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F R O M A S O A U G H S
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YOUR TAILORED KITCHEN AWAITS
Beauty on the inside. And out.
Aspen Landing Shopping Centre features top retailers and services in unique, locally-owned storefronts sprawled across a distinctive landscape in southwest Calgary. Whether you need a quick check-up, a mouth-watering lunch, or need to complete an extensive to-do list, you can get it all done at Aspen Landing! FREE INDOOR PARKING.
Aspen Woods Estates is a development community inspired by Calgary’s architectural heritage. The development features beautiful executive homes, breathtaking views, walking and biking paths, and west Calgary’s premier shopping destination Aspen Landing Shopping Centre.
Homes By Us
Crystal Creek Homes
Homes By Us
Crystal Creek Homes
Homes By Us
Perfectly designed for real life.
Sage Hill Crest
Alpine Park
Fireside
Bayview
Clearwater Park
Mahogany
Luxury Living in Brawn Landing at Wentworth
Discover exclusive opportunities to build new in west Calgary with Trico Homes.
If you thought you’d missed your chance to build a beautiful home in the west end of the city, think again. Trico Homes has acquired 33 acres of land nestled in the vibrant neighbourhood of Wentworth, with a vision to develop an exclusive collection of executive-style homes in this master-planned community. Calgarians will soon be able to establish themselves in the highly sought after community of Brawn Landing at Wentworth.
The name Brawn Landing represents a connection with strength, reflecting the community’s robust and enduring qualities of its land and development. Located in southwest Calgary, Brawn Landing offers close proximity to the mountains and easy access to the established amenities of Wentworth, with more to come. The community will feature bungalow villas, semi-estate and estate homes with homesites ranging from 39 to 113 feet wide. Built by award-winning Trico Homes, these residences will boast timeless, nature-inspired exteriors and prestigious interiors tailored to meet your taste and style. Homebuyers will have an expert design team by their side to bring their vision to life.
QUICK ACCESS TO AMENITIES AND THE MOUNTAINS
Residents can enjoy a short 40-minute drive to the majestic Rocky Mountains or stay close to home and explore the community’s 9.26 acres of natural reserve and park spaces before retreating to their comfortable residences. Proximity to downtown is less than 20 minutes away, providing easy access to urban amenities.
Located within Wentworth, Brawn Landing’s unmatched location is surrounded by trendy restaurants, fitness studios, pubs and coffee shops, with more amenities to come. Its position on the west side of Calgary provides unparalleled mountain views and seamless access to major roads like Stoney Trail and Bow Trail.
“If you're looking for a quick getaway to the mountains, Brawn Landing offers unbeatable accessibility,” says Adam Zyrmirski, area sales manager for Brawn Landing. “It's really convenient, and the amenities are already in place. Plus, the schools on the west side are unmatched.”
LIVE LAVISHLY
Choose from bungalow villas in the Willows of Wentworth featuring triple-car garages, open-floor layouts and one- or two-bedroom
options, ideal for downsizers seeking a more manageable space without sacrificing comfort. Semi-estate homes in Wentworth offer open-concept layouts, double- and triple-car garages and flexible living spaces perfect for entertaining friends and family. A limited selection of estate homes from Trico’s Signature Series, also located in the Willows of Wentworth, feature large homesites between 66 and 113 feet in width, providing ample space for families looking to build their forever homes.
"It's one of the last areas where you can build front-attached homes,” says Zyrmirski. “There are very few opportunities to build new on the west side of Calgary, making this one of the final pockets available for new homes. The west side has always been a coveted place for families to live.”
With spacious dream kitchens, spa-inspired ensuites, developed basements and more, Brawn Landing’s homes make living easy. Trico uses a higher standard of fit and finishes, and exteriors with timeless nature-inspired colours and materials like wood and stone components.
A REPUTABLE BUILDER
Trico Homes is the exclusive builder for the project, and with over 32 years of experience, its long-standing reputation for quality craftsmanship will be showcased in Brawn Landing. The community’s curated interiors and range of luxury homes serve as a testimony to Trico’s trusted quality of design.
Limited sales opportunities available now to buy these executive homes.
Bungalow Villas
The Art Of Community
The arts are the foundation of our society. They show us who we are and who we can be - and inspire us to achieve our potential together. We’re proud to bring live performances into the suburbs, helping make the arts more accessible.
“I'm thrilled about the new field at our school because it means more space for us to elevate WIC athletics. As a student, it’s an opportunity to enrich our community. As an athlete, it’s game-changing.”
FEATURES DEPARTMENTS
Rollin’ along: how House of Skate became home for the roller-skating community after the closure of the iconic Lloyd’s. Plus, the Calgary International Film Festival celebrates a milestone year and announces big changes; fun things to do in Calgary and High River and what goes into the making of a legendary monstersized croissant.
126 Calgary Style
Chinenye Otakpor of Queen’s Playground showcases an impeccable monochromatic look for fall.
129 Shop Talk
The current owner of Don’s Costume and Make Up Shop tells us what he loves about helping people embrace their alter egos.
130 Decor
The living room of the home of prominent local developer Robert Ollerenshaw seasons its mid-century design with a sense of nostalgia.
133 Mountains
Where to go if you want to learn about the night sky through an Indigenous lens.
39 The $600,000 Question
A look at what the average home price in Calgary gets you right now. by Riley Fonger
48 Quintessentially and Intentionally Canadian Actor Paul Gross talks career, craft and coming home to Alberta to take the stage for ATP. by Meredith Bailey
54 Making the Arts Accessible
How local arts organizations are building audiences by cutting the price of admission. by Nathan Iles
NORTH STAR
on the cover
Actor, director, playwright and star of the upcoming Alberta Theatre Projects production of The Seafarer, Paul Gross, photographed by Nick Wong
60 Old-School Restaurants
A brief history of dining out in Calgary and a look at the restaurants that have been at it for decades. by Kevin Brooker
70 Fall Fashion
City-chic looks perfect for whatever the cooler months might bring.
100 Made In Alberta Awards
The winners of our annual contest to celebrate locally made products. by Tsering Asha, Meredith Bailey, Kendall Bistretzan, Chris Landry, Abby Parker, Olivia Piché and Chanry Thach
GUILD townhomes are situated in University District, a vibrant, walkable community rich in amenities. Each home features private elevators, rooftop patios, and double-car garages, offering both luxury and convenience. The interiors are meticulously designed with high-end finishes, ideal for a lock-andleave lifestyle. You can choose from 2 or 3 bedroom layouts, each with expansive main floors and versatile flex rooms. Explore these exceptional townhomes today. Discovery Centre Hours + Address 4410 University Ave NW
to Fri: 1 – 7 pm
and Sun: 12 – 5 pm
holidays: 12 – 5 pm
SHELLEY ARNUSCH EDITOR IN CHIEF sarnusch@redpointmedia.ca
SOMETHING
OLD,
SOMETHING NEW
the career of Paul Gross could be the basis for the Great Canadian Novel: a childhood that included time in Alberta, a theatrical debut on the Calgary stage, a passion project about Canadian soldiers fighting in the First World War, an American TV role as an updated Dudley Do-Right, portrayals of Shakespearean protagonists for adoring
audiences at our country’s premier theatre festival. He even narrated a documentary about hockey. How quintessentially Canadian can you get?
Well, as writer and theatre nerd Meredith Bailey reveals, the Canadian character of Paul Gross goes even deeper than his artistic C.V. Rather than chase stardom in the American entertainment industry, Gross has defined his career on his own terms, based in a country he has no desire to exit. And having achieved this intentional level of Canadian celebrity, he now picks and chooses projects — mostly in Canada — that he feels are worthwhile.
One of these projects is a starring role in The Seafarer, the show launching the 50th anniversary season for Alberta Theatre Projects. It also marks the return of Gross to the Calgary stage. We’re definitely not sorry that we were able to connect with him as he prepares for this milestone performance. You can read Bailey’s insightful profile starting on page 48.
There’s more than just theatrical legacy discussed in this issue: the city’s dining legacy also gets the spotlight as writer Kevin Brooker digs into the meaty subject of old-school restaurants and pays homage to those institutions that have been serving patrons for decades.
But it’s not all about the old, either, there’s a new crop of Made In Alberta Awards winners to announce. Turn to page 100 to see which products wowed our judges this year in 10 different categories, covering everything from foods and beverages to fashion and furnishings, and which of these products earned the special distinction of Overall Grand Prize Winner.
And while the hot real estate market in Calgary is certainly nothing new, we also decided to take a closer look at just what kinds of dwellings (some old, some new) you can get in this city for the average price of a home as of this past summer.
There’s more: fall fashion, a chat with the owner of a costume shop, an illustrated look at the vibrant heart of the northwest community of Mount Pleasant.
The excitement of debuting a new issue is a feeling that never gets old.
CELEBRATE, GOOD TIMES, COME ON!
As the lazy days — or lazy daze — of summer subsides, we’re looking forward to an action-packed autumn. Among the events on the horizon is our annual reveal and celebration of the incredible individuals on this year’s Top 40 Under 40 list. The party will be on the evening of Wednesday, Oct. 30, at the fabulous Jubilee Auditorium. Whether you’re a Top 40 hopeful for next year or someone who wants to support and network with this amazing community of Calgarians, it’s an event you won’t want to miss.
For tickets and information go to avenuecalgary.com/t40tickets
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top 40 under 40
Fancy Home Entertaining
detours
[ THIS WAY AND THAT ]
ROLLING INTO A NEW ERA
or decades, before it closed in 2018, the iconic Lloyd’s Roller Rink was a hub for local rollerskating enthusiasts and a go-to for birthday parties, first dates and friend-group hangs — a place where memories were made.
Longtime local dance teacher and rollerskater Theresa Tucci has fond memories of Lloyd’s and saw how its closure affected the roller-skating community. “[Lloyd’s] was the last connecting point,” Tucci says.
So, Tucci teamed up with Kathleen “Roxy” Janzen, a founding member of Calgary Roller Derby and owner of the Nerd Roller Skates store, to get things rolling again.
The pair started Calgary Roller Skate in 2018, hosting pop-up roller rinks and roller-skating classes at school gyms and community centres
around the city. Crowd-sourcing helped Tucci and Janzen buy their first fleet of used skates for the first pop-ups, while Matt Stayner, president of TimberTown Building Centre and owner of the Junior Varsity Volleyball Training Centre, allowed Calgary Roller Skate to use the volleyball faciliity for large pop-up roller rinks.
Eventually, Calgary Roller Skate’s pop-ups became popular enough to open House of Skate — a 19,000-square-foot indoor roller rink in the Alyth/Bonnybrook/Manchester district. Launched in February 2024, House of Skate has a premium maple skating floor and offers classes and open skating, as well as themed nights set to different music genres. Local artist Ken Hacke was commissioned to create the giant LED sculptures, called the “Agora Palms,” for the centre of the rink.
Getting the new facility up and running was truly a community effort. When unexpected construction costs put plans for the special maple floor in jeopardy, the team launched a crowd-funding campaign for patrons to prebuy tickets to the rink. This, along with more help from Stayner and TimberTown, allowed House of Skate to proceed as planned.
Tucci saw how the campaign galvanized skaters and non-skaters, alike. “They really came out,” she says. “That floor is pretty special because it’s a symbol — it’s all because of Calgary.” Now, as skaters whiz around under House of Skate’s colourful lights, there’s a place where new memories can be made.
AT 25, THE CALGARY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL IS DEBUTING A NEW ORGANIZATIONAL MODEL INSPIRED BY CONSTELLATIONS.
For 25 years, the Calgary International Film Festival (CIFF) has celebrated the art of film with selections from around the world. But, with the recent closure of Cineplex Odeon Eau Claire Market Cinemas, a major hub for the festival’s screenings and events, CIFF has some big plans in place for how to move ahead, both geographically and organizationally.
“We’ve got some pretty audacious goals over the next three years,” says Katherine Penhale, CIFF’s acting executive director. “This 25th anniversary is going to be as much about looking forward as it will be about looking at what we’ve done before.”
With the loss of the Eau Claire Market Cinemas, this year will mark the debut of a new “constellation” model that focuses on partnering with multipurpose spaces and organizations to convert theatres, public plazas and other partner spaces into screening venues to activate areas of the city and support cinematic arts. To make the constellation model a reality, CIFF announced this spring that it will acquire six DCI (Digital Cinema Initiatives)-compliant projectors and
other mobile equipment that can be transported to various indoor and outdoor locations. “We’re one of the few [arts organizations] in the city that doesn’t have a physical home,” says Penhale. “But, we’re one of the most long-standing and so it’s really exciting to be moving into this position.”
The “looking back” element will tap into the festival’s origins at the dawn of the millennium. “We’re going with a Y2K theme, which I think is really fun,” says Penhale. Merch items will include “cool hoodies and shirts and hats [that] have a little bit of vintage flair.”
This year’s festival runs Sept. 19 to 29. The first weekend will have screenings, Q&As, cast talks and other events in venues such as Contemporary Calgary, the University of Calgary Downtown Campus, The Plaza Theatre and the Globe Cinema — “what we call the Western Constellation,” Penhale says. Starting Sept. 23, movie screenings will kick off at Chinook Centre’s Scotiabank Cineplex and continue at the Globe Cinema. —Tsering Asha Tickets to CIFF 25 are now on sale at ciffcalgary.ca
5 MORE LOCAL FILM FESTS TO CHECK OUT THIS FALL
WildDogs International Screendance Festival
This fifth annual festival showcases international works of dance, movement, image and video, presented online and live, in-theatre from Sept. 13 to 15 at Decidedly Jazz Danceworks. wilddogs.ca
The Motorcycle Film Fest
Established in 2017, this travelling festival showcases stories of motorcycle culture that appeal to riders and non-riders, alike. It returns to Calgary on Oct. 24 at The Plaza Theatre. motorcyclefilmfest.com
Calgary European Film Festival
Now in its 13th year, this festival screens a slate of films representing stories from a range of European nations. The festival runs Nov. 1 to 10 at the Globe Cinema. calgaryeuropeanfilmfestival.ca
Giant Incandescent Resonating Animation Festival (GIRAF) Hosted by Quickdraw Animation Society, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, the 20th edition of GIRAF screens in-person from Nov. 14 to 17 and online from Nov. 18 to 24. giraffest.ca
CUFF.Docs Documentary Film Festival
Presented by the Calgary Underground Film Festival (CUFF), the 15-plus showings at this fest focus on non-fiction films in varying styles and genres. It runs Nov. 20 to 24 at the Globe Cinema. calgaryundergroundfilm.org/ cuffdocs
PHOTO BY MICHAEL GRONDIN
1 ENJOY A HOT BEVERAGE at The Noble Teahouse
Built in 1909, this elegant, Victorianstyle teahouse employs women who have gone through Narrow Road Home (NRH), a residential recovery program. The menu changes weekly, but you can count on seeing scones, soups, pastries like macarons and cookies, as well as pre-ordered afternoon tea services. Profits from tea and scone sales support NRH programs. 440 Macleod Tr. S.W., High River, 403-978-7391, thenobleteahouse.com, @thenobleteahouse
2 SEE HOT-AIR BALLOONS SOAR at the Heritage Inn
International Balloon Festival
This festival is one of High River’s most captivating annual events, attracting hot-air balloons and their pilots from around the world. From Sept. 25 to 29, watch hot-air balloons take to the sky for flights and competitions, or sign up for a passenger ride, soaring up to 2,500 feet in the air. Don’t miss the Balloon Glow event on Sept. 27, when the balloons are tethered in a field and lit up at dusk to create a colourful spectacle.
3 LEARN ABOUT HIGH RIVER’S HISTORY at Museum of the Highwood
This local museum and visitor centre is built into the historic High River train station. More than 45,000 artifacts, archives, objects and photographs documenting the history of High River and the surrounding highlands can be uncovered here. Guests can also check out exhibits about the history
of Indigenous peoples in the area and about Canadian writer W.O. Mitchell, who once lived in High River. 406 1 St. S.W., High River, 403-6527156, museumofthehighwood.com
4 DINE WITH FRIENDS
at Evelyn’s Memory Lane Diner
Those with a keen eye may recognize Evelyn’s Memory Lane Diner from its brief feature in HBO’s TV series, The Last of Us, which was partially shot in High River. With its checkered floors, photo-covered walls and a model train running along the top of the res-
taurant’s walls, the diner exudes a fun, vintage vibe where you can indulge in homestyle sandwiches, soups, salads and baked goods like cake and pie. 118 4 Ave. S.W., High River, 403-652-1887, mlcafe.ca, @evelyns.memory.lane
5 CATCH A FLICK
at High River Sunset Drive-In Drive-in movie theatres are rare nowadays, but you can still experience the High River Sunset Drive-In. Hit the concession stand or bring your own snacks to enjoy while watching a movie on the big screen from your car, with the audio broadcasted through your car radio. The volunteerrun drive-in operates Fridays and Saturdays in August and September, with screenings carrying into October, if weather cooperates. ––Riley Fonger 64137 Hwy 543 East, High River, highriversunsetdrivein.ca
Calgary has a range of places offering beautiful buttery croissants, but one weighs in above the rest — literally! In addition to regular-sized filled croissants, Butter Block & Co makes a giant version, sized to feed six to 10 hungry pastry fans. Designed as a flakier and less sugary alternative to a birthday cake, the mammoth croissants must be ordered at least 48 hours in advance to give the team time to craft them from scratch. –Elizabeth Chorney-Booth
THE SIZE
Butter Block’s giant croissant tips the scales at 550 grams, big enough to neatly fill an entire pastry box. The process is similar to making smaller croissants, with adjustments to ensure it’s cooked all the way through while still maintaining a crispy exterior. “We have to bake it at two different temperatures,” says owner Karen Kong. “First at a higher temperature to make sure it gets a good colour and then lower it to bake out the middle.”
THE LAYERS
As with all of Butter Block’s croissants, Kong goes for 81 layers of pastry (as opposed to the traditional 40 to 60), which give the croissant the strength to hold its ample filling and keep the giant version from collapsing into itself. “The layers give it that structure so, when I cut into it, it will still hold up,” Kong says.
BUTTER BLOCK & CO’S GIANT CROISSANT DECONSTRUCTED
Is there an interesting, innovative or iconic Calgary dish or drink you think we should deconstruct?
Send us a DM on Instagram: @avenuemagazine
THE FILLING
The giant croissant comes in three flavours: almond, pandan coconut or black sesame, with fillings made fresh in-house. The baked croissants are cut, then filled and baked a second time. “I do get a lot of comments that my pastries are not overly sweet,” Kong says. “I try to let the flavours speak for themselves.”
THE TOPPINGS
The giant croissants are topped with almonds, coconut or sesame to mimic the filling inside. The croissants get a smear of filling on top and then are dipped in the toppings, creating a decorative stripe and adding texture and crunch. Suite 111, 908 17 Ave. S.W., butterblockyyc.com @butterblockyyc
PHOTO BY JARED SYCH
SEPTEMBER OCTOBER
INDOORS
National Music Centre Presents: Elisapie
Inuk artist and activist Elisapie performs Sept. 30 as part of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation event series at Studio Bell.
OUTDOORS
Beat Beethoven + Phil in the Park
On Sept. 8, Calgary Phil brings Beethoven’s music to life during Run Calgary’s four- or eight-kilometre walk/run and free outdoor concert at Prince’s Island Park.
PLAN AHEAD
Top 40 Under 40 Party
On Oct. 30, Avenue will reveal the Top 40 Under 40 Class of 2024, and you can celebrate with the honourees at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium. Snap up your tickets now!
NOW OR NEVER
Beakerhead
This science, art and engineering festival makes the move to Telus Spark. An interactive outdoor Squonk concert, intergalactic, 3D-animated aquarium and a fire-breathing bronco sculpture are just some of the exciting activities that await Sept. 20 to 22.
FREE
Night Light 2024
Back after a successful inaugural year, the Night Light festival brings light-art installations to Victoria Park from Sept. 26 to 28.
INDOORS
Calgary National Bank
Challenger Tournament
From Oct. 13 to 20, witness top-notch tennis pros take to the court at the Osten & Victor Alberta Tennis Centre.
OUTDOORS
Pumpkins After Dark
This outdoor Halloween experience at WinSport features displays of thousands of hand-carved pumpkins from Sept. 20 through Oct. 31.
PLAN AHEAD
A Christmas Carol
Tickets for Theatre Calgary’s beloved holiday show always sell quickly, so buy yours well in advance. This year’s production runs Nov. 29 to Dec. 29.
NOW OR NEVER
Jake’s Gift
Lunchbox Theatre kicks off its 50th season with this Canadian play about a Second World War vet whose life is changed by a child he meets on the 60th anniversary of D-Day. It opens Oct. 29 and runs through Nov. 17.
FREE
Explore the Esker Foundation
Admission is free at this Inglewood art gallery that showcases international artists and offers behind-the-scenes exhibit tours.
BY RILEY FONGER
HOMERUN
What the average price of a home in Calgary gets you around the city
Reports of a hot real estate market in Calgary are not at all exaggerated. In June, the Calgary Real Estate Board reported the average price of a home sold in Calgary in the 2024 year to date was $602,148, a figure that encompassed sales of detached, semi-detached, row and townhouse, and apartment-style homes. The average price showed an increase of 11.43 per cent over the same period in the previous year, with the number of days homes spent on the market decreasing 18.52 per cent, from 27 days in 2023 to 22 days in 2024.
The hot market is being driven, in part, by population growth. According to the City of Calgary, our population increased from 1,347,800 to 1,422,800 between April 1, 2022, and April 2023, and a total of $4.485 million in residential building permits were issued in 2023. Multifamily towers are shooting upward in the inner city, while one hot lap around the ring road provides evidence that Calgary’s suburbs are expanding ever outward. As more and more new and resale homes hit the market for more and more buyers, we wanted to know: just what does the average price of a home in Calgary get you these days?
AN 1,896-SQ.-FT., FIVE-BEDROOM, FOUR-BATHROOM DETACHED HOUSE IN WHITEHORN.
Listing Price $609,900
Year Built 1974
Good for a big (or getting bigger) family, this detached home in the established northeast community of Whitehorn is a short drive from Sunridge Mall and its many surrounding restaurants
A 936-SQ.-FT., HIGH-RISE TWOBEDROOM, TWO-BATHROOM HOME IN VICTORIA PARK.
Listing Price $608,000
Year Built 2016
This southwest-facing corner unit condominium has clear sightlines all the way out to the Rockies from floor-to-ceiling windows. Adjacent to Stampede Park, the building includes amenities such as a gym, workshop, social room and garden terrace, as well as 24hour security and concierge services. Perhaps the most unique feature, however, is the three dedicated parking spaces — a rarity for an inner-city condominium. Those who relish being in the heart of the action will love having the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth and its nightly fireworks displays as a neighbour. And, with the planned development of a new arena and transformation of the area into Calgary’s Culture + Entertainment District, the action is only amping up in this up-andcoming community.
and amenities, including Costco. There’s a front-facing living room on the main floor and a larger family room at the back with a gas fireplace and a sliding door to access the backyard. A large detached garage fits two cars, with space for others to park on the paved driveway. This home’s relative proximity to the airport is highly convenient for people who travel frequently, while a CTrain station along the western edge of the neighbourhood provides an alternative for commuting within the city.
A 1,740-SQ.-FT., THREE-BEDROOM, THREE-BATHROOM TOWNHOME IN ALPINE PARK.
Listing Price $610,000 New Build
This modern three-storey townhouse is in the new Alpine Park neighbourhood, located directly across the southwestern leg of the ring road from Fish Creek Provincial Park. The main floor
ANKUSH ATTRI
JUSTIN HAVRE REAL ESTATE TEAM/ EXP REALTY
Calgary Realtor since 2023
WHAT I’VE LEARNED ABOUT CALGARY FROM SELLING HOMES HERE:
“After finishing university in India, I wanted to explore the world. I moved to Calgary in 2017 and I wasn’t planning to stay or be here for this long. But, it kind of felt like home, like the city has something to offer.
“The scariest part is that it’s changing every single week. There’s no crystal ball and we can’t predict anything.”
“I’ve been doing realty for over a year now. This is a very dynamic market and there’s a lot of emotion involved. The scariest part is that it’s changing every single week. There’s no crystal ball and we can’t predict anything. For listing agents a few years back, they would list a property and it wouldn’t move. Now we see quite the opposite. It’s a strong seller’s market. If I list a house, it’s gonna get sold within a week.
has an office space and garage, while the second floor has the kitchen, dining room and living room in an open-concept floor plan. Ascend to the third floor to find all three bedrooms. The townhouse has an attached two-car garage, but no private backyard, just some outside yard space — in line with the community’s new urbanist-inspired plan, which minimizes fenced backyards and focuses on front-porch social spaces and communal parks.
“It’s good that sellers are building equity and providing better for their families in that aspect, but it’s kind of bad at the same time. Many first-time homebuyers and young families are not able to afford [homes]. Even the ones who bought three years back, a year back, are selling their homes to have some equity so they can provide better for the families. But the economy goes in cycles. We are currently in a high and we’ll transition to a low sooner or later.”
LEANNE LARSEN
CIR REALTY
Calgary Realtor since 2001
WHAT I’VE LEARNED ABOUT CALGARY FROM SELLING HOMES HERE:
“I’ve been doing realty for 23 years now. It’s about helping people, this business, I think. It’s about what’s best for them, and it takes patience sometimes. People get the urge [to buy] in the spring when the weather starts getting nice, but sometimes you can get a better deal in the wintertime when there’s not as much selection.
“The area you choose to buy in is important because you want to make sure that your investment is going to increase over time. I always tell people to buy not the nicest house in the neighbourhood, but if everyone else around you has nicer houses, it will keep your value up. Lastly, don’t be shopping unless you know you can actually buy the home you’re shopping for. We’re often seeing multiple offers and sometimes they’re asking for a pre-approval letter. If you don’t have that, you might not be able to get the property.
“When people find the right [house] you know it, because they get that feeling when they walk in.”
A
But, when people find the right one, you know it, because they get that feeling when they walk in that ‘this is the one for me.’ Houses wait for the right person, I believe that.”
1,779-SQ.-FT., FOUR-BEDROOM, FOURBATHROOM DUPLEX IN HARVEST HILLS
Listing Price $629,000
Year Built 2019
Harvest Hills and the surrounding neighbourhoods of Coventry, Panorama and Country Hills are known collectively as Northern Hills. This
area of Calgary has a ton of amenities within a short drive or walk: the Country Hills Village shopping centre includes Landmark Cinemas, Superstore, Canadian Tire and numerous restaurants. Notre Dame High School is another amenity in the area, as is the Vivo for Healthier Generations recreation facility, while Nose Hill Park, the Country Hills Golf Club and the airport
A 1,070-SQ.-FT., FOUR-BEDROOM, TWO-BATHROOM MID-CENTURY BUNGALOW IN CHARLESWOOD.
Listing Price $619,900 Year Built 1959
Charleswood is a mature “middle-ring” neighbourhood wedged between the University of Calgary and Nose Hill Park — the sprawling prairie preserve that offers some of the best views of the city. Nearby Brentwood Village Shopping Centre has a London Drugs, Safeway, dental office, Pet Planet, Starbucks and more. Instead of a front driveway, the home has a front porch, with two parking spaces in the back, directly behind the shed and adjacent to the fenced backyard, which includes a firepit.
are just a five-plus-minute drive away. Less than five years old, this spacious duplex has a wraparound front-porch balcony and attached garage with a single parking space, with an additional parking space on the paved driveway. Sliding doors from the kitchen and living room open to the backyard patio and open yard space, perfect for enjoying Calgary’s sunny days.
ROBERT PRICE
FOUNDER AND CEO OF BODE, AN ONLINE PLATFORM FOR BUYING AND SELLING PROPERTY Started Bode in 2019
WHAT I’VE LEARNED ABOUT CALGARY FROM SELLING HOMES HERE:
“I think Calgary’s market is really interesting because, [when it comes to building homes,] there are no limits to it. In all directions, there is farmland as far as the eye can see. So, we have big decisions to make at a policy level: Do we want to build up, do we want to build out or do we want to do some blend of both?
“Although the city has become a sprawling city, it is also a much more interesting city.”
I think there’s a great opportunity to create a really good blend of all products across all pricing types.
“But, choosing Calgary always comes down to the people.
We’ve more than tripled our population since I’ve grown up here and, although the city has become a sprawling city, it is also a much more interesting city because of the [increased] diversity, the choices in terms of restaurants, in terms of art, and in how we now have this amazing tech ecosystem. From a real estate perspective, I think we’ve done a good job of developing the city that way, but, from here, going from 1.6 million to three, four, or five million, we have big decisions to make on how we want to develop in the future.”
A
1,366-SQ.FT.,
TWO-BEDROOM, THREE-BATHROOM CONDO IN SOUTH CALGARY.
Listing Price $619,000 Year Built 2016
This inner-city condominium has a rooftop patio with westernfacing views and is scootering distance from downtown and 17th Avenue S.W. and walking distance from Marda Loop, with shops and
restaurants like Chachi’s Sandwich Bar and Village Ice Cream. There’s a nearby park with tennis courts, a skating rink, a public swimming pool and the Giuffre Family Library branch of the Calgary Public Library. The narrow, two-storey condominium has numerous windows that let light in from both the front and back. The two bedrooms on the second floor have a private ensuite bathroom. Importantly, the building’s frame is concrete, which helps prevent sound from travelling between units.
A 1,112-SQ.-FT., TWO-BEDROOM, THREE-BATHROOM ROW HOUSE IN ASPEN WOODS.
Listing Price $579,000 Year Built 2013
The backyard patio deck is a primary attraction of this three-storey row house in Aspen Woods. The main floor features indoor access to the double tandem garage. On the second floor there is a combined living room, dining area and
TREC
Calgary Realtor since 2020
WHAT I’VE LEARNED ABOUT CALGARY FROM SELLING HOMES HERE:
“There
are just really incredible people here in Calgary, which I guess says more about the city than anything else.”
“I ended up getting licensed in March of 2020, which was when everyone was hearing about COVID. Because real-estate was considered an essential service, realtors didn’t stop working the whole way through [the pandemic]. How I learned to practise realty was very different from how most people learn: usually you walk alongside a mentor and have somebody guiding you step by step — I couldn’t even get within six feet of people. So, I was on my own for much of it, which was great, in a way, because it pushed me.
kitchen. The top floor houses both bedrooms, each with an ensuite bathroom. The property is close to three schools and Aspen Landing, which offers a ton of amenities including a Blush Lane market, a daycare and a range of independent and chain restaurants, jewellers and fashion boutiques. The area’s quick access to Highway 8 is ideal for those who like to explore and recreate in the mountains: from central Aspen Woods, you can drive to Bragg Creek in less than 30 minutes and to Canmore in an hour.
“I am originally from B.C. and I’ve always liked Calgary, but I think, working in the real estate sector, I’ve come to appreciate it so much more. I just think Calgary is an incredible place to live. From the quality of life to affordability to the people. Realtors meet people from all different walks of life, all different industries and there are just really incredible people here in Calgary, which I guess says more about the city than anything else.
But there are also such nice areas in Calgary ... And there’s constant expansion happening. We have new communities popping up all the time and I think that’s a big reason why lots of people from both eastern Canada and B.C. are congregating here.”
SARAH MCLAREN
BY MEREDITH BAILEY PHOTOS
NICK WONG
QUINTESSENTIALLY
Five decades into his career, Paul Gross reflects on his path to success, his favourite roles and his decision to return to the Calgary stage.
CANADIAN
BY
MAKEUP
ALANNA FENNELL, PLUTINO GROUP
FROM HERE.”
“I AM CANADIAN, AND I LIKE THIS COUNTRY. I’VE BEEN LUCKY ENOUGH TO MOSTLY DO THE WORK I WANTED TO, AND DO IT
Maybe you know him as the handsome Mountie from Due South, the eccentric artiste from Slings and Arrows, or the voice from Hockey: A People’s History, but chances are high you’ve heard of (or heard) Paul Gross. If Canada had a Hollywood, he would be the Tom Cruise of the 49th Parallel.
At 65, Gross has a long and diverse career on stage and screen to his name. His acting credits include feature films such as Barney’s Version, Men with Brooms, Gunless, Hyena Road and Passchendaele. His TV credits are just as varied — think Tales of the City, Republic of Doyle, H20, Alias Grace and many more. He’s also worn director and producer hats, is an award-winning playwright, and has acted in theatre productions across North America, from Stratford to Broadway.
While Gross has worked and continues to work south of the border, unlike other actors with his level of success, he primarily
the who’s-who of Canadian talent, including Atom Egoyan, Paul Haggis, David Cronenberg and Margaret Atwood.
“I made decisions to stay here and work on things that were Canadian-made. A lot of it was because it involved people that I know quite well,” Gross says.
That close connection to the people he works with continues to play a big part in the projects he takes on, including his decision to return to Calgary this year to star in Alberta Theatre Projects’ (ATP) The Seafarer. The play is a spooky thriller set in Ireland and will launch ATP’s 50th anniversary season.
Haysam Kadri, ATP’s artistic director, acted alongside Gross at the Stratford Festival in 2000, when Gross was starring in Hamlet. “I got a call from Haysam when he first took over in 2023,” Gross says. “I hadn’t seen him in 24 years since we’d worked on Hamlet. I always really liked him, so, when he came to me with the idea of doing The Seafarer, it’s a terrific little play and I thought it would be fun to do.”
Gross may not get mobbed regularly by
“THERE’S A MASSIVE PRICE TO PAY FOR STARDOM. I LIKE THE CASUAL ANONYMITY I HAVE.”
built his career from and in Canada. “I was in L.A., and I worked there, but I never liked that city. It’s not a comfortable place to live,” Gross says. “I am Canadian and I like this country. I’ve been lucky enough to mostly do the work I wanted to, and do it from here.
“There’s also a massive price to pay for stardom. I like the casual anonymity I have.”
The Canadian character of Gross’s career goes beyond his eschewing of the American entertainment industry’s celebrity machine. Many of his best-known film and TV parts are quintessentially (you might even say stereotypically) Canadian: a constable in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, a professional curler, a First World War soldier in the Canadian military, a director of a Canadian theatre festival. His projects are often based in Canada, or tell Canadian stories, and he has worked with
paparazzi, but he is internationally recognized and knows his name has the potential to draw audiences. “Theatres across the country are ex periencing varying degrees of difficulty and, if I can help sell tickets, that seemed like a pretty good reason,” he says.
A return to the Calgary stage also represents a return to his roots. The eldest of two brothers, Gross was born in Calgary, but grew up all over the world due to his father’s career in the mili tary. The Gross family lived in Europe and the U.S. before returning to Canada in the 1970s. Today, Gross lives in Toronto with his wife, actor Martha Burns, but still has strong ties to Alberta. His parents lived on a farm near Dinosaur Provincial Park until they passed away, his brother still calls Alberta home, and Gross recently built a house on the edge of the Badlands. “I love that valley and my parents were there for a good long time, so it’s nice to get back,” he says.
The last time he performed on stage in Calgary was during Theatre Calgary’s 19811982 season, when he appeared in George Bernard Shaw’s Mrs. Warren’s Profession and John Murrell’s Farther West
Gross had just completed the third year of his Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting program at the University of Alberta when he was cast. He describes his U of A training as “terrific” and adds that the program’s real value was the friendships he forged in the acting program — one example being his classmate, Francis Damberger, who helped produce the 2008 film, Passchendaele, a WWI epic Gross wrote, starred in, directed and produced. Filmed in and around Calgary, it was the biggest-budget Canadian film at the time and continues to be recommended Remembrance Day viewing.
“The theatre is tiny; it’s just the actors, a director and a stage manager in a room. You spend all your time in this intensive environment that is also, generally speaking, pretty emotional,” Gross says. “You need each other. So, there is a commonality of need for one another that makes the ground fertile for having partnerships and friendships last over decades.”
These days, when he considers a project, whether on stage or on camera, Gross likes to ask himself, “What kind of conversations will we have?” He seeks to work with people who are “funny and bright and curious and have a free mind, so that it’s enjoyable to do.” Sometimes, he has a good idea of what he’s getting into, but he also leaves himself open to forming new relationships, such as the one he developed with Mark McKinney over the course of working on Slings and Arrows, a dark comedy about a Shakespearean theatre festival.
McKinney, an actor and former member of the sketch comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall, created and wrote Slings and Arrows, and Gross played the eccentric director Geoffrey Tenant. “Before Slings and Arrows, I didn’t know Mark McKinney; I think I’d met him a few times. But I absolutely loved him,” Gross says. “He’s so nuts, and smart. We laughed our heads off, but we also had quite serious conversations about the nature of what we do.”
Some of Gross’s greatest successes in theatre have been in the Great White North.
His 2023 turn as King Lear at the Stratford Festival was called “non-stop watchable” by The Globe and Mail and “superb” by the Toronto Star. The six-month run was a commercial and critical success. It was also a full-circle moment for Gross, as it was the first play he remembers seeing that made him fall in love with acting. “My mom took me up to Stratford to see King Lear in 1972,” he says. “It starred William Hutt. I remember thinking, ‘I’d like to be part of that world.’” Just over 50 years later, he was. “I loved every second,” Gross says. “I’d wake up, and [think]: “Yes! It’s a Lear day!”
King Lear is a bucket-list part for many actors. It’s physically, emotionally and intellectually challenging and has been described as “a mountain whose summit has never been reached,” most notably by English theatre director Peter Brook. Gross knew the role required a singular kind of focus. He prepared for seven months and up to three hours a day before rehearsals actually began.
“I drove to Alberta [from Ontario] when I was building my house, and I must have done Lear the whole way there four or five times before the lines became unconscious,” he says. “It’s a balance, where you go back and forth between your ego and your id until you find that clean, bright line through the story. It had been quite a long time since I’d been on the stage, and, with Lear, I remembered I actually really love theatre.”
He had a very different experience playing Hamlet on the Stratford stage. He took on the role in 2000, following the final season of Due South, the buddy-cop dramedy about a hardboiled detective and painfully polite Canadian Mountie, played by Gross, which made him a household name. “Hamlet was very different,” he says. “You’re constantly inside yourself, and it’s like going to the world’s meanest therapist. I was coming off a popular TV show, and there was a sense of being judged as being incapable before I even started.”
The experience proved so challenging that during rehearsals, Gross says he was ready to quit. Director Joseph Ziegler convinced him to hang in there and just do one audience preview. “After the first soliloquy, I felt the audience lean in, and I realized
“IT’S A BALANCE, WHERE YOU GO BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN YOUR EGO AND YOUR ID UNTIL YOU FIND THAT CLEAN, BRIGHT LINE THROUGH THE STORY.”
that they were there with me,” Gross says. “I thought, ‘Okay, I can do this.’”
Like Lear, he got excellent reviews for his performance in Hamlet, but reviews are something he says he stopped paying attention to decades ago. “The positive doesn’t actually feel good, and the negative really isn’t good, and you can’t change anything anyways, so I don’t read them,” Gross says. “Instead, it’s about finding the like minds who are pushing for art and who want it to be good and, hopefully, to be part of something that serves people and maybe transforms them a little bit, too.”
Gross jokes that if he could do it all over again, he’d consider becoming a Formula 1 driver. But, five decades into his career, he is still deeply passionate, curious and committed to his craft. He’s also interested in the legacy of the craft of acting and how he can play a role in helping younger actors find their way. This sense of history and shared knowledge benefitted him as an emerging actor, and he wants to offer the same to others, whether that’s intentionally hiring emerging Canadian talent on his film and TV projects, or supporting new actors on stage.
He credits Burns for teaching him the value of mentorship. “Martha has finally drilled it into me that mentorship is part of the job and she’s, of course, completely right,” Gross says. “We need to have that feeling of handing along the collected understanding of what we have been assembling over centuries to those people who are coming up. As I get older, I start to become more acutely aware of how privileged and lucky I’ve been that I have been able to do this, and mentoring has a lot to do with passing along the little I do know.”
As for what’s next, Gross says the theatre continues to have the strongest pull. “It’s an immediate and intimate conversation with the audience,” he says. Following his stint with ATP this fall, he will appear alongside Burns in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in early 2025 back in Toronto.
For now, he’s focused on honing his Irish accent for The Seafarer — in his words a “really grim, but fun” play. “It’s quite surprising and very funny,” Gross says. It’s also very bleak, but it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Alberta Theatre Projects’ The Seafarer runs Oct. 15 to Nov. 10. Find tickets at albertatheatreprojects.com
MAKING
How local arts organizations are growing their audiences by lowering — and in some cases even removing — the price of admission.
AFFORDABLE
Theatre Calgary ended its 2022-2023 season with some tough questions.
“There was a realization that we weren’t bringing our audience back,” says Maya Choldin, the company’s executive director. The company faced a reckoning:
“Are we engaging with the community? Are we engaging with patrons? Are people coming to the theatre? And, when that answer was no, we had to figure out why.”
It’s no secret that life in Calgary has been getting more expensive. At the beginning of 2023, Statistics Canada’s consumer price index found that, as the rest of the country’s inflation rate stayed at 2.8 per cent, Alberta’s rate of inflation rose to 3.4 per cent. The Alberta Living Wage Network calculated the living wage in Calgary in 2023 to be $23.70 an hour, up from $18.60 an hour in 2021.
“One of the leading barriers to people coming to cultural events is price and perception of price,” Choldin says. “I believe that lowering the price and creating a simpler pricing model helps people access Theatre Calgary.”
Enter Theatre For All. Launched at the beginning of the 2023-2024 season, this three-year initiative, set to conclude in 2026, has allowed Theatre Calgary to offer all 384 orchestra-level seats (the main level extending back from the stage — some of the best seats in the house) to all shows at Max Bell Theatre for the subsidized rate of $39 in the debut year and $44 in 2024-2025. "It’s all in an effort to bring back our loyal fans and invigorate a new community of theatregoers,” Choldin says.
Theatre For All was made possible in part by a $3-million donation from Craig and Cara Senyk. In a press release, Craig — also the board chair for Theatre Calgary — said: “This campaign will ensure the sustainability of theatre in Calgary by attracting the next generation and helping develop a new diverse audience."
The campaign ultimately aims to raise $10 million. Fundraising has continued through private and corporate support and, though it had reached $6.6 million by last July, the ultimate goal is still in sight. “It's like flying the plane while we’re building it, since we’re still trying to secure enough financial support
to underwrite this project,” Choldin says. “It’s tough, but we think this is important.”
The program is also flipping the script on what the lobby of the Max Bell Theatre looks like. “Over half of our audience in 2023-2024 [was] new to Theatre Calgary,” Choldin says. “By lowering the ticket price, we’re building a sense of inclusivity. The generosity of ticket buyers willing to give a little more ensures that their neighbours can also come to Theatre Calgary. It then becomes incumbent upon us to do the work to make people feel welcome when they come.”
The Art Pass also aims to capture this welcoming feeling. This collaboration between Contemporary Calgary and the Calgary Public Library — launched on March 8 of this year — gives library patrons free family admission to Contemporary Calgary’s galleries over a three-week period, administered in the style of a library book loan.
“We had a donor in the community reach out saying they would love to sponsor some memberships,” says Contemporary Calgary CEO David Leinster. “We suggested partnering with the Calgary Public Library, and they thought this would be a fabulous way to deliver memberships concerning accessibility and breaking down barriers in the community.”
The question, then, became how to physically deliver the pass to Calgarians. “Our membership cards look like credit cards and live in your wallet, but how do you put that in the library slot without losing it?” Leinster says. “It became clear that we should make this a book — a ‘travelling guestbook’ of all past visitors.”
According to Calgary Public Library CEO Sarah Meilleur, the Art Pass is similar to acquiring other library materials. “Come to the library and check out one of the Art Pass books,” she says. “The book gives you free access to
Contemporary Calgary. It’s an interactive book, so patrons can doodle on its pages when they feel inspired by Contemporary Calgary.”
In his book The Great Good Place, sociologist Ray Oldenburg developed the idea of the “third place” — a space other than home or work for relaxed, cost-free socializing. With more than 780,000 active members and roughly 20,000 daily visitors, the Calgary Public Library is a third place for Calgarians of all backgrounds and income levels. The 110 Art Passes (five books at each of the 21 library locations, plus five on the Libby app) represent a way for Contemporary Calgary’s building also to become a third place.
“I want people to have a Contemporary Calgary membership in the same way they have a membership to the library,” Leinster says. “It’s a resource they have in their city to be inspired, to be challenged or to find joy.”
Meilleur thinks that arts and culture help us understand ourselves and each other. “Arts and libraries are for everyone,” she says. “The joy and excitement of providing free access to Contemporary Calgary is an opportunity for the community to share, learn and discover something they may not have considered before. That’s what the library is all about: feeding curiosity.”
PHOTOS BY DENNIS ENVOLDSEN; PREVIOUS PAGE:
PHOTO BY JEFF YEE
CALGARY PHIL PERFORMING
A FREE NOON-HOUR CONCERT AT BROOKFIELD PLACE.
“BY LOWERING THE TICKET
PRICE, WE ’RE BUILDING A SENSE OF INCLUSIVITY.”
—MAYA CHOLDIN, THEATRE CALGARY
“Accessibility is one of the core values of this organization: physical accessibility, accessibility of content, inclusive programming,” Leinster adds. “If you’re trying to make an organization that is accessible and inclusive to all, then you have to think about the cost.”
Janet Bwititi, director of marketing and sales for the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, has similar thoughts on affordability. “The Calgary Phil’s vision is that the Calgary Phil belongs to everyone,” she says.
As part of that vision, the orchestra has several programs for more cost-accessible tickets. One is Cpossibilities, a free membership open to anyone aged 13 to 35. Cpossibilities members can purchase up to two tickets to select concerts for only $15 per ticket. This program has been a part of the Calgary Phil’s budget for more than 10 years. “Young people often think this is their ‘grandmother’s orchestra,’” Bwititi says. “Well, it is their grandmother’s orchestra, but it’s also their orchestra. One of my goals is to have a wide variety of age groups coming in. We want to reflect the city we live in.”
Calgary Phil also offers group discounts, a first-responder discount, and flex passes that allow attendees to see between four and six shows of their choice over the course of the season at a 10-per cent discount.
“The arts are an opportunity to unite people, regardless of how we might view the world,” Bwititi says. “We want to create a welcoming, inclusive space for people of all backgrounds to enjoy the joys of orchestral music, regardless of price point.”
Calgary music lovers can also access discounted programming at Calgary Opera. At the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, 10 per cent of the seats are available at $40 for every Opera show. There is also an array of discounted subscription options, including a flexible discovery pass and free educational opportunities for “opera-curious” people.
“We have a new series called Serious Family Fun, and another called Unpacking Opera that anyone can come to, regardless of whether or not they have a ticket to our mainstage productions,” says Sue Elliott, CEO and general director of Calgary Opera. The Serious Family Fun events provide interactive activities, arts and crafts for families, while Unpacking Opera is a chance to learn more about the themes of the programmed shows.
“Our context is fundamentally different now than in 2019,” Elliott says. “It’s our responsibility to adjust to that context and ensure that we’re still offering a cultural service and expanding those offerings.”
As far as arts affordability in Calgary goes, there is much to be excited about in the near future. Empowered by a $25-million donation from the Shaw Family Foundation, the Glenbow museum will henceforth be known as Glenbow at the JR Shaw Centre for Arts & Culture, targeted to open in 2026.
“One of JR Shaw’s most cherished principles was to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to excel from the same starting point,” says
Glenbow president and CEO Nicholas Bell. “We realized how we could do that would be to remove the financial barrier to make Glenbow the first major museum in Canada that offers free admission for everyone, forever.”
The only paid component will be a single central exhibition gallery, while the rest of the museum will be free for anyone to spend time in and explore. “What it does for kids and families growing up in Calgary is teach them that access to arts and culture is a right, rather than a privilege,” Bell says. “We’re a diverse community, and this is our common backyard. You have to treat it that way, invest in arts and culture, and ensure everybody feels like they belong there.”
As Calgarians continue to navigate a world rife with inflation and cost-of-living questions, creating accessible entry points is crucial for local arts organizations to thrive. It’s a subject that Arts Commons President and CEO Alex Sarian grapples with in his new book, The Audacity of Relevance: Critical Conversations on the Future of Arts & Culture, set to hit bookstores on Oct. 1.
“When you lower the financial barrier and diversify programming, you’re creating an opportunity for people to take a risk and come to a show that they may never have before and fall in love with an organization in a brandnew way,” Sarian says. “It can empower people to have an artistic experience on their terms.”
As Meilleur so succinctly puts it: “Arts are for everyone.” Creating more equitable entry points for Calgarians to interact with theatres, museums and other institutions paints a vivid picture of a sustainable and diverse arts community in the future. As these Calgary organizations are discovering, making the arts more affordable can be the answer to many complex questions — and the starting point for many new discussions.
THEATRE CALGARY'S A CHRISTMAS CAROL
PHOTO BY TRUDIE LEE
SERVIN ʼ
AFTER ALL STILL THESE YEARS
T HE RELATIVELY RECENT,
B UT NONETHELESS STORIED
H ISTORY OF CALGARY’S
D INING-OUT SCENE, AND THE H ANDFUL OF RESTAURANTS
P EPPERED THROUGHOUT
T HE CITY THAT HAVE STOOD
T HE TEST OF TIME.
BY KEVIN BROOKER
eteran gourmand that you are, you probably understand that the right restaurant meal can be more than just surprising and satisfying. It can be transformational, changing everything you thought you knew about the routine business of tying on the feedbag. It’s also damn rare. But for me, strangely enough, it happened the very first time I entered the mystical realm of folded napkins and matching crockery.
The day was Feb. 26, 1963. I know this because my family had schlepped across town to the 16th Avenue N.W. location of Phil’s Pancake House in order to celebrate Shrove Tuesday with exotic chow and a live folksinger.
This was no ordinary six-stringer, however. It was Will Millar himself, soon to join the Irish Rovers and about to debut as host of a kid’s show on local TV (and, later still, open Calgary’s original Irish pub, The Unicorn — est. 1979 — where, for the first time under the parochial Alberta Liquor Control Board, it would actually be legal to stand up with a drink in your hand).
Preschooler that I was, I still vividly recall when Will paused right next to our table to drop the hit du jour “Puff The Magic Dragon.” But that gilded memory would ultimately be overshadowed by the festival of carbohydrates on my plate, a.k.a., Hawaiian Pancakes: silver-dollar-sized, bathed in chocolate syrup and whipped cream, with banana coins and a sprinkle of coconut. Dang
For me, it would be a while before it got any better than that.
PHOTO BY JARED SYCH
CAESAR'S STEAKHOUSE, ORIGINAL DOWNTOWN LOCATION, EST. 1972.
The world’s oldest restaurant is widely believed to be St. Peter Stiftskulinarium in Salzburg, Austria, astonishingly founded in 803 C.E. Spoiler alert: Calgary is not exactly in that bracket.
In fact, that original Phil’s might just qualify. According to current owner Melanie Petault, the core structure of the menu, including the pancake recipe, has been the same since 1960, though you’d also have to ignore the fact that, although sited on its original footprint, it’s different in almost every material regard, having been rebuilt in the 1980s.
Perhaps the Fairmont Palliser, formerly The Palliser Hotel (1914) deserves the title. Yet, how many variously named iterations of its dining rooms have occurred since then? There were great moments and top-quality foods, to be sure, but even old-timers are unlikely to remember a specific Palliser restaurant’s name prior to present iteration, the Hawthorn Dining Room & Bar. The hotel’s premier claim to coolness is, thus, its King’s Arms Tavern, which, in the ’60s became the city’s first de facto gay bar.
It’s useful to recall that, as in Salzburg, restaurants of the distant past were mostly the domain of travellers. In the case of the Canadian Pacific Railway-built Palliser, that meant train voyagers, ideally from the first-class cars since Canada’s unrivalled scenery had become the drawing card for aristocrats on romantic frontier tours. Stray too far from the station, however, and pickings got worse than slim.
Most early Calgarians were single men, here for work and little more. They lived in packed lodging houses where, for the lucky ones, there were nice ladies churning out meat and potatoes. Restaurants, such as there were any,
NOW A FAIRMONT PROPERTY, THE PALLISER HOTEL (BACKGROUND), EST. 1914, WAS ONE OF THE CITY ’ S FIRST DINING DESTINATIONS.
operated on a sort of subscription basis that was essential for those lacking the means to cook or even store food. An 1888 advertisement in the Calgary Weekly Herald and Alberta Livestock Journal touted Delmonico Restaurant as a place where 21 meal tickets could be had for $6.50, and even offered “Fresh Oysters in all Styles.” Although one is tempted to think that, by contemporary standards, the food was bland and of low quality, early menus reveal remarkable variety, if not splendour. The advent of sealed-jar preserves and rail transport provided an unprecedented array of fruits and vegetables. Remember, too, that flavourless tomatoes and carrots had yet to be invented; all beef was grass-fed during the growing season and everything was organic.
Only as development exploded in the 20th century did restaurants proliferate. At first, they were inside or nearby a handful of downtown hotels. They were referred to simply as cafés or coffee shops, which is ironic, considering the actual java would certainly have been grim. Nevertheless, they offered a path for women to enter the workforce, often alongside Chinese
men who staffed kitchens. Later, once wars and depression were in the rearview mirror, there at last came a burgeoning urban class who had the money and inclination to eat out regularly and even recreationally. Meanwhile, ex-Hong Kong entrepreneurs seized the opportunity to build eateries in emergent suburban locations and across small-town Canada, fronted by soon-to-be ubiquitous signage: “Chinese and Western Cuisine.” The latter included Denver omelettes and veal cutlets.
The former, dry spareribs, fried rice and a sort of grey, beansprout-heavy abomination called chop suey. Chocolate milk served in glass dairy bottles made up for the questionable food.
But all that is virtually gone. If you like history, though, you can still get a visual taste at the circa-1960s-founded faux-Peking Forest Lawn diner formerly known as the Eastgate. Tellingly, though, it’s now Dragon Gate, Indianmanaged, but still offering Chinese food with, despite the time-honoured sign outside, nary a clubhouse sandwich to be found.
It wasn’t until the 1950s that Calgary produced dining sophistication we can still enjoy. Fresh on the heels of our first oil skyscraper, the Barron Building, that would be Hy’s Steakhouse (1955). It set a lasting standard for classy business entertainment, including the centrepiece of every beef joint worthy of its highfalutin’ boasts: the flaming grill staffed by a tong-wielding wizard in a tall white hat.
Despite the contemporary feel of its current location in The Core Shopping Centre, Hy’s still serves up Mad Men classics like cheese toast for two, French onion soup and wedge salad. Although it’s hard to believe, the early days of Hy’s were martini-free, as licensed fine dining wasn’t allowed in Alberta until 1967.
LONG LIVE
he King Edward Hotel opened in 1905 on 9th Avenue S.E. — a site chosen for its proximity to the railway line. The hotel, which would come to be known as the King Eddy, was so popular that a five-storey addition was added to the original three-storey building a few years later. The downstairs bar survived Prohibition (most certainly by illegally serving alcohol), and, by the 1960s, it gained traction as a music venue. As the 1970s gave way to the 1980s, blues took over as the bar’s specialty genre, with the likes of John Hammond, Buckwheat Zydeco and Jeff Healey all hitting the stage. But the venue got a case of the blues itself, falling into disrepair and ultimately closing in 2004, just one year short of its centennial. Though shuttered, its 99-year run earned it a place in the history books as Calgary’s longest-operating bar. In 2008, the hotel was acquired by the National Music Centre and the Calgary Municipal Land Corporation, which set out to restore it in painstaking detail. In 2018, it reopened as a bar, restaurant and music venue, with the CKUA radio station, Rolling Stones Mobile Studio, and NMC offices filling up the rest of the building. Today’s King Eddy 2.0 is much cleaner, serves better food, and is more family-friendly, than in yesteryear, but the music plays on. —Elizabeth Chorney-Booth
NICK S STEAKHOUSE & PIZZA, EST. 1979.
PETERS ’ DRIVE-IN, EST. 1962.
“THE WAY OF CHICKEN REMAINS SACRED. BESIDES, THE HEART ATTACK WANTS WHAT THE HEART ATTACK WANTS.”
BLACKFOOT TRUCK STOP, AN INGLEWOOD INSTITUTION SINCE 1956.
STAFF AT PHIL'S PANCAKE HOUSE, GLENMORE TRAIL, CA.1967.
Meanwhile, Hy’s little brother, Caesar’s (1972), still operates at its original location on 4th Avenue and 5th Street S.W., where the dark-toned, red leather decor appeals to anyone seeking a time-capsule vibe. Although it claims to be the home of the bloody Caesar, take that with a grain of celery salt. Believe what you will about the drink’s beginnings, but a reported east-coast U.S. concoction dubbed the “clamdigger” seems to pre-date the nowextinct Calgary Inn’s 1969 claim. Okay, fine. But let’s at least maintain that it never would have turned into Canada’s most popular cocktail without our prodigious drinking.
The Rat Pack age bequeathed another local legend, albeit at the far end of the status spectrum: Blackfoot Truckstop Diner (1956). Still sited at Calgary’s first truck stop in Inglewood (though now across the parking lot from the original Royalite service-bay location), it was established by the iconic Edna Taylor, whose famous 1.6-kilometre-high flapper pie still represents a Holy Grail for newly adult hipsters looking to eat their way off a Palm Bay cooler binge. Ownership has since changed, but the Blackfoot is suspended in amber — in a good way. The cook will still make you liver and onions, even if it’s not on the menu or on special, as it is once a week.
The late 1950s also ushered in the mode of snarfing that yet reigns: fast-food takeout. Barney Gelfand led the charge on Macleod Trail with the city’s first Kentucky Fried Chicken. Founder Harland Sanders himself came to bestow his blessing on what at that point was only his fifth location. The Colonel declared Gelfand his favourite franchisee in an age when it was deemed valuable to have the local operator put their name above title. Hence, Calgarians of a certain vintage considered it a matter for celebration on the rare
occasion when mom brought home a bucket of “Barney’s chicken.” We now have 20 KFC locations pumping it out in Calgary, and, to be fair, the bird itself has changed little, though it seems to lack the cachet it once held.
What doesn’t want for celebrity is the genuinely fast food from a pair of Calgary legends still kicking it old-school. Chicken on the Way (1958) originated in Edmonton, where its name stemmed from a short-lived fleet of vans equipped with radios and deep fryers that literally cooked the order in front of your house. Frankly, that’s adorbs, if terrifying. Though they moved preparation indoors and expanded the menu, the Dunn family never messed with their holy trinity of chicken, fries and corn fritters. It’s odd that many Calgarians, usually without investigation, seem to revel in trashing the product. “Chicken on the Way to the hospital,” they’ll chide. Well, those people are wrong. The Way of Chicken remains sacred. Besides, the heart attack wants what the heart attack wants.
Then there’s Peters’ Drive-In (1962). Wrongthinkers also like to throw shade at Peters’, as
if generations of bus-propelled hockey teams and ski-trippers from the benighted flatlands do not consider it the greatest thing ever discovered on the Trans-Canada Highway. Sure, many modern burger artists are making undeniably superior versions, but Peters’ bestrides its own mountaintop on the drivethrough front. The patties are chargrilled and, vitally, sauced. Buns are custom-made. The milkshakes contain, and always have, real fruit. How can you diss that?
One more fad from the 1960s was the revolving panoramic restaurant, still spinning atop the Calgary Tower. Another was destination dining — in Chinatown. Sure, much has turned over since then. Gone is the Golden Inn, where Ralph Klein and his cronies famously assembled after the bars closed, and where myth held that there was some act of kabuki that you could perform on your teapot that would signal waiters to discreetly fetch you a rye and ginger. What endures, however, is the Silver Dragon Restaurant (1966), one of few places where steaming dim sum carts weave among the circular tables. It was here that many Calgarians made their earliest acquaintance with family-style serving and stir-fries packed with crunchy, fresh vegetables — a critical component of good food that too many modern restaurants ignore.
And, as weird as it seems, in Calgary there once was no such thing as pizza — it bears noting that the 20th-century wave of Italian immigrants that transformed Bridgeland largely made their bones in concrete and construction, not restaurants. So, despite having a healthy Italian population, pizza was barely a thing here, though that changed with Tom’s House of Pizza (1963), now a three-location institution that continues to inspire fierce loyalty, particularly among south-siders. Give
TOM ’ S HOUSE OF PIZZA
BARNEY GELFAND, CALGARY'S FIRST KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN FRANCHISEE, 1966.
CONTEMPORARY RESTAURANTS IN OLD BUILDINGS THESE FOUR DINING DESTINATIONS OPERATE IN SPACES REPRESENTATIVE OF CALGARY’S HERITAGE AND HISTORY.
FINEPRINT
Restaurants issue
Calgarians may remember the space that now hosts FinePrint as the former Divino restaurant. But only those with very long memories know the Stephen Avenue sandstone building was originally constructed in 1893 as the headquarters for the Calgary Herald. The restaurant pays homage to that legacy by integrating some of the original brickwork with its clean, modern design, along with whimsical newsprint-themed artwork on the walls and newsroom/writerly references on the menu.
113 8 Ave. S.W., fineprintyyc.com, @fineprintyyc
JINBAR
The 114-year-old de Waal Block in Bridgeland is named after a Dutch family that owned the building for the better part of a century. It’s fitting that JinBar’s Jinhee Lee, who is originally from Korea, carries on the tradition of newcomers to Canada making their mark on the city with her restaurant on the building’s main floor. Lee’s Korean fried chicken, pizzas and other flavourpacked bites nicely contrast the room’s classic tin ceiling and other original details.
of Calgary’s nightlife, the National Hotel. Built in 1907, the three-storey hotel earned a reputation as a place for ne’er-do-wells to lay their heads after a visit to the downstairs dive bar. Later a punk rock-friendly music club, the once dingy National is now a classy restaurant, but its rebellious spirit lives in the Prohibition-era vibes of the space-sharing Off Cut Bar.
925 11 St. S.E., thenashyyc.com, @thenashyyc
DEANE HOUSE
Voting runs September 2 to 22
24 4 St. N.E., jinbar.ca, @jinbaryyc
THE NASH
The space that is now The Nash was for a time, one of the most infamous venues in the history
One of Calgary’s most historic sites, the Deane House was named for former resident Richard Burton Deane, the last-serving North West Mounted Police Superintendent in Calgary. It was built in 1906 on the site now known as The Confluence and moved across the river to its current spot in Inglewood in 1929. In 2015, the Fort Calgary Historic Preservation Society redeveloped the Deane House garden, grounds and historic home. In 2016, restaurateur extraordinaire Sal Howell opened the space as an elegant dining destination, paying reverence to the building’s pedigree in both design and concept. The Hunt House — officially Calgary’s oldest building still standing in its original location — is on the grounds of the main house, giving a visit to Deane House extra historical oomph. —E.C.B. 806 9 Ave. S.E., deanehouse.com, @deanehouseyyc
Tom Fowler credit for being decades ahead of his time in trumpeting not just the thinner crusts you see at modern joints, but also locally sourced, handmade components.
If ever you’re stumped when asked what constitutes Canadian cuisine, try this: All the cuisines. Around here, the 1970s marked the true dawn of a multicultural profusion we now take for granted. Newcomers from India via East Africa, for example, made an immediate and lasting impact. Consider the Taj Mahal (1973), our first exposure to the delights of butter chicken, curry beef and the almighty tandoor. Its lunch buffet, which features items that have been on the menu since the start, still stands as one of the city’s best. Likewise, Sukiyaki House (1976) entered the fray with a clean, meticulous style of eating previously inconceivable, including the revolutionary introduction of sushi. Super-trained Japanese chefs were always its hallmark. Today, they’re helmed by Osaka native Koji Kobayashi, professionally trained in the elevated form of Japanese fine dining known as kaiseki. Immigration from Vietnam also swelled in the disco decade, though it would be a few years before that nation’s sublime cuisine captivated us for life. Early incarnations of the nhà hàng in Calgary are few and far between, but the Vietnamese community and our ravenous love for bún and pho abide.
The only possible rival is the contemporary casual steak house, now widespread, but embodied in antiquity by the likes of The Keg n’ Cleaver (1971), long the zenith of date-night perfection during its unfortunate diagonalcedar-panelling phase. No wonder The Keg reinvents itself so often, much as former Macleod Trail icon Smuggler’s Inn (1974) did recently. Now just Smuggler’s, the new owners revamped an adjacent space in the rustic-
modern fashion, but pass through a portico and you will recapture its never-to-fade glory, where, if 82 Captain Morgans are suddenly reincarnated, they can all have thrones. A new generation is now being beguiled by Smuggler’s timeless signature dish: prime rib with jus and horseradish.
All that, in a way, evolved from a previous faction that quietly built the restaurant firmament upon which we graze — the neighbour-
hood Greco-Canadian steak and pizza house.
Spiro’s Pizza & Greek Taverna (1969) remains the Athens of 17th Avenue S.W., still metaphorically smashing plates at age 55. Matador Pizza & Steakhouse (1976) celebrates its venerable roots in Varsity with throwback dishes and Shirley Temples for the kids.
But it’s the story of Nick’s Steakhouse & Pizza (1979), gazing imperiously on McMahon Stadium, that symbolizes the genre.
NICK PETROS AS MAÎTRE-D AT HY S, CA. 1973. BELOW LEFT: TAJ MAHAL RESTAURANT FOUNDERS BASANT AND AMRIT CHARDNA, CA. 1976.
Nick Petros, penniless Greek immigrant (alas, departed), gets a job as a dishwasher at Hy’s, advances to maître ’d. One day at JB’s Big Boy, he gets a crummy meal and chews out the boss, only to learn the joint is for sale. Boom Nick bites down, repositions the grill, changes little and makes his regulars his friends.
Today, Nick’s son, Mark, grandson, Ben, and granddaughter, Annie, keep the eponymous patriarch’s effusive spirit wonderfully alive, yielding a reliable no-nonsense option where you might even run into Stampeders general manager and head coach Dave Dickenson and his staff war-gaming in the lounge, as coaching staffs before them have for the past 45 years. Get there three hours early on game day.
Good times, good times. So, what have we learned? Well, you are very old if you remember when these paragons of stick-toitiveness were still adolescents. It also reveals how much living history can reside in what is, let’s face it, but a brief blip on the geologic time scale. Most importantly, when you boil it down to one abiding lesson, these restaurants all accomplished the same rare feat. They. Stayed. In. Their. Lane. It ain’t magic. Successful restaurants seem to be those that make the correct decision on what to offer starting on Day 1, or soon after. If you have that right idea, you could do it today. Maybe you’ll reach the centenarian status of Calgary’s single enduring item of continuously made deliciousness: the beloved savoury pies from the Bon Ton Meat Market (1921). Likely, you’ll gravitate toward the steak-and-kidney, except I’m going to steer you toward the under-regarded pork pie. It’s both awesome and way more old-timey.
THE JAPANESE ART OF QUICK-SERVICE CUISINE
HOW EDO JAPAN MADE ITS MARK ON CALGARY AND BEYOND.
There are two things about quick-service staple Edo Japan that may come as a surprise: the first is that the company was founded and remains headquartered right here in Calgary; the second is that it celebrates its 45th anniversary this year.
While Chinese cuisines have been a cornerstone of Calgary’s dining landscape, Japanese food, specifically, was not on the radars of most non-Japanese Canadians until the latter part of the 20th century. Even in 1979, when the first Edo Japan opened, the (allegedly Vancouver-invented) California roll had yet to be popularized and the original Shogun miniseries was still a year away from capturing the imaginations of emerging Japanophiles across North America.
Still, Reverend Susumu Ikuta, a Buddhist minister whose family first settled in Alberta in the late 1930s, took it upon himself to share Japanese culture with other Calgarians. Unconventionally, he did it by opening a quick-service teppanyaki kiosk in the food court of Southcentre Mall.
“The Reverend had two higher purposes in 1979 when he opened up the first Edo,” says current Edo Japan President and CEO Dave Minnett. “He wanted to bring Japanese cuisine to Canadians, but there was a second mission, which was a
vision of giving aspiring entrepreneurs a business opportunity and a leg up through franchising.”
Forty-five years and 200 locations later, Minnett attributes the company’s success and longevity to a couple of things. First, there’s Canada’s continuing thirst for Asian flavours at a range of price points — the sukiyaki beef and teriyaki chicken that would have felt new to many Calgarians in 1979 are now widely embraced across cultures as comfort foods. Beyond that, Edo has always been remarkably ahead of quick-service (a.k.a., fast-food) trends: the company was specializing in fresh and (relatively) healthy madeto-order meals well before current darlings like Chipotle hit the scene.
Edo has also been clever in shepherding its growth, expanding from food courts to streetside dine-in restaurants in the early 2000s, introducing dishes like sushi and ramen, launching a smartphone app for easy ordering, and growing the number of franchises across Canada.
But, even with more than 11 million meals served annually, the heart of what Edo does has never really changed. That would be cooking meat and veggies on a teppan grill with the same techniques and sauces Reverend Ikuta used almost half a century ago, and bringing the world closer together. —E.C.B.
Small Business Week 2024
Celebrate the city’s vibrant small business community with a slate of events, concluded by the Calgary Small Business Awards Gala!
Small Business Week Events
Oct. 21:Business After Hours: Small Business Week Kickoff
Oct. 22:Failing Forward: Turning entrepreneurial setbacks into springboards for success
Oct. 24:Empowering Indigenous Entrepreneurs: Strategies for supporting small business
Oct. 25:Calgary Small Business Awards Gala
Get your tickets today!
From private dinners with top chefs to secret theatre tours, an A-List membership grants you behind-thescenes access to Calgary’s best. Meet the creators, taste the flavours and explore hidden gems that only members can enjoy. With limited memberships available, you’re not part of the crowd – you’re one of the select few experiencing the very best of Calgary. Visit www.thealist.vip
GAME, SET, MATCH
Simon Miller blazer, $625, and pants, $495, Michael Star top, $115, Jenny Bird earrings, $168, and Andersson Bell bag, $995, all from Leo Boutique; Gigi Studios sunglasses, $395, from Chinook Optical; shoes, model’s own.
THE COOLER MONTHS AHEAD CALL FOR A HARDWORKING WARDROBE — BOLD PATTERNS, WARM TEXTURES AN D VERSATILE BASICS ARE R EADY TO CONQUER THE CONCRETE JUNGLE.
ART DIRECTION
STEVE COLLINS
PHOTOS JARED SYCH
STYLING CARL ABAD HAIR AND MAKEUP PHOEBE HEARD ARTISTS WITHIN MODEL DANA , MODE MODELS
TO THE KNIT
COMMIT
Ermanno Scervino sweater, $2,995, and scarf, $2,530, from Ooh La La; skirt, $170, from SophieGrace; Alaya Bar earrings, $345, from Rubaiyat; belt, $49, from Simons; boots, model’s own.
COLD SHOULDER
Dress, $799, from Malika Rajani; Lamarque coat, $345, from Leo Boutique; scarf, $19, from Simons; The Valley Sunglasses, $345, from Chinook Optical; Ermanno Scervino necklace, $595, from Ooh La La.
FLORAL OF THE STORY
Smythe pants, $450, and coat, $995, from Smythe CF Chinook Centre; Dean Davidson necklace, $550, and earrings, $375, from Rubaiyat; top, $45, from Simons; shoes, model’s own.
STATEMENT MAKER
Dress, $210, from SophieGrace; blazer, $1,509, from Atelier Munro; belt, $79, from Simons; Ayala Bar necklace, $580, from Rubaiyat.
CHIC COMMUTE
Paul Smith blazer, $850, pants, $495, and Lambert bag, $165, all from Simons; coat, $149, and tee, $20, from Uniqlo; Lie Studio necklace, $725, from gravitypope; boots, model’s own.
Simons The Core Shopping Centre, 403-697-1840, simons.ca
Smythe CF Chinook Centre, 403-454-0030, shopsmythe.ca
SophieGrace 130, 1900 11 St. S.E., sophiegrace.ca
Uniqlo CF Chinook Centre, 403-797-3551, and CF Market Mall, 587-437-6534, uniqlo.com
MIX AND MATCH
(price upon request
Jacket by Anneke Forbes
); Smythe dress, $625, from Smythe CF Chinook Centre; APC bag, $1,190, from gravitypope; Roberta Chiarella necklace, $385, from Rubaiyat; boots, model’s own.
URBAN LIVING redefined
Come home to comfort and convenience at University District, an award-winning urban community that offers a bold new vision for living in the northwest. Visit the Discovery Centre to meet trusted home builders and find your new best-in-class condo, must-have townhome, or rental options including senior’s care and support facilities. Explore University District today. Life works here.
From private dinners with top chefs to secret theatre tours, an A-List membership grants you behind-thescenes access to Calgary’s best. Meet the creators, taste the flavours and explore hidden gems that only members can enjoy. With limited memberships available, you’re not part of the crowd – you’re one of the select few experiencing the very best of Calgary. Visit www.thealist.vip
IT’S A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEW NEIGHBOURHOOD
As housing demand continues to rise with both newly arrived and existing residents looking for fresh home builds, a variety of new communities in and around Calgary aim to deliver. See how these neighbourhoods offer several single-family and multi-unit home options to accommodate buyers (and renters) with different needs and preferences while featuring natural landscapes, incorporating sustainability and minimizing ecological footprints.
ESKER PARK: A COMMUNITY SCULPTED FOR ALL LIFE’S STAGES
Calgary’s upcoming new northwest community, designed and developed by Shane Communities, will feature homes for all kinds of living.
n a sense, Esker Park, a new community designed and developed by Shane Communities, has been 22,000 years in the making.
While the official vision for the community began in 2009, the name “Esker” symbolizes the natural, winding ridges that have been sculpted over thousands of years by glaciers. Esker Park, appropriately enough, will be built on glacier-sculpted land in northwest Calgary, directly east of Glacier Ridge. The new community honours its namesake with a layout interwoven with winding streets, green spaces and eco-friendly elements. The “Park” in its name, represents a focal point of the community where residents can gather for a sense of belonging.
“Esker Park is perfect for those who prioritize sustainability, community and quality living,” says Melanie Gowans, vice-president of sales, marketing and interior design with Shane Homes Group
of Companies. “With its prime location, variety of home styles and abundant nearby amenities, it sets a new standard for urban living in Calgary.”
AN ARRAY OF HOMES TO CHOOSE FROM
Groundbreaking took place on April 19, 2024, setting the stage for what will soon be 220 acres of developed land for the Esker Park community. The first show homes will open in the spring of 2025, and presales for the exclusive Shane Homes will begin in the fall of 2024. Future residents will have a choice of a diverse range of home styles, including single-family front garage homes, laned homes, paired homes and townhouses.
Whether taking the kids to the playgrounds, walking the dog to the park with your partner or jogging or strolling on the many walking trails crisscrossing the community, Esker Park is built to accommodate all stages of life. “Esker Park is perfect for those seeking a vibrant, inclusive community with ample amenities and natural surroundings,” affirms Gowans. “It’s designed for families, young professionals and retirees looking to set down roots in a welcoming environment.”
For community events, residents can come together to the centrally located outdoor park space for gatherings and connection.
Surrounding the community are top-rated schools, shopping centres, dining options and medical facilities. Convenient access to both major roads and public transit makes commuting around the city and to nearby natural attractions a breeze. Esker Park provides homes for every type of family and can grow with them as they change over time.
“The location offers an ease of living, making it a place where people can build their lives and enjoy them for years to come,” affirms Brenden Montgomery, vice president of land development at Shane Homes Group of Companies.
NATURE AND
LIFESTYLE
INTERSECT IN LOGAN LANDING
Enjoy quiet living within natural landscapes in the newest community along the Bow River.
I n southeast Calgary, residents of Logan Landing will walk along pathways, take in views of the valley, spend time by the Bow River and embrace the natural amenities that make the community an outdoor enthusiast's dream.
Explore what nature has to offer, and enjoy peaceful living without sacrificing urban amenities. You’ll find everything you need for quality living in Logan Landing.
CONNECT WITH NATURE
Located along the Bow River and envisioned with respect to its natural features, Logan Landing offers a unique topography that deepens the connection with nature’s landscape. With various outdoor amenities, the community provides dedicated spaces to get outside and lead an active lifestyle.
A quick walk away, community members can find themselves at the edge of the Bow River, where they can enjoy the sounds of rushing water, go fishing, take up bird watching, or hop aboard a raft and float down the river. The proximity of the Bow is the community jewel, but it doesn’t end there. Logan Landing will feature over eight kilometres of pathways where residents can walk, run or bike. These pathways encourage exploration beyond the community allowing residents easy access to Cranston and even all the way to Calgary's downtown core.
Over 115 acres of the community will be dedicated to an environmental reserve, and residents will enjoy over 24 acres of open space designated for a school, eight parks with a variety of playgrounds, as well as a six-and-a-half-acre stormwater pond.
Plus, Logan Landing boasts incredible views of Calgary’s natural setting including views of the Rocky Mountains.
“The most scenic viewpoints overlooking the escarpment and the valley were purposely preserved and included in our open space network. The pathways, as well as some of the key parts of the community, are going to be perched on some of the best views,” says Peter Jensen, senior development manager for Logan Landing.
SUSTAINABILITY AND PRESERVATION
Genesis Land, the community’s developer, designed Logan Landing with a focus on preserving the surrounding natural environment — after all, it’s what makes the community so special. It’s a sanctuary to the migratory nesting site of Great Blue Herons and has been designed to protect the native species in the area.
As part of the harmonious connection between the natural landscape and an idyllic living design, the community has three distinct neighbourhood zones, each offering unique views, landscapes and housing options. The Ridge is the upper area of the community nestled in a prairie landscape. The Bench is a terraced area overlooking the river valley and mountains with stunning views. The Valley is tucked in near the river, where you’ll find tranquility among native plants and grasses.
Genesis also ensures sustainability features can be easily integrated in its homes. Residents can expect access to green technology and renewable energy with rough-ins for electric vehicle chargers and solar panels in their homes. The community’s homes offer a variety of styles including craftsman, prairie, farmhouse and modern tudor styles, to suit many tastes.
Logan Landing is close to restaurants, shops and businesses, and is only a 25-minute drive from the city centre. Logan Landing is where you’ll find the intersection of peaceful living and a vibrant, urban lifestyle.
A LIFE OF LUXURY AWAITS AT MAGNA IN UNIVERSITY DISTRICT
Take advantage of pre-sales and lock in your new high-end Jayman BUILT concrete condo.
F or more than 40 years, Jayman BUILT has provided first-class designs and builds. It continues that tradition with its newest luxury condo project, Magna, located in the heart of Calgary’s University District. In March, Jayman broke ground on its latest lavish development, and construction is well underway, with an anticipated completion date in 2026.
“Magna is Jayman’s newest and most luxurious project to date. The project is within University District, Calgary’s awardwinning new urban community, and will be 82 suites, including six penthouse suites, across two six-storey concrete buildings,” says Jordan D’Haese, sales manager for Jayman BUILT Multi-Family.
From suites with built-in appliances, hardwood floors and spa-inspired bathrooms to a private inner courtyard with water features, Magna is the perfect place for those who want to maintain a luxury lifestyle without the worries of maintenance. It’s the ideal option for downsizers who don’t want to compromise quality, square footage, or peace and quiet, as Magna’s fully concrete build will eliminate significant noise transfer.
QUALITY AMENITIES, ALL NEARBY
In the pedestrian-friendly community, you won’t have to go far for shopping, dining and entertainment while living in Magna. University District also offers parks to enjoy the area’s natural surroundings, and within Magna, you’ll have access to a private courtyard with BBQ areas and fire pits.
All homes offer energy-efficient features, including triple-pane windows, high-efficiency heat pumps and smart-home technology, plus there’s 260 solar panels across both buildings. Magna residents will enjoy high-end finishes that make the suites feel as luxurious as they look, and they can even personalize them to fit their specific tastes and lifestyles.
BUY YOUR PERSONALIZED HOME TODAY
Construction has begun, starting below ground to accommodate the two-storey, concrete underground parkade. Although the project won’t be completed until 2026, there are benefits to pre-sale purchases. Buyers can lock in current suite prices and
watch their home be built from the ground up. Buying early also means having your say on the design. Work with a professionally certified interior designer at Jayman’s styleMagic Design Centre and take the time you need to make decisions you’ll love for years to come. The design centre offers 10,000 square feet of inspiration, and Jayman’s experts will help make your vision a reality. Choose from upgraded levels of interior finishes (plus or ultra) as well as countertops, lighting and fixtures, plus nearly everything else along the way. Magna condos feature German-built kitchens, 10- to 12foot ceilings and expert-crafted cabinetry, so whatever features you choose, your new suite will be the epitome of high-end living.
A VARIETY OF FLOOR PLANS
Two concrete six-storey towers make up Magna, where you have your choice from 13 floor plans, including three high-end penthouse suite plans. There’s something for everyone with floor plans ranging from one bed + den with 1.5 baths to two bed + den with 2.5 baths. Suite sizes span from 637 to almost 2,600 square feet of indoor living space. All suites also come with expansive outdoor living spaces, including balconies up to 2,000 square feet.
To learn more about Jayman’s luxury project, Magna, or how to purchase your next home, visit jayman.com/magna.
MISSION LANDING AND THE NINES: QUALITY RENTAL LIVING AWAITS
OPUS Corporation brings its unique advantage and talent to create two new residential rental buildings for Calgarians to call home.
W ith building projects around Canada, OPUS Corporation has been a real estate industry pioneer for over 40 years. OPUS has distinguished itself by providing completely integrated services such as construction and project management, development, property management, leasing and marketing, and providing these services to residential, medical and retail buildings, offices and light industrial projects. The team behind OPUS advises and assists owners and investors of each project from the beginning to the end and beyond.
OPUS’s latest developments, Mission Landing and The Nines, will be its first projects developed for residential rental use. “We take great pride in making the city a better place, and I believe that our two new buildings will help to improve Calgary,” says Hannes Kovac, president and CEO of OPUS Corporation.
MISSION LANDING
The first of OPUS’s mixed-use residential buildings, located on the corner of Mission Road and Macleod Trail S.W., minutes from the Mission district, will be completed at the end of 2024. The six-storey building features 70 one- and two-bedroom units with spacious balconies that effortlessly combine intelligent design with eye-catching architecture and functional living areas. All tenants
have access to the building’s rooftop patio, which has a dog walk, sun deck and a barbecue area. In addition, residents can take advantage of retail and personal service amenities on the main floor of the building. Mission Landing is ideal for those keen for downtown access, but not keen on living in the core.
THE NINES
This six-storey development, slated for completion in late 2025, will be situated at the intersection of Elbow Drive and Southland Drive S.W. It will feature 86 suites with one or two bedrooms. The Nines boasts a rooftop patio with panoramic views of the mountains and Glenmore Reservoir. The main floor will be dedicated to retail spanning 13,500 square feet. Residents can take advantage of fitness, health and wellness services, coffee shops, restaurants for breakfast and lunch and much more. The Nines offers an inviting environment for established residents to settle down and enjoy the nearby parks and community centres. Its proximity to public transit makes commuting a breeze.
THE OPUS ADVANTAGE
Top-notch smart technology and security systems are outfitted in both Mission Landing and The Nines. Tenants can access the building via an app and use elevators or send QR codes to provide their guests and delivery services access. These security features, explains Kovac, ensure that no one can simply walk into the building. The app also provides easy communication between tenants and property managers and is a convenient way to set up rent payments without missing deadlines or making service requests.
“By bringing our advantage to these buildings, we can maximize convenience and minimize incidents or frustrations for our tenants,” affirms Kovac. “When our tenants come home, they can feel safe, relax, and leave the hustle and bustle of the day behind.”
For more information on Mission Landing and The Nines, visit opuscorp.ca.
WHERE CONVENIENCE MEETS LIFESTYLE
Discover the elegance of Mission Landing, OPUS Corporation’s premier residential rental development.
Enhancing The City of Calgary with its distinguished presence.
DISCOVER THE WARMTH OF FIRESIDE
Find welcoming small-town charm with big-city amenities in one of Cochrane’s best communities.
J ust 15 minutes away from Calgary’s city limits, the masterplanned community of Fireside offers new Cochrane homes within a dynamic, welcoming and family-friendly environment. With a brand-new phase available, now is the perfect time to make the move to Fireside, and start enjoying the comfort and convenience this community has to offer.
QUICK ACCESS TO AMENITIES AND COMMUNITY SPACES
Discover the Embers at Fireside, 30,000 square feet of shopping and professional services. Located at the community’s entrance, residents can conveniently access everything from a quick bite to a hair appointment. Fireside also offers amenities for community connections and family life, including two school sites, sports fields and plenty of shared outdoor spaces.
“There is a lot to love about Fireside, we have so many amenities that make life easier for our residents,” says Edmundo Azuaje, manager of marketing and communications for Calbridge Group. “One that deserves special mention is that we are the only community in Cochrane that has K-8 or K-9 schools in both the Catholic school system and the public school system.”
BREATHE EASY IN THE OPEN AIR
In Fireside, wander along outdoor pathways, take in the unique beauty of preserved wetlands, and admire the surrounding Rocky Mountain vistas — there are 63 acres of parks and pathways. Fireside offers the perfect balance of being connected to nature and enjoying the ease of nearby amenities.
Residents can enjoy a community garden, a brand-new, NHLsized outdoor rink, two parks, three soccer fields and a baseball diamond. Plus, the mountains are only a 30-minute drive away for hiking, camping, skiing and other outdoor activities.
Fireside’s new central park features over five acres of green space with a state-of-the-art playground, a pump track, a picnic area, and, during winter, a toboggan hill and fire pits to keep warm.
“We are in love with the new central park,” says Azuaje. “There are so many activities for kids, and it’s becoming a gathering hub for the entire community. We hosted our Fireside Stampede breakfast there for the first time this year, and seeing 2,200 people come through felt truly rewarding.”
UNIQUE HOME STYLES BY TRUSTED BUILDERS
Find the home that best suits your needs with Fireside’s range of options. The community offers single-family laned and front-drive homes, duplexes and townhomes built by reputable builders with years of experience and excellent customer service.
Calbridge Homes, Cardel Homes, Genesis Builders and Janssen Homes have worked to create a unified look of high standards at Fireside. The builders have designed and constructed traditionalinspired homes with warm earth and vibrant tones for the colour schemes, using the surrounding landscape as inspiration. The final result is a blend of quality homes, suitable for all kinds of buyers, that reflect a modern take on traditional architectural styles.
As an ever-evolving community, Fireside’s phase 12 of development is now open. Located in a prime area, phase 12 is near the central park and positioned on the outskirts of Fireside, giving added privacy and views of farming green space and walking paths. Pricing starts in the low $500,000s.
OSPREY HILL: WHERE NATURE MEETS ADVENTURE
Calgary’s newest west community is designed to embrace all phases of living and the best that nature has to offer.
W elcome to Osprey Hill, a walkable community that harmoniously blends serene landscapes, sweeping forests, natural ravines and modern amenities all into one. This new community, located on the coveted west side of Calgary, presents a diverse range of housing options and ample opportunities for an active lifestyle in nature’s embrace.
PRIME LOCATION FOR ACTIVE LIVING
Nestled adjacent to WinSport’s Canada Olympic Park, Osprey Hill offers homeowners a unique opportunity to immerse themselves in an active lifestyle. With direct residential access to WinSport via 1st Avenue S.W., residents can easily enjoy a wide range of year-round recreational activities, from skiing, tubing, hockey and ice skating to mountain biking, mini golf, outdoor camps, sports training and more.
Beyond WinSport there are several other nearby recreational facilities to enjoy. Calgary Climbing Centre Rocky Mountain provides 65 feet of walls, a bouldering area, a dedicated speed wall, a workout area and an outdoor climbing wall. The Calgary Gymnastics Centre West is home to a 30,000-square-foot facility with programs covering grassroots to high-calibre training for all ages. Valley Ridge Golf Club is perfect for an after-work or weekend round of golf, and nearby Bowness Park offers paddle boating in summer and skating in winter.
For retail therapy, Calgary Farmers’ Market West is a vibrant space with over 100 vendors offering groceries, gifts, handmade crafts and more. It also has a Kids’ Zone Play Area with discovery and fun for kids to explore.
osprey bird, Osprey Hill fosters a deep respect for nature and the environment. Two environmental reserves within the community are designated to preserve natural landscapes while expanding the existing trail network, which now spans over 2.5 kilometres in length. With 24 per cent of the community dedicated to green and open spaces, walking and biking trails, Osprey Hill is a place to engage with nature.
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE COMBINES WITH NATURAL SURROUNDINGS
The award-winning builders behind Osprey Hill; Homes by Avi, Bedrock Homes, Renova Homes and Lupi Homes are dedicated to sustainable building practices and minimizing ecological footprints. Phase 1 will include home types for all lifestyles, including no-condofee townhomes, front garage moveup homes, and front garage amenity ravine homes with west-facing rear yards.
Plus, Osprey Hill is conveniently located a mere 15 minutes from downtown and within an hour of Banff and Canmore making it the perfect gateway to both urban convenience and outdoor mountain adventures.
COMMITTED TO SUSTAINABILITY
Drawing inspiration from the majestic
“Our development and design guidelines have been created to promote a high-level of architectural experience, to ensure a pleasing built environment, which is in harmony with the landscape, and to provide homeowners with an assurance of quality for the neighbourhood,” says Charron Ungar, CEO of Homes by Avi Group of Companies.
The architectural styles for Osprey Hill are further rooted in early North American modern movements, including Craftsman, Rocky Mountain Farmhouse and Prairie. The vision behind each home is to appeal to a wide range of interests and homeowners who will call the community home for years to come.
Osprey Hill is perfectly positioned to provide families with a variety of homes styles that best suit their needs. Show homes are slated to open in summer of 2025.
HAPPINESS IS HOMEGROWN IN RANGEVIEW
Calgary’s first garden-totable community nourishes residents and fosters social connections through unique community designs.
G
ood things grow in Rangeview, an amenity-rich neighbourhood designed to rekindle an old-fashioned sense of community spirit. Every element of Calgary’s first garden-to-table community is thoughtfully designed to foster social connection, embrace the values of healthy living and boost community spirit. At Rangeview, it’s about getting to know your neighbours, building meaningful relationships and enjoying life together.
“Just as small-town Alberta communities have always been made stronger by the connections between neighbours and families, Rangeview will truly come alive when residents of every generation gather to learn, share and cultivate a vibrant way of life,” says Sarah Fehr, marketing team lead at Section23 Developments.
In this southeast neighbourhood, community gardens, greenhouses, orchards and farmer’s markets invite residents to gather over shared celebrations of food grown locally.
CELEBRATING GARDEN-TO-TABLE FOOD
Section23 Developments, the community’s developer, built Rangeview on agricultural urbanist principles, which led to the integration of local food planting, growing and harvesting into the community’s design and programming.
“As food is intrinsically connected with the social and cultural fabric of communities, the celebration of food is used to build lasting relationships between neighbours and provide residents with both fresh food and opportunities for community engagement, education and skill development,” says Fehr.
Residents can learn to garden through the demonstration gardens, share a hobby with a neighbour in the community gardens or enjoy the fruits of their labour with weekly produce pickups at the community greenhouse in the summer months. Orchards will feature fruit- and nut-bearing trees, and
greenhouses will make year-round fresh and local produce possible. The celebrations go beyond the gardens, too. Rangeview will host farmer’s markets, educational programs, cooking classes and food festivals for residents to build skills and create memories together.
BEYOND FOOD
Aside from food-focused initiatives, Rangeview offers plenty of other opportunities to gather. The community has over 60 acres allocated to open spaces for parks, playgrounds and sports fields. Plus, the Market Square, a community hub, will host markets and festivals, and the Harvest Hall will host both public programs and private events.
With its small-town feel, Rangeview amenities are within walking distance, with everything you need nearby. Ten acres of the community are dedicated to the Urban Village, where boutiques, shops and businesses will service the community and embrace healthy living.
HOMES TO SUIT ALL AVAILABLE NOW
Current home offerings in Rangeview include street townhomes, laned homes, front garage homes and semi-detached homes built by award-winning builders Baywest Homes, Daytona Homes, Homes by Avi, Hopewell Residential and Jayman BUILT.
Playgrounds, greenhouses, pathways and homes are open and available now, but more Rangeview plans are still underway. It will be a 320-acre community, ultimately serving nearly 10,000 likeminded residents at completion.
Visit any of Rangeview’s 10 show homes to see how you can plant your roots in this unique community.
A NEW EXPANSION AT PARK PLACE OF LAKE MAHOGANY
New buildings and floor plans for luxury townhomes in Park Place make personalized dream home design options possible.
Jayman BUILT has redefined how homes are built for more than four decades, and changed how people enjoy their homes. Park Place of Lake Mahogany is Jayman BUILT’s newest addition to the Resort Living collection, with a series of luxurious maintenance-free townhomes. Anchored in seven-time Community of the Year Mahogany’s Central Green, Park Place offers something for everyone.
“Experience all the benefits of maintenance-free resort living with the best views in Mahogany,” says Jordan D’Haese, sales manager of Jayman BUILT Multi-Family. “Not only are you close to the shops and services of Westman Village and Mahogany’s Urban Village, you’ll live by Calgary’s largest lake with amenities to enjoy year-round. We have seen first-time buyers and downsizers, along with families drawn to Park Place’s townhomes.”
PERSONALIZATION IN PARK PLACE’S NORTH EXPANSION
Jayman BUILT has released two new buildings on the north side of Park Place, now allowing residents to personalize their future homes with Jayman’s styleMagic Design Centre. While the south side homes are spec homes with interior finishes selected by Jayman’s professionally certified interior designers, allowing for sooner move-in dates, the new north townhomes are able to be fully personalized. Homeowners can choose everything in their new townhome, from flooring to fixtures, countertops to lighting, and everything in between. The personalization aspect allows future residents to truly make their townhome theirs. The remaining buildings will be released at various intervals throughout 2024 and into 2025.
Park Place offers a diverse selection of eight different floor plans, all named after fine wines including Moscato, Prosecco, Chardonnay, Merlot, Malbec, Pinot, Shiraz and Cabernet. Just as there is a wine for everyone, there is a floor plan for every resident to choose from. Residents can choose street-facing or park-facing townhomes ranging from 1,380 to 1,742 square feet with two to three bedrooms and flex spaces, two-and-a-half bathrooms, and tandem or double-car garage options. This variety ensures that every resident's needs and preferences are catered to.
COMMUNITY MOMENTS IN CENTRAL GREEN
From the air, Central Green looks reminiscent of Central Park in New York City. On the ground, it has that same urban park appeal. It spans a sprawling 13 acres of green space, complete with tennis courts and pickleball to stay active, a community garden and an amphitheatre that will be a popular gathering space for neighbourhood events. The green space is owned and developed by Hopewell Residential, the same developers behind the rest of Mahogany. Central Green is in its final development stages, with the eastern section of the project expected to finish in 2024.
As a focal point of Mahogany, which offers four-season living and abundant natural space, Central Green provides personalized living and a community space so every resident can enjoy relaxed and luxurious living at Park Place.
For more information, visit jayman.com/ parkplace.
A FOCUS ON NATURE IN COCHRANE’S SOUTHBOW LANDING
Tour show homes in Cochrane’s newest community at the grand opening this September.
L ocated in south Cochrane, Southbow Landing blends natural landscapes, small-town charm and convenience. The 546-acre community has something for everyone, from future school sites and urban amenities to open spaces and natural beauty.
FEEL CLOSE TO NATURE
Qualico Communities has developed Southbow Landing to meet all of its future residents’ needs. With its proximity to the Bow River and a short drive from the mountains, Southbow is a dream for those who love spending time outdoors.
Residents will be met with natural features the moment they step outside their homes. Southbow Landing will have over 10 kilometres of pathways, four parks and river access.
“Southbow Landing is a unique piece of land that already includes wetlands, untouched tree stands and views of both the Bow River and Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park,” says Emily Smith, director of marketing and customer care for Qualico Communities. “These will all remain in the community but will be complemented with extensive pathways, parks and other opportunities for adventure. The community
will mirror the intrepid spirit of Cochrane perfectly.”
Upon full buildout, the community will have approximately 3,000 homes to meet a range of life stages. Prices will start in the high $400,000s, with a selection of front garage or laned homes and duplexes in its first phase.
GRAND OPENING THIS SEPTEMBER
Discover life in Southbow Landing at the grand opening event on September 28, 2024. From 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., enjoy food, drinks, family-friendly activities and giveaways. Tour the show homes, speak with builders and discover suburban serenity.
HONOURING TWO DECADES OF
EXCEPTIONAL
HOMES AND SERVICE
Crystal Creek Homes celebrates its 20th anniversary with $20,000 in free upgrades and a continued commitment to excellence.
F or 20 years, Crystal Creek Homes has provided homeowners with a seamless and rewarding design-and-build process. Like any well-built home, the secret to Crystal Creek’s success starts with the
foundation. “We proudly construct every premium home with a foundation rooted in passion, innovation and quality,” says Justin Bobier, founder and owner of Crystal Creek Homes.
Since its inception in 2004, Crystal Creek Homes has grown significantly, welcoming over 1,000 homeowners and expanding to over 60 employees across Calgary and Edmonton. The company now offers a diverse range of housing options, including landed homes, luxury townhomes and estate homes, catering to a wide range of needs. “Our homes go beyond bricks and mortar; they embody comfort and style, and most importantly, they bring our homeowners’ visions to life,” says Bobier.
CELEBRATING 20 YEARS IN STYLE
To mark its 20th-anniversary milestone, Crystal Creek Homes is offering its customers $20,000 in free upgrades on their new homes. This gift is a reflection of the company’s immense gratitude for two decades of valued customers.
Crystal Creek’s commitment to positive experiences and exceptional builds for its clients has only strengthened over time. With homes across the city, including in
Belvedere, Currie, Watermark at Bearspaw, Aspen Woods Estates, Hudson in Pine Creek, GUILD Townhomes at University District, Rockland Park and Quarry Park, Crystal Creek has cemented its reputation for highquality housing and happy homeowners.
Looking ahead to the next 20 years with excitement, the company is committed to maintaining its momentum, delivering beautiful homes and exceptional customer service for its clients.
For more information about Crystal Creek Homes, visit crystalcreekhomes.ca.
Aspen Woods Estates | Belvedere | Currie Guild Townhomes at University District Hudson in Pine Creek | Pine Creek Villas at Heritage Pointe
Quarry Park | Richmond Luxe Townhomes | Rockland Park
Watermark at Bearspaw
The Holden in Watermark in Bearspaw
The Devonshire in Hudson in Pine Creek
URBAN LIVING IN HARMONY WITH NATURE IN GLACIER RIDGE
The new northwest community features top amenities in natural surroundings.
P ositioned in highly sought-after Northwest Calgary, this new community is surrounded by rolling plains and coulees, sculpted by glaciers and rivers from the past, giving residents elegant views from connected pathways. Nature is woven into the community’s best-in-class amenities, from its fox-themed playground to its future residents association village offering a myriad of outdoor activities such as tobogganing and tennis.
Natural living and complementary
amenities make it clear why Glacier Ridge is Calgary’s top-selling community this year.
SURROUND YOURSELF WITH NATURE
“Glacier Ridge promotes a healthy, family-focused lifestyle, with access to ample amenities in the community and nearby,” says Brady Morrice, director of land development for Anthem, Glacier Ridge’s developer.
The community launched in 2022 with its first nature-themed playground; at its centre stands a bold fox-shaped structure for kids to ascend. In 2023, another playground in the community was completed, featuring bird and mountain
shaped elements, reminding residents of the beautiful Albertan landscape that surrounds them. Families can immerse themselves even further into the natural world by exploring 10 kilometres of trails within the community.
The Village, Glacier Ridge’s future residents association, will offer residents access to a private facility to gather as families and a community. The Village, planned for a winter 2026 opening, offers gated indoor and outdoor spaces, which will include a spray park, sports courts, a toboggan hill and more.
Experience Glacier Ridge by visiting a show home or exploring the community at
Like the community you grew up in, Glacier Ridge offers feelings of nostalgia, from its naturally inspired amenities and mature trees to roads that symbolize the coulees that cross its land. Find your future home in Northwest Calgary.
GOLDWYN: IN HARMONY WITH NATURE
This beautiful prairie estate community north of Calgary provides all the amenities of city living while being nature’s retreat.
G oldwyn, a serene community of prairie estates nestled in Rockyview County, offers all the conveniences of the big city only minutes away, but enjoys the peaceful seclusion of rural living. Surrounded by rustic beauty, Goldwyn is aptly named to honour the area’s golden wheat fields and breathtaking sunsets, enhancing the tranquil lifestyle on offer.
Melcor Developments has owned the land for decades, dating back to the 1970s. Now, as Goldwyn settles into the land, its development will be in the trusted hands of seven skilled and talented local builders.
“Goldwyn will accommodate the best of
both worlds — urban servicing, densities and amenities with a rural feel including ample open space, dark skies and larger lots,” says Erin Cripps, sales and marketing coordinator at Melcor.
Designed with many natural features to complement its surroundings, Goldwyn focuses attention on a distinctive network of pathways that aligns with the land’s natural topography and enhances the charm of discovering each route. Each trail respects the greenery that grows naturally, and the new landscape follows the same approach, with drought-tolerant plants placed in higher elevations, while native trees and
shrubs can be found at lower elevations and closer to water.
The community also has a number of ponds, creeks and wetlands that are home to a wide variety of wildlife and a planned nature-inspired playground. Complete with scenic views of the Rocky Mountains in the distance, and stunningly vivid prairie-sky sunsets in a rural setting, Goldwyn truly fosters a sense of harmony among residents and with the land.
To learn more, visit liveingoldwyn.com.
PHOTO BY STEVE COLLINS
The Made In Alberta Awards are Avenue’s annual celebration of the best products made here in our province and the makers behind them. After receiving and tallying this year’s entries, we enlisted expert judges to help us pick winners and runners-up in 10 categories, including one for Indigenous makers and artisans. Find out who took top spot in each category, and which of the category winners takes this year’s title of overall grand prize winner.
BY TSERING ASHA, MEREDITH BAILEY, KENDALL BISTRETZAN, CHRIS LANDRY, ABBY PARKER, OLIVIA PICHÉ MICHAELA REAM AND CHANRY THACH PHOTOGRAPHY BY JARED SYCH 2 024
THANK YOU TO OUR 2024 JUDGES AMY WILLIER AWARD FOR INDIGENOUS ARTISANS: MACKENZIE BROWN, YVONNE JOBIN AND VANESSA MARSHALL; BEAUTY: MARIE BERTRAND AND TARA COWLES; CRAFT: JILL NUCKLES AND NICHOLE WINDBLAD; ALCOHOLIC DRINK: MADELEINE MACDONALD AND DON TSE; NON-ALCOHOLIC DRINK: JONATHAN BAREMBRUCH AND NATHAN NEWMAN; FASHION AND ACCESSORIES: HAITHEM ELKADIKI AND THEO POPILCHAK; SAVOURY FOOD: MELISSA EDIGHOFFER AND CHANRY THACH; SWEET FOOD: PIERRE LAMIELLE AND SAÏD M ’ DAHOMA; FURNISHINGS AND HOME DECOR: LARA PRESBER AND DAYLE SHEEHAN; LEISURE AND LIFESTYLE: KELLY JUBENVILL AND MELANIE LOVE
Read more about the runners-up in all MIAA categories at madeinalbertaawards.ca
THE PEOPLE AGREE
READERS’ CHOICE WINNER 2024 Striped Art Pierogies by The Tisto Factory
Not only did our judges love these delicious dumplings — so much so as to make them the Savoury Food category winner and Overall Grand Prize winner of the 2024 Made in Alberta Awards — but Avenue readers did, too. The Tisto Factory Striped Art Pierogies were also voted this year’s Readers’ Choice Award winner by a landslide in an online ballot that had more than 2,900 votes cast.
SAVOURY FOOD
Striped Art Pierogies by The Tisto Factory
MADE IN CALGARY
$12 to $33 the-tisto-factory.com
Picture this: a newcomer family who just arrived in Calgary is invited to a potluck hosted by some neighbours in their new city. The family brings a traditional dish from their native country — pierogies — but with a colourful striped design. The vegetable-dyed dumplings, meticulously crafted and bursting with flavours like caramelized pear and mascarpone, or prosciutto and baked potato, become a fan favourite with the new crowd. The pierogy-makers are showered with praise, suggesting they turn this culinary creation into a business.
To truly appreciate the story of how this family business, The Tisto Factory, and its Striped Art Pierogies came to be, let’s rewind to 2022.
Anna and Vladimir Posikera, a savvy marketer and lawyer, were living in the town of Konstantinovka in the Donbas region of Ukraine. But things took a dramatic turn after the Feb. 24 invasion by Russia. In the following months, the couple packed their lives up into a few backpacks and embarked on an uncertain journey with their two young children, Illia and Nikita, and Anna’s mom, Inna Malmyhina.
The sounds of sirens, explosions and gunfire were constant companions as the family moved through western Ukraine into Romania.
With limited English and a lot of determination, the Posikera family eventually made their way to Calgary, enticed to the city by relatives who had settled here in 2000. They were greeted with open
arms. Neighbours offered toys, household items and immense support, giving them the warm welcome they needed to start anew.
Amidst settling in, they attended the aforementioned potluck party that would change their lives. It was their son who suggested they bring their pierogies, based on a recipe passed down from Anna’s great-grandmother, but with a unique twist. The Posikeras coloured the dough using vegetable pastes from carrots, beets, spinach and red cabbage to create a kind of applique in the form of vibrant, colourful stripes. The pierogies were not only visually stunning, but also delicious, captivating everyone at the party.
Encouraged by the response, Anna and Vladimir saw an opportunity. Despite their non-culinary backgrounds, they decided to take a leap of faith and start a food business. They named it “Tisto,” derived from the Ukrainian word for dough.
Today, The Tisto Factory is a thriving enterprise. Renting a commercial kitchen and partnering with retail giants like Co-op and Sobeys, the Striped Art Pierogies come in 11 flavours (plus one Sobeysexclusive flavour). Each is a colourful masterpiece with delightful fillings and quirky names like Blue Ninja, Agent Spinach and Chicken in Law.
Every stripe on a Tisto Factory Striped Art Pierogi tells a story of resilience, tradition and care that the Posikeras pour into their work. Each bite is a celebration of flavours, a nod to tradition and a reminder that, even in the face of adversity, a little creativity and a lot of love can lead to something truly extraordinary. —C.T.
SAVOURY FOOD CATEGORY RUNNERS-UP
Cheeze Sauce by For the Love of Cheese - Vegan Cheezery Inc. Made in Spruce Grove $13 to $15 thevegancheezery.ca Daddy C’s Hot Jerk Sauce by Daddy C’s Made in Calgary $10 to $20 dcjerk.ca Wild Mushroom Soup by Untamed Feast Made in St. Albert $10.99 untamedfeast.com
OVERALL WINNER
FROM THEIR INCREDIBLE ORIGIN STORY TO THEIR CLEAN, VISUALLY APPEALING PACKAGING, TISTO’S PIEROGIES STAND OUT NOT JUST FOR THEIR DELICIOUS TASTE, BUT FOR THE SHEER INNOVATION THEY BRING TO THE TABLE.” MELISSA EDIGHOFFER WHAT THE JUDGES SAID
BEAUTY
Bath Tea Bags by naturemary MADE IN CALGARY
$19.99 naturemary.com
WHAT THE JUDGES SAID
SUCH A UNIQUE WELLNESS PRODUCT! VERY THERAPEUTIC IN NATURE, EXCEPTIONAL INGREDIENT BLEND AND A NOVEL APPROACH TO SELF-CARE.”
MARIE BERTRAND
Asoothing cup of tea is often an essential part of self-care, but naturemary Bath Tea Bags take things beyond the cup and into the tub. The giant biodegradable tea bags are packed with minerals, botanicals and essential oils designed to steep slowly into hot bath water for a luxurious full-body soak.The bath teas come in three unique formulations: Island Escape, a hydrating blend of coconut and mango; Mountain Escape, with arnica and lavender for a detoxifying effect; and Blooming Garden, a rose and jasmine blend that invites relaxation.
Founded in 2020 by Sonia and Kapil Kalra, naturemary is a Calgary-based holistic wellness company rooted in science. Sonia, a biologist, was inspired to start naturemary in response to her own wellness needs when dealing with premenstrual dysphoric disorder, a severe form of premenstrual
syndrome. Through extensive research, Sonia discovered the benefits of terpenes, a naturally occurring organic plant compound commonly found in herbs and citrus fruits, responsible for fragrance, taste and pigment. Terpenes are antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory and can help manage pain, reduce stress and increase blood flow. The proprietary terpene blend in naturemary creates a balancing, anti-inflammatory, skin-soothing, detoxifying effect. Along with this terpene blend, naturemary Bath Teas include purifying clay. “The inspiration for this product came from my visit to St. Lucia in Grade 12 and the unforgettable experience of their natural hot springs mineral baths,” says Sonia. “It was then I discovered earth clays and their healing benefits. Fast forward 20 years later, I wanted to incorporate the healing benefits of earth clays in our products. The bath teas were a perfect way to do that.” —M.B.
BEAUTY CATEGORY RUNNERS-UP
Brightening Facial Moisturizer by Refresh Botanicals Made in Edmonton $26 refreshbotanicals.com No.3 Bisous Parfum by Kindred Glow & Co Made in Calgary $25 to $44 (10ml or 30ml) kindredglowandco.com (TIE) Shower Fizzies - Breathe Easy by Siempre Eco Made in Edmonton $23 siempreeco.com (TIE) Shower Steamers: Breathe Easy by Oak & Aspen Soapery Made in Ardrossan $18 oakandaspensoapery.com
Live Your Best Life in Colour
townhomes. The townhomes offer master-crafted design palettes with customizable paint, backsplash, cabinetry and countertop options for a home with individual flair. The interior palettes include options for Scandinavian minimalist, mid-century modern and prairie modern styles, all thoughtfully curated by Velji.
“By using high-quality materials and thoughtfully selected colours, these palettes help create spaces that are both beautiful and practical, enhancing the overall living experience,” affirms Shannon Grenon, Seton sales associate.
GREAT ACCESS AND AMENITIES
Located in the South Urban District, Colours of Seton’s modern townhomes possess a charm you won’t find elsewhere. Its convenient, amenity-rich location has everything you need just a short stroll away.
Enjoy the community’s recreational options, from walking paths, skateparks and dog parks to upcoming tennis courts and a splash park. Colours of Seton is the vibrant new hub of the south, linking well-established areas with exciting new developments to come.
THOUGHTFUL AND PERSONALIZED PALETTES
Trico Homes has designed Colours of Seton with creative freedom in mind. The limited-edition townhome collection offers all the space and style you need in a home tailored to your individual tastes.
Choose from three exclusive interior palettes, plus three enhanced upgrade options, curated by award-winning interior designer Alykhan Velji. Plus, you can personalize your home to match your lifestyle, by adding features such as a fireplace or a statement wallpaper or upgrading your tile and lighting fixtures.
Velji is an acclaimed style expert, and he’s contributed his renowned design skills to Colours of Seton
Well positioned in the South Urban District, Colours of Seton residents can get a head start on their weekends with Bragg Creek and the Rockies located straight west. Downtown Calgary is easily accessible via Deerfoot and Stoney Trails when you want to explore beyond Seton — although most amenities are already available right in the neighbourhood.
“Colours of Seton stands out as a vibrant part of the south, offering everything you need within close proximity. From grocery stores and restaurants to walking paths and the world’s largest YMCA, it offers a perfect blend of amenities, a family-friendly atmosphere and a wide range of activities,” says Grenon.
Good eats are a staple in Seton, with over 25 restaurants, lounges and cafés on offer in the area. Community members will soon enjoy a new homeowners association facility and can spend time outdoors in the 70 acres of pathways, parks and green spaces. Plus, the South Calgary Health Campus is located right in the heart of Seton.
COMFORT AND CONVENIENCE
Aside from exclusive design palettes and personalized finishes, the townhomes boast features made for convenience and comfort. Enjoy flexible living spaces and choose from two- or three-bedroom, open-concept floor plans, plus entry-level flex rooms for additional living space perfect for an extra bedroom or home office. Single and tandem garages are available, with parking for up to three cars on select sites. Prices start in the high-$400’s plus GST, and homes are selling fast.
Ownership opportunities to make the vibrant community your home are limited. Visit two new showhomes to see what life in colour can look like.
Yo a tSol tio
CRAFT
Decorative Tile by Voyager Art & Tile
MADE IN RED DEER COUNTY
$50 to $416 voyagertile.ca
The best way to experience Alberta’s stunning nature is to get out there and experience it first-hand. The next-best way is to savour its beautiful landscapes through arts and crafts. At least that’s what Dawn Detarando and Brian McArthur of Voyager Art & Tile do.
Detarando and McArthur draw inspiration from their experiences in nature, using drawings made and photographs taken during their time outdoors to create decorative tiles depicting Alberta’s prairie landscapes, mountains, lakes, flora and fauna. The duo has hundreds of designs that are depicted on six-inch square tiles as individual works of art, which can be displayed on wooden easels, framed or used architecturally in homes and commercial spaces. This line of tiles has been in development for many years, with Detarando and McArthur first going into business together in 1999.
The years of skill and product development have resulted in works of art that capture the beauty and uniqueness of this province.
Detarando and McArthur carve their unique tile designs onto a plaster mold before pressing it into terra cotta clay sourced from Medicine Hat. Once the tiles are fired in the kiln, they glaze them individually, taking great care to give each one a consistent, eye-catching, colourful design.
How does the duo continue to generate new ideas? By taking time each day to enjoy the great outdoors. “Even when we are working hard, we have a dog that gets us out most days, and during the warmer weather we like to take our coffee breaks on the porch to listen to the birds,” says Detarando. “We really are inspired by the beautiful landscape around us, and are always looking for a new adventure, where we can create a new piece of artwork to add to our line of tiles.” —K.B.
CRAFT CATEGORY RUNNERS-UP
Pyrography Collection by Jennea Frischke Jewelry Made in Calgary $200 to $895 jenneafrischke.com
Soda Fired Botanical Pitcher by Wax and Wane Fine Art Made in Calgary $200 waxandwanefineart.com Fruit Loops Natural Candle by Naturacare Made in Calgary $16 to $38 naturacare.ca
WHAT THE JUDGES SAID
I COULD AUTOMATICALLY IDENTIFY THE DIFFERENCE IN TERMS OF CRAFTSMANSHIP IN THEIR WORK. THEIR ORIGINALITY AND UNIQUENESS IS UNLIKE ANYTHING I HAVE EVER SEEN.” NICHOLE WINDBLAD
ALCOLHOLIC DRINK
WHAT THE JUDGES SAID
CONFLUENCE’S AMARO IS A UNIQUE MADE-INALBERTA PRODUCT THAT OFFERS AN IMPRESSIVE PALATE OF FRESH MANDARIN AND BEAUTIFUL SPICE NOTES. IT IS THE PERFECT AFTER-DINNER BEVERAGE TO SIP ON NEAT, OR TO USE IN A COCKTAIL, DUE TO ITS COMPLEX AROMA AND WELLBALANCED BODY.” MADELEINE MACDONALD
IMandarino Amaro by Confluence Distilling
MADE IN CALGARY $45 confluencedistilling.ca
n 2017, while sipping on an amaro-based spritz in Italy, Pheelan Mah and Ross Alger chatted with the owners of an Italian distillery and learned a lot more about the bittersweet herbal liqueur (amaro translates to “bitter” in Italian), including its history and creation. Many liqueurs fall under the umbrella of amaro, including the popular Aperol.
Their experience in Italy helped solidify the direction of Confluence Distilling, which they co-founded in 2018. “It really sparked excitement around that spirit,” says Mah. “One of our biggest goals when opening up Confluence was to make a world-class, competitive amaro, but use as many local ingredients as we could and our own flavour ideas.”
A few years later, that’s exactly what came to be.
“Enjoying an Aperol spritz on a sunny day is the best thing ever,” Mah adds. “We wanted to spread the love for that hot-day, cocktail-patio feeling
when you don't care about anything else going on in the world except for the drink in your hand and the company you’re with.”
The Mandarino Amaro embodies a delicate balance of tart, sweet and bitter components. While the liqueur is citrus-forward, with mandarin being the star of the show, it boasts more than 20 botanicals. You can taste notes from ingredients as diverse as rhubarb, sweet cherry, gentian root or allspice.
It took three years to perfect the bittersweet liqueur and, while it has a certain Albertan flair with its locally sourced botanicals, Mah says the end product is similar to the one she tasted in Italy.
“I’m so proud of that drink. We definitely succeeded in creating something where every time I give it to someone to taste, their face lights up,” she says.
“It epitomizes what we’re trying to achieve here at Confluence — enhancing people’s cocktail experience and bringing local flavours to them.” —O.P.
ALCOHOLIC DRINK CATEGORY RUNNERS-UP
Cutie! Mixer Pack by Born Brewing Co. Made in Calgary $30 bornbrewing.co
Dreamland Malted Dreams Whisky by Strathcona Spirits Distillery Made in Edmonton $79 strathconaspirits.ca
Dry Craft Cider by Uncommon Cider Co. Made in Calgary $22 uncommoncider.com
PHOTO BY JARED SYCH
SHOP LOCAL, SUPPORT ALBERTA
DISCOVER THE BEST OF LOCAL TALENT
Connect with your community & find something truly special at the Made in Alberta Market.
Bow Valley Square | September 25 & 26
Mark your calendar to celebrate with us and support the local businesses that make Alberta thrive. Follow us for more details!
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AMY WILLIER AWARD FOR INDIGENOUS ARTISANS
Traditional Beadwork by Big Bear Moccasins
MADE IN EDMONTON
$200 to $5,000 Facebook @ Big Bear Moccasins
Coral Madge (they/their pronouns) never got to meet their great-grandmother, but their family’s matriarch lives on through the act of beading. Their greatgrandmother taught beading to Madge’s mother, who was one of many people who then taught it to Madge during a difficult period in their life. Today, Madge has taken those lessons, along with the learned history of their Dene and Métis ancestors, to create traditional beaded moccasins, mukluks, earrings and other items through their business, Big Bear Moccasins.
“Through beading, I’ve been able to process my trauma into something beautiful,” Madge explains.
“I long to make the world more beautiful than my experience in the world has been.”
Utilizing materials that were present in their ancestors’ work, Madge creates with commercial and smoked hide, Melton wool, velveteen, porcupine
quills, caribou hair, moose hair, fish scales and traded antique beads that date back to 1850. They work out of their self-described “grandma corner” with a 1901 Singer sewing machine and a collection of their great-grandma’s floral patterns, and other beads and patterns, tucked away for inspiration.
Madge creates with great care and attention to detail, which is evident in their intricate designs that sometimes take up to 130 hours to complete. The beadwork is a testament to the beauty and importance of tradition, and, while it is a labour of love for Madge, it is also an act of healing and remembrance.
“Through children going to residential schools, loss of land and rights, disenfranchisement, forced starvation, and the pressures of genocide that my ancestors processed, they lived and made something beautiful,” Madge says. “I am honoured to carry on this tradition.” —K.B.
AMY WILLIER AWARD RUNNERS-UP
Fishscale Floral Earrings by Teal Fawn Designs Made in Lethbridge $60 and up tealfawndesigns.com
Cedar Spirit Dolls by Art by the Métis Mama Made in Rocky Mountain House $25 to $35
Beaded Pencil Brim Hat by Sakihta Swag Made in Redwood Meadows $700 Instagram @sakihta_swag
WHAT THE JUDGES SAID
ARTISTS SUCH AS [CORAL MADGE] PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN KEEPING TRADITIONAL STORIES ALIVE THROUGH BEADWORK. I LOVED THESE BECAUSE OF HOW THE ARTIST IS ABLE TO CONNECT BACK TO THEIR TRADITIONAL DENE ANCESTORS ’ ART AND USE IT TO INSPIRE AND CREATE NEW BEADWORK.” MACKENZIE BROWN
NON-ALCOLHOLIC DRINK
M. Schneider & Son Sodas by Crowsnest Craft Soda Inc. MADE IN CALGARY
$4 to $5 per 16-oz. can sodasyrups.ca
WHAT THE JUDGES SAID
FROM THE VINTAGE PACKAGING, TO THE CLASSIC TASTE, M. SCHNEIDER & SON PROVIDES AN EASY-DRINKING SODA THAT MAY AS WELL HAVE BEEN PASSED TO YOU BY A SODA JERK AT AN OLDFASHIONED SODA SHOPPE!”
JONATHAN BAREMBRUCH
The Classic Cola by M. Schneider & Son Sodas has distinctly nostalgic branding: “Delicious and invigoratin’!” appears on the vintage-styled, matte-black can in an old-timey typeface. “I’m fascinated by the idea of creating something that tastes so good that it defines authenticity,” says Matthew Schneider, CEO of Crowsnest Craft Soda Inc., which produces the cola. “I also wanted to create a look and feel for the packaging that seems like it must be generations old, even though it’s a new product.”
Schneider first got the idea to create his own cola more than six years ago while living in Austria (his wife, Viktoria, is Austrian). To create the ultimate cola flavour, he enlisted the help of a pharmacist friend with a well-rounded understanding of chemistry. Schneider wanted his cola
to be free of phosphoric acid and instead used natural essential oils to create a deeper, smoother flavour reminiscent of a classic soda fountain beverage that stands apart from contemporary, mass-produced soda products.
M. Schneider & Son Sodas are built on Schneider’s line of soda syrups, which have been available since 2019 and are sold at retailers across the province, including Safeway and Sobeys. Launched in April 2023, the sodas are manufactured in Calgary at New Level Brewing in three classic flavours: cola, cherry cola and root beer. The canned sodas also mark the start of a new era for the company — after the birth of his son, Charlie, in March 2023, Schneider added “& Son” to the company name, excited to create a family legacy based on the motto “we make the world taste good.” —A.P.
NON-ALCOHOLIC DRINK CATEGORY RUNNERS-UP
Quench Hop Water by Cabin Brewing Company Made in Calgary $8 (pack of four) cabinbrewing.ca
Bee’s Knees by Wild Folk Made in Calgary $22 (pack of four) drinkwildfolk.com
Porter’s Tonic Dill Fennel Syrup by Porter’s Tonic Made in Calgary $16 porterstonic.com
PHOTO BY JARED SYCH
FASHION AND ACCESSORIES
Sandon Automatic Wristwatch by Barrington Griffiths Watch Company MADE IN CALGARY $580 bgwatch.com
This premium, mechanical watch was inspired by the Canadian railway and pays homage to early railroad pocket watches in its design. Mark Barrington Griffiths, an industrial designer by trade, has been making watches since 2010 and created the first Sandon concept in November 2021. “I’ve always had this desire to design interesting products and I have collected watches over my lifetime,” he says.
Griffiths restores his own collectable watches, as well as motorcycles and vehicles like a 1984 Volkswagen van. He first started laying down the foundation of what would become the Sandon about a decade ago, by converting an old pocket watch into a wristwatch. Described as a “rugged, daily wear” watch and made to withstand extreme conditions in sports, work and outdoor use, the Sandon has customers who are construction workers, rock
climbers, ski patrollers and medical professionals. Devoid of any electronic functions, instead, the Sandon is powered by the movement of the wearer, but can be wound if needed.
It features a stainless-steel case made in Leduc, Alta., and leather straps cut from Horween Chromexcel bovine hide. The dark-blue dial is inspired by blue steel that was used to protect tools and other steel parts in early 20th-century railways. The watch also has sapphire crystals on the front and back and an enameled brass watch dial.
“There was a strong connection between railways and watches in the early days of rail travel,” says Griffiths. “The timing of trains was done manually with pocket watches. Every conductor and engineer had a pocket watch, and they had to be synchronized. An error in timing could mean more than one train would be on a track at the same time, resulting in disaster.” —T.A.
WHAT THE JUDGES SAID
THE SANDON IS A TIMELESS TIMEPIECE THAT WILL LAST FOR GENERATIONS. THIS WATCH IS A GRAND BEAUTY!”
HAITHEM ELKADIKI
SWEET FOOD
Caramelized Sponge Toffee by Cōchu Chocolatier
WHAT THE JUDGES SAID
I WAS NEVER A FAN OF TOFFEE, BUT CŌCHU’S CARAMELIZED SPONGE TOFFEE, WON ME OVER. IT’S PERFECTLY CRUNCHY AND MELTS IN YOUR MOUTH AS YOU EAT IT. THEIR USE OF HIGHQUALITY CHOCOLATE MAKES A HUGE DIFFERENCE. THIS IS THE ULTIMATE SNACK TO INDULGE YOUR SWEET TOOTH!”
SAÏD M’DAHOMA
AMADE IN CALGARY
$15.50 cochu.ca
s a kid, Anne Sellmer loved going to Banff’s chocolate shops and coming home with a bag full of sponge toffee. Now, as owner of Cōchu Chocolatier, Sellmer still loves sponge toffee, but has managed to create a product of her own worthy of a world-class chocolatier.
Sellmer started Cōchu — named after her children Cole, Charlie and Hugo — as a home-based business in 2017, creating her chocolates out of her basement kitchen. She fell in love with the detail and chemistry of the trade, and her creations quickly gained accolades, winning a multitude of awards at international competitions.
She opened a Cōchu storefront in 2022 across from the Central Library, selling bonbons in seasonal flavours, boutique chocolate bars and, of course, sponge toffee. “I wanted an elevated version of it,” says Sellmer, “something that has more
depth, something that is airy and doesn’t get stuck in your teeth.”
Her deeply caramelized, almost smoky sponge toffee crumbles away in your mouth as you bite into it and comes coated in four kinds of top-quality chocolate: milk, dark-milk, dark and caramelizedwhite. The four varieties can then be packaged together in different combinations.
“A lot of what we do is about the experience, and just enjoying the products and the different nuances,” says Sellmer. “A lot of time went into playing with different pairings of chocolates and sponge toffee, and we thought a box with all the different flavours would be enjoyable.”
Sellmer personally recommends pairing her caramelized-white-chocolate sponge toffee with a glass of Sherry and a sharp cheese. “Just taking something traditional that we all grew up with and taking it to that next level.” — C.L.
SWEET FOOD CATEGORY RUNNERS-UP
Honeycomb by Good Morning Honey Made in Parkland County $20 goodmorninghoney.ca
Lady Bits & Bites by Soul House Sweets Made in Beaumont $18.95 soulhousesweets.ca
Milk Caramels by Shade Tree Chocolate Studio Ltd. Made in Grande Prairie $6 shadetreechocolatestudio.ca
PHOTO BY JARED SYCH
FURNISHNGS AND HOME DECOR
The Serenity Collection by Brix&Co. MADE IN EDMONTON
$2,995 to $6,995 brixandco.com
WTHE JUDGES SAID
CRAFTED WITH ATTENTION TO DETAIL, THE SERENITY STONE TABLE INVITES EACH CLIENT TO CURATE THEIR UNIQUE NARRATIVE.”
LARA PRESBER
hen Brenda Brix was diagnosed with cancer in October 2022, she already had an interior design company, AMR Interior Design. But she decided she wasn’t going to let fear stop her from pursuing another longstanding dream of hers: to create a custom furniture line that blended her love of fashion with functionality. “I wasn’t going to be afraid anymore to take a chance on my dreams and to embrace that life with fearless enthusiasm,” she says.
While undergoing treatment in 2023, Brix began working on a line of tables using eco-friendly features like natural stone and repurposed wood. In January 2024, she launched the luxury furniture line Brix&Co. as an extension of AMR, and her Serenity Collection of tables. “I have always loved the beauty of natural stone and wanted to showcase the sustainable beauty found in nature,” Brix says.
A hidden quarter-inch steel frame supports the tables’ natural stone frames and the wood shelf each has nestled inside. The stone is taken from remnants of commercial and homebuilding projects, while the wood offcuts come from an industrial design firm. The use of these materials means they stay out of the landfill and find a second purpose. It also means no two tables are alike. Customers can also choose a stone that speaks to them personally, which Brix then uses to reflect clients’ unique personalities and homes.
Whether the table acts as a centrepiece, a conversation starter or a functional work of art, it commands attention and elevates any space. The tables are also a testament to the power of following your dreams. “Our goal is to bring joy and inspiration into people’s lives through these exquisite pieces, symbolizing the power of resilience and the pursuit of dreams,” Brix says. —M.R.
25 YEARS AND COUNTING OF TRANSFORMATIONAL PROSTATE CANCER CARE
When the Prostate Cancer Centre (PCC) first opened its doors in 1999, it was with the intention of recognizing the unique needs of patients facing this urological disease. Today, thanks entirely to the generosity of Albertans, PCC has changed the way prostate cancer is diagnosed and treated. Since its inception, the PCC has assisted over 200,000 patients through its rapid access clinics, post-op care visits, mobile screening program and clinical trials. The PCC is unique to southern Alberta, and because the staff listen, connect with and respond to each patient’s story, the PCC has been able to grow and develop over the past 25 years — expanding the definition of prostate care and how it’s delivered.
The PCC marks its 25th-anniversary milestone by reinvesting in its commitment to patients. While prostate cancer affects patients in the same ways it did back in 1999, the understanding of how these conditions take a toll on mental and emotional health as well as overall physical well-being has evolved significantly.
expansion to house its prehabilitation or “prehab” facility. Prehab involves training a patient’s body and mind in the time leading up to surgery, which has resulted in better outcomes and a more rapid recovery. The new expansion gives patients the space to get into physical shape, practice mind/body exercises like yoga or tai chi, and ensure they are well prepared for surgery. The prehab clinic is named in honour of the late Dr. Jun Kawakami, who developed the vision for what will become the most comprehensive prehab program in the world.
“Prehabilitation is so unique,” says Jeff Davison, CEO of the PCC. “I describe it by saying you wouldn't run a marathon and then train for it afterwards. So why are we going into surgery and then telling people they need to be healthier after the fact? The idea is to get people healthier before their surgery.”
“When we think about a physical illness, we often just think about the body needing to be treated,” says Dr. Lauren Walker, a registered clinical psychologist working with the PCC. “But what we know is that for so many people, mental health is a significant component of physically getting better.”
To facilitate services that support patients’ complex needs in a more meaningful way, the PCC, located at the Rockyview General Hospital, just opened a 9,000 square-foot
Thanks to the tireless work of the staff and doctors at the PCC, its volunteers, and the dedicated donors and philanthropists who help keep the centre reaching further, the expansion and prehab program are part of the ongoing commitment to improving prostate health across Alberta. The PCC has also expanded the MAN VAN program, the mobile screening clinic that provides free prostate-specific antigen (PSA) tests, from Calgary to Edmonton, Fort MacMurray and several Indigenous communities. The centre is also introducing more mental health services, including couples and caregiver counselling related to sexual concerns. This holistic approach to care, coupled with encouraging proactive screening and decreasing stigmatization, provides equitable healthcare for all Albertan men. The PCC is changing lives and how we think about prostate cancer.
“The next 25 years are truly going to be transformational in healthcare,” Davison says. “I'm so proud that the Prostate Cancer Centre will be leading that charge.”
Jeff Davison
Thank you to our sponsors
“I can still work up a sweat”
Doing the Alzheimer Calgary Walk & Run is an exhilarating way to lift your spirits and prolong your brain health. Join me and 1,400+ more locals who’ve been touched by dementia.
Thanksgiving Sunday at Prince’s Island Park Visit StillMe.ca #stillmeyyc
LEISURE AND LIFESTYLE
This Calgary-based, family-owned-andoperated company has been designing and manufacturing audio products for nearly 30 years. In 1997, Ed Meitner was approached by Sony Music to design studio-grade converters. Meitner then used those converters to remaster albums from notable recording artists such as Pink Floyd and Roger Waters, the Rolling Stones, Tracy Chapman, Neil Young, and hundreds more. Those original studio converters are still used worldwide today and EMM Labs’ facility in Calgary makes approximately 500 individual audio products each year, supplying well-known names like Abbey Road Studios, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Sony Music, Universal Music and Virgin Records.
In its line of state-of-the-art amplifiers, the MTRS Stereo Amplifier upholds the industry-leading standard EMM is known for. Like all EMM products,
the MTRS is produced with precise specifications and materials. It is crafted with an aerospace-grade aluminum chassis with custom-made ceramic and fibreglass printed circuit boards outfitted with the highest-tolerance electronic components available to the market; and custom-wound, hermetically sealed toroidal transformers for the power delivery. Tested for a minimum of seven days to ensure quality and that it meets professional standards, the 400 Wpc, class A-B amplifier, which is also handwired, has been in a state of development for the better part of a decade.
In a March 2024 article in Stereophile, reviewer Jason Victor Serinus called the EMM Labs MTRS, “the finest, most musically complete stereo amp I’ve reviewed to date.” And, according to EMM Labs, the popularity of the amplifier means this local company is on track to produce one MTRS Stereo Amplifier every week for the rest of this year. —T.A.
KELLY JUBENVILL WHAT THE JUDGES SAID
THE REVIEWS FOR THE MTRS STEREO AMPLIFIER SOUNDED LIKE WE HAD OUR WINNER … IN STEREO. IT IS A LEVEL ABOVE, BASED ON EXPERTISE, QUALITY, AND THE TRUE UNIQUENESS OF AN ELECTRONICS PRODUCT FEW OF US WOULD HAVE KNOWN WAS DEVELOPED RIGHT HERE IN OUR BACKYARD — FIRST FOR INDUSTRY TITANS, NOW FOR CONSUMERS.”
MEET THE JUDGES
MACKENZIE BROWN
Amy Willier Award
Mackenzie Brown is a First Nations Cree woman from the Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation, now residing in Moh'kinstsis. She is a performer, drummer, entrepreneur, advocate; and a multidisciplinary artist working in acrylic, beadwork, leatherwork and murals. In 2019, she was recognized as Indigenous Woman of the Year by the Assembly of First Nations Alberta Association.
JILL NUCKLES Craft
Jill Nuckles is a Calgary-based visual artist who works at the Alberta Craft Gallery. She holds a Business Management diploma from MacEwan University and has a BFA with distinction in sculpture from Alberta University of the Arts. Her work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions and galleries in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.
YVONNE JOBIN
Amy Willier Award
Yvonne Jobin is Cree First Nations, originally from High Prairie, now residing in Calgary. She is the owner of Moonstone Creation, a gallery she started with her daughter, the late Amy Willier, who is the namesake of the Made in Alberta Award for Indigenous Artisans. Jobin’s artwork is in private and public collections in Canada, the U.S. and Europe.
NICHOLE WINDBLAD Craft
Nichole Windblad is the owner, director and producer of the annual Art Market Craft Sale, a highly successful, high-end art and craft sale renowned across Canada. Windblad believes in supporting fine art and craft and serving both the consumers and the artisan community.
Amy Willier Award
Vanessa Marshall is a proud Edmontonian and Métis woman and founder of the hair-care brand Jack59. It has earned her numerous accolades, including the Alberta Women Entrepreneurs 2022 Indigenous Entrepreneur Award and the Amy Willier Award for Indigenous Artisans. Jack59 is a Certified B Corp, reflecting high social and environmental standards.
MADELEINE
MACDONALD Alcoholic Drink
Madeleine MacDonald has been in the hospitality industry for two decades and ran bar programs at Model Milk, Calcutta Cricket Club and other spots. She completed her Certified Specialist of Spirits through the Society of Wine Educators and now inspires the next generation as an instructor in the School of Hospitality and Tourism at SAIT.
MARIE BERTRAND Beauty
As chief creative officer of SkinScience, Marie Bertrand has more than 20 years of experience in the skin-care industry. Prior to founding SkinScience, Bertrand worked in management for L’Oréal Canada, developing skin-care training programs for cosmeticians and dermatologists throughout Canada. In 2018, Bertrand launched her own skin-care line, Aliquote Skin.
DON TSE Alcoholic Drink
“The Don of Beer” has famously sampled and written tasting notes on more than 28,000 beers over the past 25 years. Tse writes about beer for Forbes.com, Craft Beer & Brewing, Poured Canada and other publications; co-hosts the All About Beer podcast; and has presented on beer in Canada, the U.S., the U.K., Australia, Ukraine and Singapore.
TARA COWLES
Beauty
Makeup artist and beauty
entrepreneur Tara Cowles is the founder and director of Artists Within Makeup Academy and creator of the makeup line AW03 Maquillage, which she launched two decades ago. AW03 was first designed for makeup artists and students before being available to consumers. It retails at various Alberta businesses and online at artistswithin.com.
JONATHAN BAREMBRUCH Non-alcoholic Drink
Jonathan Barembruch is the founder of Santé Dry Bottle Shop, an exclusively non-alcoholic retail space. After becoming a father in 2022, Barembruch made a lifestyle change to consume less alcohol. He set out to find the best non-alcoholic drinks and make them more accessible to those who are sober, curious or anywhere in between.
PHOTOS
VANESSA MARSHALL
NATHAN NEWMAN
Non-alcoholic Drink
Nathan Newman is the owner and operator of The Derrick Gin Mill & Kitchen and Untitled Champagne Lounge, where everything from bitters to infusions are all made in-house. Newman has three decades of hospitality experience and is currently spearheading the creation of a line of non-alcoholic spirits.
PIERRE LAMIELLE
Sweet Food
Pierre Lamielle is the awardwinning author and illustrator of the Munchy Munchy Cookbook and Kitchen Scraps and the co-author of Alice Eats He appeared on TV’s Top Chef Canada and was a winner on Chopped Canada. He loves eating and gardening with his wife and dog, Fife.
HAITHEM ELKADIKI
Fashion & Accessories
Libyan-Born, Toronto-bred, Calgary-based Haithem Elkadiki continues to challenge the norm in Canadian fashion by offering sleek fits, bold colours, loud prints and mega-sexy swimwear for men. His collections have been selected to show at Berlin Fashion Week and L’Oréal Fashion Week (Toronto).
SAÏD M’DAHOMA
Sweet Food
After receiving his PhD in neuroscience in Paris, Saïd M’Dahoma moved to Canada to conduct research at UCalgary, before quitting to follow his passion for baking. The French-Comorian pastry chef now teaches amateur bakers around the world the art of French patisserie through online classes.
THEO POPILCHAK
Fashion & Accessories
Master artisan and leather product designer Theo Popilchak transitioned from a career in municipal government and sales to start his ONE21 accessories line. His handbags, purses and wallets have garnered acclaim across North America, including the Overall Grand Prize at the 2023 Made In Alberta Awards.
LARA PRESBER
Furnishings & Home Decor
Lara Presber began her career in the field of architecture before moving into fashion. She has since returned to architecture as principal of Studio Presber Architecture and Design Inc., and is Past-President of the Canada Chapter of the American Institute of Architects and a Certified Passive House Designer.
MELANIE LOVE
Leisure & Lifestyle
Melanie Love helps Type A achievers restore their bodies and relax their minds with her unwind body works practice. She supports women-led businesses with capital and advisory as a Coralus Activator
MELISSA EDIGHOFFER
Savoury Food
Born and raised in Calgary, Melissa Edighoffer’s passion for food and drink is as lively as her hometown. Her unwavering appreciation for all things local, led her to take on the role of Marketing Director at Calgary Co-op, where she loves supporting the incredible flavours and products of Alberta.
DAYLE SHEEHAN
Furnishings & Home Decor
Dayle Sheehan is the lead designer and owner of Dayle Sheehan Interior Design Inc.; a bestselling author and public speaker; host of the Proof It’s Possible podcast and co-founder of the Ultimate Girls Trip business mastermind. She aims to inspire others to live their best lives in the most beautiful environments possible.
CHANRY THACH
Savoury Food
Chanry Thach is a marketing professional and agency owner. For the past decade, she has shared her love of food through social media and her writing, which has appeared on the Food Network online, CBC Hamilton, Hamilton Magazine and in Avenue, where she co-curates the annual “Best Things to Eat” lists.
KELLY JUBENVILL Leisure & Lifestyle
Kelly Jubenvill supports Alberta small businesses and non-profits through her consultancy, Solve4 Results Ltd. She previously chaired the Calgary Stampede Maker’s Market and the Your Brain on Art Committee for the Branch Out Neurological Foundation, and has been part of the HomeStart Foundation.
and is a 10-year contributor to the Calgary Stampede, previously vice-chairing the Western Showcase Creative Arts & Crafts sub-committee. In 2016, she led a team to pitch the idea for a craft market at the Calgary Stampede, which ultimately became the Maker’s Market.
SAIT ALUMNI AWARD RECIPIENTS MAKE AN IMPACT
The 2024 recipients carry on a legacy of leadership and commitment to community, inspiring future SAIT graduates.
For over 30 years, SAIT has annually celebrated a chosen group of graduates who have forged successful paths in their lives and careers. Each one has risen as a leader in their respective fields and continues to give back to communities through advocacy and charity work to elevate others in their own successes.
The recipients of SAIT’s 2024 Alumni Awards have remained lifelong learners while overcoming challenges and being true trailblazers in paving the path for future leaders.
“The five individuals joining the Distinguished Alumni Circle this year have shown courage and compassion when faced with adversity. Each of them has not only risen to accept that challenge but has chosen to help others along the way as well,” says Dr. David Ross, SAIT president and CEO.
The awards recognize the extraordinary accomplishments, dedication to SAIT and leadership skills of the recipients.
This year’s recipients are Terrance Malkinson for the Distinguished Alumni Award, Janis Rapchuk for the Clarence Hollingworth Alumni Employee Award of
Excellence, Matko Papic for the International Impact Alumni Award and both Shelby Banera and Tyler Carr for the Outstanding Young Alumni Award.
OUTSTANDING YOUNG ALUMNI AWARD RECIPIENTS: SHELBY BANERA
At the age of 14, Shelby Banera successfully launched her own business, Shelby’s Bakery and Kitchen. Despite being diagnosed with two learning disabilities and ADHD in high school, Banera continued to grow her skills, baking out of her parents’ and school kitchens. After graduating, Banera chose to continue her studies at SAIT.
“When thinking about what I wanted to do after graduation, I wasn’t sure what school to attend. I knew that I thrived in lower class sizes, so I chose SAIT. It was really good for me. I loved how I knew everybody in my class, and we all worked together,” says Banera.
At SAIT, Banera flourished in the Business Administration program, where she focused on finance. In her fourth year as a student, she published an e-book that made the complicated world of stock trading easier to understand and access. Now, as a full-time account manager at TD and a member of TD’s Women in Enterprise at only 24 years old, she has found a way to support other female entrepreneurs and business owners. “I just love helping others succeed,” affirms Banera.
TYLER CARR
Tyler Carr lost his best friend to cancer while studying at SAIT. Although the news was devastating, Carr found a support network at SAIT and a passion to use his studies in radio to help and connect with others. Since graduating from the Radio, Television and Broadcast News program, Carr went on to become the morning show host at Energy 106 in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
He has won numerous broadcasting awards, dedicating his time to advocate for marginalized communities that have been bullied. He also created an annual tradition by teaming up with a different ice cream shop each year to make creations that benefit local charities supporting children’s mental health and the fight against cancer.
“SAIT helped me become ready and understand what it takes to capture my dream job. My instructors did more than just train me for my job; they taught me valuable life lessons that I still use today. I credit all my success to SAIT,” affirms Carr.
This year’s award winners continue the legacy of recognizing the outstanding achievements of SAIT graduates. As community builders, innovators and leaders, these winners each positively impact their communities and beyond.
“It’s this courage to rise that makes them and all of SAIT’s Alumni Awards recipients remarkable. Let them be a source of inspiration for those students following in their footsteps,” encourages Ross.
Tyler Carr
Shelby Banera
FUTURE LEADERS START AT SAIT.
We have our eyes on the future. We’ve been champions of change for the last 100+ years.
Technology has evolved over that time, but our purpose has remained the same — to empower our students to make an impact on their communities and the world.
With degree, diploma, certificate programs and more, we help students realize their potential to be changemakers — to create, to evolve, to make a difference.
We congratulate the 2024 recipients of the SAIT Alumni Awards:
Distinguished Alumni Award
Terrance Malkinson
Information Technology Professional ‘99
Bachelor of Applied Information Systems Technology ‘01
Outstanding Young Alumni Award
Shelby Banera
Bachelor of Business Administration –
Financial Services ‘21
Commercial Banking Associate, TD
Outstanding Young Alumni Award
Tyler Carr
Radio, Television and Broadcast News ‘15
Morning Show Host, Energy 106 (Winnipeg)
International Impact
Alumni Award
Matko Papic
Mechanical Engineering Technology ‘99
Chief Technology Officer, Evans Consoles
Clarence Hollingworth Alumni
Employee Award of Excellence
Janis Rapchuk
Library Information Technology ‘95
Client Accounts Technician, SAIT
Thank you to our Inspiration Sponsor
BY SARAH COMBER
HOW TO MAKE IT MONOCHROMATIC
FASHION INFLUENCER
CHINENYE OTAKPOR ON WHY ONE COLOUR IS ALL YOU NEED TO CREATE A GREAT LOOK.
Chinenye Otakpor is known for her captivating, colourful outfits — often inspired by her mood of the moment. “As soon as you put on a good outfit, you feel a lot better, like you can take on the world,” she says.
A rehabilitation specialist who has worked in mental health for 10 years, Otakpor is also the founder of the fashion blog Queen’s Playground, which she uses as a platform to advocate for mental health and amplify businesses owned by visible minorities. One of her favourite brands is Fumi The Label. “Regardless of how much people may think there is a lot of visibility, there is never enough,” she says.
Expressing herself through fashion is a positive outlet for Otakpor’s own mental health. Describing her style as “feminine with an edge,” she is drawn to exaggerated shoulders, puffed sleeves and billowing pants that accentuate an hourglass silhouette.
Followers of Queen’s Playground know that Otakpor also loves a monochromatic look. “Play around with layering lighter and darker tones of the same colour,” she says. “They always mesh together.”
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Meet the man behind the masks at
Don’s Costume & Make Up Shop
f you’ve ever had to shop for a costume in Calgary, chances are you stopped by Don’s Costume & Make Up Shop. Don’s has been a fixture in one form or another for 75 years. Don Spicer (yes, the Don) opened the store in 1949 as Don’s Hobby Shop, selling crafts, trains, magic sets and other hobby supplies. Eventually, Spicer started selling formal wear, which led to renting out Santa suits, which developed into the costumes and theatrical makeup Don’s is known for today.
In 2003, Scott Bennie, whose father was Don’s accountant for 30-plus years, bought the business and moved it to its current location. As well as being a major destination for Halloween and cosplay lovers, Don’s supplies theatre companies and film productions with makeup, props and attire, and retails disc golf equipment.
We caught up with Bennie to find out what he loves about being the current “Don” of costumes.
QWhat do you love about working in the costume and makeup space?
“Generally, you’re helping people with something they’re very excited about and very interested in. It’s fun to be the place that is kind of like a candy store for them. I like watching the excitement on their faces when they see a product for the first time.”
QWhat is your favourite part about Don’s?
“Hearing customers come in saying, ‘I’ve been coming to Don’s since I was young — I’d cash my paper route cheque across the street and then come blow it all on a model kit.’ It’s fun being a part of history in the city.”
QDo you have any memories that stand out?
“The Halloween season gives me the greatest memories because it’s almost like
being in a theatre production. It’s hours and hours of work, you’re thrown all of these curveballs and then it’s over, but we always have great memories from it. Our staff is a really tight-knit group. Some of them have been here since before I came along and we have the same seasonal part-timers that have been coming back for 10 or 15 years during that chaotic month. They get us through.”
1515 Centre St. N.W., 403-262-5717, costumeandmakeupshop.ca
Favourite Spaces
Thirty-eight years after moving out of his family home in Calgary’s southwest, Robert Ollerenshaw, founder and executive chairman of Section23 Developments and Baywest Homes, realized there’s no place like home and decided to move back in. “I couldn’t get a better location, with the corner lot that backed onto the Glenmore Reservoir,” Ollerenshaw says. “But the 1970s bungalow was dated and in serious need of a major renovation.”
Inspired by mid-century-modern designs in Palm Springs, Calif., Ollerenshaw, who has a master’s in architectural design, knew exactly what he wanted — an artful combination of classic modernism that incorporated elements of his childhood home. With this in mind, he engaged interior designer and close friend, Monica Stevens, to assist in realizing his vision.
The central living room best represents the nostalgia-infused design, juxtaposing clean mid-century-inspired furnishings alongside an ornate 100-year-old grand piano once owned by Ollerenshaw’s mother and the 40-year-old Hammond organ he still plays from time to time. “The house is like a quilt,” says Stevens. “It’s a patchwork of beautiful pieces and memories from family and friends.”
FAMILY TIES
The main living room space in this home by a prominent local developer embraces a sense of nostalgia.
BY KAREN ASHBEE
THE LIGHT
Popular in 20th-century homes, the hallway and living room have a clerestory ceiling, letting in maximum natural light longer into the day. Blown-glass Bocci light fixtures are another element that adds transparency.
THE FIREPLACE
The original fireplace, built in 1973, is made of naturally occurring dolomite rock that Ollerenshaw and his father sourced and brought back from British Columbia. A smooth, sleek hearth of white marble complements the irregular texture and natural hues of the surrounding dolomite.
THE PAINTING
A white gallery wall showcases a striking, large-scale abstract painting by Canadian Modernist William Perehudoff, known for his simple forms and use of colour.
THE COFFEE TABLE
Ollerenshaw designed the coffee table in rift oak, with a metal insert as a practicality measure for displaying floral arrangements.
PHOTOS BY JARED SYCH
COLLAB ZZ311 | 00103
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Calgary, AB T2H 2S1
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Invermere, BC V0A 1K2 Elevate your aesthetic
JACQUELINE LOUIE
SHARING KNOWLEDGE OF T HE N IGH T SK Y
A S THE DAYS GET SHORTER AND THE NIGHTS GROW
L ONGER, E MBRACE THE CHANGE IN SEASONS WITH AN I NDIGENOUS-LED S TARGAZING EXPERIENCE.
LUXURY SKY-WATCHING DOME ACCOMMODATIONS AT MÉTIS CROSSING IN TREATY 6 TERRITORY.
With crisp, clear air and earlier sunsets, autumn is prime time for stargazing and to learn about the night sky through an Indigenous lens.
“The moon and the stars give us guidance,” says Lilyrose Meyers, a Knowledge Holder and traditional workshop teacher at Métis
Crossing, a cultural gathering centre and vacation lodge on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River near Smoky Lake, Alta. “We have a connection with all people on Earth through the night sky.”
Read on to learn more about Indigenous-led stargazing and night-sky experiences happening through the fall and winter at Métis Crossing and other locations around the province.
T HE LANGU AGE O F THE MOUNTAINS
At the summit of Sulphur Mountain overlooking the town of Banff, the night is rising.
Nightrise is an immersive multimedia winter exhibit created by Montreal-based Moment Factory in partnership with the Stoney Nakoda Nation and presented by the Banff Gondola, an attraction in the portfolio of international tourism company Pursuit. The exhibit includes four digital art installations with soundscapes featuring the Stoney language and traditional drumming. “It’s a winter storytelling immersive experience,” says Cherith Mark, Nightrise’s Stoney language translation coordinator and Stoney language narrator. It’s Mark’s voice that visitors hear when they arrive: “âba wathtech” (good day). “This is an opportunity to hear the language of the Stoney Nakoda people, who have been in this area since time immemorial. It’s a part of the landscape,” Mark explains. “Hearing my language echoing in the mountains, my heart feels overjoyed … You hear the traditional songs of the Stoney Nakoda as the sun goes down and Nightrise begins.”
Nightrise takes place both indoors and outdoors on multiple levels of the gondola’s Upper Terminal building. The rooftop terrace features displays of interactive lights, as well as the opportunity to listen to a traditional story, while the 360-degree observation deck, with warming firepits, is one of the best spots for stargazing in all of Banff National Park. banffjaspercollection.com/ attractions/banff-gondola/
PAINTED WARRIORS INCLUDES NIGHT-SKY GAZING AS PART OF ITS WINTER SNOWSHOE TOURS.
S NOWSHOEING UNDER THE STARS
Located in the foothills near Sundre, Alta., Painted Warriors offers year-round outdoor experiences from an Indigenous perspective. The ranch is run by co-owners and partners Tracey Klettl, who is of Cree and Mohawk heritage, and Tim Mearns, who is of Ojibwe heritage.
The Guiding Lights of Our Ancestors tour is an evening snowshoe excursion that includes a meal cooked over an open fire. During the small-group guided snowshoe walk, guests are encouraged to stop, turn off their headlamps and gaze up at the the night sky. “It’s about that really deep connection,” says Klettl, whose Cree grandmother taught
her about their family’s connection to the land and the skills they needed to navigate through their lives. “I always like to have people stop and think about our ancestors and the lives they would have lived. We needed to understand nature and what it was telling us to survive. The stars were our calendar and our time clock, and we used them as a map to navigate our way.”
Painted Warriors also offers an all-inclusive Moonlight Tour snowshoe package that includes a two-night stay in a cozy log cabin warmed by a wood-burning stove. paintedwarriors.ca
ROOFTOP TERRACE AT THE BANFF GONDOLA DURING NIGHTRISE
S TARS AND STORIES
The stars are brilliant in the night sky at Métis Crossing, located within the Otipemsiwak District 12 and Treaty 6 territory (Smoky Lake County), an hour and a half’s drive northeast of Edmonton. “It looks like the sky is alive,” says Natasha Donahue, a Métis educator and manager of Indigenous Initiatives at Telus World of Science in Edmonton and a researcher with the Galileo Project at Harvard University.
Métis Crossing’s Whispers from the Stars interpretive program, developed in partnership with Telus World of Science, explores Indigenous Peoples’ relationship to the skies. According to Donohue, who helped create the program and appears occasionally as a guest presenter at Métis Crossing, the Cree people call the North Star the “going home” star, because they could always rely on it to help them navigate the way back home, while the constellation known to settlers as the Little Dipper is Atima Atchakosuk — the Dog
Star (not to be confused with Sirius, named by the ancient Greeks, which is in the constellation Canis Major).
Donohue learned the story of Atima Atchakosuk from Knowledge Holder Wilfred Buck, who told her the constellation represents three animals: fox, coyote and wolf, and that it explains, in part, how dogs came to have a relationship with humans. “They gave us their puppies,” Donahue says. “They are the ones who gifted us with dogs, to protect and take care of us.”
Along with upscale lodge accommodations, Métis Crossing has luxury sky-watching domes that allow guests to gaze at the stars all night long. A single dome sleeps two, while the family domes sleep six to nine. Métis Crossing also serves Indigenous-inspired cuisine under the direction of internationally trained executive chef, Michael Levy. metiscrossing.com
GUESTS OF MÉTIS CROSSING WARM UP BY A FIREPIT. ABOVE: THE MOON, AS CAPTURED BY MÉTIS EDUCATOR AND ASTRONOMER NATASHA DONOHUE.
JASPER ’ S DARK SKIES
includes guest speakers, telescope viewings and cultural events like a series of fireside chats hosted by an Indigenous Knowledge Keeper. At press time, the catastrophic wildfires of this past summer meant the fate of the 2024 festival was unclear. What is clear, is that when things start up again, Jasper will need visitor support more than ever. for up-to-date information on the status
GO FURTHER
The night skies in Canada’s northern regions are legendary, but, this season, stargazing tourism will no doubt be seeing heightened interest after the Northwest Territories was named one of the “best places to go in North America and the Caribbean in 2024” by the influential Condé Nast Traveler. Located on the Ingraham Trail near Yellowknife, Indigenous-owned Aurora Village is world-renowned for its sky-watching experiences that include heated swivel seating and tipi accommodations on the shores of a private lake.
JASPER NATIONAL PARK IS THE SECOND-LARGEST DARK SKY PRESERVE IN THE WORLD.
AURORA VILLAGE, N.W.T.
SHERWOOD PARK | STRATHCONA COUNTY
Home to stunning natural landscapes, recreational facilities, and activities. strathcona.ca/adventure
North Mount Pleasant Arts Centre
This City-run facility has been operating for more than 30 years and features everything from drawing and painting classes to small and large kilns for pottery and ceramics. It’s also home to a piece of historically significant artwork: Calgaryborn potter Ed Drahanchuk’s “Alberta Foothills Morning” mural, which was installed on the exterior of the building back in 2006.
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John’s Breakfast & Lunch
This go-to neighbourhood restaurant has been around for several decades, with the current owners at the helm since 2007. Open Monday through Saturday, John’s serves breakfast all day and also offers sandwiches, burgers and a variety of Asian dishes like spring rolls and wonton soup.
Alberta School of Music
Here you can take private music lessons for guitar, piano, cello and violin, as well as vocal and music theory. You can also do group lessons if you want to experience playing in a band or string ensemble, sing in a choir, or just jam.
4th Street and 26th Avenue N.W.
Turca Breakfast House
Everything in this Turkish café and market is made in-house, including the freshly baked desserts like baklava and honey cake. Stop by for an authentic Turkish breakfast (complete with Turkish coffee or tea), or pick up some ingredients and prepared foods from the market for your table at home.
Plantation Garden Centre
Green thumbs love this garden centre housed in a former gas station. While spring and summer are the busiest seasons, Plantation stays open year-round selling trees, shrubs, annuals and perennials, as well as Christmas trees. It also sells houseplants throughout the winter, so you'll never be feeling blue about your greenery. –Riley Fonger
