April 2021 by The Walleye Magazine

FILM FREE ARTS Vol. 12 No. 4 MUSIC APRIL FOOD 2021 CULTURE thewalleye.ca

The Green Issue Why Biodiversity Matters

SERVICE WITH A SMILE 26

A NEW CREATIVE OUTLET 36

FAR AWAY FROM HOME 58

AN EASTER GIFT OF MUSIC 76

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Contents ■7

TheTOPFive FEATURES Editor-in-chief Darren McChristie Interim Editor Matt Prokopchuk matt@thewalleye.ca Assistant Editor Rebekah Skochinski Senior Editor Tiffany Jarva Copy Editors Amy Jones, Bonnie Schiedel

Marketing & Sales Specialists Kaitlin Trevisan kaitlin@thewalleye.ca Alaina Linklater alaina@thewalleye.ca Photographers Patrick Chondon, Kevin Dempsey, Damien Gilbert, Aelin Foster, Chad Kirvan, Dave Koski, Kay Lee, Shannon Lepere, Marty Mascarin, Darren McChristie, Sarah McPherson, Laura Paxton, Keegan Richard

Copyright © 2021 by Superior Outdoors Inc. All Rights Reserved. Editorial and Advertising: Submissions must be accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Superior Outdoors cannot be held responsible for unsolicited material. Superior Outdoors Inc. 242 - 1100 Memorial Avenue Thunder Bay, ON P7B 4A3

■ 18 ■ 19 ■ 21 ■ 22 ■ 24 ■ 26

THE GRINNING BELLY DRINK OF THE MONTH BREW IT YOURSELF Finding a New Space SUPERIOR SIP Service with a Smile

■ 28 ■ 29

Love/Sick THE SECOND MOST PLEASURABLE THING WE DO IN THE DARK. A COLUMN ABOUT MOVIES Alex the Artist

FOOD

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THE ARTS

■ 32 ■ 33

Ad Designers Dave Koski, Keegan Richard, Miranda van den Berg

Reproduction of any article, photograph or artwork without written permission is strictly forbidden. Views expressed herein are those of the author exclusively.

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The Green Issue Not Welcome Here Invasive Plants Behind the Numbers Moose Missing Tracks Caribou A Big Threat to your Favourite Fish Aquatic Invasive Species

FILM&THEATRE

Art Directors Steve Coghill, R.G.D., Dave Koski, R.G.D. production@thewalleye.ca

The Walleye is a free monthly publication distributed on racks throughout Thunder Bay and region.

■9 ■ 10 ■ 11 ■ 12 ■ 13 ■ 14 ■ 15 ■ 16

■ 34 ■ 36 ■ 38

Carving Up a Storm FROM THUNDER BAY ART GALLERY’S COLLECTION The Undertaking of Billy Buffone A New Creative Outlet Flora Thunder Bay

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Skill and Chaos

■ 42 ■ 43 ■ 45 ■ 46 ■ 48 ■ 50 ■ 52 ■ 54

Growing the Game Second Life CANNABIS CORNER Pandemic Puppies THIS IS THUNDER BAY Carefree, Fare-Free Help from Afar EYE TO EYE: With Tammy Cook

OUTDOOR

CITYSCENE

■ 56 ■ 58 ■ 60 ■ 61 ■ 62 ■ 64 ■ 67

STUFF WE LIKE Far Away from Home Beauty In The Bay Expanding the Brand Makers Gonna Make WALL SPACE: Growing Space GO LOCAL THUNDER BAY COUNTRY MARKET

MUSIC

■ 69 ■ 70 ■ 72 ■ 74 ■ 76 ■ 79 ■ 81

From Thunder Bay with Conviction Lighten That Heavy Load King of the Dead Takes Reign BURNING TO THE SKY An Easter Gift of Music Building a Career Geena Salway

■ 82 OFF THE WALL REVIEWS ARCHITECTURE

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Salvation Army Journey to Life Centre

■ 86 Tbaytel APRIL

EVENTS GUIDE ■ 87 LU RADIO'S MONTHLY TOP 30 HEALTH

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Urgent Care From the Comfort of Home Weighing the Mental Health Cost During COVID Adapting, Evolving

GREEN

■ 91 ■ 92

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A Nuclear Option ‘Ultimately, this is our future’ Springing Back into Action

THE WALL

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What COVID-19 Has Taught Us About the Value of Nature

■ 96 HOROSCOPES ■ 97 THE BEAT ■ 98 THE EYE

Telephone (807) 344-3366 Fax (807) 623-5122 E-mail: info@thewalleye.ca

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From Our Instagram Feed

Keeping it Diverse In Error

cientists and researchers around the world are sounding the alarm over the rate at which the Earth is losing its living things. A 2019 report by the United Nations stated that the rate at which species are going extinct is already at least tens to hundreds of times higher than the average rate over the past 10 million years. Here in Northwestern Ontario, we’re surrounded by nature and all that inhabit it, so statistics and expert warnings like that are especially troubling. The World Health Organization also warns that losing our microorganisms, flora, and fauna harms everything from health and pharmacological sciences to food production and traditional medicine, while a 2017 report in The Lancet points to emerging research that shows strong biodiversity lowers disease risk for human beings, wildlife, livestock, and plants. With that in mind, and given that April is our annual green issue here at The Walleye in celebration of Earth Day, this year we’re taking a look at biodiversity close to home and what some of the local and regional concerns are when it comes to maintaining our ecosystems. In our cover story, Justin Allec speaks with a retired Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry biologist about the fate of the mainland caribou near Lake Superior, Ayano Hodouchi Dempsey has the story about a pernicious pest in the Lake Superior watershed that

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could spell trouble for local fish, and Michael Charlebois takes a closer look at what the Lakehead Region Conservation Authority is doing to try and curb the spread of invasive plants. Staying with our green theme, film columnist Michael Sobota has four top-shelf picks for movies that examine a wide range of environmental issues, Sara Sadeghi Aval speaks with a Thunder Bay photographer who has taken a particular interest in capturing unique fungi and lichens in the area, and Tiffany Jarva gets a behind-the-scenes look at DeBruin’s Greenhouses in our monthly Wall Space feature. As well, we’ll hear about a growing group of young people in Thunder Bay tackling climate change—one of the major drivers of biodiversity loss. Elsewhere in our April issue, homebrewing columnist Josh Armstrong takes a closer look at the ancient method of brewing mead, music columnist Gord Ellis traces the history of the bootleg album, and Susan Goldberg has the story of a unique movement that uses bartering and skills workshops to combat social isolation and create stronger neighbourhoods. So as we prepare to celebrate the Earth this month, we hope you find something in our 2021 green issue that inspires, educates, or simply entertains. - Matt Prokopchuk

The story “A Chance for Others to Touch the Sky” on page 12 of our February issue incorrectly stated that ski jumping is an alpine sport rather than a Nordic sport. The story “Finding Joy” on page 68 of our March issue incorrectly stated Ashley MacIsaac is the PhD student working alongside Dr. Aislin Mushquash. Her first name is Angela. The story “A Look at Loudon Bros.” on page 16 of our March issue incorrectly stated that Allan “Bub”

Kellough was George Kellough’s son (he was William Kellough’s son), and that Morna was the daughter of Bub and Helen (she was George’s daughter). Also, to clarify, Allan “Bub” Kellough was no longer involved with the company after World War II; he founded a new dairy (Dairybest) and, later, opened the Cow Palace stores. Cow Palace was later sold to the Gleesonoperated company that would assume the Loudon Bros. name.

Featured Contributor Chiara Zussino Chiara was born and raised in Thunder Bay but has travelled extensively and also briefly lived abroad in Paris, France. Chiara is passionate about languages and speaks English, French, Italian, and is currently learning Spanish. When she isn’t writing for The Walleye, you can often find her up to her eyeballs in readings, Excel spreadsheets, and attending many Zoom meetings as she pursues an honours bachelor of commerce degree at Lakehead University. In the future, Chiara aspires to become a lawyer practicing international and immigration law.

On the Cover Biodiversity and Why it Matters. The eye of a great grey owl. Photograph by Chris Artist Photography.

“Mortgages can . d e t a c i l p m o c be e r e h s i t r o p p a R to help.” Matt Member since 2021 5-YEAR MORTGAGES AS LOW AS

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Part of helping to ensure that our members look after their financial wellness is making sure they get the right mortgage. Making sure you understand all the terms and conditions and potential fees is what your Rapport financial advocate will do so you know how to make the right decision. If you’re looking for a new mortgage or renewing your existing one we can help. We’re just a call, a click or a virtual visit away. James Street 405 James Street South (807) 626 5666 jamesst@rapportcu.ca

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Willow Springs’ Butterflyway Ranger Project

April

Various April showers bring May flowers and guess what those flowers bring? Butterflies and bees! Willow Springs Creative Centre has been selected as part of the David Suzuki Foundation Butterflyway Project and they’re looking for friends like you to help. This volunteer, resident-led movement will take place in communities throughout Canada to create habitat for local bees and butterflies. In their role as Butterfly Ranger, they will assemble a team to create a network of pollinator patches in yards, fields, and schools in the Thunder Bay, Lappe, and Kaministiquia areas. They’re also accepting donations of seeds and native plants and will share information and guidance and resources with the community. If you’re interested in joining the team, donating, or just want to learn more, send an email and follow their Instagram for updates. willowsprings@tbaytel.net

French Wine Tasting with Red Lion Smokehouse

April 3 Virtual

Wine! Tasting! Red Lion Smokehouse is offering another virtual wine tasting with a focus on French wine. The event builds on their January tasting, but anyone who loves wine or wants to learn more is welcome. Learn how to read a French wine label, the different classifications of wine, and various wine regions of France, grape varieties, and perhaps most importantly, sampling the wine! The wine has been selected by sommelier John Murray and will include selections like a Château Argadens Bordeaux Supérieur, 2017. Tickets are $55 per person and include four wine samples and two French cuisine-inspired bar snacks (duck confit crepe and terrine with fresh baguette). For those wishing to join from afar, contact Caitlin, Red Lion’s front of house manager, for more details at the email below. hello@redlionsmokehouse.ca

TBSO’s April Streamed Concerts

April 9 Virtual

The TBSO is sending us off into the spring season in full splendour! Sit down at 6:30 pm for Brass ‘n Brahms featuring Nelhybel’s Trio for Brass, which demonstrates the composer’s notable skill as well Brahms’ magnificent Sextet for Strings, No. 2, one of his best-loved works of his vast chamber music repertoire. The second concert begins at 8:30 pm and celebrates a chamber music genius: Beethoven. Simply Beethoven is a program that includes his Duo for 2 Flutes, which is a lesser-known piece but a fantastic gem. Then enjoy his Septet in E-flat—one of his most successful and popular works, and with good reason: it’s bursting with charm and joie de vivre. Each show runs an hour. With so much masterful music and so many talented TBSO musicians, you won’t want to miss it! tbso.ca/tbso-live-concerts

Cambrian Players presents Love/Sick

April 3

Virtual

All the world’s a stage! Get front-row seats to Cambrian Players’ fully staged livestreamed production of John Cariani’s Love/Sick—a wild and wacky look at love. Directed by Thomas McDonald, Love/Sick, which is comprised of nine short plays, will take you behind the closed doors of suburbia where all is not what it seems. The humour is cheeky, twisted, and tangled! The play features 18 local performers who will perform in their bubbles to bring you an entertaining evening. General tickets for solo viewing are $15, with a household price at $25, plus there will be exciting ticket bundles with fun offers from local restaurants and retailers to help create a memorable night in. For tickets and more info visit the link below. The (virtual) curtain rises at 7:30 pm. showtix4u.com/events/cambrian

Make your Own Beeswax Wrap for Earth Day

April 22

Virtual

Mind your own beeswax! Every year, on April 22, we celebrate Earth Day and renew our resolve to recognize the ways we can make better choices for the environment. This year’s theme is We Will Restore Our Earth and you can do your part with the help of the Thunder Bay Public Library. TBPL has created a Take and Make Kit with everything you need to make your very own reusable beeswax wrap at home. All you need to provide is an iron! Using beeswax wrap allows you to reduce your reliance on plastic and keep your favourite foods fresh. Kit registration begins on April 12 at 10 am with kit pickups available at the Brodie branch between April 19 and 22. tbpl.ca

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where ever you find yourself, be ready with our spring collection A portion of all clothing sales in April is donated to isthmus thunder bay

FRESH AIR PRESENTS

THE FIRE FIGHTERS VIRTUAL TEN MILE ROAD RACE REGISTER AT 10MILEROADRACE.ORG

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F RE SHAIR.LOC AL LY.C O M

CoverStory

The Green Issue Why Biodiversity Matters

Most of us know that we live in a very special corner of the world, but what we might not know (or know enough about!) is the very real threat that exists in the region for all that we hold dear. Biodiversity examines the interconnection between species and the role that plays in a productive ecosystem. Some questions to consider: Where have all the caribou gone? Can you identify invasive species? Is Lake Superior in jeopardy? We’ve provided some information, insight, and hopefully some inspiration in the following pages.

Ryan LeBlanc

-Rebekah Skochinski

The Walleye

CoverStory

Not Welcome Here Local Conservation Authority Aims to Protect Region From Invasive Plants Story by Michael Charlebois, Photos by Jessie McFadden, Infographic by Matt Prokopchuk

I  Wild Parsnip

 Himalayan Balsam

 Purple Loosestrife

f you’ve lived in Thunder Bay long enough, you’ve probably fallen for the timeless allure of “lake life.” Not only does the abundance of shoreline in Northwestern Ontario provide beautiful vistas, it’s critical to wildlife and the region’s biodiversity, says the local conservation authority. Jessie McFadden, a watershed stewardship technician at the Lakehead Region Conservation Authority (LRCA), explains that the area known as the riparian zone, which is the 10 to 15 metres between shore and land, is crucial for all walks of life. “A large percentage of wildlife depend on immediate buffers next to the water in some way, either to find food, drink, or shelter,” McFadden says. “They need the connective habitat along these waterways to support wildlife and our native plants.” The biggest threats to the beloved riparian zone are none other than invasive plant species. These unwelcome guests take up the space that native plants have adapted to, and then take over. “Invasive species have evolved mechanisms that allow them to spread readily, adapt quickly, and give them an advantage over our native species,” McFadden says. The most common examples in Northwestern Ontario include garlic mustard, purple loosestrife, and canary grass, among others. McFadden explains how a buzzkill in the bushes, like invasive phragmites,

can disrupt the harmony of our ecosystem. “Once they are established it’s just this tall, dense grass that provides little to no wildlife habitat value,” she says. “It’s not really providing shelter for plants, it’s not really providing a whole lot of food for animals, and it’s taking away space for all those other plants that would normally feed, provide shelter for, and sustain the other critters that live in an ecosystem.” To combat this, the LRCA is developing the Superior Stewards initiative to help property owners fight the good fight against these species. The new program aims to offer resources and tools to anyone interested. “The number one thing you can do to address invasive species in your yard is to diversify your own backyard with native plants,” McFadden says. Willows, dogwoods, sweet gale—these are just some examples that will offer less opportunity for invasive species to take root. The stewardship program also encourages citizens with lakefront property to not mow their lawn to the water’s edge. “We’re encouraging the native plants that are likely already there to grow. Adding that buffer between the lake and the backyard is like mimicking the riparian zone.” Additional information regarding stewardship and the reporting of invasive species can be done through the LRCA website at lakeheadca.com.

Japanese Knotweed

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120 Jessie McFadden

The maximum number of centimetres to which purple loosestrife grows. The invasive plant, while featuring a striking purple flower, very quickly overruns wetlands, shorelines, and roadside ditches, crowding out less aggressive native species.2

Invasive Plants

1.086

Jessie McFadden

MILLION

CoverStory

DID YOU KNOW?

One way to control some invasive plant species is to deliberately introduce biological control agents—herbivores, diseases, or other natural enemies—into the ecosystem (after considerable testing and study) in order to curb the invasive plants. In order to manage purple loosestrife, several species of beetle were introduced to North America as early as the 1990s, with documented success.4

The estimated amount spent by Ontario municipalities and conservation authorities to combat the invasive wild parsnip alone, according to a 2019 study.1 The wild parsnip is related to (although different from) the notorious giant hogweed (which hasn’t yet been detected in the Thunder Bay area), as well as the native cow parsnip. The wild parsnip was likely brought to North America by European settlers, as its root is edible.3

29 441 The number of invasive plant species identified in Ontario, according to a 2012 strategic plan report from the provincial government.7

1 https://invasivespeciescentre.ca/invasive-species/what-is-at-risk/invasive-specieseconomic-impacts/ 2 https://lakeheadca.com/stewardship/superior-stewards/invasivespecies 3 https://www.ontario.ca/page/wild-parsnip 4 https://www.ontarioinvasiveplants.ca/ wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Purple-Loosestrife-BMP-April-2016-final.pdf 5 https://www. ontarioinvasiveplants.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/NorthernGMI_2014_FINAL.compressed. pdf 6 https://lakeheadca.com/stewardship/superior-stewards/invasive-species 7 https://www. ontario.ca/page/invasive-species-strategic-plan-2012

The number of invasive plant species highlighted by the Ontario Invasive Plant Council in its northern Ontario “Grow Me Instead” guide. The guide notes common invasive plants and suggests noninvasive alternatives for gardeners and landscapers.5

1.2

The tallest expected height in metres of the stems of the garlic mustard plant, “one of Ontario’s most aggressive invaders,” according to the Lakehead Region Conservation Authority.6

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CoverStory

How Are Ontario’s Moose Fairing as New Hunting Regulations Set? Story and infographic by Matt Prokopchuk

Ken Child

Tim Timmermann

Tim Timmermann at the Kenai Moose Research Center in Alaska in the mid-1980s

The Walleye

he Ontario government’s new regulations for moose hunting go into effect this month— part of the province’s latest step in efforts to manage the population of a species that experts say faces many challenges. The changes in the rules are “quite significant,” says Keith Munro, a wildlife biologist for the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters. In addition to changes surrounding the issuing of calf tags, as well as pricing for licenses and tags, the new regulations effectively do away with the former lottery system, which distributed a set number of moose tags in a given season in each wildlife management unit to applicants, regardless of a hunter’s previous success in obtaining one. The new points-based system, Munro says, increases the chance a hunter has in getting a moose tag the less successful they’ve been in the past. Over the past 40-plus years, Ontario has taken an active role in managing the moose hunt. Generally, the healthier the moose population, the more tags the province issues. Munro and Tim Timmermann—a wildlife biologist who spent 30 years with the predecessors to the current Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry and who has subsequently consulted and lectured on wildlife management issues—say that, overall, the animal isn’t as prevalent as it used to be. “The moose densities are lower than they had been back in the 60s and 70s,” Timmermann says. Public data from the province shows that Ontario’s moose population is modestly healthier now than it was in the early 1980s, when more restrictive hunting regulations—compared to

what was allowed previously—began to take hold, but the current moose numbers have declined since a modern-day peak in the early 2000s. Many factors affect those numbers. Parasites like brain worm, which is carried by—but does not affect—white-tailed deer, as well as the winter tick are major threats to moose. Additionally, Timmermann says, more deer in a given area not only spreads the brain worm, but also attracts other animals like wolves and bears, which predate on moose as well. Climate change, he adds, impacts the prevalence of the winter tick in the region, as well as the number of deer. However, Brad Allison, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry regional wildlife biologist in the northwest, says that we’re not currently seeing the peak numbers of deer compared to roughly 10 years ago and that winter tick numbers do fluctuate over time. Allison says, based on aerial surveys done in 2020, moose numbers are generally struggling more in the southern parts of our region but are doing comparatively better as one goes further north. Munro says early feedback to the new moose hunting regulations has been mixed, and his organization is focusing on monitoring the effects of those changes “We want feedback from our members as to what’s working [and] what’s not because we’re really pushing the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry to review all these changes within three years,” he says. “[We want] to make sure this is a system that works, creates sustainable opportunities, and doesn’t provide any barriers to participation.”

Tim Timmermann

Behind the Numbers

5.5

78,000

(or more): The number of metres that moose have been known to dive in order to feed on plants at the bottoms of lakes. 6

The estimated number of moose in “huntable areas” in the province. The remaining animals are considered to be in parts of the province off limits to hunters (like some provincial parks).2

Tim Timmermann

Moose can live up to 20 years or more in the wild. This is rare, however, as many start suffering the effects of old age before then. A typical lifespan is closer to 10 to 12 years.5

Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame

Moose

DID YOU KNOW?

CoverStory

1981

The year Choklit Moose captured the hearts of Thunder Bay-ites as the official mascot of the Canada Summer Games.7 The iconic cervid made a brief, but muchbeloved comeback in 2014.8,9

95 91,200 1.5

The number of wildlife management units (WMUs) in Ontario (many of them are further subdivided). 45 of the WMUs are in northern Ontario. Each unit has its own customized rules for the game you can hunt (including moose), as well as regulations around open seasons and how you are allowed to hunt.4

The total estimated number of moose in Ontario. Provincial officials say that number is up from the early 1980s, however, it does also represent a decline in moose populations in some parts of the north.1

1 https://www.ontario.ca/page/factors-affect-moose-survival 2 https://www.ontario.ca/page/factorsaffect-moose-survival 3 https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/animal-facts-moose 4 https:// www.ontario.ca/page/find-wildlife-management-unit-wmu-map 5 https://www.nwf.org/EducationalResources/Wildlife-Guide/Mammals/Moose 6 https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/animal-factsmoose 7 https://www.canadagames.ca/past-games/1981-canada-summer-games 8 https://www.cbc.ca/ news/canada/thunder-bay/choklit-moose-canada-games-mascot-greets-skaters-1.2485262 9 https:// www.tbnewswatch.com/local-news/blast-from-the-past-396467

The number of metres of the typical span of a bull (adult male) moose’s antlers. The antlers start growing in midsummer, when they are soft. Closer to fall, they become hard and bony. 3

The Walleye

CoverStory

Missing Tracks

Retaining Caribou on Superior’s North Shore

Christian Schroeder

Story by Justin Allec, Infographic by Matt Prokopchuk

A caribou on Michipicoten Island

The Walleye

“Caribou population decline means we haven’t been managing the area sustainably,” Eason says, as he notes that the remaining caribou have retreated north of Highway 11. This means that the animals have already lost more than half their range in Ontario overall, and the trend is likely to continue without serious intervention and monitoring. “We tend to think about the sixth mass extinction event on Earth as taking place mostly in the tropics and areas with very high human populations, but it is also occurring right here, right now with caribou in northern Ontario,” Eason continues. The present is a grim picture, as past efforts to retain and

bolster caribou populations were frustrated time and again. Efforts to restore caribou started in the 1980s, and the province, partnering with First Nations, used tactics like air-lifting caribou from the mainland to islands such as the Slates and Michipicoten. Unfortunately, a brutally cold winter in 2014 allowed wolves across the ice from the mainland. The bulk of the island caribou population—around a thousand animals—were decimated by predators over the next four years, with only a few rescued and relocated to nearby Caribou Island. Presently, Eason is being realistic about the fate of the mainland caribou. “It’s going to take work, and it’s work that needs to happen

this year,” the former biologist says. “There might not be any caribou to work with by next winter.” One strategy is relocating breedable caribou from their refuge on islands to the mainland to help supplement local populations. Various ecosystem improvements could also be implemented, which would reduce predators and local competition from deer. Whatever approaches are taken, they need to be combined and implemented—and quickly, Eason says. If you’re interested in showing support, you can contact Hon. Jeff Yurek, the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, your local MPP, or the premier’s office.

A caribou calf on the Slate Islands in Lake Superior

Brian McLaren

here’s a reason most people have never seen a caribou along the north shore of Lake Superior. Though they were once the dominant ungulate in the region, dating back to the last ice age some 9,000 years ago, caribou populations have been steadily declining over the past century to the point that they’re nearly extirpated—that is, extinct from our region. Recent aerial surveys count only a handful of caribou on the mainland near Superior, as their habitat has been taken over by white-tailed deer and moose. Gordon Eason, a retired Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry biologist, has been keeping tabs on the caribou population for the past few decades. Thanks to exploitative resource harvesting, increases in predation and competition, and a string of bad luck, Eason says that we’re very close to losing this historic species entirely. Loss of habitat is the driving force behind the declining caribou populations. Compared to whitetailed deer and moose, caribou prefer old-growth coniferous forest landscapes with lots of moss and lichen. Those old-growth areas destroyed by logging can’t be easily replaced, which means the ecosystem has been fundamentally altered.

CoverStory

10 to 15 The number of years in the average lifespan of a caribou.3

5,000 40 to 50 The estimated number of boreal population caribou in Ontario (provincial wildlife officials divide the species into two populations: boreal and eastern migratory). While most of the boreal population lives in more northerly parts of the province, some isolated groups live close to the shore of Lake Superior and on a number of its islands.1

Caribou

DID YOU KNOW?

Both male and female caribou grow antlers. In most other deer species, only the males have antlers. The two sexes shed their antlers at different times of the year: male caribou lose their antlers in the late fall/ early winter and don’t grow new ones until the spring, whereas females keep theirs until their young are born in the spring, and then quickly start regrowing them.4

1.5

The typical maximum height in metres of an average adult caribou at the shoulder.5

1 https://www.ontario.ca/page/caribou-boreal-population 2 https://www.ontario.ca/page/caribouboreal-population 3 https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/animal-facts-caribou 4 https://www. fda.gov/animal-veterinary/animal-health-literacy/fun-facts-about-reindeer-and-caribou 5 https:// www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/caribou 6 https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/ animals/mammal/rata/all.html 7 https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=caribou.printerfriendly 8 https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/animal-health-literacy/fun-facts-about-reindeer-and-caribou

The percentage of caribou range that provincial wildlife officials say has been lost in Ontario since the late 1800s. Human settlement, development activities like forestry, mining, and road construction, predation, and disease are the main culprits.2

The typical number of calves a female caribou will give birth to per year (twins can occur, but are very rare). The newborns are very vulnerable to predation by a number of animals, such as wolves and bears. As a sort of counter, the cows in a herd will give birth to their calves over a very short and condensed period of time, effectively providing too many options for predators.7

DID YOU KNOW?

Lichens make up a significant part of a caribou’s diet, especially in winter when other food sources are not available or are much harder to find. Caribou will eat a variety of types of the appropriately named reindeer lichens, along with others, like cup lichens and cetraria lichen.6

DID YOU KNOW?

Reindeer and caribou are the same animal (Rangifer tarandus), even though we tend not to think of caribou pulling Santa’s sleigh. The term reindeer is more commonly used in Europe, whereas caribou tends to be more predominant in North America. Semidomesticated caribou, however, are often called reindeer in North America, too.8 The Walleye

CoverStory

A Big Threat to your Favourite Fish Keegan Richard

Zebra Mussels Threaten Recreational Fisheries in Northwestern Ontario

Story by Ayano Hodouchi Dempsey, Infographic by Matt Prokopchuk

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the ecosystem of the whole lake. The problem with zebra mussels is their extremely high filtration rates. If the mussels filter out nutrients in Nipigon Bay, the water that reaches off-shore areas doesn’t have enough nutrients to sustain the ecosystem that includes walleye, lake trout, lake herring, and whitefish. “If you look at Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, the offshore regions of those lakes have turned into a desert,” says Rennie. “If you’re a recreational fisherman that likes to get big Chinooks in Lake Superior, and [zebra mussels] establish here, that could very quickly become a thing of the past.” Historically, the transport of water through the ballast of large ships has caused the proliferation of zebra mussels outside of their native range. Nowadays, however, “all of the distribution outside of the Great Lake region and into inland lakes has been through recreational boating activities,” Rennie says. All it takes is one or two mussels hitching a ride with you. To prevent accidentally introducing zebra mussels to other lakes, always drain your motor, live wells, bilge pumps, and disinfect them. (Zebra mussels in the larval stage are microscopic). They can close their shells to survive for a few days out of water, so cleaning boats and trailers with a high pressure washer

using hot water, or drying in the sun for at least five days, is essential. Once zebra mussels are in a body of water, there is no turning back the clock—Lake Winnipeg has tried chemical controls, but the mussel population bounced back. Raising public awareness so that people don’t accidentally introduce

zebra mussels elsewhere is critical, says Rennie. “People need to be a lot more careful about where their boats go after they’re in [Nipigon Bay], and also making sure they thoroughly clean their gear and boats and trailers before they go anywhere else.”

Zebra mussels

Dave Montgomery, Superior Explorer, Ontario MNRF

hile larger invasive species such as the Eurasian ruffe might come to mind when people think about threats to Lake Superior, it is actually a much smaller creature—the zebra mussel—that threatens the lake as we know it. Dr. Michael Rennie, a Canada Research Chair in freshwater ecology and fisheries and the director of the Aquatic Toxicology Research Centre at Lakehead University, says zebra mussels have been a problem in the Great Lakes since the late 80s, and are now in Lake Superior. Previously, Superior was considered too cold and too low in calcium for the small freshwater mussel, native to southern Russia and Ukraine. Although they have been found in harbours where freighters arrive, including Thunder Bay, “we haven’t really seen them in super high densities, as we do in the other Great Lakes,” according to Rennie. “But more recently, the MNR has been finding them consistently in their fishing nets in Nipigon Bay, for the past several years,” he adds. “And that’s a huge concern, because most of the water that comes into Lake Superior comes in through the Nipigon River.” If there’s an established colony of zebra mussels at the particular point where most of Lake Superior’s water comes in, the infestation might drastically change

Matt Prokopchuk

The amount in kilograms (more than 100 million pounds) of fish killed annually by the parasitic sea lamprey in the Great Lakes before control measures. That amount equals five times the commercial harvest in the Upper Lakes. One sea lamprey can kill up to 21 kilograms of fish during its juvenile parasitic phase.1

The percentage by which Lake Superior’s winter ice cover (by area) was reduced between 1973 and 2010. Ice cover on Lake Superior has many ecological benefits, including helping the spawning and cohabitation of native fish species.9

2006

DID YOU KNOW? C. Krueger, GLFC

Matt Prokopchuk

Aquatic Invasive Species The first year the bloody red shrimp was discovered in the Great Lakes in Lake Ontario (although officials believe it had been present longer). For over a decade, the shrimp was thought to be in all the Great Lakes except Superior, but reports from 20185,6 indicted it had likely made its way to the big lake, too. Scientists are still learning about its impact on the Great Lakes, but warn that the shrimp’s eating habits and ability to multiply quickly could be a threat.7

Zebra mussels, an invasive mollusk, is only about the size of a fingernail, but they have a major effect on the Great Lakes ecosystem. They consume algae that native species feed on and latch themselves to native mussel species. They also clog water intakes at power plants.8

1 http://www.glfc.org/what-is-at-risk.php 2 https://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/invasive-speciesgreat-lakes 3 https://www.canada.ca/en/fisheries-oceans/news/2019/05/government-ofcanada-opens-2019-asian-carp-program-field-season-to-detect-invasive-species-in-thegreat-lakes.html 4 https://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/invasive-species-great-lakes 5 https:// www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/bloody-red-shrimp-1.4545879 6 https://www.sootoday. com/local-news/freighters-could-be-bringing-bloody-red-shrimp-and-other-things-into-lakesuperior-study-947241 7 https://www.ontario.ca/page/bloody-red-shrimp 8 https://www.usgs. gov/faqs/what-are-zebra-mussels-and-why-should-we-care-about-them?qt-news_science_ products=0#qt-news_science_products 9 https://www.ijc.org/en/meltdown-how-climatechange-affecting-ice-lake-superior

NOAA_GLERL

MILLION+

The estimated number of invasive fish species that have entered the Great Lakes since the 1800s.2

DID YOU KNOW?

Canadian and U.S. officials are actively monitoring the Great Lakes for another potential threat: Asian carp. This group of carp species threaten native fish because of their ability to reproduce quickly and outgrow other aquatic animals.3 They have been found in American waterways that eventually lead to the Great Lakes. In 2004, U.S. authorities built an electric barrier to stop the fish from entering Lake Michigan.4

T. Lawrence, GLFC

25 45

CoverStory

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Food

•

THE GRINNING BELLY •

and reducing fuel used to ship food to Northwestern Ontario— check out tbayinseason.ca, which features local producers, retailers, and restaurants Forage, gather, fish, and hunt: Please do this safely and respectfully Rethink your grocery list: Buy more minimally processed foods in bulk or package-free, eat more plant-based meals, and eat less but better-quality meat Vote with your dollars: Support sustainable agriculture practices, as well as local farmers and food producers (or support restaurants that do)

Amy Conrad is a local registered nutritional therapist who has some incredible recipes on her Instagram (@nutritionbyamy), many of which are plant-based and can be made with local ingredients. Below is one of our family’s favourites: a quick lunch, fresh and spicy, and ready to eat (and slurp) in minutes. Local ingredients to try in this recipe: fresh capellini (Big Lake Pasta), maple syrup (the Nor’Wester Maple Company), hot sauce (Hooligan Fuel Hot Sauce, Heartbeat Hot Sauce Co., Chimney Fire Hot Sauce Co.), and beans, chilis, garlic, apples, and tomatoes (Thunder Bay Country Market vendors, Superior Seasons).

Amy’s Thai Green Apple Noodles serves 2

By Chef Rachel Globensky

o to grad school, they said. It’ll be fun, they said…. The last 18 months have seen me slogging through a master’s degree in health sciences, with neither a health nor a science background—yay! I’ve struggled with intense imposter syndrome being back in school again, but have now finished my required courses and am working on my thesis—along with being involved in some cool community food projects organized by the Indigenous Food Circle and the Thunder Bay and Area Food Strategy. My school specialization is in systems, sustainability, and health, so of course I focused my degree on food. Chef-activist is a pretty swish job title, I think. While this time has been really challenging, it’s also been very rewarding, and so interesting. I’ve learned a lot about the inequities and politics of food, human impacts on ecological health and how these changes affect human health, and

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approaches to sustainability that involve massive changes to colonialized, market-driven global systems. The food we eat impacts our health and that of the environment, along with the welfare of animals and people responsible for producing our food. Eating sustainably and moving toward just food systems means (in part) choosing foods that are good for global and human health and well-being. There are many ways you can do that: • Grow your own: This can be a windowsill herb garden, a pot of tomatoes on your deck, a planter box in your yard, or a plot in a community garden • Eat seasonally: Focus on foods available in season from in-person or online markets, community supported agriculture outlets, or retailers/restaurants carrying local products • Shop locally: Awesome for boosting our economy, knowing where your food comes from,

1 c green beans, trimmed and cut into thirds

½ Thai chili, stems removed and minced (or use a bit of your favourite hot sauce)

In a large bowl, mix chili (or hot sauce), garlic, tamari (or soy), maple syrup, and lime juice.

1 clove garlic, minced 1 Tbsp tamari or soy sauce 1 Tbsp maple syrup ½ lime, juiced 1 medium (green) apple, grated 1 medium tomato, seeded and diced ½ c peanuts, chopped

Nor’wester syrup

Add grated apple and diced tomato into a large bowl and toss in dressing. Add in noodles and beans and combine well.

Divvy up into serving bowls, top with peanuts, and enjoy!

Amy’s recipe notes: • Less spicy? Use less hot pepper, or pepper flakes, or omit altogether. • Fewer noodles? Use more green beans and apple • More protein? Add tofu, black beans, or cooked shrimp or chicken As for the article’s title: activist Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food, sums up what he’s learned about food and health in these seven words.

Keegan Richard

‘ Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants’

Cook noodles according to package directions. In the last minute of cooking, add green beans. Stir, drain, and rinse in cold water. Set aside.

2 oz dry rice vermicelli noodles or capellini

Food

DRINK OF THE MONTH

Big Blue Shake The Growing Season

Story by Rebekah Skochinski, Photo by Chondon Photography

lurp’s up! When life gets busy and stressful we look for things that are quick and convenient. The good news is The Growing Season has a slew of nutritious and delicious drink options to choose from on their drinkery menu—their shakes are just so smooth! The drink that called out to us, however, was the Big Blue. It’s made with superstar ingredients like potassium-rich banana and antioxidant-loaded blueberries, and neither flavour overpowers the other. The fruit is blended with your choice of oat or soy milk and pea protein. Not only is the protein plant-based (good for the planet, huzzah!) but it’s better tolerated than whey and will keep you going until your next meal. So take your new BFF shake to go (in this cup made from plantbased plastic) and enjoy the other wonderful big blue things out there, like the expansive sky and the glorious lake. We feel better already.

The Growing Season 201 Algoma Street South 344-6869

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Food

BREW IT YOURSELF

From the Fields to the Glass Making Mead at Home

Story by Josh Armstrong, PhD, Certified Beer Judge, Photos by Logan Ollivier

or this month’s Green issue, I thought I would explore a fermented beverage that has a long history of brewers working closely with their surrounding environment for key ingredients. For many thousands of years, various cultures around the world have made mead, a fermented beverage using honey produced by bees. The Greeks knew it as the “nectar of the gods,” the Vikings associated it with their god Odin, in Ethiopia it is called tej, in Finland they have sima, Mexico has acan—I could go on. Mead really has been made all around the world and truly demonstrates through taste a relationship between a brewer and their local environment. Despite being thousands of years old, the first meadery in Ontario (Munro Honey & Meadery) did not open until 1999. Overall, in Canada, there are just over 50 meaderies producing beverages with the help of their local bees. Mead can range from sweet to dry, strong to sessionable, and can come in a range of different colours. A lot of the flavour of meads depends on what types of additives are used during the process. Depending on what is added, it will change the classification of the type

of mead. Here’s a list that is far from exhaustive: • Show mead: Plain mead with no spices or fruit added • Melomel: Contains fruit (e.g., raspberry, strawberry, rhubarb) • Acerglyn: Contains maple syrup • Metheglin: Contains spices (e.g., nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves) or herbs (e.g., basil, lavender, chamomile) • Cyser: Fermented with apple juice rather than water (sweeter and tarter than mead) • Braggot: Combination of beer and mead • Capsumel: Flavoured with hot peppers • Dwojniak: A Polish mead, made using equal parts honey and water • Pyment: Honey and red or white grapes and/or grape juice Just like beer, it is easy to make your own mead at home—maybe even easier. All you need is good honey, a knowledge of the process, and a little patience, as mead takes longer to ferment and condition than most homebrews. The process is fairly simple: you mix honey and water together and add yeast. You can use a wide range of yeasts to make mead, but popular ones include wine and champagne

varieties. Because honey lacks in yeast assimilable nitrogen, mead brewers often add yeast nutrients (all upfront or staggered) to assist in healthy fermentation. Also, when making mead, you need to be able to calculate the gravity or the amount of sugar in your brew. Using a hydrometer or other brewing technology, the brewer will measure the gravity at the start of the fermentation process, during fermentation, and at the end of fermentation. This will tell you how much sugar you are providing the yeast, if the yeast are still active, and how much alcohol they have produced in the final product. During fermentation, you should consider stirring the concoction regularly and controlling its temperature to keep the yeast happy and active. Once fermentation is complete, you still should consider waiting months before bottling. The general rule is once the mead is clear and no longer bubbling in the airlock, test its gravity each day for three days and if it doesn’t change, primary fermentation is complete. A final conditioning phase allows the mead to get smoother and more complex. While I have yet to make my own mead, my friend Logan Ollivier has become a keen mead maker. I look forward to trying his experiments with his Saskatchewanian honey. Check out his recipe for Save the Bees Dry Crabapple Cyser in the recipe box. Skål!

Save the Bees Dry Crabapple Cyser Recipe by Logan Ollivier

Ingredients: 5 gallons crabapple juice 12 lbs honey Campden tablets K1-V1116 yeast from Lalvin ¼ tsp Fermaid O ½ tsp Diammonium phosphate

Instructions: Pick and freeze approximately 20 gallons of local crabapple (freezing helps break down the cell walls for pressing). Slice and use an apple press to create 5 gallons of crabapple juice. Add Campden Tablets to prepare for fermentation. Stir in the honey and the yeast. Add one-quarter of the Fermaid O and Diammonium phosphate and stir. Repeat this step each day until the nutrients are all added. Let sit and observe the magic of fermentation through the glass. Once the bubbling of the airlock slows down, rack the mead into another glass carboy for secondary fermentation. After 4 months, bottle.

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Food

Finding a New Space

Redhead + the Chef Expand into New Digs Story by Susan Pretty, Photos by Keegan Richard

Clubhouse sandwich with chicken stew

Spicy pork ramen

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Turkey and wild rice soup

fter four years at the Thunder Bay Country Market, the dynamic duo of the Redhead + the Chef are excited about their new brick-and-mortar eatery, Jack and Andy’s by Redhead + the Chef. Who are Jack and Andy and why would Jennifer Biron (the Redhead) and Derek Cyrenne (the Chef) name their restaurant after them? When COVID hit, it was a tough time for Biron and Cyrenne, both professionally and personally. “Not only were we scared about how we would make ends meet being self-employed, but we also had no one to cook for,” Biron says. “There were no catering events or weddings to get motivated about. To come to a sudden screeching halt was devastating.” The couple sought solace out at their camp to reflect and rethink their direction. There, they met best friends Jack and Andy. “As our friendships developed with them and their families, we found new inspiration and purpose to once again just to be ourselves in the kitchen—or in this case at camp […] on the barbecue. We got back to creating amazing food and wonderful memories.” Biron remembers the conversation that changed everything. “One night, Andy told us that one of the hardest things for him in dealing with the changes from COVID was that he and Jack could no longer go for coffee, like they had done for years,” she says. This hit home for the couple, and led them to ponder their new direction. “When the opportunity came for us to have our own place, we jumped on it. We would have a place to cook and create and make people happy, as well as a place for our good friends to have a coffee [...] however and whenever they wanted.” The Redhead + the Chef are

delighted with their new home, located in one of the business spaces at the north side waterfront parkade. “This space is the perfect size for our small team,” Biron says, enthusiastically. “It offers the potential to have private dining in the evening by reservation; during the day we will offer amazing quick and healthy breakfast and lunch items.” “Made from scratch with love” is their motto, and customers can expect to find meals just like they would find on grandma’s table. Whether it’s turkey and wild rice soup (a two-to-three day process, as Cyrenne takes time to roast the bones to beef up his stock), a clubhouse sandwich, or chicken stew, they pride themselves on the low and slow approach when it comes to cooking. Treat yourself to the spicy pork ramen with layers of flavour and just the right amount of spice, or the truly decadent perogy soup with mini hand-made perogies, bacon, and green onion. The team is also proud of their new online system, which allows customers to have a seamless ordering experience with just a few clicks on their website. The Redhead + the Chef look forward to welcoming old and new customers to their inviting space. “We look forward to sharing our passion in our new restaurant to continue to bring you the food and experience you expect from us—inspired by these two great men that mean more to us than they will ever know,” Biron says. Jack and Andy’s by Redhead + the Chef is located at 18 Court Street North and is open from 9 am to 2 pm, Wednesdays to Sundays with extended hours on either Wednesdays or Thursdays. Contact them at 621-1599, at redheadandthechef.com, or on Facebook or Instagram.

Evan A. Juurakko

Food

Symbiotic Bevvies By Jeannie Dubois, Certified Pommelier and Sommelier

ustainability is currently the word du jour, as the green season is about to make its debut here in our beautiful bay. However, there are a lot of different terms being bandied about in relation to what we consume, such as natural, “free,” “healthy,” or “whole,” which are largely descriptive and not always qualitative. To get the real green deal, which addresses the product, process, and packaging, look for labelling that specifies organic certification from a governing oversight body. This ensures that all the ingredients—and, indeed, that finished product—are guaranteed to be produced without chemical fertilizers, growth

SUPERIOR SIP

stimulants, antibiotics, or pesticides. Certified organic means you can rest assured that everything in that delicious draught from yeast to apples, grapes, and juniper berries is guaranteed to be green. If you want to up the organic ante, go for next-level green with a certified biodynamic bevvie. This holistic approach to farming follows an organic regime utilizing locally sourced materials for fertilizing and soil health, approaches each farm as a diversified and closed ecosystem, and even bases farm activity around the lunar calendar. Enjoy a sustainable sip this spring!

Go Green:

Organic One-Up:

Great Canadian Cider Co. Nice & Dry Organic Cider

London Organic Lager

$5.85 for 473ml LCBO No. 549642 Pro-Cert Organic Certified— from Vankleek Hill, Ontario (available online)

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Kew Vineyards Organic Riesling Sparkling VQA

King’s Lock Conestoga Organic Gin

Tawse Quarry Road Pinot Noir 2017

LCBO No. 635300

$18.95 for 750ml

$43.90 for 750m

$35.95 for 750ml

Ecocert Canada Organic Certified—from London, Ontario (available online)

LCBO No. 645309

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LCBO No. 307686

Ecocert Canada Organic Certified—from Beamsville, Ontario (available in-store locally)

Ecocert Canada Organic Certified—from Johnston, Ontario (available online)

Demeter Biodynamic Certified—from Vineland, Ontario (available online)

$3.35 for 473ml

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Food

Service with a Smile Café Dishes Up Comfort and Value By Pat Forrest

 Patrons gather at the River Street Café prior to the COVID-19 pandemic  An open house event at the River Street Café in 2012

hirty years ago this September, the Thunder Bay 55 Plus Centre on River Street opened its doors to the city’s seniors. It quickly became the go-to place for older adults in search of learning and social opportunities. It also gained a reputation as a great place to eat. Since 1994, the River Street Café has been independently operated in the centre by a volunteer board, a small contingency of staff, and a host of volunteers. A not-for-profit food service, all income generated is used to pay wages, food, equipment, and supplies. In agreement with the City of Thunder Bay, the 55 Plus Food Program board of directors also contributes a yearly amount towards the centre’s operating budget. The mission of the café’s board, staff, and volunteers is to provide nutritious, homemade, affordable meals to their 55-plus clientele. A glance at their monthly menu with its mouth-watering options makes it clear that the mission is being accomplished. Hot lunches such as maple glazed chicken with twicebaked potato and salad, fish cakes with hearty potato salad, and vegetables and chili in a bread bowl—all at the low price of $8.25 each—were in high demand for sit down meals pre-COVID-19 and are growing daily in popularity now that they are available for curbside pick-up only. The city’s supervisor of

community programming (older adults), Dana Heinrich, says that the role that the café played in many seniors’ lives became clear after the first pandemic lockdown. “During the first lockdown, we opted to close the café. When we were able to open, our seniors told us what a void that closure created in their lives,” she says. “For some, our lunch was the only hot meal they were able to enjoy and they missed it with no other comparable options available. It’s not just something that is nice to have; for some it’s very important to have.” Hot lunches are not the only tasty and comforting foods available at the café. There are also baked items such as whole pies, muffins, loaves, and cookies. Seniors can pick up frozen soups and even full meals as a take-out option to heat up later. There are also themed meals such as a turkey dinner for Thanksgiving and Christmas, a baked ham dinner for Easter, and Irish stew for St. Patrick’s Day. Tuesdays are pancake breakfast day and on Thursdays, it’s French toast, each for $4.50. The café has also hosted a Hawaiian luau and a British high tea with crumpets and real china cups, to name just a few other special events. To place an order, call 684-3260 and keep an eye on the River Street Café Facebook page for updates and specials.

MINI CHARCUTERIE BOX FOR 2 NOW ON OUR FRIDAY TAKE OUT MENU! 26

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FilmTheatre

The cast of Love/Sick at a virtual rehearsal

Love/Sick

Cambrian Players to Stream New Performance By Sara Sadeghi Aval

ine stories, 10 minutes, one stage. Cambrian Players will be bringing John Cariani’s Love/Sick into your living room on April 3. The play features stories full of love and life over one eventful night, and illuminates monumental moments in relationships through a goofy lens. First-time producer Robyn Dias believes it to be the perfect script for online theatre. The process of livestreaming entire plays has become the new norm in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. “There are nine vignettes within this play, each containing their own story, and so we have 18 mobile actors with their own scenes and sets,” Dias says. “We will all be inside Cambrian Theatre and our setup is close to that of a TV studio, but the camera will move, allowing for each couple to stay within their own bubbles and maintain some isolation.” Dias adds that “in regular plays, so much crossover happens between characters. Here, each actor can

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remain in their space while participating in the whole picture.” Dias, who is also making her Cambrian acting debut in Love/Sick, is settling into her new leadership role with help from her castmates. When asked what her favourite part of being a producer has been, she says, “Coordinating and organizing people is my cup of tea, and I am enjoying being a part of the back-end administration. As an actor though, adjusting to Zoom rehearsals is a bit harder. In-person dynamics are hard to imitate, but by practising in separate spaces, it set us up for this play structure.” It’s no secret that live events may not come back as soon as we would like, but Dias is quick to remind theatre lovers about the benefits of streamed performances. “Any art form ultimately evolves with the times,” she says. “This is the digital era and I think we should embrace the shift. A major aspect is the accessibility livestreaming offers to

those who have a hard time getting to the theatre.” Once tickets are available for purchase, each household can obtain a

link to watch the show. Catch all the updates on Instagram @cambrianplayers.

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FilmTheatre

Movies About the Environment By Michael Sobota

You look at that river flowing by. You notice the leaves rustling in the wind. You hear the birds sing; you hear the tree frogs. In the distance you hear a cow. You feel the grass. The mud gives a little bit on the river bank. It’s quiet; it’s peaceful. And all of a sudden, it’s a gear shift inside you. And it’s like taking a deep breath and going, “Oh yeah, I forgot about this.” -Al Gore, in his opening narration of An Inconvenient Truth

ovies have been telling us about the world around us—the environment—since they began. They do this through powerful documentaries, through human stories that

transform regular people into conscious warriors, and through dystopian science fiction. And the power of movies means that the best of all of these genres can both engage and entertain us simultaneously.

Erin Brockovich (2000) An Inconvenient Truth (2006) Director Steven Soderbergh, working from a script by Susannah Grant, gives us the true story of a modern warrior. And in casting Julia Roberts as the real life Brockovich, he focused the story and her Oscar-winning performance on what one person can do against environmental capitalism. Roberts’s gutsy, expletive-laden performance surges through a story about a jobless woman finagling her way into becoming a legal assistant and then onto one of the largest class-action environmental lawsuits ever laid in American jurisprudence. And she won. It is thrilling to watch and experience an environmental success story well made and well played.

It is heartbreaking to realize this movie was made 15 years ago. Director Davis Guggenheim followed Al Gore on a global lecture tour, documenting Gore’s impressive presentation as well as the people and the countries he traveled to. This is a hard film to sit through, and I have to say I wept rewatching it, several times. From Gore’s opening narration through his grounded scientific data and astonishing images of the beauty and horrors of what we have done to our home (the only planet we have), the film floods us with beauty and poetry and quiet anger. It is an eloquent call to action that we have, for the most part, ignored. Indeed, 11 years later, Gore made his follow-up plea, An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power. I urge you to go back and experience his original film. It is an important place to re-engage.

We live in a part of the world that remains relatively pristine and unpolluted. It is easy to not know about, or forget, other parts of the globe. Here are four powerfully entertaining engagements

RiverBlue (2017) This is a Canadian-made and -produced documentary that follows conservationist and paddler Mark Angelo around the globe to look at toxic pollution of major rivers and waterways, mostly in the southern hemisphere. In this movie, directed by David McIlvride and Roger Williams and narrated by Jason Priestley (from a text by McIlvride), we see tanning operations on Indian rivers polluting both the waters and low-wage workers. We see jeans manufacturing plants in China that would dwarf the entire size of the Intercity Shopping Centre. It is the ancient story of how industrial greed lives off of both the environment and working poor to deliver fashion clothing to wealthy shoppers on Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles or Bloor Street in Toronto. Even here, I won’t look at another pair of Levi’s or Wranglers in the same way ever again.

THE SECOND MOST PLEASURABLE THING WE DO IN THE DARK. A COLUMN ABOUT MOVIES

My Octopus Teacher (2020) I want to say immediately that this is an underwater creep show, but constructed with compassion and empathy. South African underwater explorer Craig Foster spends months in the waters off Cape Town getting to observe, understand, and ultimately befriend a female octopus in her own environment. With cinematography by Roger Horrocks and a haunting (creepy) yet appropriate score, we come to experience and believe Foster when he says, “She taught me I wasn’t a visitor but a part of her world.” Over the course of this 85-minute documentary, we are subject to a startling aquatic intimacy like nothing I have ever seen before, and certainly beyond the fake artifice of Hollywood stuff like Aquaman or The Shape of Water. This is the real deal as it pulls us forward into its surprising conclusion.

And here are six other stories-on-film about how we interact with the only planet we have: Never Cry Wolf (1983), Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), Blue Planet (IMAX 1990), Winged Migration (2001), Promised Land (2012), and Woman at War (2018).

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FilmTheatre

Actors at a workshop for Alex the Artist in the summer of 2019

Playwright Alycia Novak

Alex the Artist

Alycia Novak Talks Trying to Create During a Pandemic By Matt Prokopchuk

Thunder Bay playwright says an ongoing collaboration with the Superior Theatre Festival has been slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic, but she’s still determined to bring her musical to the local stage. Alycia Novak is the writer and creator of Alex the Artist, a musical that tells the story of a young girl who uses her creative gifts to stand up to an evil king who has banned all artists, putting a pall over the town and its people. The performance was first showcased at the 2017 Toronto Fringe KidsFest, and Novak and her partner Chris Tsujiuchi are now working with the Superior Theatre Festival, producer/ director Donna Marie Baratta, and dramaturg Emil Sher to adapt it to a larger stage with the goal of showing it in Thunder Bay. “I smile, I love this piece so much,” Novak says. “The piece is really about what happens when we don’t value artists.” The story is meant to be something of a rallying cry for creatives, Novak adds, to “stand up [and]

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create, and you can change the world.” Mother Nature is also a character in the play, she adds, so the story also focuses on what happens when we don’t respect the natural environment around us. While the story is largely in place, Novak says some necessary tweaks to the script and production needed in order to bring the show to Superior Theatre’s stage are still ongoing, and that the pandemic has made that process difficult. “I was down in Thunder Bay in March [2020] because we were auditioning and it was great; the youth,” she says. “The talent that Thunder Bay has is mind-blowing. I was so excited to put this on its feet for Thunder Bay to see the young talent that we have here. And it fell so fast when COVID just took over, and it was heartbreaking.” As for when it will be shown, Novak says with so much uncertainty over the pandemic, it’s impossible to put a timeline on it; she’d ultimately prefer to wait for the return of live audiences instead of

streaming it or releasing it digitally. “Maybe that’s me being really locked in to live theatre and the energy and [that] there’s nothing better than that,” she says. “As artists, we pivot with the times.” But ultimately, Novak says, she’s confident the show will go on, and that, given our current situation, Alex the Artist’s story resonates now more than ever. “As an artist, I know I’m struggling in a lot of ways—I

know a lot of my friends are struggling,” she says. “As artists, we don’t feel like we’re valued but how many people could say they were able to get through this pandemic or lockdowns without reading a book, listening to music, watching a movie or a TV show? That’s all art.” For more information and updates on Alex the Artist, visit superiortheatrefestival.com/alex-the-artist.

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TheArts

Carving Up a Storm The Work of Randy Focht, Diamond Willow Carver By Komal Vijay Shah

local retired forest industry worker is turning his long-standing familiarity with wood into some unique and inspired art. Randy Focht makes a wide variety of carvings out of diamond willow. Diamond willow is a type of tree with wood that is deformed, most likely due to attacks by fungus, into diamond-shaped segments with alternating colours. The fungus causes cankers to form in the wood, which is coveted by woodcarvers and furniture makers for its contrasting colours and irregular shape. Focht says his journey into the world of diamond willow carving started “when I saw it being carved by a coworker when I worked for a mining company north of Pickle Lake back in the early 70s. I tried my hand at it for about 15 years, then stopped doing it.” He says that, over the past year with COVID restricting what we can do, he started to get back into it. Focht starts by removing all grey bark, leaving just the white wood and diamonds. Next, he cleans out the diamonds, which usually are a brownish or red colour. Finally, leaving about half an inch of white

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around each diamond, he removes all the remaining white bark to the wood’s centre, which is a brownish or red color; by using this technique, the diamonds protrude from the core with the half-inch of white around them, producing a 3D effect. Lastly, Focht sands the piece and applies varathane, making each one unique, he says, adding that he works very hard to make sure every piece looks fully finished. Focht, who is also a member of the Thunder Bay Carvers and the North McIntyre Rec Centre, where he took wood carving classes, says he finds it very enjoyable to see what the pieces will look like and what he can ultimately make with each piece of wood. “It is very relaxing and keeps me away from the remote,” he says. Focht has carved walking sticks, lamps, centrepieces, and coasters, as well as magnets. Away from wood carving, Focht also spends his time reading, doing crossword and jigsaw puzzles, and spending time with family, especially his grandchildren. Randy Focht can be reached at 344-8368 or by email at ref.focht@ gmail.com. He also does custom orders.

TheArts

Girl Hoop Dancer

FROM THE THUNDER BAY ART GALLERY’S COLLECTION

By Penelope Smart, Curator Artist: Daphne Odjig Title: Girl Hoop Dancer Date: 1979 Medium: Serigraph on paper (11/75) Dimensions: 85 x 74.5 cm Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Barry Rosenberg, 1984

Girl Hoop Dancer is on view in the gallery’s Community Room this spring as part of a selection of works from the permanent collection curated by registrar Meaghan Eley. These works

connect to themes of children, motherhood, and land in the gallery’s current exhibitions Piitwewetam (Making is Medicine) and Dakobinawaawaswaan (Baby in a Cradleboard).

eople describe artist Daphne Odjig (1919–2016) as “Picasso’s grandmother.” Raised on Wikwemikong Unceded Territory on Manitoulin Island, her renowned Woodlands style has a way of showing people at home in the world. In Girl Hoop Dancer, Odjig frames a youthful dancer in kinetic circles of life. Odjig’s earth tones, not to mention the retro moss green matting in the frame, draw connections to this month’s green theme. On a deeper level, the girl hoop dancer embodies a physical and spiritual connection to nature, Indigenous worldview, and the Creator. At the annual Wikwemikong Cultural Festival, the largest in North America, 2018 Iron Woman Fancy Dance Champion Lisa Odjig described hoop dancing as “a storytelling dance, the hoops create formations, designs and symbols of nature such as trees, plants animals and birds—that ladder of life.” If you have ever witnessed a hoop dancer in real life, you know how impossibly light and full of purpose a person can walk upon the earth. This girl hoop dancer is badass. Decades before social media, Odjig’s Girl Hoop Dancer captures the spirit and energy of young Indigenous influencers on Instagram and TikTok. Like her online peers, as if in a screen grab, this freeze-frame figure is full of life and self-possession. She’s in a moment full of movement, meaning and energy and that’s a powerful place to live.

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TheArts

was trying to write non-fiction about those events and came to the conclusion that really, it’s not my story to tell,” he says. “In the end, this is complete fiction.” The Undertaking of Billy Buffone, published this month by Latitude 46, tells the story of the imaginary northern community Twenty-Six Mile House, local undertaker Billy, Billy’s friend who died at 15, newcomer pastor Catherine, and an unsettling, decades-old secret. When Giuliano retired in 2017, he took his manuscript out, looked at it from a fictional approach, and started a more concerted effort, writing and editing every morning until the novel was ready to be submitted to a publisher. “I have always wanted to write fiction and I wanted to write about something that matters,” says Giuliano. He also wanted to get a better understanding of how widespread abuse and red flags can go unnoticed or be explained away. “Reading Malcolm Gladwell's book [Talking to Strangers] recently really, really convinced me that it is a human inclination to trust

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avid Giuliano’s latest book, The Undertaking of Billy Buffone, started out as non-fiction, stayed in a drawer for years, and then made the move to fiction. Giuliano, who is now retired, says he came to Marathon, Ontario as a minister 30 years ago and discovered the community was struggling to come to terms with the aftershocks

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of the conviction of a local teacher, Scout leader, Minor Hockey Association president, reeve, and community leader who had assaulted the town’s boys and young men. Giuliano also noticed the number of people who wanted to just move on “because that was all over now.” Giuliano, however, wanted to acknowledge the survivors. “Early on, I

people. And it takes a lot for most of us to even see or understand [that untrustworthy behaviour is happening]. I have probably more sympathy for the people who overlooked it. I have less sympathy for the people who told me, you know, ‘that’s the past, let it go.’” Giuliano hopes that readers of The Undertaking of Billy Buffone can take away powerful messages. “In a general sort of way, I’d love for people to have an experience of redemption, of healing—an understanding that sometimes takes time and happens in increments,” he says. “That’s probably the most important thing to me. I also hope they take away an openness to more conversation about how we protect young men from predators. And how we keep that conversation in the open… [there] can be a lot of shame involved in that trauma for young men. I’d like it to be a little more okay to talk about.” The Undertaking of Billy Buffone, to be published April 17, can be ordered at latitude46publishing.com or any bookseller.

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TheArts

An original digital character design by Mylo Wirtz, age 13

A New Creative Outlet

Showcasing Young Artists Online By Chiara Zussino

“W

e have simply traded one stage for another,“ says Marcia Arpin, the director and founder of All the Daze Productions, when asked why she decided to host a virtual art gallery. In pre-COVID times, All the Daze Productions hosted live theatrical performances that the public was invited to attend. However, due to current restrictions this became no longer possible and much like many other organizations, All the Daze chose to creatively adapt and appeal to their audience in new ways. “All the Daze Productions represents a large community of creative youth ages 7 to 25. When it became increasingly difficult to produce live theatre productions, I knew there needed to be a way to reunite and express our individual

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Pencil drawing by Owen Walsh, age 12

ideas and emotions and continue to develop our collective imagination,” Arpin says, adding that when producing past musical productions, the actors were always encouraged to design things like posters and props, and to paint sets. “As an educator not only am I able to encourage these skills and help to develop them, but I know from personal experience during COVID isolation the importance of having a creative outlet emotionally.” Arpin adds that the virtual art gallery “evolved from the actors’ desire to showcase them[selves] in a new way. Using our website and social media instantly gave a stage for their work and an audience.” The community’s response to the online gallery has been overwhelmingly positive, Arpin says. Although it began exclusively featuring All the Daze actors, it has since wholeheartedly welcomed submissions from children as young as six months old up to age 18. And Arpin says that’s just the beginning. “In April, we will open our gallery to include literary art and host a YouTube channel for singing, dance, and theatre,” she says. “Each of these creative communities is making the wait for the return of live theatre a little easier and helping maintain the relationships the youth have with each

other, themself, and their ability to express their thoughts.” Arpin adds that, due to the quality and

popularity of the works that have been published online so far, a selection of it is also slated to be exhibited at Gallery 33 in May. It is evident that the youth who are participating in this gallery are gleaning much from this experience and appreciate the opportunity to share their art with others. Many have used it as an outlet to convey their emotions during this difficult time. Mattéa Knibbs shares in her artist’s statement that “I have always been infatuated by the beauty of art. The way someone can express themselves in different ways and have other people see it without it being explained. I like sharing my art to make other people feel happy.” Mylo Wirtz adds that “I’ve always used art as an escape and a way to express my creativity without feeling any pressure.” You can find this art gallery online at allthedaze.ca. The artwork is frequently updated so be sure to check in often.

Watercolour painting by Lacey Onchulenko, age 10

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Blue Elf Cups

Various lichens

Flora Thunder Bay Q&A With Wild Fungi and Lichen Photographer Janna Zachary Interview by Sara Sadeghi Aval, Photos by Janna Zachary

hunder Bay is known for its beautiful scenery and photographic appeal. From sunrise shots of Nanabijou to views from the Sea Lion, photographers snap each angle of our surroundings. However, one photographer has taken it upon herself to showcase the hidden treasures easily missed by passers by. Janna Zachary, also known as @flora.thunderbay on Instagram, is showcasing wild fungi and lichens in all their glory. The Walleye spoke with Zachary about why she chose fungi and lichens as a subject, what inspired the pursuit, and what her favourite picture is. The Walleye: Why did you choose fungi/lichens as your subject matter? Janna Zachary: The things that fascinate me the most about fungi are the colours, textures, and astounding varieties. They hide in the forest and it’s like a little treasure hunt among the leaves, logs and moss. When I spot a special fungi I usually squeal “What are you?! You are gorgeous!” Lichens are easier to spot on rocks and bark. When

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looking for lichens you become immersed in a tiny world. Some of the patterns they create are mesmerizing. My favourite lichen photos are when I can capture multiple types within the frame. TW: What got you started on this? What inspired the fun? JZ: I started photographing lichen about 10 years ago on my iPod. On outings with friends or family I’d be the weird one, off to the side, taking pictures of the little fuzzy green patterns on rocks (I didn’t even know it was called lichen at that time). TW: Do you remember your first picture? JZ: My first picture of a mushroom was also the very first picture I took with my Nikon that I purchased off Kijiji. I now know that mushroom was an amanita. I went on a walk at Mills Block to try out my new (to me) camera. I’m still a novice photographer; fungi are great subjects to learn on because they are stationary. TW: What is your favourite picture you have taken?

JZ: I like taking pictures of blue elf cups because the colours are so vibrant. When I’m out mushroom hunting I usually have a favourite picture of the day. However the exciting thing is that I don’t think I have taken my favourite picture yet. I am inspired to keep on perfecting micro photography of mushrooms. TW: Where are your favourite places in the area to shoot? JZ: Mills Block and Trowbridge TW: Can you tell me about the role these fungi play in our environment? JZ: The role fungi play are essential to the recycling of nutrients. They are little decomposer friends who help turn organic matter into smaller molecules that can be used by other members of the ecosystem.

Mycena

TW: What characteristics of mushrooms do you find most fascinating? JZ: I will often place my camera on the ground, trying to include the mushroom gills in my photos. It creates the aesthetic of making the fungi seem large, as if they are towering over us. TW: We see so much of larger nature photography here. Tell me what you find captivating about this specifically? JZ: Noticing the small details on the forest floor can feel meditative. It causes you to feel present in the moment and appreciative of nature. There is so much to learn about mycology, and I have a drive to learn as much as I can. Since photographing mushrooms I’ve expanded my

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A wood blewit book collection, assisting me to distinguish different types of fungi. Having this interest has also connected me to new friends and online communities. TW: Have you seen anything very unusual over the years? JZ: Inky cap mushrooms are pretty unusual. When growing they can be strong enough to push their way up through asphalt. Also, if you pick them and place them in an open dish, they turn into (you guessed it) ink. Last summer I veered off the road on Water Street to photograph some in a parking lot. TW: What would you tell our readers who aren’t familiar with the intricacies of fungi? What would you like to share with a fellow fungi lover?

JZ: Listen to podcasts about mycology, read the book Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake, attend mushroom walks when available! If you are a fellow mushroom lover, send me a message on Instagram and we can nerd out over your favourite fungi. TW: What’s the most important thing you’ve learned over the years? JZ: Never stop exploring, and be curious. TW: What is your dream mushroom to photograph? JZ: I have always wanted to photograph a bleeding tooth mushroom, however I haven’t been able to find one yet. They are white with dots of oozing red liquid.

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Outdoor

Skill and Chaos

Going on a Vermillion Bay Dog Sledding Adventure

Story and photos by Jesse Milani

 The view from the back of a Borealis Sled Dog Adventures dog sled

urton Penner of Borealis Sled Dog Adventures describes dog sledding as “the intersection of skill and chaos.” This becomes apparent as you stand at the back of your sled with your entire team of dogs howling with excitement. Dog sledding dates back hundreds of years, with early Inuit people utilizing the mode of transportation to assist with supply gathering. Teams commonly consist of as few as two dogs and upwards of eight. From the sled, the dogs are placed in the following order:

wheel dogs that are placed directly in front of the sled; swing dogs, who help “swing” the team around corners; and then two lead dogs that set the pace. Sleds are commonly made from black ash trees, as the flexibility and weight of the wood is key in dealing with the tough terrain. The crew at Borealis Sled Dog Adventures includes Penner, his wife Carlyn, as well as Sarah Smith and Kjell Schmidt. For over 30 years, Penner has been guiding day trips and overnight trips out of Vermillion Bay. Maintaining the dog teams could very well be a 10-person job,

 A sunny day dog sledding in the Clearwater Lake area

40 The Walleye

 One of the dog teams consisting of Alaskan huskies

but it’s done solely by this determined, hardworking four-person crew. With over 30 Alaskan huskies, a few puppy litters, and a no-nonsense retired sled dog, one would think that even remembering all the dog’s names would be difficult. But this crew shows love and affection to each and every animal, making it clear that choosing a favourite dog was one of the hardest questions to answer. As Penner will tell you, there are three key rules to dog sledding: don’t take your hands off the sled, don’t take your hands off the sled, and don’t take your hands off the sled. As the musher, it is important to always be aware of where you are taking your team while avoiding any possible dangerous situations like ice cracks in lakes, steep inclines or declines, as well as boulders or other obstacles that might injure the dogs or yourself. Your team of sled dogs follow your lead as you give them various commands such as “gee,” which means turn right, or “haw,” which means turn left. Dog sledding is easily the best way to explore the boreal forest and frozen lakes of Northwestern Ontario. The excitement from the dogs when they see their harnesses can’t help but put a big smile on your face. Spending your day exploring the region by dog sled produces a unique connectedness to the land, and an appreciation for traditional ways. Dog sledding also showcases the hardships of what living in this region entails, and the difficulties that many face head on. It reminds you of why so many of us continue to call Northwestern Ontario our home.

Outdoor

 A pair of Alaskan huskies attached to a sled  Puppies at Borealis Sled Dog Adventures

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CityScene

Growing the Game

Players of All Skill Levels Can Participate in Women’s Disc Golf Clinic Story by Nancy Saunders, Photo by Doug Reid

Arlene Lahti and Holly Fleming on the course in winter, 2021

f you’ve walked around Boulevard Lake over the past 10 years, chances are good that you’ve seen people playing disc golf at the Birch Point Disc Golf Course. Eighteen disc golf baskets are spaced around the east side of the lake, and one can hear the clanging of chains (and often some cheering) when a disc lands in a basket. Disc golf is played in much the same way as traditional golf and with many of the same rules. Players start at a tee pad and throw a flying disc toward a target, picking up where their disc landed and throwing again until their disc makes it into the basket. In addition to Birch Point, there are courses at Dragon Hills Golf Course, L’école secondaire catholique de La Vérendrye, and in Pass Lake, at Bayview Golf Course. The game is growing in popularity in Thunder Bay; this summer will see a number of tournaments scheduled to take place in the city. As well, a brand new women’s event, the Women’s Disc Golf Clinic is

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slated for the Birch Point course on May 8 from 10 am to noon. For a $10 registration fee, participants can take part in the clinic and also receive a free disc (paying $20 gets you two discs). Holly Fleming, organizer of the upcoming women’s clinic, started playing disc golf in January 2020 and fell in love with the sport. “There’s a big push to get more women out playing and enjoying the sport, and also there’s the #respectHERgame movement, because there’s been a lot of talk about respect of women on the course,” says Fleming. According to their website, part of the #respectHERgame movement’s vision is “to build a strong, safe and welcoming disc golf community that will attract and retain more female athletes. We want disc golf to be a positive, richly diverse environment that is friendly to all and promotes joy.” Fleming’s event will embody these values by bringing together women of all ages and all skill levels who are

interested in disc golf to meet other players, learn new skills, win prizes from sponsors like Top Link Disc Golf, local retailer The Loop Disc Golf, and more, and to eat pizza (from Eat Local Pizza). When Danielle Duplisea, a longtime ultimate Frisbee player, moved to Thunder Bay to attend Lakehead University, she started going to Birch Point and quickly got the hang of disc golf. She started playing as often as she could, making it to the 2015 PDGA Amateur Disc Golf World Championships. “What I really love about disc golf is how accessible it is to all ages,” she says. “I play with my parents who are in their 60s, and I play with my friends who have little kids.” Duplisea also appreciates how disc golf has been a way to see an area or parts of a new city that she maybe wouldn’t have gone to otherwise. “You can take three discs with you in your suitcase, and play and meet people in all these new places.” Having been the only female competitor in local competition,

Arlene Lahti would like to see more women involved in the sport and in competition. “When we play in tournaments in Thunder Bay, there are not enough women players to have different age categories,” she says. “I’ve played with people who are much younger than me and I have no chance. That’s why I would like to see the sport grow, especially among older women, so that it’s a little more fun when you know you have a chance to play against people of your own calibre.” She adds that she enjoys the game because it’s a fun and inexpensive way to enjoy being outdoors with friends. “It’s [...] the camaraderie of being out with other ladies. It’s companionship, and somewhere to go to get fresh air and exercise.” For more information and to register for the Women’s Disc Golf Clinic, please email hfleming.007@gmail. com and join the Birch Point Disc Golf group on Facebook.

CityScene

Second Life

Dawson General Store Thriving in Former Leppanen’s Location Story by Marcia Arpin, Photos by Keegan Richard

hese days, everyone is craving the security and nostalgia of days gone by. Jesica McNabb, general manager of the Dawson General Store, has made it her business to create that friendly and comfortable experience. Returning to her childhood neighbourhood as an adult, McNabb and her family often passed by the iconic retail space (the former Leppanen’s store) at 3130 Dawson Road, which has struggled to find an identity in recent years. When the property hit

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the market, McNabb jumped at the opportunity, and, in the process, saw her own entrepreneurial spirit and creativity renewed. Ready to develop a new identity for herself and the building, McNabb, in partnership with her husband and extended family, have renovated the space

extensively to develop a general store. “I could see the potential of the space and business even with COVID”, she says. The entire family has worked to create a warm and inviting space, proudly selling gas, gadgets, goodies, and groceries. “We start every day with the goal of making sure that yours is always a little bit brighter for having stopped by,” McNabb says. The Dawson General Store staff has worked tirelessly since their Feb. 18, 2021 opening to stock their shelves with everything you need. Their continuous mission of taking care of their customers in the way classic, retro, family-run corner stores always have has kept them busy seven days a week. This store has committed itself to celebrate and support local

vendors. Currently they are hosting 22 local vendors including Current River Bakery, The Sapling Bakery, the Chronicle-Journal, Rose N Crantz Roasting Co., Prime Gelato, Sleeping Giant Biscotti Company, Slate River Dairy, Eat Local Pizza, and Bay Meats Butcher Shop. Gluten-free goodies are also available from a number of companies. This new establishment will quickly become part of your daily routine for the ease of shopping for your favourite tasty treats, graband-go deli sandwiches, and healthy snacks—and, of course, old-fashioned customer service. Dawson General Store is open daily from 6 am to 8 pm. They offer curbside pick up and in-store shopping as they continue to follow all COVID protocols.

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CityScene

As Nature Intended? Another Look at Organic Cannabis By Justin Allec

ne of the first articles I wrote for Cannabis Corner looked at organic cannabis. At the time, Ontario was still in the first wave of cannabis products being rolled out. There was a lot of dried flower available, but none of it was classified as “organic.” I hypothesized that, like the push for organic produce, there would be some demand for organic cannabis and that desire would eventually match up with organic licensed producers. Some consumers want a product that won’t have them ingesting harmful pesticides, and it didn’t take long for the market to catch up. It’s a few years later and the Ontario Cannabis Store (and your local retailers) now offer a range of products that could be daunting if there wasn’t so much emphasis on educating the public. Over the last year OCS introduced two licensed cultivators that specialize in organic cannabis. Located on the West and East Coasts respectively, both The Green Organic Dutchman (TGOD) and Reef (a brand of Aqualitas) started as medical licensed producers who promoted their products as organic from their beginnings. However, even though they’re both deemed organic by the OCS, there are some subtle differences that reveal how tricky the term can be. One of the biggest challenges with producing organic cannabis

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is getting it designated as organic. Cannabis is like food in terms of consumption—especially edibles, which use typical food ingredients and have calories—but its classification as a controlled substance means that cannabis will be kept away from food-based organic certification. TGOD calls their products organic thanks to Pro-Cert, a North American-based third-party certification company recognized by IOAS (formerly the International Organic Accreditation Service), an international organic and sustainability accreditation organization. There’s a lot of regulation behind the Pro-Cert seal, and TGOD meets that by growing cannabis “naturally.” While that’s as tricky a term as organic, it means the company grows its cannabis in dirt without synthetic fertilizers or pesticides, and primarily relies on sunlight and ultraviolet purified rainwater. Another bonus is that TGOD packaging is recyclable. Reef has similarly nice claims about their growing practices, but their approval comes through the Clean Green Certified proram instead of Pro-Cert. Clean Green is a cannabis industry-specific designation based on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s organic standard, and seems to be just as stringent as Pro-Cert’s requirements, though not as internationally recognized. Reef differs from TGOD by focusing

CANNABIS CORNER

more on sustainability. For example, Reef uses aquaponics, which means their irrigation source is a reservoir stocked with koi fish to produce nutrient-rich water. Either brand is a healthier choice when compared to a regular licensed producer, and it’s heartening to see companies strive to make real changes to their business practices. There’s still the hurdle of cost; like organic produce, you’re going to

pay a bit more for organic cannabis. That cost might not seem prohibitive, though, if it pushes other producers to adopt more sustainable and regenerative methods, such as equitable labour practices. These initiatives will be the next trend for a growing cannabis industry that isn’t just trying to produce a healthier strain for the consumer, but also for the planet.

(807) 623-3011

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CityScene

Tanis Ylimaki, practice manager at Thunder Bay’s Crossroads Veterinary Clinic

Pandemic Puppies New Pet Owners Search for Vet Care as Adoptions Soar

46 The Walleye

right now,” she says. “We don’t have enough vets to meet the demand. People are driving to Dryden to get care, because in Thunder Bay it’s getting overwhelming. No clinic wants to say ‘no, we can’t take on a new animal’ but we need to be able to ensure our clients are taken care of.” For Danielle Heuving, a soonto-be puppy owner, what’s top of mind is socializing her new pet. “My sister got a puppy last March and due to the pandemic she didn’t get any socializing in at all really, so it’s really challenging now,” she says. “We are getting a Bernedoodle puppy in mid-April and definitely are planning COVID-safe puppy playdates,” she continues, adding that she plans to attend The Dog Classroom, a small business in Thunder Bay that assists owners with training skills. Ylimaki suggests that owners train and prepare for behavioral changes as they transition back to work. “The cautious side of me is concerned about the long-term when people start to go back to their busy lives or back into their offices,” she says. “Some people are afraid there will be a big influx into the animal shelters. I also think once people start going back to work, there are going to be a lot of dogs that have separation anxiety.” She adds that her advice is to “start preparing your puppy now.”

Lindy Osipenko-McDonald (far right) with her children and new pet Karma

By Kim Latimer

arma has the markings of a sled dog. Perhaps she’s a mix of husky and shepherd; she’s a rescue, so nobody knows for sure. Karma has dark brown, curious eyes and adorable, disproportionately large puppy paws. “We named her Karma because she was just meant to be. Everything worked out the way we needed it to, when we needed it most,” says Lindy OsipenkoMcDonald, the proud new owner of the six-month-old puppy. A 2020 U.K. pandemic-related mental health study from the University of York and University of Lincoln found that sharing a home with a pet correlates to better mental health and reduced loneliness. More than 90% of the 6,000 study

us the opportunity to be home to raise, train and just be with a new family pet.” Finding a puppy, however, proved challenging. For some, the wait list is long and takes months of advance notice. Animal adoptions also spiked during the first wave of COVID-19. “I didn’t realize the high demand for pets during the pandemic,” Osipenko-McDonald says. In January, she was closely following several online rescues and it took a few weeks before the family found Karma. She was being fostered by Northern Critters In Need, a charitable dog rescue based in Ignace that matches families with dogs from surrounding communities and northern First Nations. “Finding the right family takes time and trust,” Osipenko-McDonald says. “Understandably, they don’t want the dogs to go to the wrong people.” This demand for pandemic puppies is also stretching veterinary services thin. Now, in wave two of the pandemic in Northwestern Ontario, clinics in the Thunder Bay area are very busy, with some no longer accepting new clients at all. Tanis Ylimaki, the practice manager at Crossroads Veterinary Clinic in Thunder Bay, says the shortage of vets locally is straining animal clinics, causing new pet owners to travel outside the city to find care. “[Thunder Bay is] in a tight spot

participants said their pet helped them cope emotionally during lockdown and 96% said the pet both increased their physical activity and decreased psychological stress. But for Osipenko-McDonald, her family’s decision to get a new puppy was less about her own mental health, she says, and more about her concern for the dog’s well-being. Prior to the pandemic, she felt she couldn’t be there for a new puppy. “The pandemic has changed the way my work life looks,” she says. “I used to be out of the house at work for over nine hours a day and then would pick up my kids from daycare. I didn’t want to add a new pet to our lives and leave them alone that long each day. Having worked from home since April 2020, the pandemic gave

Karma, the rescue puppy “Try to get back into a routine well before it starts,” she says. “Make sure, especially with dogs, that they experience some time alone and get used to being alone. That may mean putting them in a crate for an hour a day or leaving, and easing into it.” On the brighter side, Ylimaki adds, “It’s amazing to see pets finding homes right now and people reaching out for medical services

to care properly for their pets. I just want to remind new owners to pre-schedule appointments. There are health benefits to having your dog spayed or neutered.” For Osipenko-McDonald, adopting a rescue puppy during the pandemic “is perfect timing. The puppy gives us more reasons to go outside on walks, play, and laugh despite the stress of the pandemic.”

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CityScene

This is Thunder Bay Stories and photos submitted by readers Our April issue at The Walleye is our annual green issue in celebration of Earth Day. With that in mind, we asked our readers to tell us what you feel is the biggest local environmental concern and why?

 Rike Increasing the city footprint is so wasteful on so many levels—money, energy, land. We don’t need to build out, we need to find better ways to fill the derelict gaps in the city we already have.  Mel The waterfront is just atrocious. The most beautiful spot in our city is along the water— but it’s not. It’s full of industrial trash and heavily polluted grounds leaching into the water. It’s sitting silent.

48 The Walleye

 Nick In my opinion, one of Thunder Bay’s biggest environmental concerns is the trash and pollution on our waterways. All of the fishing line, glass, metal, etc., is very harmful for the ecosystem and very harmful for the wildlife in it. Last summer, I started snorkeling and magnet fishing at many local parks and conservation areas, cleaning up as much trash as possible. I hope that my actions might inspire others to do the same and we can get back on track.

 Anna Our heavy reliance on (especially large/family) vehicles for transportation versus active or public transportation. It seems to me that the use of public transit or active forms of transportation hasn’t been a part of our culture, partially due to the cold climate, but I also think there’s a bit of classist stigma attached to them. With greater infrastructure and awareness development, we could take a tonne of gas-guzzling cars off the roads!

 Vince Complacency. We don’t have air pollution, we have access to almost infinite freshwater lakes and rivers, we don’t have rising sea levels, our weather seems stable, and our cost of living (and energy) is affordable. It’s too easy to live in our eco-comfy bubble and forget that we have work to do just like every other Canadian and human. Fewer cars, less carbon emissions, smarter energy use, less waste, and so on, are our responsibilities too, and we must be working very hard towards improving our global environmental situation.

 Lyndon and Judah Weather patterns are becoming more extreme. It’s either drought or flooding, putting our local agriculture and food systems much more susceptible to failure.

 Hilling The sheer waste inherent in the sprawling layout of our city. Numerous small dwellings heating and cooling independent of their neighbours. More vertical integration and multi-unit dwellings are not something we are used to in a city that aspires to commuting from a secondary, rural acreage, but the redundancy of utilities and building materials has a huge carbon footprint. More condos with urban gardens/green space? Never—lawns and driveways for everyone!  Jess and Bishop The amount of trash/cigarette butts (and many other common pollutants) being washed into the storm drains, eventually ending up in Superior is atrocious. Most storm drains are not cleaned before entering waterways. Picking up trash and rain gardens for the win!

The Walleye

CityScene

Carefree, Fare-Free Pandemic Policies to Promote Public Transportation By Melanie Davis, Policy Analyst, Northern Policy Institute

ith the anniversary of the first COVID-19 lockdown recently passing, we can see how quickly and drastically we have adapted to some very different ways of living. Some changes we may be eager to do away with, but there have also been some adjustments that allow us to question how we want to shape our postCOVID community. What kind of services and priorities would we like to see stick? An area worth focusing on is changes that would support climate change reduction. The global drop in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has received a lot of attention, with a 17% daily drop in emissions during the first wave of lockdowns around the world. With the City of Thunder Bay developing a strategy to become a net-zero carbon city by 2050, there may be some pandemic policy solutions we should consider for permanent changes. One of those changes is revamping Thunder Bay public transit to provide a fare-free service. City transit suspended fare collection from March to July 2020 while barriers to protect bus drivers during

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the pandemic were installed across the fleet; since then, the idea of fare-free transit has begun to gain traction in Thunder Bay. Poverty Free Thunder Bay presented to city council in December 2020 calling for fare-free transit, saying that it is a step towards an equitable

transport system in the city that could reduce our GHG emissions by encouraging more commuters to take public transit. Councillors unanimously agreed to assess their proposal and discuss how to move forward for 2021. On February 8, council revisited the fare-free proposal. One option brought as a motion was to reduce transit revenue in the municipal budget by $115,000 and launch a fare-free transit pilot, which would have granted one day of fare-free transit per month from April 2021 to May 2022. This motion lost, and council instead passed a motion to freeze any

increases to transit fares, cutting a projected $67,900 in revenue from the budget. When taking a glance at those numbers, fare-free transit may seem out of reach, but with the right tools it can be successfully managed. The town of Canmore, Alberta started funding farefree transit through a paid parking initiative in 2018. Additionally, Canmore’s Integrated Parking Management Plan has decreased road and parking congestion by up to 30% while increasing ridership on public transit. While considerably smaller in population compared to Thunder Bay, the option is nevertheless intriguing. While transit hikes take a pause for 2021, it’s worth asking ourselves what would get more commuters to the bus stop. The data tells us that 3.6% of all commuters in Thunder Bay use public transportation to get to work, but 40.3% of all commuters drive fewer than five kilometres to work every day. That is a big chunk of our community getting in their car for a quick trip. Could more accessible transit encourage those driving short trips to skip filling their tank and to hop on the bus instead? The city collected data throughout 2020 that will go into a draft of the Community Energy and Emissions Plan (CEEP) that will be up for public review in spring 2021.

About a third (35%) of survey respondents told the city that urban sprawl and the dominant car culture could make it hard for residents to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels. With such a large area to cover, it’s not realistic to expect a huge shift from car culture to making public transit trendy. Nevertheless, conversations about our public transit infrastructure are worth having, as it touches on important elements of growth for Thunder Bay. For example, fare-free transit could potentially help retain newcomers to the city. Research published in the Canadian Journal of Urban Research shows that recent immigrants are much more likely to use public transit for their commute than Canadianborn residents, more so when they are new to Canada. This affordable, accessible public transit is also a key indicator of a “welcoming community,” according to a 2012 report from London, Ontario. This means that fare-free transit (or something similar) could aid in retention and enhance the quality of life for Thunder Bayers while we collectively reduce our carbon footprint. We will be waiting a bit longer to see what is being proposed in the CEEP draft, but it’s been previously stated that improving public and active transportation are on the table. If you have thoughts on fare-free transit in Thunder Bay, or other ways to encourage uptake on public transit use there is an online engagement tool (getinvolvedthunderbay.ca/community-energy-plan) that allows residents to pose any questions they have. While we won’t be seeing farefree transit piloted this year, there are still important conversations to be had around making community changes to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. Researchers acknowledge the drop in GHG emissions during the pandemic looks significant, but individual choices can’t save the world alone. It’s time to start taking transit seriously in Thunder Bay to preserve our community.

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CityScene

 The choir at Thunder Bay’s Hosanna Karen Baptist Church in 2019, pre-COVID-19  Saw Winning (far right) with his family at 2019 Karen New Year’s celebrations

Help from Afar  Saw Winning (far right) stands with his family at commemoration ceremonies for Karen Remembrance Day on August 12, 2020

City Residents Try to Draw Attention to Unrest in Myanmar By Bonnie Schiedel

ews of the February 1 military coup in Myanmar (Burma), which ousted the leader of the first civilian government, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, shook Thunder Bay’s Karen community. There are about 300 people in Thunder Bay who identify as Karen, referring to the southeast Asian ethnic group. “It is very concerning and worrying because […] we have a lot of relatives back there. And also lots of friends there,” says Saw

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Winning, a longtime Thunder Bay resident who saw firsthand the bombings and other violent effects of civil war in his home village in the Karen state in Myanmar decades ago. Now, he says, there are again military operations in the village where he was born and raised—for instance, a shell was fired into the village’s rice paddies, but fortunately, since it’s not the growing season right now, no one was injured. “There are over 5,000 [people] internally displaced right now, running and hiding in the jungle without food and medicine. […] When you hear from the mainstream media, you mostly hear [about] the demonstrations in a big city. You don’t hear much about those in the [rural areas].” Winning is also concerned about friends in the cities. “They are very scared to go to the street because soldiers and the police start shooting at the people now.” According to the United Nations, more than 50 people have been killed and many more injured as live ammunition is fired into groups who are peacefully protesting the coup. Winning and other members of the local Karen Canadian community, including his sister Presone (Prezena) Htoo, owner of the restaurant Salween, wanted to help. They set up a Zoom meeting in mid-February with local MPs Patty Hajdu and Marcus Powlowski. By sharing their stories—both their lived experience with earlier civil war violence and what they are hearing from friends and family today—they hoped to bring the current situation to the attention of the ministers of foreign affairs and citizenship and immigration. The Canadian embassy has condemned the use of force against protesters and the federal government has imposed economic sanctions against Myanmar military officials involved in the coup. “All we can do is we tell our story and we keep in touch with our MPs and we update them with reliable information,” says Winning. “It will be very helpful to educate our Canadian friends in town here so they’ll come to know and they’ll be aware more what is happening in Burma.”

0 0 2 NY A K OFF

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OC INST IKE E-B

Help Reimagine North Core Streetscapes The City of Thunder Bay is embarking on a once-in-ageneration plan to redesign streets in the North Core Downtown. Visit the project webpage to register for our ﬁrst live consultation opportunity, on April 6, 2021. On the webpage you can learn about the project and about input opportunities.

getinvolvedthunderbay.ca/reimagining-north-core-streetscapes The Walleye

CityScene

EYE TO EYE

With Tammy Cook As told to Matt Prokopchuk, Photo by Kay Lee

onservation authorities play a crucial role in public safety, as well as protecting the environment and natural resources and helping to guide urban planning—particularly around watersheds. Here in Thunder Bay, the Lakehead Region Conservation Authority has been fulfilling that ever-evolving mandate since 1963 (its predecessor, the Neebing Valley Conservation Authority, was created nearly 10 years prior). Generally, conservation authorities have seen their share of funding from the province decrease since the 1990s, and 2020 changes to provincial regulations have further hurt authorities’ mandates, according to environmental proponents. The LRCA’s chief administrative officer Tammy Cook joined us virtually to talk about the changing nature of her organization, as well as her main biodiversity-related concerns, and what her most treasured possession is. On the role conservation authorities have: Conservation authorities really represent the province when it comes to natural hazards in Ontario, and we also provide [space] for recreation, like our conservation areas. We issue flood messages you might hear on the radio and to the media, and we administer regulations that […] direct development outside of natural hazards such as floodplains. On budget cuts and changes to provincial regulations: In 2019, mid-year, they decided to cut our little budget we got from the province in half. So right now, the province only funds about 11% of our budget, even though we have that delegated responsibility to provide comments about the Planning Act and administer regulations, which really are the law.

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[The province] funds very little of our programming—the rest comes mostly from our member municipalities, which are the City of Thunder Bay and all the organized townships that surround the city. They’re paying the most of our levy. On top of the funding cuts, there’s been a lot of changes recently to the Conservation Authorities Act that, whether we agreed to the changes or not, are forced on conservation authorities. Now, for instance, we’re forced to issue permits that may not meet our regulations, but the province is saying, “You have no choice; you must issue these permits if we’ve issued this municipal zoning order.” And then there [are] a whole bunch of other changes that really dictate our governance when it comes to our board composition and the term of our chair, which, in my mind, really is taking away the ability of our municipalities to oversee the conservation authority. On what issues related to biodiversity are top-of-mind for her: Our Superior Stewards program that we’re trying to get launched, to encourage stewardship and biodiversity along the shoreline of the lakes and rivers in our area. I know there’s been a lot of development in cottage lots and people who move in and basically just denude the whole shoreline […] of riparian vegetation. And with the high lake levels on Lake Superior, for instance, now they’re shocked and appalled that they have all this erosion, where, had they left that shoreline vegetation—that shrubby vegetation and trees—they probably wouldn’t be having the same issue. On what she enjoys doing away from work: I enjoy spending time camping and just being outdoors. I live in the country, so I do enjoy just being

Tammy Cook, CAO of the Lakehead Region Conservation Authority holds one of her most prized possessions, a print of a street in Amsterdam outside, living somewhere where I don’t see my neighbours [laughing]. On what food she’s craving: I would say it’s not a food; I really enjoy a good cup of tea. I drink a lot of tea. I like International House of Tea, locally, Thunder Bay tea. I’m just a big tea drinker. I think that would be the thing I would have to say is my favourite food type of item. On the last book she read: I am an avid reader and I typically read a whole variety of books. I just read the MaddAddam trilogy from Margaret Atwood, which was quite interesting in these COVID times to read that. I enjoy a good crime/mystery type of book, but I read a lot of different authors and I

try and find new authors to kind of binge all their books when I find a good author. On her most treasured possession: I’ve done some travelling, and my children have done travelling, and every time we travel, we try and acquire a print from wherever we’ve gone. And monetary-wise it’s not worth a lot of money, but we’ve managed to come up with a collection of these prints that remind us of the time we’ve done travelling, which of course we can’t do at the moment. I would say that, and I do have local art that I quite enjoy and cherish.

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CityScene

Reusable Wrap

Stuff We Like

Three Hugggers

threehuggers.com One of the simplest and most impactful changes you can make for the environment is switching from plastic bags to beeswax food wraps. Made from 100% organic cotton, Canadian beeswax, pine resin, and jojoba oil, these reusable wraps from Three Huggers not only reduce plastic waste, but they also keep food fresh longer because of their breathability—which means less food waste as well!

For a Sustainable Planet By Amy Jones

e know that trying to be an ethical consumer under late-stage capitalism can be a real challenge. In fact, it can be so overwhelming that sometimes we might feel tempted to give up. Our advice for those looking to be more sustainable in their buying practices is to start small—buy less, buy quality, and buy local. Because here at Stuff We Like we do like stuff, but we also love our planet, and we’d like to keep it around for a little while longer. Here is Stuff We Like for a Sustainable Planet.

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Reusable Snack Bag Made By Meag

madebymeag.ca Ditch the plastic zipper bags and pick up a couple of these super cute reusable snack bags from Made By Meag instead. Made with a 100% cotton fabric exterior and a waterproof, machine-washable, and food-safe lining, these bags are great for snacking on the go. Plus, they come in all kinds of cool designs, from flamingos to superheroes and everything in between. Does your zipper bag? We didn’t think so.

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therefillco.net Made of South American wool from free-range sheep and processed through low-impact and earth-friendly methods for a minimal carbon footprint, these reusable dryer balls from The Refill Co. will prevent static cling, naturally soften your clothes, and reduce drying time up to 25% for over five hundred loads. (Plus, no more embarrassing incidents with dryer sheets stuck to the back of your pants… not that that’s ever happened to us….)

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Biodegradable Scrunchies

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Juniper Bee Studio

North Face Eco Trail Bed

etsy.com/shop/juniperbeestudio Scrunchies are back, folks! And while the neon pink ones you bought back in the 80s might be languishing in a landfill somewhere, these scrunchies from Juniper Bee Studio never will—made from natural rubber and organic cotton, they are fully biodegradable. Plus, with these cute designs, we’re pretty sure they’ll actually stay in style.

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894 Alloy Place This updated version of the North Face’s Dolomite series sleeping bag is loaded with lots of new features, including a brushed polyester head liner, wraparound footbox zipper, and an internal phone/watch pocket. But the best part is it’s made from 100% recycled fabric, so you can be good to nature while you’re out enjoying it!

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Sibley Lounge Chair Tok Tok Home

toktokhome.ca Not all Scandinavian furniture is designed to be disposable—in fact, the Sibley Lounge Chair from Tok Tok Home is exactly the opposite. Inspired by the great classics of modern Scandinavian design, this chair is crafted out of a single sheet of sustainably sourced Baltic birch plywood and comes flat packed for a lower carbon footprint. It’s a timeless piece made to last—unlike that Billy bookcase you bought on your last trip to Minneapolis.

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$425

16 Cumberland Street South Stuff We Like loves stuff Ungalli makes! And this gorgeous zip-up Do All Things With Love hoodie is no exception. And, like all Ungalli’s clothes, it is made with love, too—ethically manufactured in Canada from 50% organic cotton and 50% recycled polyester, saving 24 plastic bottles from the landfill. That’s a lot of love all around!

$80

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CityScene

Jaswanth Chadalavada moved to Thunder Bay from India to study digital marketing and analytics

Rubilyn Hortelano, from the Philippines, is enrolled in the college's personal support worker program

Far Away from Home

for COVID-19, Wall says, adding that, as of February, they must also pass COVID screening and quarantine for three days in Toronto while en route to Thunder Bay. Once they arrive, and during the two-week lockdown period here, college staff frequently check in with the students virtually and hold workshops on everything from job searching and nutrition to relaxation. Students often also start connecting with each other online. For Rubilyn Hortelano, a student who came from the Philippines in February to study in the college’s personal support worker program, quarantining in a room by herself was initially difficult and lonely. “I missed my family,” she says. The virtual workshops and check-ins from staff, however, helped to alleviate that. “It really helped me a lot that way—the workshops, talking to other people—[with] emotions of

Studying Abroad During the COVID-19 Pandemic Story by Matt Prokopchuk, Photos by Shannon Lepere

aswanth Chadalavada says he was hoping to wait until COVID-19 had subsided before moving roughly 12,000 kilometres from India to Thunder Bay to attend post-secondary school, but time simply ran out. The 26-yearold Confederation College digital marketing and analytics student started making plans with his family in 2019 to move abroad—the first in his family to do so—in order to better his education in the digital marketing field. Chadalavada arrived in Thunder Bay in early January, after waiting nearly a year back home, hoping the coronavirus pandemic would blow over. “We were expecting it to go, but it was not going [away],” he says. “And we did mortgage […] my uncle’s home for this, so we had interest piling up.” Making the long trip to live and study in a new country, climate, and culture is a daunting enough reality for the hundreds of international students currently in

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Thunder Bay, but making that initial journey in an unprecedented time of uncertainty, worldwide public health restrictions, and ever-changing guidelines is a whole other matter. “It’s been very challenging for the students,” says Miriam Wall, the college’s dean of international education. “Much of the international travel protocols have changed over time and many of the policies around international students being able to study overseas, study online, they also have changed, so […] the one constant we’ve had through COVID is change.” The college has “spent a lot of time updating our policies, bringing students up to date, making sure they’re well-informed, answering their questions,” she continues. “There’s a lot of anxiety and uncertainty.” Students coming to the college from overseas are required, upon arrival, to quarantine for two weeks in campus residences under “very strict protocols,” and then test negative

being down.” Hortelano adds that she also connected with new friends and spoke with her family back home. Chadalavada says he applauds the college for the measures it took to make sure the virus didn’t take hold on campus and spent his time in quarantine also attending the workshops, as well as virtually hanging out, chatting, and playing mobile games with friends and other students. The days “were not that long because the college […] made sure we were not feeling alone, even though we were locked inside our single room for like 15 days,” he says. “The college made sure we were doing fine.” “One thing we’re amazed by is the resilience of the students,” Wall says. “The students in quarantine, for the most part, have been incredibly resilient and creative and helping each other.”

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CityScene

Caprice Ruberto, of Beauty In The Bay

Beauty In The Bay

Breathing New Life into Antique Furniture By Leah Morningstar

aprice Ruberto has always been crafty and creative. As a child, she loved nothing more than to get her hands dirty working on a big project. The medium and the end result wasn’t as

important as the process of being creative and working with her hands. In 2011, Ruberto was looking for a creative side hustle where she could fulfill her need to create while

Submitted by Caprice Ruberto

Before and after pictures of a piece of furniture that Ruberto worked on

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subsidizing her expensive Chevy truck and Harley Davidson hobbies. Ruberto started painting canvases with pop culture images or inspirational and humorous phrases, but she wasn’t sure if she’d found her calling, so to speak. A year later, after being gifted a drill and a set of tools, she found she really enjoyed the physical challenge of working with them. She continued painting but began seeking out old barns and fences so she

could use her tools to dismantle and salvage the wood. Using reclaimed wood as the backdrop for her hand-painted signs and for small construction projects was even better, in Ruberto’s opinion, than painting on plain white canvases. It was several years before Ruberto even thought about fixing up furniture. In 2017, her mother asked if she wanted the old dresser from her childhood bedroom. Ruberto wondered if she could repurpose it to fit her home decor; she agreed to take it and give it a try. The joy derived from sanding and painting and replacing hardware was unlike any other. Soon Ruberto was cruising thrift stores and estate sales, looking for furniture in need of some extra love and care. She was specifically looking for well made antiques that needed a facelift. “If I see a beautiful old solid wood armoire, I leave it for someone else,” she says. “I’m looking for the broken pieces; the worn out pieces. I’m looking for something that needs a bit of help becoming a beautiful treasure.” Ruberto can often be seen unloading furniture into her garage workspace. She’s small in stature but she’s a powerhouse of strength. Ruberto rarely paints on canvases anymore, and the sign painting is minimal. She will likely never stop trying out new ways to be creative, but upcycling quality furniture has provided a comfortable and fulfilling artistic outlet. “With the furniture I really think I found my niche,” she says. “I’m starting to get known for transforming old furniture into something new.” Not everybody can look at an old desk or dresser and see potential. But Ruberto looks at the world and sees nothing but potential. Anything, even the most broken and bedraggled, can be reimagined and remade into a beautiful treasure. If you are looking for quality and unique pieces for your home, peruse Beauty In The Bay on Facebook and Instagram. You might find a treasure or you might be inspired to make your own!

CityScene

Expanding the Brand Toke House Opens Second Location By Matt Prokopchuk Digital rendering of the inside of the new Toke House location. Owner Stephen Kis says there will be a few subtle differences, like televisions on the wall which he renamed Joint Cannabis Accessories). He says he’s really happy with the new north side location, especially as there will soon be a lot more competition, city-wide. “We’re super fortunate to be in that position and have ourselves in an area of town where there’s no competitors either, or no competitors slated to open, so we’re kind of protected and that’s kind of why we chose Current River,” he says. “Right now [...] is kind of that honeymoon phase, but I do think that things will change drastically once all [new locations] are open.” There are only a handful of cannabis shops currently operating in the city, but the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario,

the provincial agency responsible for regulating cannabis retail, lists 18 locations that have either opened their doors or are working through the process to do so. Some of the yet-to-open shops are new businesses, while others, like Kis’s, are already-established vendors looking to set up shop in another location. “The market is just going to keep growing,” Kis says. The Current River location will be located between another cannabis accessory store and a vape shop, Kis says, creating a nice business node in the area. The new store will also feature product menus displayed on large television screens and an

overall design with a lot of “flavour,” he says. Kis is also in the process of expanding his business to Dryden and says he wants to open locations in other Northwestern Ontario communities as well. As for how he will successfully compete in what is promising to be an increasingly crowded cannabis marketplace, Kis says it will be similar to other smaller, local businesses: make your customer feel welcome. “It’s that [...] community feel, like your local pub right? People know your name,” he says. “That’s kind of what we strive for is to make sure that people have that kind of welcoming every time they come in.”

Toke House’s James Street storefront, showing neighbouring Joint Cannabis Accessories

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CityScene

Devon Lee, one of the people behind bringing Life.School.House to Thunder Bay

Makers Gonna Make Life.School.House Offers Barter-Based Workshops that Build Skills and Community Story by Susan Goldberg, Photos by Kay Lee

n a bleak Sunday in February, with the city on the verge of yet another shutdown, a dozen or so creative types in Thunder Bay got a little jolt of inspiration. The participants in Thunder Bay’s first-ever “maker swap” had spent the previous weeks sewing, knitting, felting, preserving, photographing, carving, and crafting. Each dropped off six creations to the home of organizer Devon Lee, who spent a giddy few hours sorting the bounty. Then, the masked makers returned to pick up—and revel in—their six handmade items: a tiny felted animal, a gorgeous framed photo, a hand-carved wooden charcuterie board, a macramé necklace, beeswax wraps, a found-object collage, a jar

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of local pickles, and more. “It was really inspiring,” says Lee, one of the driving forces behind a movement to bring the Life.School.House (LSH) initiative to Thunder Bay. Lee is currently pursuing a PhD in educational studies at Lakehead University, with a focus on North American folk schooling. She met LSH founder Jennifer DeCoste through the Folk Education Alliance of America. “We were the only two Canadians,” she says. DeCoste had been running skills-sharing workshops out of her Nova Scotia home since 2018. She began what became LSH as a vehicle for combating social isolation and creating stronger neighbourhoods. The initiative has since expanded beyond DeCoste’s living

room to more than a dozen sites throughout that province, and has provided more than 350 sessions on everything from soap-making and beekeeping to raising chickens and basic carpentry—really, any skill a community member has to share. What makes LSH sessions unique, explains Lee, is that they’re barter-based: rather than cash, participants bring a gift of their choice as payment—maybe a bunch of beets from their garden, a jar of jam, a poem, a bike tune-up. Bartering reduces barriers to access while emphasizing that the courses have value for everyone involved. Lee was immediately smitten with the idea. She began hatching plans to bring the LSH model to Thunder Bay. A colleague, JoAnne Formanek Gustafson, began the process in Fort Frances. The two envisioned a constellation of LSH sites across Northwestern Ontario. And then, of course, the pandemic hit, forcing Lee and Gustafson to pivot to activities, like the maker

swap, that could be done at a social distance. They’re hoping to begin offering some online workshops. As the weather improves and should the pandemic recede, they hope to expand to outdoor, and, one day, indoor workshops. In the meantime, they plan to run another, bigger maker swap on April 17 and 18. “People may not necessarily think that they’re experts, that they can be teachers,” says Lee. “But through activities like this, they start to recognize that they do have knowledge and skills that they could teach to their community members.” What initiatives like LSH workshops and swaps show us, she continues, is that “we don’t always need outside experts to come in and solve our problems. The solutions to a lot of our problems already exist within our communities, and we just don’t know it yet.” Want to get involved in LifeSchoolHouse Thunder Bay? Check out the group’s Facebook page for more information.

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CityScene

WALL SPACE

Growing Space DeBruin’s Greenhouses

Story by Tiffany Jarva, Photos by Kay Lee

DeBruin adjusts one of the lines to support the tomato vine. “They taste like your grandmother’s tomatoes, or how nature intended,” says co-owner Henriet DeBruin, who is measuring out the 37-foot support strings that hang in the greenhouse. In another greenhouse there are also yellow and red tomatoes started on the vine, along with beefsteaks. he explains. “I realized that I enjoyed it; I wanted to be there and felt like I was wanted and needed, so I went to school for that.” In Holland, DeBruin studied horticulture. Upon moving to Canada, it just made sense to start growing his own stuff. In 1991, DeBruin built his first 800-square-foot greenhouse, growing tomatoes on a dairy farm

belonging to his brother (who settled outside Thunder Bay a few years before him). Today he has over 17,000 square feet of growing space, including a 5,400-square-foot greenhouse dedicated to tomatoes, along with four other houses growing lettuce, basil, cucumbers, hot peppers, and more tomatoes, with plans to continue expanding.

Find DeBruin’s Greenhouses at the Thunder Bay Country Market or shop online through Superior Seasons.

Arjen DeBruin in his tomato greenhouse with about 1,600 plants including Roma, red cocktail, cherry, and red and orange grape tomatoes. These plants have grown at least 16 inches in two weeks, says DeBruin, adding that the cherry tomato plants can grow to be 25 to 30 feet.

t’s the beginning of March in Northwestern Ontario, the temperatures have dropped, and snow has blanketed roads and yards overnight. But you wouldn’t know it inside the balmy spaces that are DeBruin’s: the climate-controlled, hydroponic growing system means there is green sprouting and thriving in all five greenhouses.

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Co-owner Arjen DeBruin is originally from Holland, coming to Grand Bend, Ontario on a student exchange program in 1987 where he met his soon-to-be-wife Henriet, a daughter of a dairy farmer in Stanley, just southwest of Thunder Bay. Since he was 14, DeBruin has worked in greenhouses. “I was always working for some kind of grower, somewhere,”

The lovely aroma of fresh basil wafts throughout this greenhouse, which has both lettuce and basil plants. In 2016, DeBruin swapped out bedding plants for more veggies and herbs, growing about 240 basil plants a week. It’s very fast cycling, he explains, taking six weeks from seed to selling the product, thanks to the hydroponics. “It was the best move we ever made.”

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DeBruin holds up a head of lettuce showing the water underneath, which constantly cycles throughout the greenhouse, supplying roots with water, oxygen, and nutrients. Rain and snow water are collected, then injected with a bit of plant food regulated by an irrigation controller. There are about 960 lettuce plants (two rows of 480). On average, about 26,000 heads of lettuce are grown in a season.

A beehive in the greenhouse helps pollinate the tomatoes. These small bumblebees have been bred for friendliness.

Shredded coconut fibre helps with aeration and growing strong roots. In another greenhouse there are heirloom tomato plants along with mini and English cucumbers. DeBruin says his grandchildren love to come in and grab the mini cucumbers because of their fresh taste and crunch. This mixture includes microscopic bugs, a pesticide-free way of eliminating harmful creatures like mites. It is applied to plants often. DeBruin’s also produces 5,000 to 6,000 pounds of very hot Trinidad Scorpion peppers per season, with plans to hopefully increase pepper production significantly in the next couple of years.

The harvest cart helps with providing materials, like sticks and clips, needed for tending to the tomatoes.

A specialized scissor lift cart is used to help reach and manage the vines as they grow taller.

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CityScene

GO LOCAL THUNDER BAY COUNTRY MARKET The Orysi booth at the Thunder Bay Country Market

Irene McFarlane, owner of Orysi

Orysi Story by Sarah Kerton, Photos by Keegan Richard

rene McFarlane started Orysi in 1998, and has been a market vendor for over 15 years. McFarlane makes all of her own products at home from quality essential oils, as well as organic and herbal ingredients. She is one of the largest distributors of quality essential oils in Northwestern Ontario. Every Wednesday and Saturday, you can find McFarlane at her main floor market booth, selling a variety of personal care products including lotions, soap, body washes, bath salts, and therapeutic products. One of her favourite aspects of her business is “making blends with essential oils. I love making a blend for a specific ailment such as eczema. […] I have also been selling blends locally that are used with clients who are suffering with addiction, or emotional problems. That’s an important one I love to do.” McFarlane says she is always happy to customize blends for those who are looking for a unique product. Her real long-time interest lies in working with essential oils and aromatherapy. “I feel like it has always been a part of me,” she says. McFarlane is always fascinated with the ingredients in different products, and takes the time to understand the science behind natural remedies. And with over two decades behind her

products—including her Revenge outdoor spray—it’s safe to say that her wares have stood the test of time. McFarlane was a leader in the adoption of holistic and eco-friendly options for personal care products, locally. When asked how she feels about being ahead of her time, she is humble and just says she is “happy [that] others have started to see the value of my products. People are asking questions about essential oils and looking for general knowledge on how to use them.” As a long-time vendor, her favourite aspect of the market is that “it’s a happy place. Vendors are very knowledgeable with their products. Not having a retail store anymore, it’s nice to see some of my customers.” Orysi’s market best-seller has recently been the sauna blends— essential oils that can be added to the bucket of water in the sauna— along with her muscle soak and complexion soap. Nothing replaces a visit with the knowledgeable McFarlane at her booth, but you can also find Orysi products at Authentique Gift Shop on Bay Street and Crystal Beach Variety in Shuniah. Revenge is also available seasonally at Gear Up for Outdoors, Kelly’s Nutrition Centre, and the Northwestern Veterinary Hospital.

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Music

From Thunder Bay with Conviction Ded Agency

Sydney Blu Releases New Album in Midst of the Pandemic

ard work and dedication are the main ingredients to most success stories. But I think it is fair to say that large amounts of those two things are even more important when coming from a relatively isolated region. Joanne Hill, better known as Sydney Blu, is a prime example of this— and that whole premise of a strong work ethic is what led to the name of her latest album, Conviction, which was released in March. Leaving Thunder Bay shortly after high school, Blu found her way into the underground electronic music scene, and to say that she

flourished would be an understatement. Making a name for herself in Toronto, she quickly rose through the ranks, started touring heavily, and found herself sharing stages with the likes of DeaduMau5, Hot Since 82, Kevin Saunderson, and Roger Sanchez. After spending time as the resident DJ at Toronto’s The Guvernment nightclub, she took up an offer to relocate to South Beach’s hottest club at the time, Mansion Miami. Her presence in the electronic music scene continued to grow from there. Blu soon found herself moving from Miami to Los Angeles and then in 2019, she crossed the pond to Europe and set up shop in Berlin. This is where she started working on the follow-up to her album Relentless, while playing live shows in front of the European electronic music scene’s large crowds. She had been planning to settle in Berlin for a while, but those

plans quickly changed as her North American tour screeched to a halt due to COVID-19. She decided instead to return home to Thunder Bay to ride out the pandemic and focus on finishing her new project. Since its release, Conviction has received a lot of industry praise, and several of the initial tracks are gaining chart traction. The singles “Monologue” featuring Fritz Helder, and “Conspiracy” and “To

the Ground” with Jeny Vega are leading the charge out of the gate. It is fantastic to see somebody from home go out into the world and not only be a success but become a benchmark by which other successes are measured. Hopefully our COVID-tainted world takes a turn for the better and Blu can get back at it, but it is good to see that a little Conviction goes a long way. #RIGHTdeadly

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Music

From left to right, Mike Kennedy, Dave Taylor, Jarek Brown

Lighten That Heavy Load

A Conversation with Vape Dealer By Justin Allec

ape Dealer were happily trucking along their own winding, psychedelic road. After the usual period of jamming ideas and rotating members, by 2019 Vape Dealer’s lineup had settled into the trio of singer/guitarist Dave Taylor, drummer Jarek Brown, and newest recruit Mike Kennedy on bass—a converted saxophonist from The Thirsty Monks. The band had started cultivating a live set of acid-splashed, sun-drenched metal tunes equally indebted to Black Sabbath, Fu Manchu, and the Dead Kennedys. The hunt was on for the perfect riff; Vape Dealer were rolling. Then everything went sideways. “It was my first show with the band at the Apollo last February [2020], and I was having a ball,” Kennedy recalls. “I picked up the bass and turned to a supportive role in the

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band; it was such a treat just being engaged with what we were creating in that way.” The good vibes wouldn’t last as this would be Vape Dealer’s last performance for some time. A few weeks later quarantine measures shut down Thunder Bay’s nightlife. With an uncertain landscape ahead, the trio shifted plans for recording and touring. “We started 2020 with the idea of putting out an EP, but then we got a lot more new material written than we expected,” Taylor says. “So we decided just to do a smaller release and save the rest of the songs for a full-length when shows might come back.” While we’ll have to wait for a whole album’s worth of Vape Dealer material, they’ve uploaded two tracks to Bandcamp to remind people what they’re all about. “Universal Ride” is

the older track, and it speedily zigs and zags under a thick layer of fuzz. It’s a quick trip, but you can hear the band expanding and extrapolating those ideas on the newer track “False.” At twice the length of “Universal Ride,” “False” feels just as efficient but more dynamic— the band’s playing around, and not afraid to introduce “some pretty weird ideas,” to quote Taylor. Mostly, Vape Dealer has been laying low. Aside from some writing and recording, the band hasn’t performed, with the exception of two livestreams. One occurred right when the first quarantine measures went into place, while

a second one in September was a fundraiser for Tumblestone. Though there’s no replacing the experience of performing in front of a crowd, Vape Dealer persevered, even though it felt different. “There was definitely some staring going on at first between us,” Taylor laughs, “Like, should we clap for ourselves?” Vape Dealer know we’re living through some strange times, but they’ve got a musical escape just waiting for you. To hear more from Vape Dealer, you can visit their Bandcamp site at https://vapedealer.bandcamp.com/ releases

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Music

King of the Dead Takes Reign

Metal Rapper’s Enigmatic Rebrand is Born Out of Hell By Michael Charlebois

lthough he could be a familiar face, the man behind the name of rising local rapper Blaqk Reign will remain just that: the man behind the name. Blaqk Reign, who started doing local shows as a metal artist in 2007, has carefully rebranded, and it’s catching the attention of people around town. Despite the attention, he is as comfortable as ever cloaked in a dark layer of anonymity. “I hear people talk about [my music], and they don’t know it’s me. I kind of like that,” he says. Since releasing music under the moniker in late November 2020, he’s garnered over 1,000 followers on Instagram, and over 3,500 monthly listeners on Spotify. The vocals sound like they scratch the surface of hell, his artwork is something out of a nightmare, and his style fuses downright devious trap melodies with horrorcore metal. The end result is masterful; something from a meticulous artist who knows exactly what he’s doing from the time he lays down the first 808 until it reaches our smartphones. “I’m a very meticulous person. I try to figure things

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out three steps ahead,” he says, adding that the trap influence on his former “metal elitist” self opened up possibilities for his music he never thought to explore. “I’ve always been a rap enthusiast. I’ve always dabbled in making my own beats and trying stuff out,” he says. The marriage of the two popular genres has only given him confidence in seeing his artistic vision through. “It’s always been taboo to go outside of a genre for inspiration,” he says. “I just tried to make music I want to make and not worry about what other people might think.” He credits Marilyn Manson, Slipknot, and even Daft Punk for revolutionizing the idea of hiding your face and letting the music speak for itself. By doing everything from production, to mastering mixes, to video animation, Blaqk Reign remains in complete control, even if his true identity is never part of that equation. You can listen to the enigmatic artist on Spotify and YouTube, or catch his music videos on Instagram via @blaqk.reign.

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Music

in my collection, a reminder of a simpler time. All were about three times the cost of a regular LP. And yes, the artist was not getting any of the money. I tried to balance this knowledge by purchasing all the official stuff. The fact is, by the time I really could find and afford bootleg albums, they were already becoming passé. Record companies like Columbia realized the appetite for unheard music and started putting it out themselves. In 1975, The first “official” Bob Dylan bootleg album was released, called The Basement Tapes. This double album was made up of loose, funky performances that were really meant to be unheard demos for other artists. It was a huge seller. In 1990, Columbia began The Bootleg Series, another Dylan series that keeps going to this day. The end of the vinyl era did not mean the end of bootlegs, however. In fact, in some ways, getting bootlegs became easier, thanks to the ease of burning a CD. One of the

BURNING TO THE SKY

most famous is The Black Album by Prince. After recording it for release in December 1987, the artist had a change of heart and made Warner Bros. destroy 500,000 already-pressed copies. However, 100 or so promo copies had already gone out and the bootlegs were soon circulating. The Black Album would become the most popular bootleg of the CD era. Prince finally did a limited release of it in 1994, but by then most of the fans already had it. In 2021, the Internet, with its file-sharing, fan sites, and music streaming services, has made the bootleg album redundant—a distant memory. Most legacy artists have officially released as much of their bootleg material as possible, but some stuff still floats out there. As I finish this column, I’m listening to the version of “If You Gotta Go, Go Now” by Bob Dylan, from the Great White Wonder album. It is on YouTube for all to hear and sounds really, really good. A little shot of nostalgia in a crazy time.

The Bootleg By Gord Ellis

f you have followed this column for any length of time, you’ve likely figured out that I grew up in the golden age of vinyl and classic rock. As much as the late 60s, 70s, and early 80s was a wonderful time to be a music lover, it was also a time when getting the undiscovered music of an artist was problematic, if not impossible. Finding the outtakes, cast-offs, live gigs, and discarded albums that are largely available with the click of a mouse in 2021 was like chasing the wind pre-internet. The only real chance a music lover had was to get what was called a bootleg album. The bootleg was an illegal pressing of music that had likely been stolen—or quickly copied—by someone close to the artist. These albums were expensive to buy, cheaply packaged, and incredibly desired. The first and perhaps most famous bootleg album was released in 1969. It was called Great White Wonder and featured unheard

and obscure performances by Bob Dylan. Packaged in a plain white sleeve, the album did not look like much, but was in huge demand. It is widely believed to be the best-selling bootleg album of all time and gave Dylan’s record company Columbia major gas. As a young man and huge Dylan fan, the very idea that this album existed was beyond my imagination. So in 1984, at 21 years old, when I found the album in a used record shop in Toronto, I did not think twice about dropping $50 for it, even though that meant eating Kraft Dinner for a week. When I dropped the needle, the well-worn bootleg was lo-fi and scratchy. Yet the unheard Dylan gems here were chilling and thrilling. Over the next few years, I collected more bootlegs, including outtakes and concerts from the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Frank Zappa, The Beatles, and The Who. Some of these albums remain

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Music

An Easter Gift of Music Conductor and Musician Maria Fuller Virtually Puts Together Ensemble

James Moat

Story by Ayano Hodouchi Dempsey

The Thunder Bay Symphony Chorus. Some members are involved with Maria Fuller’s project

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enlisted the help of musicians she knew, including members of the Thunder Bay Symphony Chorus. Fuller herself plays the trumpet, harpsichord, and organ. Each musician sent Fuller a recording they made of their parts, and she compiled them using sophisticated software. “As a conductor it’s really neat to work virtually,” says Fuller. The software allows her to manipulate the recording, so instead of asking a musician to play something differently at a rehearsal, she can tweak it herself. “It’s a lot of fun putting it all together,” she adds. The careers of many performing artists have been put on hold over the past year. But far from feeling powerless, Fuller has taken control of her life, determined to find creative solutions and artistic outlets. “I keep thinking, we have so much time now, time we used to wish we had. It makes me wonder: are we using this time, or are we letting this time use us? We’ve all wished for a break from our hectic, goal-oriented, success-driven lives, a time when we could truly feel presence

of mind in the calm of the moment,” Fuller says. The pause in her career has given her a rare opportunity to dive into things she previously didn’t have time for, such as arranging. “Both music and the church are close to my heart,” she says. “Our

Easter Gift of Music project is a fun way for me to make a collaboration between the two at a very meaningful time. I hope the community enjoys it.” The music will also be available online at mariafuller.com/composer.

Maria Fuller

Sebastian Serrano-Ayala

“T

he past year has been a year of brainstorming for everyone, not just the creative arts,” says Thunder Bay musician Maria Fuller. For Easter, she came up with an offering of music arranged and performed by herself, with the help of many musician friends. “I grew up in a family of trumpet players. Trumpet is pretty big for Easter and we’re used to performing on Easter Sundays,” she says. “I thought, maybe there’s a project that can involve my musician friends; a video that can be offered as a part of Easter church services.” She offered the music to churches in Thunder Bay, so that they could incorporate it into their virtual (or in-person, if restrictions allow) Easter Sunday morning services. Fuller took two Easter hymns, “Low in the Grave He Lay” and “Crown Him With Many Crowns,” and a congregational singing number, “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today,” and arranged them for a string quartet, trumpet, harpsichord, organ, and choir. She

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Meet Jen Mitchell and Sarah Blando, the two sisters and entrepreneurs behind The Refill Co. Jen and Sarah have lived in the Murillo area for over 25 years and both share a love for nature and the animals who live in it. Their love for nature extends further than just enjoying the outdoors— these two sisters wanted to do more when it comes to preserving the natural world. With young families comes lots of cleaning and, therefore, lots of cleaning products. For many years, Jen wondered why there wasn’t a place to refill those products locally. She wanted to reduce single-use plastics in her life while providing a local solution for others in Thunder Bay. Therefore, she approached her sister with an idea, and The Refill Co. was born. The Refill Co. is a bulk refill and package-free/plastic-free eco-friendly shop. Customers are able to bring reusable containers and fill up cleaning products and supplies. All products in the shop are eco-friendly and provide an alternative approach to traditional forms of packaging. Check out the Refill Co. by visiting therefillco.net.

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We were both on maternity leave when we started this business, and were looking for a way to be able to stay at home with our babies while also working to provide for our families through something we are passionate about. Neither of us had a business background, but what drew us to entrepreneurship was simply the idea that we could possibly make an impact in our city, no matter how large or small. Our hope is to help show people that anyone can make a difference by starting right where they are with what they have. We love researching and finding new products that can help meet a need to replace a less sustainable option. By offering these eco-friendly sustainable options all in one place, our goal is to make it easier for people to make some simple swaps, and reduce their waste. What is your most memorable moment as an entrepreneur? This is a really tough question because Sarah and I love this business so much, we get extremely excited over just about everything and celebrate every milestone. Our grand opening was incredibly memorable because the support was just so much more than we could have anticipated. We couldn’t have asked for a better response from the community. However, since then, we have met so many new people and have had so many insightful conversations regarding waste reduction and helping the environment. We learn so much from chatting with our

incredible customers. Every time we get to expand and bring in a new product line it’s memorable to us because it feels like a stepping stone of growth and reminds us that when a community comes together, they can make a large impact. But perhaps the most rewarding part about all of this is watching our kids be involved and teaching them the importance of taking care of our planet, and showing them that our choices make an impact. My four-year-old has been in the shop many evenings chatting with us while we stock shelves or instigating inventory dance parties, and it’s exciting to be able to experience something you’re so passionate about with your family. Who was your biggest inspiration/ mentor? There are so many people we have followed and learned from over the years but one woman who sticks out in my mind goes by the name of Sarah Sailer. One of her children had some scary health issues, and together their family started their journey of living off their land by converting their entire yard into a garden and mini farm to grow all of their own food. They even teach and inspire their community how to do the same. Her story gave me a passion for making my own sourdough, composting food scraps, an increased love for gardening, and creating soup stocks from scraps. Through discovering her story, my passion for using up what you have, repurposing what you can, and trying to reduce waste was sparked and evolved into a new way of thinking.

Since my sister and business partner, Sarah, and I have a shared passion for the environment, we are always bouncing ideas off one another, and eventually this inspired thinking led to the idea of opening up a bulk refill store. Since then, we have discovered many refillery and zero-waste stores across Canada as well as many thought-provoking environmentalists who we draw inspiration from. We have been fortunate enough to connect with the owners of some of the other refill stores throughout Canada and have found a wonderful like-minded community that encourages and inspires us to continue working towards change. If you could go back in time what piece of advice would you give yourself? The biggest piece of advice we would give ourselves if we could go back in time would be to have faith that who you are is enough to make a difference. Anyone can make a difference, no matter how big or small. There are so many amazing businesses in this city and we questioned our ability to find our place among them, to create something of value to our community. We are both fairly shy and reserved, so how are we going to create something that draws people in and serves as a source of inspiration to them? And although putting yourself out there can be terrifying, when you act with passion, and believe in what you are doing, you are enough.

Music

Building a Career

Rapper Sean Skiez Working on Steady Release Schedule By Kris Ketonen

he New Year marked a major shift for Sean Skiez. While the Fort William First Nation artist has been in the local rap scene for about a decade— Skiez formerly performed under the name Apache, battling and playing various venues in Thunder Bay—it was around the beginning of this year that Skiez, as he himself puts it, began to take himself seriously, with an eye to building a career in hip hop. That meant “using the proper resources, the proper recording equipment, finding the proper

producer to outsource, obviously, the instrumental or the beat,” Skiez says. “Just doing everything in a professional way that I wouldn't do before. Putting my time, my own money, investing it in myself.” Granted, if one listens to Skiez talk about his love of music, particularly hip hop, this change doesn’t come as a big surprise. It’s certainly something he never took lightly. “I find the way you can express yourself through lyrics and through wordplay, it gets me a different feeling,” Skiez says. “It’s a cool way to express yourself, especially if you’re dealing with something like anxiety, or if you have some personal issues or something like that, I find that hip hop or just rap and music like that, it’s soothing. It helps when you’re able to write these things down, and just express yourself.” The new approach has led Skiez to step up his efforts when it

comes to releasing music, as well. In February, for example, Skiez released the song “Rough,” which was followed by “Alright” in March. Another single is poised for release at the end of April, says Skiez, who counts The Kid LAROI, Drake, Ian Dior, Machine Gun Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and Neil Young among his influences. “I want to focus more just on singles rather than albums for now,” he says. “I am aiming for a single each month, or every second

month,” he continues, adding that he’s concentrating on “just kind of being focused on these singles just to have music out there right now.” Sean Skiez will be performing at the International Indigenous Hip Hop Awards, which take place May 22 and 23. To learn more, visit https:// www.indigenoushiphopawards.com/. To hear some of Skiez’s music, visit his SoundCloud page at soundcloud. com/iamseanskiez.

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Music

Geena Salway Section Viola, TBSO By Kris Ketonen Born: Regina, Saskatchewan Instrument: Viola Age you started to study music: Violin at age 6, viola at age 13 How long have you been with TBSO: In her second season What’s on personal playlist: Schubert’s Octet, Brahms’s Piano Quintet While the 2020–21 Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra season has been a difficult one because of the COVID-19 pandemic, violist Geena Salway is seeing the bright side. “It’s kind of unfortunate,” she says. “We’re in the same orchestra, the same town, we haven’t seen each other, played with each other in so long, just because of the circumstances, so I'm definitely looking forward to that orchestra happy reunion. But at the same time, I’ve actually really been enjoying the chamber music.” It’s a different skill set when it comes to the chamber performances, Salway says. “In the orchestra, it’s a big group and you don’t always get to play the melody, or play the main voice,” she says. “In the chamber group, of course, everyone gets their own melody, everyone gets their chance to shine. So it’s kind of a

more personal performance. You can put more of your personality into it.” Salway started her musical training at age six on the violin, prompted by her father and his own love of— and experience with—the instrument. “My dad used to play violin when he was younger, and he always wished he’d continued playing after high school,” Salway says. “When I was a little bit older, he was saying, ‘Hey, you should take violin lessons.’ It was kind of an opportunity for us to learn together, in a way. For him to re-learn, and then me to start from the beginning.” Salway admits that learning the violin with her father was intimidating at first. But she learned quickly. “Then I was teaching him,” she says. “When I started playing more advanced pieces […] it got more challenging for us to play together.” At 13, Salway switched to the viola—which emits a lower, deeper sound than a violin—the instrument she now plays professionally with the TBSO. And it was a switch Salway certainly doesn’t regret. “I just feel like I can get more into the musicality of the pieces on the viola than I could on the violin,” she says.

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OfftheWall

REVIEWS

Working with God

Detroit Stories

The Melvins

Working with God, the latest release from the legendary Melvins, is irrefutable proof of the band’s musical relevance. I’ve only listened a few dozen times now, so I hate to jump the gun, but I think it ranks as my favourite Melvins album since 1994’s Stoner Witch, or maybe 2006’s (A) Senile Animal— you know what, nevermind. I like everything these fellas put out, so I am undeniably biased. The point, in the end, is that Working with God will not disappoint longtime fans, or new listeners looking for some new, heavy-hitting, alternative rock. “Bouncing Rick,” “Caddy Daddy,” and “Hund” are my top picks so far, but I must give special notice to the Beach Boys tribute “I Fuck Around,” which may be offensive but is still RIGHT deadly! We’re all feeling the stresses of the global pandemic and I hate to pander to it, but if you need some musical stress relief this just might be the prescription you are looking for. - Jamie Varga

Alice Cooper Rock and roll’s preeminent “golf monster” (and a favourite with Thunder Bay audiences) returns in 2021 with his 28th studio record, Detroit Stories, a musical homage to his Motor City hometown. Not only does Cooper cover a handful of Detroit-area bands (MC5, Bob Seger, Outrageous Cherry), he also brings in the surviving members of the original Alice Cooper Band to lend a hand on a couple of tracks, including the hilarious “I Hate You.” Overall, the sound is exactly what one would expect from an Alice Cooper album circa 2021: solid, straightforward, heavy rock, expertly polished by longtime producer/collaborator Bob Ezrin, and featuring Cooper’s signature wit and snarl. Despite the occasional left turn (“$1000 High Heel Shoes” adds a healthy dose of jazz and funk) there aren’t many surprises here and, at 15 tracks, the album could be accused of being a bit on the long side. Still, Cooper and his cohorts have created a fun, energetic album, and a fine full-length follow-up to another recent Cooper triumph, 2017’s Paranormal— proof positive that, even in his eighth decade, Alice can still deliver. - Matt Prokopchuk

The Walleye

The Stars

Single Album

iskwē

NOFX

Iskwē walks among the giants of Canadian music right now, and her latest release, The Stars, is evidence of that. Not so much a play on words as creative inversion of sorts, The Stars is made up of totally rearranged versions of songs from her Juno-nominated album Acākosīk. Even the title plays upon that inversion, acākosīk being the Cree word for stars. Joining iskwē in the new arrangements is a trio of musicians on classical instruments: Michael Shand on piano, Mariel Gonzalez on cello, and Laura C. Bates on violin. The album also features a special rendition of the track “Night Dangers” that was reworked along with the FILMharmonic Orchestra from Prague. This gives The Stars an immediate change in tone and experience from the more contemporary sounds of her last album. The music is gorgeous, the lyrics are touching and substantial, and the overall experience is a shining example of musical excellence. It is hard to pick favourites, but I found the tracks “Little Star (Stars Mix)” and “Breaking Down (Stars Mix)” to be the ones I gravitated toward most.

Alright, who picked this NOFX album for review? Was it you, snotty 13-year-old? Or was it you, jaded geezer? Surprise: it was both of them, and they’re glad to hear the new songs from these old friends. The elder jesters of So-Cal skate punk are back with their 14th full-length, and while everything is terrible, a new NOFX album shows that everything is terrible in new and exciting ways. The obvious hook for old fans is the first single “Linewleum,” a heartwarming, head-shaking metacover of their 1994 song “Linoleum.” Arranged around that familiar noise is the usual NOFX mixed bag. There are examples of top-shelf punk rock (“Birmingham”) and the required ska song (“Fish in a Gun Barrel”) that could live harmoniously on any of their past albums. A few well-placed curveballs, such as trudging opener “The Big Drag” and the piano-ballad exorcism of “Your Last Resort,” add to the variety, and it’s always hard to resist Fat Mike’s lyrical blend of toilet humour and social lampooning, even if you don’t agree with him. Single Album is fast, funny, and is as catchy as hell; most importantly, it has enough “good” songs that you’ll want to get to know before heading back towards NOFX’s classic albums for comfort.

- Jamie Varga

- Justin Allec

Islands

Justin Rutledge Sunday mornings are my time to chill, enjoy a cup of Red Rose tea, and listen to some sweet-sounding tunes. Toronto singer/songwriter Justin Rutledge fits the bill. This Juno Award winner just released his ninth studio album, called Islands. It’s actually a retrospective collection. He’s re-recorded some of his songs from earlier albums and also added a couple of new ones. The album is a mix of gentle alt-country and rootsy ballads. There’s a couple of uptempo tunes and an instrumental as well. There is a subtle elegance to Rutledge’s music—the songs sneak up on you and seem to grow with each listen. The production is clean and uncluttered, with most songs featuring just Rutledge’s melodic voice, guitar, and piano. Favourite songs include the heartfelt “Good Man,” with some great backup guitar, and the surprisingly beautiful instrumental “Federal Mail.” If you're new to Rutledge’s music, then Islands would be a good place to start. If you’re a fan already, you won’t be disappointed. - Gerald Graham

Well Said

Heather Reisman and Shivani Persad Could you go a whole 24 hours without using screens? Or how about setting aside 15 minutes a day to focus on just breathing? Well Said provides a tremendous outlet geared towards focusing on mental health, calmness, and creating a sustainable lifestyle. Although the podcast just launched in January 2021, Heather Reisman and Shivani Persad have already brought on numerous enthusiastic and informed guests who teach the listener about the most simple, yet critically life-changing routines. My favourite episode (thus far) discusses breathing techniques and the absolutely undeniable mental and physical benefits of meditation. With that being said, let’s deeply inhale through the nose, slowly exhale from the mouth, and prepare for one of the most cleansing and thoughtprovoking podcasts out there. - Andrea Lysenko

The Uninhabitable Earth

David Wallace-Wells “If you have made it this far, you are a brave reader,” writes David WallaceWells just past the midway point of The Uninhabitable Earth. The preceding pages are full of analysis and predictions that make it abundantly clear that humanity is on a horrifying trajectory towards climate-induced misery and suffering that will affect everyone. The book is reminiscent of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring—the 1962 classic in which Carson sounded the alarm about the effects of widespread pesticide use on insects and birds. But unlike Carson’s message, which came at a time when there was still hope that the trend could be reversed, Wallace-Wells’s does not. He does not focus on solutions, because we already know what they are, but most of us—particularly the political and industrial elites with the power to invoke change—continue to fall short on implementation. The book packs a tonne of information into its 269 pages and is a must-read for anyone who is still not convinced of the scale and imminence of the effects of climate change. It’s also a stark reminder that COVID-19 is not really the biggest challenge faced by our generation.

The Soil Will Save Us Kristin Ohlson

Kristin Ohlson's The Soil Will Save Us explains how healthy soil sequesters carbon from the atmosphere, and how agriculture releases the carbon that was once safely stored in that soil. The book outlines the many obstacles to rebuilding soil carbon— proven methods are politically ignored, they cut into profits, and are hard to look at scientifically— and also highlights the enterprising people around the world who have conducted their own experiments in soil productivity and drought resistance, with amazing results. The Soil Will Save Us is a fairly easy read. Ohlson writes conversationally, effectively explaining most of the concepts she covers. The one exception was Chapter Five, where she didn’t do a good job of defining economic concepts; this chapter was also really heavy with names and acronyms, making it much harder to follow than the rest of the book. But otherwise, this book filled me with hope: maybe the soil really can save us from climate disaster - Shauna Kosoris

- Margaret Ryan

The Walleye

Salvation Army Journey to Life Centre By Nicholas Duplessis

Courtesy of i4architecture

 The Salvation Army's Journey to Life Centre on Cumberland Street  The Journey to Life's green living wall

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he Salvation Army Journey to Life Centre is located at 545 Cumberland Street, adjacent to the Salvation Army’s previous location, which the organization called home for 50 years. The Journey to Life Centre began construction in 2019. The building will host 46 shelter beds, addictions and mental health treatment, job and skills training, and education. The third floor hosts the Journey to Life program, the building’s namesake. The location of the Journey to Life Centre was a purposeful decision made to mirror an individual’s journey, and to provide scenic views of Lake Superior. In addition to providing emergency and long-term accommodation, the Journey to Life program, when running at full capacity, will help 20 individuals at a time transition from homelessness into secure housing. The Journey to Life Centre is a three-story residential occupancy building that has a main floor

area of just over 14,000 square feet and a total floor area of over 28,000 square feet. A central element in the design of the Journey to Life Centre is the recognition that architecture can encourage social interaction and belonging. For example, the layout of the building “radiates from the central core where the more communal, social, and healing spaces are located,” according to a design brief for the project, while interaction and relationship building is fostered through the inclusion of several common areas throughout the facility. Important to the design of the facility is the inclusion of Indigenous principles; in particular, the central core and the chapel incorporate elements from Indigenous culture to ensure that the building is warm and welcoming for the entire community. The Journey to Life Centre was designed with a modern Scandinavian influence, characterized by simplicity, minimalism,

Keegan Richard

Architecture

Courtesy of i4architecture Keegan Richard

Courtesy of i4architecture

operate as environmentally friendly as possible. The Salvation Army Journey to Life Centre is, architecturally, a modern addition to Thunder Bay. However, although the architecture is exquisite and appealing, the most important element of the building is the work that happens inside. The Salvation Army is poised to continue to make a significant contribution to health and well-being in Thunder Bay, and they’ll be doing so equipped with a new home. Nicholas Duplessis is a member of the City’s Heritage Advisory Committee and sits on the board of directors for the Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society. He can be followed on Twitter @ nickduplessis4.

Keegan Richard

Courtesy of i4architecture

functionality, and the use of natural materials. The stunning building is accentuated on the exterior by the numerous courtyards and green areas. The juxtaposition of the building’s warm character and the natural outdoor elements helps to create an atmosphere of calm throughout the centre’s grounds. There are many remarkable architectural elements in the interior. Of note, the integration of holistic, natural elements throughout the interior helps to promote physical and mental health and well-being. An excellent example of this concept is the presence of a green living wall that greets every individual who enters. The building is also designed to be energy efficient, utilize sustainable materials, and to

The Walleye

AprilEventsGuide Ongoing Banff Film Festival Virtual World Tour Virtual

The Banff Film Festival is online for some #epicadventuresindoors, featuring skiing and snowboarding adventures and the personal stories of inspiring people. Films are offered in two separate programs or as a bundle; prices in USD.

filmfest.banffcentre.ca

Ongoing Thunder Bay Museum Virtual Exhibits Virtual

Explore the art of artist, mapmaker, and illustrator Hans Krakhofer. Delve deep into Thunder Bay’s past places like the historic Algoma Hotel and the famed Chapples building. Take an illustrated history of the city’s east end. Gather round the kids for A Tail of Two Cities, which sees Jerry Muskrat visiting the museum to discover the history of Fort William and Port Arthur. Peruse items that are unique, historic, and everything in between.

thunderbaymuseum.com

April 1–30 Willow Springs’ Butterflyway Ranger Project Various

Willow Springs Creative Centre has been selected as part of the David Suzuki Foundation Butterflyway Project and they’re looking for friends like you to help. This volunteer, resident-led movement will take place in communities throughout Canada to create habitat for local bees and butterflies. They will assemble a team to create a network of pollinator patches in yards, fields, and schools in the Thunder Bay, Lappe, and Kaministiquia areas. See this month’s Top Five for more info.

willowsprings@tbaytel.net

EVENTS GUIDE KEY General Food Art Sports Music

April 3 French Wine Tasting with Red Lion Smokehouse Virtual

Red Lion Smokehouse is offering another virtual wine tasting with a focus on French wine. The event builds on their January tasting, but anyone who loves wine or wants to learn more is welcome. Learn how to read a French wine label, the different classifications of wine, and various wine regions of France, grape varieties, and perhaps most importantly, sampling the wine. See this month’s Top Five for more info.

hello@redlionsmokehouse.ca

April 3 Cambrian Players presents Love/Sick Virtual

Get front-row seats to Cambrian Players’ fully staged, livestreamed production of John Cariani’s Love/Sick—a wild and wacky look at love. Directed by Thomas McDonald, Love/Sick, which is comprised of nine short plays, will take you behind the closed doors of suburbia where all is not what it seems. The (virtual) curtain rises at 7:30 pm. See this month’s Top Five and Film & Theatre section for more info.

showtix4u.com/events/ cambrian

April 9 TBSO’s April Streamed Concerts

Fridays until April 17, 10 am–1:30 pm Wilde Life: A Performance Film Project Virtual

The Eleanor Drury Children’s Theatre is excited to present Wilde Life: A Performance Film Project, inspired by The Happy Prince and other tales by Oscar Wilde. This is an opportunity for youth performers aged 9 to 18 to learn skills like acting for film, music, visual theatre (puppetry, animation, etc.), and filmmaking. Rehearsals are held over Zoom. Cost to register is $125.

@EDCTheatre on Facebook

April 19-22 Make your Own Beeswax Wrap for Earth Day Virtual

This year’s Earth Day theme is We Will Restore Our Earth, and you can do your part with the help of the Thunder Bay Public Library. TBPL has created a Take and Make Kit with everything you need to make your very own reusable beeswax wrap at home. All you need to provide is an iron. Kit registration begins on April 12 at 10 am with kit pickups available at the Brodie branch between April 19 and 22. See this month’s Top Five for more info.

tbpl.ca

Virtual

The TBSO is sending us off into the spring season in full splendour. Sit down at 6:30 pm for Brass ‘n Brahms featuring Nelhybel’s Trio for Brass as well Brahms’ magnificent Sextet for Strings, No. 2. The second concert begins at 8:30 pm and celebrates a chamber music genius: Beethoven. Simply Beethoven is a program that includes his Duo for 2 Flutes and Septet in E-flat. See this month’s Top Five for more info.

Until April 22 Fridays For Future Thunder Bay Earth Month Challenge

Until May 2 Piitwewetam: Making Is Medicine Thunder Bay Art Gallery

Virtual

Join Fridays For Future Thunder Bay and help do your part to celebrate Earth Day. The group is challenging the community to complete one or more of the following tasks: do a litter cleanup, upcycle something, and/ or show some creative expression of your love for the Earth. You will be entered into a draw for some fantastic prizes from local businesses. See this month’s Green section for more info.

@fridaysforfuturethunderbay on Instagram

Fridays until April 23, 5-6 pm Gindaasdaa (Reading Together) Book Club Virtual

Lakehead University’s Indigenous Initiatives along with Georgian College’s Indigenous Services invite you to join them every week for a virtual book club. Each week features a different selection. Discussion on the selected reading takes place every Friday until April 23 from 5–6 pm. Audio is available every Friday starting at 2 pm. For more information, contact Jasmine Cedar Panacheese at orillia.ii@lakeheadu.ca.

lakeheadu.ca/indigenous/ events

The art gallery presents this very special exhibition featuring the work of the Gustafsons, a Thunder Bay-based family whose signature floral motif beadwork and intricate designs is known regionally and internationally. This exhibition honours the family’s son and brother Piitwewetam (Rolling Thunder), also known as Jesse Gustafson, who died in a tragic accident several years ago. Check the art gallery’s website for the latest COVID-19 visitation information.

theag.ca

Until May 2 Dakobinaawaswaan (Baby in a Cradleboard) Thunder Bay Art Gallery

The exhibit gathers more than 100 tikinagaans (or cradleboards) representing Indigenous communities from across North America. This living collection presents a wide range of imagery, beadwork, and specialized materials. The exhibit is lovingly dedicated to the late Freda McDonald, the Elder for this initiative. With support from the Cradle Keepers Co-operative. Curated by Caitlyn Bird. Check the art gallery’s website for the latest COVID-19 visitation information.

theag.ca

April 25, 11 am–3 pm Spring Craft Market at the Moose The Moose Hall

Come by the Moose Hall for the spring craft market. There is scheduled to be over 50 tables full of great shopping. Admission is $2 at the door. Anyone interested in renting a table, please call Jennifer at 627-4400. Tables are $40.

Spring Craft Market at the Moose on Facebook

tbso.ca/tbso-live-concerts

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LU RADIO’S MONTHLY TOP April Show Spotlight:

1 Animal Dreams* Music For My Wife To Dance To Self-Released

24 TuneTown* Entering Utopia Three Pines

9 Shared Image* Who Decides Who Does What Self-Released

25 Amanda Tosoff* Earth Voices Self-Released

Tune in to Past Tense to hear me rambling between an assortment of anxious, bummed out, and lackadasical rock: post-hardcore, slowcore, noise rock, math rock, indie rock, etc. Past Tense is whatever I’m listening to during a given week, shaped by my moods on the Sunday afternoons when I sit down in my living room and start recording. Running this show is a natural pastime for me, and it gives me a good reason to listen to something new every week; lately that’s been Scratch Acid, Weed, Daddy’s Hands, and Sprain. I hope you enjoy it. Song of the Moment: “Heal” by Weed

16 Ryan Dugré Three Rivers 11A 17 Michael Wimberly Afrofuturism Temple Mountain

2 Rick White Archive* Rick covers Sloan’s Peppermint [EP] Self-Released

Hosted by Ari Boon Mondays 8 pm

Check out our weekly charts online at luradio.ca and tune in to the Top 20 Countdown Mondays from 7-9 am. Keep it locked on 102.7 FM, online streaming at luradio.ca.

8 Kiwi Jr.* Cooler Returns Kiwi Club

10 Cloud Nothings The Shadow I Remember Carpark

Past Tense

Music

3 Nonagon They Birds Controlled Burn 4 Pop Pop Vernac* Rapid Fire Self-Released

11 Diego Rivera Indigenous Posi-Tone

5 Adrian Younge The American Negro Jazz Is Dead

12 Burial Etiquette* Out of Our Hands Emocat

18 Property* Think Electric! Self-Released

26 Mike Freedman* Into The Daybreak Self-Released

19 The Blaze Velluto Collection* We Are Sunshine Dare To Care

27 Julien Baker Little Oblivions Matador

20 Foo Fighters Medicine at Midnight 28 The Zeldas* Heliocentric RCA Self-Released 29 Rosier* Légèrement Self-Released

13 Misc* Partager l’ambulance Bonsound 14 Tigers Jaw I Won’t Care How You Remember Hopeless 6 The Dirty Nil* Fuck Art Dine Alone 7 Viagra Boys Welfare Jazz YEAR0001

15 Sweetwood Amber Remedy* Tilt N’ Shake Self-Released

21 Dan Mangan* Thief Arts & Crafts

30 Peeling* Worshipper Labyrinth

22 Julien’s Daughter* The Static That Carries Over House Of Wonders 23 David Nance Staunch Honey Trouble In Mind

* indicates Canadian artist. Chart ranking reflects airplay during the week ending 23-Mar-2021.

The Walleye

Health

Urgent Care From the Comfort of Home

Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre’s Virtual Emergency Department By Caitlund Davidson, Health Promotion and Communications Planner, Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre

rgent care from the comfort of home is proving to be a welcome and convenient care option for residents in Thunder Bay who’d rather avoid a trip to the emergency department. The Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC) launched its virtual emergency department (ED) on January 4, 2021. The virtual ED offers same-day virtual assessments with emergency department physicians to people living in Thunder Bay and the surrounding area who are older than 17 years of age, have a non-life-threatening medical issue, and either don’t have

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a primary care provider or are unable to obtain timely access to one. “Patient feedback to-date has been very positive, particularly during the pandemic, for those who remain anxious or hesitant to go to the ED, have difficulties getting around, or have no primary care provider,” says Lisa Beck, director of trauma, prehospital programs, emergency, critical care, and the nurse-led outreach team at TBRHSC. “We’re pleased to see that people of all ages are accessing this service for a variety of symptoms and conditions. Currently, we see an average of 12 patients per day through virtual ED

appointments and have some capacity to increase those numbers should the demand warrant it.” Of those who have accessed the virtual ED since its launch, almost 90% rated their overall experience as “very good” or “excellent” and 98% said that they would access this service again. Each virtual appointment is booked for 15 minutes, allowing time to establish a connection with the patient’s device, review patient details, perform the assessment, and determine next steps. Referrals to community programs, specialists, diagnostic imaging procedures, lab work, and/or prescriptions may be provided to the patient upon discharge. Not only does the virtual ED benefit the patients accessing the service, it also has positive benefits to the ED, its staff, and others who need urgent medical care. “The ability to successfully treat some patients virtually reduces avoidable visits to the ED, increasing capacity for those with more urgent needs,” Beck says. “It also enables the ED to make better use of available space to ensure

appropriate physical distancing for those who do need to attend the ED in person, resulting in an even safer environment.” The Virtual ED is a pilot project that will run for six months, ending on June 4, 2021. However, Beck hopes to see the program continue beyond that. “Patients will be sent an evaluation survey link following their virtual appointment and we are encouraging everyone to complete it so we can learn more about their experience and identify ways to improve,” she says. “Based on the results and feedback, we would look to continue offering the service past the trial period and expand to service areas outside of Thunder Bay.” The virtual assessments are offered Monday to Friday between noon and 6 pm and can be booked by visiting tbrhsc.net/VirtualED. Same-day appointments are made on a first-come, first-serve basis to those who are eligible. Appointments take place through secure video chat. To participate, patients need a computer or smartphone with video, a quiet space, and internet access.

Health

Weighing the Mental Health Cost During COVID By Rachelle Roussel, Mental Health Promotion Planner, Thunder Bay District Health Unit

s the mental health promotion planner for the Thunder Bay District Health Unit, I work at the intersection of public health and mental health and, as you can imagine, the pandemic has added a whole new layer of difficulty to this position. Daily, I get calls or comments questioning public health measures that some would argue have more negative impacts than benefits due to their unintended consequences on mental health.

Let me begin by offering some validation: we hear you. Almost everything I would have previously suggested as facilitators to good mental health are, at least to some degree, currently off-limits and there is no doubt this is having an impact. On the other hand, we also know that increased rates of infection can cause concerns for mental health for many reasons. This presents us all with a bit of a dilemma as it’s hard to know which would

cause more negative impacts on mental health at this time. When we balance our options, there seems to always be a negative consequence that we have to contend with, and this can become very frustrating for everyone involved. There is no perfect answer here, and I think it has to come down to having controllable versus uncontrollable outcomes. Without restrictions, we would have more freedom to do what we want, but we also

know the rate of infection would become even more uncontrollable, as would the negative fall-outs associated with that—loss, grief, fear, and so much more. By imposing restrictions, we are able to have more control over the physical health effects of COVID-19, while at the same time, encouraging people to do things that maintain their mental health, like taking time to connect online or outside, accessing mental health support, or engaging in hobbies and activities. It is still important to mention, however, that there will always be some uncontrollable factors that will impact mental health. Some people who are disproportionately affected by the restrictions may not have access to some of those supports. We know that people with financial concerns, those with pre-existing mental illness, and folks with other barriers may be struggling even more right now. It is all extremely complicated, and unfortunately we’ve learned that, within this pandemic reality, there just isn’t a perfect solution. That doesn’t mean we don’t keep trying. We need to keep doing all we can to support the most people with broad measures, and increase our efforts to help those who have fallen through the cracks. I hope this opens the door to have conversations about our mental health during the pandemic and to continue to advocate as we go.

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Health

Adapting, Evolving Q&A with Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre’s Kathryn Shewfelt

Interview by Matt Prokopchuk, Photo by Jarron Childs

esponding to the COVID-19 pandemic has been all about flexibility and adapting to an often quickly changing landscape. At the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, Kathryn Shewfelt has been seeing that firsthand. Shewfelt is the hospital’s director of environmental services and, during the COVID-19 pandemic, she’s also serving as one of the emergency preparedness specialists for the health sciences centre’s incident management team, as well as the support services lead for operations. We spoke with her about adapting to changing times and how some protocols have evolved. The Walleye: Within the hospital’s COVID-19 response, what does your job entail? Kathryn Shewfelt: I work with Nicole Moffett, who is our manager

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of emergency preparedness and security, who’s really our resident expert and an amazing resource for us on incident management. What we do in that role [is] we help set up and adjust the incident management structure, and make recommendations about where projects and items fall within the structure. And then as the support services lead within operations, I oversee the implementation of any support services projects. So that’s really the hat that I wear on a day-to-day basis with my departments in housekeeping, laundry, portering, nutrition, food services, security, [and] medical device reprocessing—making sure all of those programs are able to implement their projects. And then I also took on implementing any projects that really didn’t fall into the other groups, so the clinical

and support services branches. TW: How have you had to adapt various support services during COVID? KS: It’s really varied for each department and really varied depending on where we are in the pandemic. So as you can imagine, for the emergency preparedness and security department, really that focus on emergency management has come into the fore[…]. For our laundry department, for example, in the beginning when there were shortages of personal protective equipment around the world, we were looking at other options and switched some of our supplies over to reusable versus disposable. So our laundry department saw a big increase because all of a sudden we were reprocessing and washing isolation gowns to support our frontline staff. Within medical device reprocessing, in the beginning when the provincial government mandated that we shut down [non-emergency surgeries], we were actually able to redeploy some of our staff to other areas, so our staff really stepped up and volunteered to help in other departments within the hospital. For our housekeeping department, as you can imagine, [there is] an increased focus on infection control practices, so really making sure that those policies and practices are up to date […] and that we’re implementing them appropriately and changing them as needed as information changes within the pandemic. TW: How has infection control evolved over the course of the pandemic?

KS: We’ve always had really tight infection control practices. [We are] very stringent about what we need to do, so it was really about working really closely with our infection prevention and control department, and we do that regularly to make sure that any changes in policies or recommendations that were coming down through the ministries were implemented. And [we are] really making sure that we have enough staff to address those issues. So for us it was more making sure that our teams were trained on practices and kept up to date on the changes and then making sure that we had enough staff available to provide the services. TW: Have you had to add staff? KS: Yes, we have. We have added staff; we’ve increased hours of some of our existing staff and then brought in some temporary staff to help cover our hours as well. TW: How has the pandemic changed your sense of your responsibilities at work? KS: I think the biggest change has really just been the focus on COVID and the pandemic and the incident management piece, so really having to be flexible in our roles and really just stepping in where help is needed versus staying within the role that we’ve been assigned within the organization. I think that’s been the biggest shift— really helping the departments that report to us be able to shift as needed, and supporting the incident management structure. That’s been a big chunk of the work. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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Courtesy of the Nuclear Waste Management Organization

Green

A Nuclear Option

Ignace Area Still A Candidate for Nuclear Waste Storage Site By Matt Prokopchuk

An aerial view of Ignace

he Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) says it hopes to resume borehole drilling near Ignace this spring if COVID-19 regulations allow—just one step in an over-decade-long process the organization is undertaking to try to find a site for the long-term storage of Canada’s used nuclear fuel. Since 2010, the NWMO has been working to find a suitable location in an area with “informed and willing hosts” for a deep geological repository—effectively an underground network of tunnels and storage areas where the still-radioactive material would be kept, and with the potential in the future to permanently seal it off. Twenty-one communities have expressed interest throughout the project’s lifespan (all but one of them in Ontario), with the two remaining potential candidates being South Bruce, in southern Ontario, and a site near Revell Lake, west of Ignace. The move to find a single site to keep the byproduct of Canada’s nuclear power-generating reactors is being done with long-term planning in mind, says Ben Belfadhel, the vice president of site selection for the waste management organization. “The response is an ethical one,” he says. “Because, even though what we’re doing today [storing spent fuel

at the reactor sites] is safe, it is not sustainable in the long term.” He adds that with the waste remaining radioactive “for hundreds of thousands of years,” present-day methods don’t take into account potential future events. “What guarantee do we have that our society is going to remain stable for hundreds of thousands of years to maintain these facilities?” he says. The organization says that the deep repository site will only go to a location that is geologically appropriate—determining that is the purpose of the borehole drilling near Ignace—and where it has the support of the municipality and area Indigenous communities. “The deep geological repository method is the safest method we have today and there is an international consensus about that,” Belfadhel says. As for why a community would throw its hat into the ring to store nuclear waste, the NWMO points to the estimated more than 1,000 jobs it says will be needed to build the repository and then operate it. For communities like Ignace, which has been hit hard by declines and changes in the mining and forestry sectors over the decades, it could be an economic boon. However, support for the project is far from universal in either of

the remaining candidate locations. While Belfadhel says that the project is being done with future generations in mind, Darlene Necan is opposing it on the same grounds— that the youth of tomorrow in this region shouldn’t have to worry about having the radioactive material in their back yard. Necan is a member of the Ojibway Nation of Saugeen and spent about three weeks last September walking a circular route that took her from Ignace, through Savant Lake, Sioux Lookout, Dryden, and back to Ignace to show her opposition; she was joined by others throughout her trek. “I always think of the children,” Necan says. “The children are always in my heart […] and that’s what made me go forward.” She added that a number of young people from her community joined her on her walk. “I told them ‘this is going to be your world next after I’m gone, it’s going to be you guys to look after what’s given to you.’” Necan says she intends to make the walk an annual event for the next five years and wants to produce a short documentary about her efforts. “I really think that it shouldn’t be in our area […] in Northwestern Ontario,” she says. “There’s too much water, when you look at our maps, you get blown away—look how much water we’ve got.”

Regional environmental groups like Environment North have also steadfastly opposed having the repository in the region and far away from the reactors producing the waste in southern Ontario and New Brunswick, in part, due to concerns of trucking radioactive material along the Trans-Canada Highway to the Ignace area. The Township of Gillies, southwest of Thunder Bay, also passed a resolution in 2019 opposing the plan, in part due to the already-existing “strain” on area road and highway infrastructure from heavy truck and vehicle traffic. Belfadhel counters that any transporting of nuclear waste is “highly regulated,” adding that it has been transported for decades in countries all over the world, including Canada, under very strict conditions, in secure containers, and without any “incident or accident that led to the release of radioactive material into the environment.” He says that his organization intends to have a site for the deep geological repository selected by the end of 2023; pending subsequent regulatory and licensing approvals as well as construction, the site is not expected to be operating until 2043.

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The group is also planning another zine in the near future, she says, adding that it’s important that young people speak up and show leadership on environmental and sustainability issues. “Ultimately, this is our future that we’re working towards and I’m really inspired [by] and I have a lot of hope in the youth [of] the upcoming generations that we can create a lot of good changes regarding climate change,” Ailey says. “I just think it’s super important to get students involved in these issues, and to see that they’re actually a lot more approachable than they seem.” For more information about Fridays for Future and their April Earth Month challenge, and to read the Thunder! Making Noise in the Age of Climate Denial zine, you can check out their Instagram page @ fridaysforfuturethunderbay. To learn more, you can message them on Instagram or email Brooke Ailey at brookeailey@iCloud.com.

‘Ultimately, this is our future’

Members of Fridays For Future on a virtual meeting

Fridays For Future Youth Launch Online Zine, Virtual Challenge By Matt Prokopchuk

group of local youth has put its call to action on environmental protection, social justice, and climate change into art—and, as we celebrate Earth Day in April, they’re also challenging people to do their part. The youth division of Fridays For Future Thunder Bay published an online zine in March featuring visual art, photography, and poetry from students aged 12 to 19, along with information on how anyone can support climate action. Fridays For Future formed in the city following the first climate strike in March 2019, says Brooke Ailey, a Grade 11 student at Superior Collegiate and Vocational Institute, one of the members of the youth chapter, which held its own climate strike in November 2019. After publishing

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their digital zine Thunder! Making Noise in the Age of Climate Denial last month, the group’s members are quickly turning their attention to April with an Earth Month challenge. “It’s going to be a virtual challenge,” Ailey says, adding that it runs until April 22. “All are welcome to participate, so it isn’t just for the youth, but it will be, again, being done by the youth.” The challenge involves three stages: picking up litter, upcycling something, and submitting something creative that shows one’s love for the planet. Entrants can complete as many as they want, and will submit their results to the group online. Completing challenges gets you a ticket to a draw for prizes from a number of local businesses. “It’s going to be really exciting,” Ailey says.

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t this time last year, we were busy planning for another year of the beloved Spring Up to Clean Up campaign. But with the rapid onset of the global pandemic, the world was brought to a pause—eventually leading to the launch of the first ever Spring Into Fall Clean Up campaign. It is safe to say that 2020 was a challenging year, but once again the Thunder Bay community gave an outpouring of support to this adapted program to clean litter from our streets and neighbourhoods before the snow took hold. That being said, we know that a lot of people missed the traditional spring program last year. With that in mind, we are so excited to be hosting the 25th annual Spring Up to Clean Up campaign for another year. Of course, cleaning up litter alone will not solve all the world’s environmental problems, but it is a great way to make a visible change in your own community. Getting outside and participating in this event can be a really fun and rewarding activity. Whether you are cleaning the sidewalk in front of your house or business, walking the block with your family and pets cleaning litter as you go, or going to your favourite local greenspace or park and becoming its steward, we can all do our part to make change in our own community and keep Thunder Bay clean, green, and beautiful. In the current state of worldwide environmental crises, it is quite easy to become overwhelmed or discouraged and feel like there is nothing you can do as an individual. With stories of plastics in our oceans, microplastics in Lake Superior, the

Springing Back into Action By Melissa Davidson, Program Coordinator, EcoSuperior Environmental Programs

hazards litter can pose to wildlife, and now additional concerns with pandemic-related waste escaping into the natural environment, the problems can honestly seem a bit heavy. There is no doubt that actions must be taken on a grand scale to effectively “turn the tap off” on the flood of single-use plastics and other waste from littering the natural environment. And we have already seen positive steps in this direction, including the upcoming ban on some harmful single-use plastics slated for later in 2021, and more and more discussion on plastic pollution. Most importantly within our local Thunder Bay community, we are seeing so many individuals and businesses alike make changes to reduce their waste and impact on the natural world. It is when we build community that we can really start to see how collective action can make a big change. This spring, EcoSuperior

challenges you to turn this worry into action! Here are some easy ways to make change in your own life and community this spring and beyond. • Take part in the 25th annual Spring Up to Clean Up campaign. Registration opens on April 1 and can be completed on the EcoSuperior website. You will receive a free clean-up kit and can do a clean up throughout the month of May. This program is funded by the City of Thunder Bay and delivered by EcoSuperior. • Join us in an upcoming workshop/webinar to learn how to live a greener life. Topics range from home composting and rain gardens to reducing your plastics and so much more. Check out our website for current offerings. • Support eco-conscious businesses and advocate for reusable or more eco-friendly options where you spend your money— whether that be at the grocery

store, restaurant, local shops, and beyond. • Do you use disposable PPE in your workplace? Check out the Green Circle Salons website to find out how you can get involved in their PPE recovery program to reduce the impact of this pandemic-related waste. • Try out some new low-waste swaps in your life. Get started by checking out the EcoSuperior online store. Join the growing local movement and take actions necessary to make change this spring. We can’t wait to see you there!

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What COVID-19 Has Taught Us About the Value of Nature By Julee Boan, Boreal Program Manager, Ontario Nature, Photo by Ryan Mackett

ike so many traumatic events in our shared history, everyone remembers exactly what they were doing in the days and hours before the world shut down last year. I was in a meeting when everyone’s phones lit up with the news that the Government of Ontario was going to shut down the schools after March break. Within that instant, the seriousness of the novel coronavirus hit home. This was going to be bad. Like most people, I spent those first weeks glued to the livestreaming world map that tallied the rapidly growing numbers of infections and deaths. The combination of people’s limited social interactions, tensions within families in lockdown together, financial pressures, and fear of losing loved ones led to a despair that was overwhelming for many, and utterly devastating for some.

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As the new normal of COVID19 anxiety set in—when no one was talking about anything else—a shift started to occur. The deafening roar of human activities had suddenly become drastically muted, and we started to hear things many of us hadn’t really paid attention to in a long time. Spring—the birds, frogs, flowers, rain—beckoned to us. After weeks of indoor isolation, we heeded the call to get outside. People flocked to greenspaces in our community and around the region. Provincial park and other conservation area use increased—so much that physical distancing on trails became challenging sometimes. Mushroom picking exploded. Nearly everyone, and their dogs, were out on Lake Superior this winter—skating, biking, and walking. While theatres, gyms, and nightclubs may have been

closed, forests, beaches, and lakes were hopping. Research supports what we already know from experience. We feel better when our senses connect us to nature, whether feeling a rock smoothed by the rolling waves of Lake Superior, the smell of a balsam tree at Centennial Park, or the sound of spring peepers at Mills Block. Astonishingly, even looking at a tree can be a mood booster. Globally, time spent internet streaming, on social media, and gaming has been steadily increasing for well over a decade, including an estimated 16 million new subscriptions to Netflix in the first month of lockdown. Unlike the stimulation from digital screens, the stimulation we receive from nature has a calming effect. The reasons why time spent in nature helps to support better mental health are complex and our understanding is still evolving, but COVID-19 has much to teach us about our relationship with the natural world. For those who believe that the

Earth is a living, breathing mother, COVID-19 is her way of telling us to stop walking around like we own the place. For those who believe that the Earth is a set of biotic and abiotic factors that interact in complex but ultimately explainable ways, COVID19 is understood by the convergence of the interactions that preceded it. Regardless of our understanding of how we got here, there is no denying that we’ve arrived at a crossroads. As we start to emerge from this year of change and adaptation, where do we want to go? Most of our attention over the past year has been on the health crisis out of necessity. We must not lose sight of looming and related dual crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. Will we take the hard-earned lessons from this past year—listen to experts, protect the vulnerable, work together, and value what we’ve got—and head toward a just and sustainable future? Or will we ease back into (something like) our old lives and wait for our phones to light up announcing the next crisis?

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April Horoscopes Aries

(March 21–April 19) April Fools’ Day may be on the 1st, Ram, but you’re no fool. In fact, you probably have your income taxes filed already! You are riding the crest of living your best life. All your hopes and dreams are finally coming to fruition. Also, it’s your birthday season. Enjoy the spoils that come your way, and all the greetings from near and far. Remember, your special day comes but once a year. Live every day like it’s your birthday and you will have it made in the shade.

Taurus

(April 20–May 20) Happy birthday to the Bulls born this month. You’ve been feeling a little perplexed lately, Taurus, and it’s time to ask yourself why. Have you been fooled by faux spring again? Take some cleansing breaths and put away the patio furniture till next month. A birthday is the start of another 365-day journey around the sun. Enjoy the ride—and the cake (always the cake). Now is a great time to indulge your sweet tooth!

Gemini

(May 21–June 20) Pay special attention to Good Friday this month. All Fridays are typically good, but this one, extra so. If this means a long weekend for you, take some time to declutter your living space. Being born under the sign of the Twins isn’t easy because you tend to argue with yourself about what to keep and what to dispose of. Time for a fresh start! Buy yourself some sort of lottery ticket as your luck is high this month. Changes are on the horizon.

Cancer

(June 21–July 22) Keep on shining, Cancer! You’ve taken a bit of a hit this year, but you’ve shown your strength and fortitude by continuing to evolve in directions you never

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By Sunny Disposish thought possible. The new moon on the 11th has you manifesting all things abundant. Make a list of what you want to bring into your life and it will happen for you. You are a role model for other people who rely and depend on you. That is a big responsibility, but with it comes great rewards. Keep learning and growing this month and continue to check in with your mentor. A new bond is formed.

Leo

(July 23–August 22) There’s a lot of growth for you career-wise this month, Leo. Continue to consider all the options and weigh the pros and cons. Opportunities abound if you choose to look for them. Your creativity is high this month, particularly when the moon is in your sign on the 20th. You may be called upon to solve a particularly tricky problem at work. As usual, your warm demeanor and ability to see the big picture will save the day. Take a break from the Zoom calls (and the cat filter, you Lion you) and enjoy some time outdoors with the fam.

Virgo

(August 23–September 22) Family life takes an interesting turn and you and your household may hear some good news on or around the full moon on the 26th. Guard against getting too involved and simply remain an enthusiastic observer. You’re in a supporting role here, so let the spotlight shine where it’s intended. Celebrate with some local deliciousness; why not treat the gang to some delectable eats by Redhead + the Chef? Enjoy spending time with loved ones and a few good laughs will be had by all.

Libra

(September 23–October 22) Fair Libra likes to ensure that everyone gets along and plays well together. This Easter, no one escapes your thoughtful gaze.

You find yourself cooking a lavish spread for your household and enjoying every moment of it. Faraway family members will be treated to a warm phone call full of spring wishes, and neighbours might find themselves with a thoughtful loaf of hot cross buns on their doorstep. Accept all offers of help and enjoy the company of those in your household. Past hurt feelings are forgotten and forgiven.

Scorpio

(October 23–November 21) Intense Scorpios may find themselves burning the midnight oil in and around the 27th. Your strong drive tends to stand out from the crowd, but it might be time to reel in your go-getter ways and take stock. Financially, you find yourself in a good place and the nest egg is finally starting to grow. Make some plans for the future, as much as one reasonably can these days, and see where you want to be in five years. Consult a mentor for assistance. A decision needs to be made soon.

Sagittarius

(November 22–December 21) The seeds you planted this winter, Archer, are starting to pay off this spring. A seeker of knowledge, you continue to explore your inner self and look for ways to share your wisdom. You have made some great changes for the positive. Look for another Sag for advice! Sometimes it takes the wise counsel of a fire sign for the obvious to hit home. Put down the selfhelp books and curl up with a good tome and read just for pleasure. Continue to show up for yourself and you will be on track for an extraordinary month. Stick to the facts and don’t believe everything you read.

Capricorn

(December 22-January 19) Hard-working Capricorns are showing no signs of letting up. Sometimes we are able to seek

solace in keeping busy, and that’s a good thing for happy Goats. Resolve to have a different sort of Easter this year, and you’ll find you are okay with a smaller-scale celebration anyway. The new moon on the 11th finds you feisty and full of vinegar. Keep a close watch on your words, however. Someone may feel the sting of your no-nonsense verbiage. Reassure them you mean well. It’s important to keep in touch with family and friends, even just by text. Good news from afar is on its way!

Aquarius

(January 20–February 18) Relationships strengthen this month! Cultivate careful conversations with those close to you. Not one for small talk, going deep is where it’s at. It may be time to solidify some arrangements. The moon in your sign at the beginning of the month makes Water-Bearers keen on putting down some roots. Tend to others like you do your plants. You may hear news of a new member of the family, furry or otherwise. The planets are aligning for growth. Take some time away from TikTok and spend some time outdoors.

Pisces

(February 19–March 20) Dreamy Pisces is living in the past this month. Time to shake off those winter doldrums and open some windows for some sunny spring breezes. A new project or craft might be just what the doctor ordered to light your fire. Experimenting in the kitchen is a good way to harness some extra energy, and then the household reaps the rewards of your experiments at the same time! A loved one will be in touch this month, which is a pleasant surprise. Sending an Easter-themed gift in the mail will bolster your spirits— as well as those of the recipient! Your thoughtfulness does not go unnoticed.

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~this is your magnificent life By Jana-Rae Yerxa making the right decision doesn’t always feel good feeling conflicted doesn’t mean it is the wrong decision it means it is a hard decision decide anyways honouring your feelings is not the same as allowing your feelings to dictate behaviours and decisions know the difference don’t wait for anyone else to get on the bus and validate your worth you are in the driver’s seat remember where you want to go when you know you deserve better don’t ignore it honour it act accordingly

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