 p.m.). You can fill up on a few more baked goods, just in case you need a snack on Sunday.

For detailed festival itinerary visit: www.wellesleyabcfestival.ca

The other morning when I was listening to CBC radio, the interviewee remarked that back-to-school shopping was the second biggest shopping season of the year. I decided that if that is true, then we have some serious work to do in “greening” this process!

At the very least, I wanted to look into the numbers and perhaps get people to think about a more sustainable approach to beginning the new school year.

In Canada, it is estimated that each household will spend about $500 this year on back-to-school spending. An Angus Reid poll suggested that this spending surpassed that of holiday gifts!

I believe that this is not only an unnecessary financial burden, but it is also an unnecessary environmental burden. We all want to give our kids every advantage possible, and I know how important a good education is, but it is certainly not the ‘stuff’ that provides those opportunities.

Here are some of my ideas on how we can be more sustainable when preparing for a new school year.

BUY USED Since my boys were babies, I regularly looked in local secondhand shops and picked up things as I found them so that we were always prepared for growth spurts and never needed to do a big shop. I also found that they need much less than you might imagine. As they get older, they may be nervous about the new year, so you could take them with you to choose one special outfit for the occasion but generally there isn’t a sudden need for a large assortment of new clothes.

Need a new backpack or lunch bag? I have noticed quite a number of them at local thrift shops. They often also have a wide assortment of binders and other office supplies that could be useful.

When shopping at thrift stores, it is worthwhile to try to plan ahead.

By the end of August, they may have fewer of these types of supplies. If you can’t find something, you can probably make do for another month while you wait to look again.

HOLD OFF ON BUYING SUPPLIES I can’t count how many times I have been told that my child has needed an extensive list of supplies, only to use half of them. It may

make sense to wait until they have a couple of classes with their new teacher(s) to evaluate the real need.

Sometimes items are only needed once or twice and may be borrowed or shared.

THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX There are some things that are hard to avoid, such as getting indoor shoes. However, in Canada, outdoor shoes don’t get worn very often after the beginning of November (between rain boots and winter boots), so for kids that are growing quickly, I have sometimes used their closed-toed sandals with socks for indoor shoes to bridge the two months where an extra pair of shoes are needed. When they start wearing boots, their outdoor shoes can be cleaned and used inside. Why buy an extra pair just to have one set sit in the cupboard all winter long?

So there are a number of ways that you can limit your environmental impact while preparing for the new school year. Perhaps it may be a bit late to take these actions this year, but I hope this can be helpful as you move forward. I imagine we could all think of many more enjoyable ways of spending $500.

Stacey Danckert is co-director of Waterloo Region Environment Network (WREN).

SEPTEMBER 2019 // COMMUNITYEDITION.CA

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Jayde Malek is the first female seven in Waterloo Region, according to the Canadian Pool Players Assocaition. That’s the highest rank a pool player can receive.

JESSE DERRY PHOTO

BREAKING THE PERCEPTION OF POOL JAYDE MALEK DOESN’T MESS AROUND WHEN IT COMES TO POOL — SHE’S WATERLOO REGION’S FIRST AND ONLY FEMALE SEVEN

FITSUM AREGUY CONTRIBUTOR Years ago, I convinced my father to buy a pool table at a yard sale. It had a large, questionable stain on the felt near one of the corner pockets and barely fit through our house’s side door. It was tattered, beat-up — and fantastic.

Trying to pot balls from awkward angles in my parents’ cramped basement helped me learn some basic pool mechanics. It wasn’t until I joined a Sunday night pool league at the Break Room (back when it was situated in downtown Kitchener) that I began to take pool more seriously.

The Break Room has since relocated to Weber Street in Waterloo, tucked away behind a Speedy Glass. It’s one of three pool halls in the Waterloo Region where serious pool players frequent — the other two are Fredrick Mall Billiards and Chicago Pub & Billiards. It was in and around these pool halls where I first met Jayde Malek.

With her big personality and

infectious laugh, Malek’s presence is nearly impossible to miss. She walks into these pool halls with the confidence and assurance of someone walking into their own home; she can tell you who every single league player is and how they shoot. Malek made history a few months ago when she became the first woman in Kitchener-Waterloo to be ranked as a seven, according to the system used by the Canadian Pool Players Association.

“When I got the message saying, ‘Congrats on being the first female seven in our Region,’ I won’t lie, I cried happy tears. I never thought it was something I would be able to accomplish,” Malek said.

Handicaps range from two being the lowest and seven being the highest. Tye Zinger, a division representative for the league, explained that handicaps level the playing field.

“A lower skill player needs to win fewer games against a higher skilled player. There is no real “advantage” for either player. It is challenging for both,” Zinger said.

Becoming a seven is a phenomenal achievement. Malek reflected on how the pool community responded to the news.

“I was getting hugs and handshakes for a while after that from my peers.

It felt good to accomplish that,” she said. “I feel I have more weight and pressure on my shoulders now that I’m a seven, but my drive to improve has stayed the same.”

Though she is certainly talented and has grinded for a long time to hone her skills, pool is more than just a competitive sport to Malek.

“Being a pool player is simply the best thing that’s happened in my short 23 years. I was introduced to the pool community when I was just 20-years-old and I’ve grown so much since then.” Malek said.

“The pool community is a family — they’re my family.”

Admittedly, I found it personally daunting at first to join a league.

I didn’t know of any other Black people who played in pool leagues locally. After tentatively signing up to play, I was anxious about whether I would be able to connect with the members on my team. I quickly learned that my fears were unfounded: KW’s pool community has attracted some of the friendliest, down-to-earth people I have had the pleasure of getting to know over the years.

However, I have become interested in the history of diversity (or lack thereof) in pool halls, not just in KW but also across North America.

Perhaps the only other Black person

I’ve seen play pool seriously in KW is local pool legend Mike Parkin. His journey from Jamaica to Waterloo in ‘75 had me curious about where he used to play in this Region.

“I played at Pool Paradise,” Parkin mused. “Sharp Shooters, too. Started off playing snooker for about 10 years at Gentleman Billiards, which was at the corner of King and Victoria.”

As he rattled off these old pool halls, I asked Parkin what the pool scene was like back then.

“Back in 1975, everyone playing pool was gambling. Mainly white men. Most were blue collar.”

Despite this, Parkin argued that the negative stigma of pool halls as “seedy, underground places” was no longer accurate.

“That stigma came from the 50s, 60s. It stuck, and it took a while for people to realize that people from all walks of life played,” he said.

Though the legacy of pool halls as insular and rough around the edges may linger, KW’s local pool halls and leagues have been intentional about being more accessible and welcoming.

In my role as a support worker, I have found that the adaptability of pool makes it a particularly inclusive recreational activity. I’ve facilitated weekly games with neurodiverse

folks, as well as with people with physical disabilities. Malek, who played pool in a wheelchair for four months due to a knee surgery, can attest not only to the accessibility/ adaptability of pool, but even more generally about the shifting culture.

“Pool is for everyone! There are tournaments for people with disabilities, wheelchairs and even kids. Pool has no limits,” she said.

Lots of people like to mess around at a pool table, but if you’re interested in joining a league, Zinger explained that there are many options.

“CPA has open divisions, a ladies league, wheelchair league, junior league, and skill-based leagues.

There are different levels of competition, based on individual preference.”

My skills improve after every session I play in, and I keep upping my challenges. My most elusive goal since joining has been to achieve a break-and-run. It’s when you break a rack and pot all your balls, concluding with the eight-ball, without missing.

As I chase this pipedream down, however long it will take me, I know I’ll have exceptionally kind people who will coach and support me every step of the way.

Take your study break with us!

Volunteer an hour a week to help seniors stay healthy.

519-772-8787 cscmow.org

13

SEPTEMBER 2019 // COMMUNITYEDITION.CA

“

[IT’S ABOUT] GOING OUT INTO THE WORLD AND EXPLORING AND NOT BEING PARALYZED BY FEAR.

”

-J. DREWS, POET & AUTHOR OF THESE (TRANSITIONAL) WORDS

NICK STANLEY PHOTO

HEALING THROUGH WORDS RACHAEL MACINTOSH STAFF WRITER Last November, 24-year-old Waterloo Region resident Jennifer Drews, also known as J. Drews, published her

first book of poetry These (Transitional) Words. The book consists of several short poems that, because they are connected by transitional words and phrases, can be read either individually or continuously.

The poems are based on Drews’ own experiences with trauma and healing.

“Maybe a year and a half ago, I had a very traumatic sexual experience ... and it really changed my worldview

very drastically,” she said.

“I just kind of went into denial, flew away to Colombia for a few months to try to collect my thoughts.”

When she came back, a friend suggested she start therapy. During her journey in therapy, the book came to life.

“There’s seven or eight chapters; each chapter that I wrote was a different week in therapy. So, the book

is about my stages of healing after trauma,” Drews said.

After encouragement from friends, Drews self-published the book through Amazon.

“It’s done a lot better than I thought it would do, and that makes me really happy because there’s some other women in the world that are finding healing through it, and that’s kind of the entire purpose of why I did it [sic],” she said.

“I really don’t care if the book does well. I just want other people to be okay because I know how bad it is to be in that mindspace.”

Drews also does a lot of travel writing. Recently, she has been collaborating on a book with her friend focusing on advice for women who want to travel. “[It’s about] going out into the world and exploring and not being paralyzed by fear. I think [the topic is] strongly motivated by the fact that everything

happened to me abroad, but I don’t want that to stop me from travelling, ever. You know, sexual assault, rape … these things can happen in your home. They can happen on the street.

They are not correlated to anything that you’re doing in that moment, it’s just … wrong place, wrong time, wrong person,” Drews said.

She wants women to feel empowered to travel despite any hesitations or fear.

In addition to writing, Drews tries to help support other local artists by offering advice and organizing events.

In August, Drews organized a free art event called Healing Through Art at Smile.io.

“I feel like there’s not enough safe spaces for people to talk about trauma.

Trauma or pain or healing at all. Those all are still very scary and taboo subjects, and I’m hoping with the event … that people are open to talking about it and these artists are able to share their stories of how they connect with art, how they find healing through it, how they’ve helped other people find healing through art in all these different mediums, and that they get more exposure,” said Drews.

These (Transitional) Words can be found online through Amazon and at some local shops including Truth Beauty Company and Words Worth Books. Additional information and projects can be found at jdrews.ca.

SHINING LIGHT ON LOCAL BUSINESSES — AND DEALS CURATED KW IS A NEW SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNT THAT HIGHLIGHTS ALL THINGS LOCAL

SAFINA HUSEIN CONTRIBUTOR

Shirley Luu (left) and Alyana Versolatto (right) are the faces behind Curated KW. NICK STANLEY PHOTO

Curated KW has you covered if you are in search of daily deals, sales and events taking place in Kitchener-Waterloo.

Alyana Versolatto and Shirley Luu, co-founders of Curated KW, first started the account in January 2019.

“More or less, it was kind of — we like to joke — a quarter life crisis,” Luu said, when the idea to start the account first came into fruition.

“We both graduated a couple years ago and once you start working, things are less exciting once you get into the groove of it all.”

The pair decided that creating an Instagram account dedicated to advertising local specials and deals would be a hobby outside of work as well a way of getting more involved in the community.

Versolatto and Luu both grew up in Kitchener and first met during their undergraduate degrees at the University of Waterloo. The two have been

friends ever since and have always bonded over their love for both food and deals — as a result, starting an account that features local businesses came naturally.

It just so happened that a number of Versolatto and Luu’s interests are also shared by most millennials and young professionals.

“We frequented a lot of restaurants and cafes and we found out that a lot of people didn’t know about some of them and we didn’t know about a lot of them as well,” Versolatto said.

“We wanted to let other people know that there’s fantastic businesses in downtown and uptown.”

As well, Versolatto and Luu want to prioritize buying local and keeping businesses within KW thriving and flourishing by advertising the new and unique things being featured by local businesses.

“It’s kind of shedding light on the really cool things that are happening here whether it’s local businesses, makers, and even the great work that the charities and non profits are doing,” Luu said.

As for content, Versolatto and Luu try to cater to their wide audience and offering variety.

“We have everything from cheap

deals like $3 sandwiches to set dinners for $75 and maybe that would appeal for someone older who wants a date night out,” said Versolatto.

“We try to pick really cool things and curated lists of activities and food items that are interesting.”

Looking forward, Versolatto and Luu have brainstormed many new ideas for the future of Curated KW. “I don’t know that it’s something that’s sustainable full time for the both of us … it doesn’t compensate for both of our salaries right now. If it were to at some point, that would be really really cool for us,” Luu said.

Both having marketing and communication backgrounds, Versolatto and Luu have tossed around ideas like creating a guide with lists of local sales and deals where local businesses would pay a small fee to be a part of it.

As well, ideas surrounding the expansion of Curated KW’s website and blog have also been prevalent.

For now, however, they are content and having fun running the account as is.

“We’re still having fun with it and are enjoying it so it’s a good side project,” Versolatto said.

IF YOU’RE READING THIS NEWSPAPER, WE ASSUME YOU CARE ABOUT YOUR COMMUNITY. HEAD OVER TO COMMUNITYEDITION.CA TO VOTE IN #BESTOFWR 2019. TELL US YOUR FAVOURITES IN WR!

SEPTEMBER 2019 // COMMUNITYEDITION.CA

14

WHEN A NEIGHBOUR

LENDS A HELPING HAND OWNING A BUSINESS IS TOUGH, BUT IT’S A HECK OF A LOT EASIER WITH COMMUNITY SUPPORT

519 SCHMECKS

NICK BENNINGER COLUMNIST I’ve had the privilege and challenge of operating businesses in uptown Waterloo for over a decade. I’ve seen the hay days and the, “hey stop all the construction” days. The common thread throughout my experiences as an uptown business owner has been the unwavering sense of community.

To me, uptown Waterloo has always felt like a safe place, safe to wander and enjoy. Thanks a confluence of people, culture and events, this has become a safe place to do business.

Some may be confused by that statement for sure, as years of construction and a growing bar scene give fuel to that fire. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t question it myself. I even joined the conversation at the BIA to help protect what uptown means to me, and to help shape the future.

Communities are built and kept together at the table; breaking bread together is undeniably the fastest way to get folks to come together and stay

together. As a chef, I’ve been lucky enough to be present to so many great moments in our uptown’s recent past.

Like a backstage pass, I have used my apron to get me close to the action as often as possible — in many cases, playing host to some pretty special moments. From illegal dinners on King Street celebrating the resiliency of uptown, to pig roasts in the alley A few weeks ago, I was the recipient of good feels and a wonderful, spontaneous community moment. We run a sandwich special at one of the restaurants — a “grab a go, closed when we sell out” kind of lunch service. There are two choices: vegetarian or not.

We have developed a loyal clientele and often have quite a line up. Over the decade doing this, we’ve watched the line evolve — strangers become friends, couples become families, and Friday lunch becomes tradition.

Watching a community come together over a mediocre sandwich, I’ve always maintained that the success of this lunch does not lie between the bun like so many great things do, but rather in the sense of community it has fostered. This lineup forces closeness, discussing the menu, reflecting on that fried chicken, the weather, construction, the music.

A few weeks ago our bread delivery was late. When I’d usually have 100

sandwiches wrapped and ready to go, I had zero, and a lineup of 25 people, waiting.

The buns “rolled in” at 11:35 a.m.

The line was deeper, I was frazzled and people are hungry. Struggling to assemble sandwiches fast enough with hungry onlookers watching, in my head, the sky was falling. With nobody to help, things seemed bleak.

There’s an expression in kitchens that over the years I’ve butchered it into: “every crisis is just another opportunity for a hero to emerge.”

Alnoor was my hero that day. Alnoor, aka Al, from Loop Clothing has been coming in for sandwiches from day one, often grabbing a few for his team.

Al was first in line that day and awkwardly let folks jump past him, mentioning he was in no rush and politely letting people get theirs first. That is, until he noticed me drowning.

Al jumped in and said: “hey man, I worked at Harvey’s, I can wrap sandwiches.”

Before I knew it, he started wrapping sandwiches and restoring order.

“I got two fried chickens who needs ‘em, hot sammys let’s go,” he yelled, like he’d done it 100 times before.

After a couple minutes, I sheepishly thanked him attempting to send him on his way. Wise enough to see I’m still weeded, he stayed another 20

Co-presented by Grand River Rocks and Go Bananas

MADELINE MCINNIS FILE PHOTO minutes cranking out sandwiches.

It was amazing, maybe not to everyone, but it definitely was for me.

I should mention that Al and I have had our differences. Being neighbours isn’t always apple pies cooling in the window. Sometimes it’s shitty stuff too like “get off my lawn.”

Admittedly, I can be a grumpy prick.

We have had those moments, but when I needed help, Al didn’t even let me ask, he jumped in and rolled up his sleeves.

I like to think that’s what uptown Waterloo is all about, and if that’s not true anymore, then we need to take a

nod from Al and roll our sleeves up, help our neighbuors, help our neighbourhood and recreate that sense of community we all came here for.

Fried chicken sandwiches have become my calling card. My place in this community seems to be making the people in it fatter one sammy at a time. Check out the online story for my recipe for perfect fried chicken sandwiches!

Nick Benninger is a local chef and restaurant owner.

NEW TUNE REVIEW

CROSSOVER IN CAMBRIDGE

SONG: Darko by Waveson LINK: https://soundcloud.com/waveson11

SEPT 25 • PRINCESS CINEMA Tickets on sale now • princesscinemas.com

Today is a special day because I get to write about a local artist that I discovered through a sponsored post on Instagram.

Isn’t the world a funny place?

I loathe Instagram as an artist but the potential is pretty much unlimited.

There are lots of hurdles, but I like to think that if you strip it back to the essence (ie. good tunes) and you have a good supportive team, a platform like Instagram can work miracles.

I digress.

Waveson is a local singer/rapper from Cambridge who occupies that lofty grey area falling somewhere between Soundcloud rap and emo rap, but as is typical with those labels, they each do very little to quantify any of the feelings elicited by the young artist.

Rounding off his teenage years, Waveson emerged on the local scene in 2019 with some visuals by MSYG Productions & Photography, quickly establishing himself as someone with

crossover appeal.

With catchy hooks and uniquely expressive vocal performances, Waveson has been able to capitalize on the growing appeal that melody and emotion seem to have in hip hop music.

His debut project Darko arrived early in the summer and he has been working pretty much non-stop since to establish himself as an artist with a refreshingly local appeal.

Follow him on Instagram at @waveson11 for updates and stream his music on all platforms.

His newest single “Nothing” is set to debut on Sept. 6. Catch him at his next performance at Hopefest HouseParty on Sept. 21 at Starlight.

– Kurtis Rideout, local musician, producer and ad manager for WLUSP

SEPTEMBER 2019 // COMMUNITYEDITION.CA

14

EVENT LISTINGS

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

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 5

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24

LITERARY TRIVIA KITCHENER PUBLIC LIBRARY

SHOP SOUNDS: DTK GROCERY KITCHENER MARKET

MOVIE & MARKET: PAN’S LABYRINTH APOLLO CINEMA

In recognition of International Literacy Day, our local library is hosting literary trivia. Low literacy affects one in four adults in the Region, so join the KPL for this event to try your wit at a handful of prizes and learn about the literacy issues we’re experiencing in our community.

This pop-up concert may not be in a secret location but the musicians are still a mystery and the Facebook event promises you’ll be blown away. Further, this just gives you the ultimate excuse to indulge in a glass, or four, of wine. Don’t forget to register on Eventbrite to claim your ticket because space is limited.

Aligned with their solstices and equinoxes, Movie and Market is the ultimate way to support local makers while catching a classic film all at the same time. Just remember to wipe your buttery fingertips off on your pant leg before you go flipping through the maker’s tables.

The film will start at 7pm.

Trivia • Free • 6:30pm

Music • Free • 7-10pm

Film • $5-12 • 6-9pm

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 8

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24

DASH AND SPLASH KIWANIS PARK

TEXTILE ISSUE ONE: IN TRANSIT KW ART GALLERY

IMPACT FESTIVAL DOWNTOWN KITCHENER

Picture this: over one hundred good boys (and girls) drenched from snout to paw chasing down dozens of tennis balls whilst splashing you in the process. A dream, am I right?

This event promises fur-friendly entertainment with all funds raised assisting the animals at the KW Humane Society.

This evening celebrates the culmination of over a year’s worth of planning and collaborating by our pals over at Textile Magazine.

The launch will be filled with art, readings, and conversation through their first issue, ‘In Transit’! Snacks and desserts to share, along with copies of the issue for sale.

This festival will take place all around downtown Kitchener, as well as two shows on a bus! This theatre fest aims to bring stories from around the world to DTK and to enrich the community, while reflecting the diversity within the Region. Get your tickets while you still can! Running until the 26th.

Fun • $10 • 10am-4pm

Community • $10-20 • 6-8pm

Festival • $10-20 per show • Various Times

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26

RETRO RECALL: CLUELESS APOLLO CINEMA

HOPEFEST MAXWELLS

GAUKEL ST. POP-UP PARK DOWNTOWN KITCHENER

Are you shallow, rich and socially successful? Would you rather play matchmaker for your teachers than do your readings in order to pass your courses? Well, forget you put cookies in your oven, channel your inner Alicia Silverstone and head over to Apollo Cinemas for a night of Clueless.

Thirty performances. Three stages.

One day. Are you prepared? You might have to pour fourteen cups of epsom salts into your bath the following day to alleviate all your wounds from being too punk rock, but we assure you it will be worth it. Just check the roster and you’ll agree.

Their Facebook event leaves everything to the imagination with details pending, however, a pop-up park in downtown Kitchener? Sign us up. Other than that, I have no other descriptive ways to attract you to this event, so I’m going to continue typing until this event box is full and call it a success.

Film • $5-12 • 7pm

Festival •$40-75 • 3pm

Fun • Free • 9pm

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27

GRAFFITI MARKET BLOCK PARTY GRAFFITI MARKET

BRFC / SFBC CELEBRATION SHORT FINGER BREWING CO.

MARY ALLEN STUDIO TOUR MULTIPLE LOCATIONS

Spit shine your tailgate, Graffiti Market and Red Circle Brewing are celebrating their first year selling beers and allowing you to play air hockey on your dinner table by having a parking lot party. There will be live DJs, an italian soda snowcone stand, temporary tattoos and their new Mixtape food truck.

Our pal Jon Johnson has spent the last year working out of Short Finger Brewing’s headquarters and in order to celebrate hitting that mark, they’re setting up a minilocal market and releasing Bear Friend. It’s a hoppy Pale Lager collab brewed just for this occassion and with their *bear* hands.

Coming from humble beginnings in 1989, when Margaret Rowell hosted a walking tour of the historic neighborhood acknowledging local artists, it has since grown to include homes in uptown and Belmont Village. So join in and celebrate the vibrant community that is Waterloo Region! Running until the 29th.

Party • Free • 2-8pm

Celebration • Free • 11-4pm

Art • Free • Various Times

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28

BELMONT VILLAGE BESTIVAL BELMONT VILLAGE

GOAT YOGA GROWING HOPE FARM

ETSY MARKET KITCHENER CITY HALL

Travel across Belmont Village as they shut down the strip for handfuls of art and a teaspoon of culture. All of their restaurants will be creating pop-up stops for you to stuff your face in while shaking your finger to some bestival bops.

Take your pals, your entire extended family or just yourself.

Would listings be listings if an event for goat yoga wasn’t bookmarked in? Goat yoga is basically the benchmark for all other events in the Region, setting an unreachable standard for what one hour on a Saturday should look like. Who doesn’t want to smell like goats for three solid days?

Are you one of those eager folks that prefers Christmas shopping early rather than loading your online shopping cart with best sellers or breathing down the neck of dozens of other last minute shoppers at the local mall on Christmas Eve? Well, this event was practically made for you. We love markets.

Beer • $20 per session • 12-10pm

Yoga • $30 • 11am-12pm

Market • Free • 9am-4pm

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5

TBK NEIGHBORHOOD PARTY THE BAUER KITCHEN

KW BRUNCH AND BREWS THEMUSEUM

CRAFTOBERFEST TWB CO-OPERATIVE BREWING

Grab your patio passport as you soar through a smörgåsbord of samples from some of TBK’s favorite suppliers. This may be one of the last times you can shin dig while sippin’ this summer, so grab your pals and secure your spots before they’re gone and you spend another Saturday night watching reruns.

They argue that brunch without brews is the saddest, late breakfast in all the Region and their event is here to save you from meeting that sorrow. Gather your yolks and get egg-cited because we bacon it will be a brewfully fun time. Your ticket includes samples of both food and beers from each vendor.

They’re going back to their roots by putting up their very own festhallen filled with craft beers from various breweries, a ton of local music, and a truckload of carbs. Also, as we’re one of the media sponsors, you can head to this event to meet the very people that create the content you’re currently reading. Cheers.

Party • Free • 1-4pm

Food • $30 • 11am-2pm

Beer • Free • 11am-10:30pm

COMMUNITYEDITION.CA @THECOMMUNITYED

Stories from around the world, Across Canada, and Waterloo Region

September 24-29

International theatre festival

$20 / ticket | $10 students & seniors

impacttheatrefestival.ca | 519.585.7763