O able Honorees
VICE recognizes physicians who have made an outstanding personal contribution to the medical profession, to the people of Alberta and has contributed to the art and science of medicine while raising the standards of medical practice.
Dr. James D. Kellner, Pediatrics, Calgary
Dr. T. Christopher R. Wilkes, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Calgary
O VICE AWARD recognizes physicians with 10 y ervice who contribute their knowledge, skill and time to the advancement of the profession. Their work, whether on the Board of Directors, its committees or service within their sections of medicine, supports and encourages the Association’s development.
Dr. Stephen L. Cassar, Plastic Surgery, Medicine Hat
Dr. John M. Colebrook, Emergency Medicine, Red Deer
Dr. Monica L. Hill, Generalists in Mental Health, Okotoks
Dr. Dennis Y. Kunimoto, Infectious Diseases, Edmonton
Dr. Jamie J. Irvine, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Edmonton
Dr. Rufus A. Scrimger, Radiation Oncology, Edmonton
Dr. Rudolf A. Zimmer, Public Health and Preventative Medicine, Calgary
WARD
recognizes significant contributions to the goals and aims of eniority, long-term membership and distinguished service (20 years) based on criteria determined by the Board of Directors.
Dr. Kenneth J. Corbet, Occupational Medicine, Calgary
ODIE OR AL LEADERSHIP is granted to one student and one resident who demonstrate exemplary dedication, commitment and leadership. The award is intended to help pursue further leadership development opportunities.
Mr. Mehul Gupta, Medical Student, Calgary
AL OF
SERVICE is awarde ber who has made exceptional contributions to the advancement of health care in Canada.
Dr. Jane B. Lemaire, Internal Medicine, Calgary
O ARR
ward available to one of its members and recognizes outstanding and inspiring lifetime achievement.
AWARD
Dr. John M. Conly, Infectious Diseases, Calgary recognizes
those persons who have distinguished themselves by their accomplishments in medicine, science, the humanities or who have rendered significant services to the Association, are members of the Association in good standing and have reached the age of 65 years.
Dr. Carolyn A. Lane, Family Medicine, Calgary Dr. Paul L. Toye, Family Medicine, Calgary Dr. Jeffrey C. E. Way, General Surgery, Calgary W T,
EARLY CAREER recognizes recipients who have demonstrated exemplary dedication, commitment and leadership in one of the following areas: political, clinical, educational, or research and community service.
Dr. Shannon M. Ruzycki, Internal Medicine, Calgary
For more information on these awards and individuals visit www.albertadoctors.org or www.cma.ca.
The AMA and CMA awards were presented at their Annual General Meetings, respectively.
CALLING FUTURE CITY BUILDERS
Do you want to design the future of Calgary? Fight climate change?
Make cities more equitable, vibrant, and healthy? Then the Bachelor of Design in City Innovation (BDCI) is for you. It’s the first undergraduate degree in Western Canada to focus on learning how to design innovative changes that improve the physical and social infrastructure of cities.
Since the energy sector downturn in 2015, Calgary’s downtown has seen unprecedented office building vacancy rates. This in turn caused problems for small business owners who rely on office workers for much of their sales. So how do we bring downtown back to life?
Since the energy sector downturn in 2015, Calgary’s downtown has seen unprecedented office building vacancy rates. This in turn caused problems for small business owners who rely on office workers for much of their sales. So how do we bring downtown back to life?
New University of Calgary degree now accepting applications for Fall 2023
to graduate programs in law, social work, public policy, public health and business. The BDCI also prepares graduates for direct entry into the workforce in a variety of citybuilding careers in the private, public, and non-profit sectors.
sustainability studies, entrepreneurship and data science. “Right from day one, students apply the theory they learn in the classroom to real world design projects in the studios.”
That’s the question occupying the minds of many people including building owners, real estate professionals, and the City of Calgary. This spring’s decision by City Council to create a $200 million investment fund to kickstart redevelopment projects that would revitalize downtown is a very promising first step. But where should that money be spent to ensure maximum impact?
That’s the question occupying the minds of many people including building owners, real estate professionals, and the City of Calgary. This spring’s decision by City Council to create a $200 million investment fund to kickstart redevelopment projects that would revitalize downtown is a very promising first step. But where should that money be spent to ensure maximum impact?
Located within the University of Calgary’s School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, the BDCI is an ideal pre-professional program for those interested in becoming an architect, planner, or landscape architect. Alternatively, it can be customized with a variety of minor programs as a pathway
Fortunately, researchers at the University of Calgary are working on an answer. Assistant professor Alberto de Salvatierra, for example, specializes in big-data urbanism at the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape. He is developing a platform called the Civic Common Catalyst that helps decision-makers better understand the broader social, cultural, and economic impact of a particular redevelopment decision.
Fortunately, researchers at the University of Calgary are working on an answer. Assistant professor Alberto de Salvatierra, for example, specializes in big-data urbanism at the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape. He is developing a platform called the Civic Common Catalyst that helps decision-makers better understand the broader social, cultural, and economic impact of a particular redevelopment decision.
“The climate crisis and increasing social inequity are two of the biggest challenges facing the future of cities,” says John Brown, dean of the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape. “This degree delivers the knowledge and skills needed to design solutions that will reduce our impact on the environment and improve quality of life.”
De Salvatierra and his team have assembled large datasets on everything from risk sources and ecological systems to infrastructural networks and human geographies. He elaborates, “By overlaying this information onto maps of underutilized land and vacant buildings, we can
De Salvatierra and his team have assembled large datasets on everything from risk sources and ecological systems to infrastructural networks and human geographies. He elaborates, “By overlaying this information onto maps of underutilized land and vacant buildings, we can
The BDCI multi-disciplinary curriculum is delivered through experiential learning in design studios that deal with city innovation at a hands-on level, explains Brown, adding that students will also gain skills in 2D and 3D visualization, history, theory,
This is something that is badly needed, says Kate Thompson, president and CEO of the Calgary Municipal Land Corporation, the group responsible for the development of downtown’s East Village and the new central public library building. The BDCI will deliver a critical educational option that is currently missing in Alberta, she adds.
test various redevelopment options and identify which will have the biggest impact.”
test various redevelopment options and identify which will have the biggest impact.”
Thom Mahler, Manager of Urban Initiatives with the City of Calgary sees significant value in this approach. “This project will be a source of both knowledge and inspiration to drive transformational change to underutilized civic and private assets.”
Thom Mahler, Manager of Urban Initiatives with the City of Calgary sees significant value in this approach. “This project will be a source of both knowledge and inspiration to drive transformational change to underutilized civic and private assets.”
“The wide-reaching inputs to city building (physical, social, political, economic, historical) must be studied so that together our city can emerge as a leader in the world of urban design.”
With the stakes so high and the cost of urban development so great, no one can afford any missteps. This cutting-edge research project is showing us how applying big urban data in novel ways helps to minimize risks and build a better Calgary.
Applications are now being accepted for Fall 2023 start. For more information visit sapl.ucalgary.ca/bdci.
With the stakes so high and the cost of urban development so great, no one can afford any missteps. This cutting-edge research project is showing us how applying big urban data in novel ways helps to minimize risks and build a better Calgary.
strength and influences between relationships. strength and influences between relationships.There is no average Calgarian, and Downtown is no average community. A thriving downtown means a thriving city, and The City of Calgary offers programs and services to help businesses get back on track. Hear some of our stories at calgary.ca/respond
THE BEST OF THE WEST
Since 1992, Trico Homes has built over 11,500 quality single and multi-family homes across Calgary and has earned a reputation for its design, craftsmanship and customer care. Now, Trico is bringing a new community to Calgary with luxury townhomes that have been curated and designed for homeowners with impeccable taste.
THRIVE IN THE BEST OF THE WEST
Located off 81 Street SW and 8A Avenue SW, West 83rd is a community designed around choice and the opportunity to thrive in the desirable westside. Perfectly situated in a location that offers access to premium amenities and desirable schools and is within close proximity to the foothills and mountains for weekend getaways or quick excursions. West 83rd offers 152 townhomes, each with a full-width balcony and three models to choose from, as well as different attached garage options. “This is a different multi-family project from anything Trico has ever done before,” says Carmen De Luca, sales manager
for multi-family homes. “But we’re very proud of the time and energy we put into making sure the floorplans are unique.”
TAILORED LIVING OPTIONS
With three different floorplans, single, tandem and double car garage options, Trico is able to offer three different price points. De Luca adds Trico welcomes a diverse range of buyers to purchase a home in West 83rd. “There’s definitely not one specific type of buyer looking at West 83rd; we hope to meet the needs of many.” De Luca says.
The three housing models include the 16-foot Emerson townhome (1290 sq. ft.) and the 17-foot Granville (1381 sq. ft.), both with tandem garages and two bedrooms. The third option is the 20-foot Oakwood with 1796 sq. ft., a double garage and three bedrooms. Homeowners can choose from one of four interior design packages and further tailor their new homes to personal tastes and needs. For the first time, Trico has partnered with a local interior designer, entrusting the curation of the design packages to Alykhan Velji Designs, who specializes in creating original and timeless interiors. A standard
feature across all the homes, De Luca says, is the focus on maximizing all spaces to be functional, versatile and useable. From open concept floorplans and high-end interior details, such as wood railing on metal spindles, under-cabinet lighting and glass shower barn doors, West83rd Townhomes promotes ultimate luxury with modern finishes.
SOPHISTICATION MEETS COMFORT
Just a block away from West 83rd is what Adam Zymirski, area sales manager, describes as a carbon copy of the appealing 17th Ave. in downtown Calgary. “You have Blanco Cantina, UNA Pizza, Deville Coffee, and many other trendy restaurants. There are also fitness studios, salons, doctors, dentists — every amenity is available,” says Zymirski. Location-wise, Zymirski adds that West 83rd is just as appealing. “You can be to the mountains in under an hour and reach downtown or the University of Calgary in 15-20 minutes. There’s really something for everyone in West 83rd — from young professionals, downsizers to first-time home buyers.”
Presales begin in mid-September, with showhomes opening in early 2023. For more information, visit west83townhomes.com.
Discover West83rd, Luxury Townhomes in the Westside Neighbourhood You LoveBEST OF
Luxury Townhomes in the Westside
Neighbourhood You Love
A signature home collection in the heart of West Springs, exclusively by award-winning Trico Homes
Introducing curated townhome living in the west side’s most coveted location. Beautifully designed. Artfully crafted. Sophistication meets comfort just a heartbeat away from the from the very best shops, dining, fitness studios, schools and services.
This is everything you’ve waited for, but don’t wait – an opportunity this rare, in a neighbourhood this amazing, is sure to be gone in a flash.
NOWREINVIGORATE YOUR CAREER WITH HASKAYNE EXECUTIVE EDUCATION
Learning is a lifelong process. Investing in your professional development will ensure your skillset remains relevant in a changing workplace and an increasingly competitive labour market. Haskayne Executive Education delivers short programs that will leave you inspired to lead and innovate, wherever your career takes you.
MASSIVE CHANGES TO INDUSTRY
Over the past few years, we’ve experienced massive shifts in industry due to technological advances, changing business priorities, and the impact of COVID-19. In Alberta, the energy sector is chang ing in response to economic and environmental demands. Sectors like financial services, agribusiness and technology are emerging as top industries of influence, bringing with them exciting job opportu nities. Global tech company, Mphasis plans to hire 1,000 people for their new Calgary office. Telus plans to hire 8,500 employees in Alberta over the next four years. And IBM is bringing 250 new jobs to Calgary.
We’ve seen an unprecedented digital shift as companies moved their operations online overnight in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, a broader range of talent is available to work remotely. This shift has led to a huge migration of people moving into new positions, careers, and industries.
How do you stand out and ensure your skills stay relevant in a rapidly changing job market? Adding micro-credentials, like those offered by Haskayne Executive Education, to your existing expe rience can deliver the unique combination of
skills and expertise you need to keep you top of mind for that next big promotion or new job.
HASKAYNE EXECUTIVE EDUCATION IS GROWING FUTURE LEADERS
“As baby boomers retire, we are seeing a trend where younger, technical experts are being promoted into leadership positions,” says Tanya Verhulp, Director of Haskayne Executive Education. “These individuals have the technical know-how and the boots-on-theground experience but are looking for formal train ing for those business skills and interpersonal skills that are important for success in leadership roles.”
Taught by renowned Haskayne School of Busi ness instructors who combine academically backed course content with real-world business experience, Haskayne Executive Education programs provide today’s most in-demand skills in a short time frame. Concepts can be immediately applied to your job and after a few weeks of coursework, you can add a new credential to your résumé.
Courses currently offered include strategic lead ership, communications, presentation skills, financial literacy, negotiation and real estate development. Not only do students improve their business acumen, they also grow their professional network as they learn alongside a diverse group of professionals from across many industries and companies.
“There are many professional development options out there. A lot of it is fluffy. This was concrete and meaningful,” says Matt Vermunt, who is Director of Acquisitions and Development at Homespace Society. He took courses through Haskayne Executive Education from 2019 to 2020. “I was able to build strong connections with others in the program, which have continued years later.”
Haskayne Executive Education’s most popular program is Strategic Leadership Develop ment, which shapes experienced leaders from across all industries into effective, resilient, and dynamic professionals. The program includes one-on-one executive coaching and a personalized leadership
development plan. Participants also get to work on a real business project of their choosing for their organization, mentored by Haskayne’s expert faculty. The return on investment can be significant.
For those looking to develop an entire team, Haskayne Executive Education gives you the oppor tunity to work with Alberta’s top business experts to develop a custom program to meet the needs of your organization. Areas of expertise include leadership, decision-making, strategy, marketing and sales, finance, operations, and innovation and entrepre neurial thinking.
GET TWO-THIRDS OF YOUR COSTS COVERED
“The ‘Great Resignation’ has caused so many com panies to re-think their hiring and talent acquisition practices,” says Verhulp. “Companies are now realiz ing they need to invest in their employees’ profes sional development to keep them engaged.”
The Canada-Alberta Job Grant makes professional development even easier for employees and their organizations. This grant will cover up to two-thirds of your training costs, up to $10,000 per year.
ARE
TO REACH YOUR
“Several of my colleagues and I have taken courses with Has kayne Executive Education. The business and leadership skills we’ve developed have really strengthened our organization. It pointed me in the direction I want to go in my career.”
– Emily McCormick, Volunteer Manager, Calgary Folk Music Festival
on the cover
Sweet victory: GroundUp eco-ventures’
Born Again Protein Brownie Mix is the 2022 Made in Alberta Awards Overall Grand Prize winner.
Photo by Jared Sychcontents
18 Editor’s Note
82 Work of Art
FEATURESDEPARTMENTS
23 Detours
We’re rolling into things with an ode to bowling, a perennial favourite activity in Calgary. A true crime podcast hosted by Global TV’s Nancy Hixt gets the spotlight; we’ve got three homey workshops, from baking to candle-making, to take as we settle into fall; and, with Halloween on the horizon, we round up spots to get your sweet fix and chat with a local ghost tour guide.
64 Dining
Perogies are the ultimate comfort food, and, for the Ukrainian community, getting together to make these dumplings is an enduring comfort in times of crisis.
68 Mountains
The latest on where to lay your head in the Rockies, from new hotels to refurbished classics.
74 Decor
It’s the season for curling up by the fire: Interior designer Nyla Free shares three fireplace designs and realtor Jake McIntyre talks about the wood-burning revival. Plus, how to prep your bar cart for the chilly months ahead and cozy decor picks to turn your home into a welcoming winter haven.
29 Made in Alberta Awards 2022
Our fourth annual celebration of Alberta makers is here! Discover the winners and runners-up across 10 categories, plus the Readers’ Choice winner.
By Tsering Asha, Karen Ashbee, Kendall Bistretzan, Carmen Cheng and Lynda Sea50 The Music Man
Award-winning songwriter, musician and producer Russell Broom spent years on the road as a touring guitarist with Jann Arden. Now, he’s focused on bringing the music of others to life, including emerging artists in Calgary.
By Gabrielle Cleveland57 Seeking Shelter
Throughout the pandemic, incidents of domestic violence rose, and resources and services for victims were stretched to the max. But, while COVID-19 restrictions have lifted, the need continues to grow.
By Ruth Richert PEROGY PHOTO BY JARED SYCH; DECOR PHOTO BY PHIL CROZIER; ILLUSTRATION BY HOLLY STAPLETONAGING REDESIGNED
Will Garden Loft work for my aging parent?
Garden Loft is ideal for someone who needs assistance to remain independent and has a family who is willing to help. The unit’s supportive interior has 25 features that make life easier and safer, such as adjustable height countertops that allow you to sit down to cook and clean up. The family’s backyard location is only steps away if help is needed but separate enough to maintain everyone’s privacy. The result is convenience and peace of mind for you - companionship and continued independence for your parent.
Join Dr. John Brown for a webinar exploring how older adults and their families can use Garden Loft to create a high-quality, independent, age-in-place future.
Wednesday October 26, 6:00 - 7:00pm Reserve at www.gardenloft.ca
Book a virtual or in-person tour of our Show Suite Housebrand, celebrating 25 years of residential design-build in Calgary
www.gardenloft.ca
Photography by Michael GrondinThe brownies you see on this month’s cover are no ordinary brownies. They were baked from a mix produced by Okotoks-based GroundUp eco-ventures, a company that upcycles craft brewing byproducts and spent cof fee grounds from cafés into usable ingredients. So, not only are these brownies a tasty treat, they’re also repre sentative of the circular economy, wherein waste products are remade into something of greater value.
The fact that the co-founder of GroundUp eco-ventures transitioned to food product upcycling from the corporate world of oil and gas also makes this a tale for current times: exploring new frontiers and seeking out new and innovative ways of doing things that are as old and traditional as baking a pan of brownies. These factors all combined to make GroundUp’s Born Again Protein Brownie Mix the Overall Grand Prize winner in our fourth annual Made in Alberta Awards.
Though Avenue is a city magazine with a focus set on Calgary, the annual Made in Alberta Awards is the one time we broaden that focus province-wide. We accept entries from all over Alberta to be judged by experts across 10 categories. You can read all about
SHELLEY ARNUSCH EDITOR IN CHIEF sarnusch@redpointmedia.caA Taste of Home
this year’s winning products, as well as the runners-up and the Readers’ Choice winner for 2022, starting on Page 29.
While the products tend to take the spotlight, the Made in Alberta Awards are, in essence, a celebration of the makers behind them and of maker culture in our province. We’ll be doing our part to uplift and sup port that culture at our 2022 Made in Alberta Conference and Awards Celebration, held this year on October 12 at Calgary’s stunning Central Library. Whether you’re a maker yourself, or someone who simply likes to support local, tickets are currently on sale at showpass.com/miaa2022.
Aside from this year’s Made in Alberta Award winners, we’re also celebrating another locally made product in this issue — perogies. More than just a comfort food, this humble dish serves as a beacon of hope for the Ukrainian community in times of need. Learn about some of the individuals and or ganizations at the heart of Calgary’s perogymaking scene, and, since you’ll undoubtedly want to eat perogies after reading the story, we also have a roundup of the best perogy restaurants and vendors in the city right now.
Along with the Made in Alberta Conference on October 12, Avenue will be hosting the 2022 Top 40 Under 40 Gala on October 26. Visit showpass.com/o/redpoint-media to get your tickets to these amazing events.
With the Thanksgiving holiday, October has always been a comfort-food kind of month. We hope that whatever you’re eating — sweet, savoury or both — it tastes of home.
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Editor in Chief Shelley Arnusch, sarnusch@redpointmedia.ca
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NEXT ISSUE
November
Top 40 Under 40
Meet the 2022 Class of Calgarians moving the city forward and accomplishing amazing things before their 40th birthdays.
Business Lunches
This workday staple is back after its pandemicimposed hiatus. We take a look at some of the downtown dining spots embracing its return.
Winter in the Mountains
A guide to getting out there and enjoying the upcoming season in the Rockies.
by October 5 to get the November issue to your door. Three-issue subscription $18, one-year $36. redpoint-media.com
Detours
PIN IT TO WIN IT
MUCH LIKE “THE DUDE” IN THE BIG LEBOWSKI , BOWLING ABIDES, A BELOVED ACTIVITY WHETHER AT A VINTAGE ALLEY OR NEW BAR
If it feels like bowling’s been around forever, well, that’s because it has: Variations of the game can be traced back to Egypt circa 5,000 BC. The 10-pin version was developed in the U.S. in the 19th century, while Canada lays claim to creating fivepin bowling in 1908 (or 1909). A timeless activity, bowling oozes retro vibes, complete with the fun shoes, checkerboard floors and that satisfying sound that accompanies a strike.
Bowling experienced a significant heyday in the 1950s and ’60s, thanks to the invention of the automatic pinsetter. Some legendary Calgary bowling alleys opened during this era, in cluding Mountain View Bowling (1958), Chinook Bowladrome (1960), Toppler Bowl (1962) and Paradise Lanes (late ’60s).
Stacey Sanderson, one of the proprietors of still-operational Toppler Bowl in Fairview, chalks up bowling’s enduring nature to consistency. “Bowling really hasn’t changed much in the past
century,” Sanderson says. “We have graduated from pinsetter boys to using all-mechanical machines, and have moved from hand scorekeeping to computerized scoring, but, overall, it’s the same sport it was 100-plus years ago.”
That doesn’t mean there haven’t been new bowling estab lishments popping up. Calgary and surrounding areas have welcomed a few bar/bowling alley hybrids in recent years, first with The National on 10th, and, just this past spring, The Banquet in the University District, which features four duckpin bowling lanes. There’s also High Rollers in Banff, where you can topple pins on one of six lanes while eating pizza and sipping pints.
“Bowling has started to trend again and is fairly prevalent with the younger generation,” says Dave Kist, owner of Mountain View Bowling in Glamorgan. “The social aspect is what makes it so popular. And the music and disco lights make for a fun atmo sphere in which to relax and have a good time.”
—Erika Holter NOTEBOOK OF THE CITY Toppler Bowl.Detours
Local Podcast Spotlight
CRIME BEAT
When it comes to true crime podcasts, Crime Beat is a winner. Since 2019, host Nancy Hixt, a crime reporter for Global Calgary, has gone beyond the headlines of some of Canada’s most high-profile cases to share details about police investigations and prosecutions while centring victims’ voices. “We focus on telling these stories in a way that honours the victims and shines a light in the darkest places, which makes this show different,” says Hixt. “I think people see and respect that.”
With three seasons and 11 million global downloads (and counting), the award-winning podcast has now been adapted into a Global TV documentary series, which was recently picked up by Hulu. Listen to Crime Beat wherever you get your podcasts; new episodes are released bi-weekly.
Tsering AshaSweet Spots
CŌCHU CHOCOLATIER
Chocolatier Anne Sellmer’s new shop in East Village’s Hillier Block is where she and her team whip up bonbons, bars and bark, including the beloved variety that sees milk or dark chocolate flecked with popping candy and dotted with sweet and sour gummies.
429 8 Ave. S.E., cochu.ca
THE CHOCOLATE LAB
You won’t give Halloween mini-bars another look after feast ing your eyes on The Chocolate Lab’s bonbons. From Starry Night, which is dark blue with gold and white specks and filled with dark chocolate ganache, to the swirl of pastel pinks that is Ruby Rhubarb, they’re almost too pretty to eat.
Two Calgary locations, chocolatelab.ca
PIXIE’S CANDY PARLOUR
Find everything from throwback candy brands (Lemonhead and Charleston Chew) to international imports, such as Cadbury
Curly Wurly by way of the U.K., at this retro candy shop. It even has a 1950s soda fountain, so you can sip on a float while you browse.
207, 11135 14 St. N.E., 403-567-0109, pixiescandy.com
CANDY STORES AT HERITAGE PARK
Step back in time at the Claresholm General Store, where oldfashioned jars are filled with rock candy, candy sticks and more. Or pop into Harvey’s Confectionary, outside the park gates, to stock up on fudge and homemade chocolates.
1900 Heritage Dr. S.W., 403-268-8500, heritagepark.ca
Dominique Lamberton COCHU PHOTO BY CHRIS LANDRY; PIXIE S PHOTO COURTESY OF PIXIE S CANDY PARLOUR; THE CHOCOLATE LAB PHOTO BY DALLAS SOUTHCOTT; CLARESHOLM GENERAL STORE PHOTO COURTESY OF TOURISM CALGARYTRICKS MAY BE FOR KIDS, BUT TREATS ARE FOR ALL: IF YOU'RE TOO OLD TO GO DOOR-TO-DOOR ON HALLOWEEN, GET YOUR FIX AT THESE LOCAL SHOPS
1Why did you want to start Calgary Ghost Tours? I didn’t. It was just something to do for fun with friends. Then friends told friends, and I realized that there was interest in it. I started learning the history and went from there.
2What kinds of stories do you share on the tour? Well, for example, in 1946, a little boy, Donnie, was stabbed to death on St. George’s Island. Today, EMS and the fire department respond to three to four calls a year regarding a boy calling for help underneath the zoo bridge. I’ve had dispatch on tours before and they’ve confirmed it.
Do you ever have to deal with superfreaked-out patrons? Yes! One time, we were all standing around, and this guy falls into the bushes. We help him up, and he just stands there, his eyes all big, and he goes, “I’ll be right back.” And he just booked it. He e-mailed me later and said, “Somebody pushed me.” The weird thing is, the same thing happened on the tours after mine that day. —Kendall Bistretzan
JOHANNA LANE, OWNER OF CALGARY GHOST TOURS, ANSWERS A FEW OF OUR BURNING QUESTIONS ABOUT LOCAL HAUNTSPHOTO BY
COZY
Baking Classes at The
Co. Cooks
Hone your kitchen skills (and prepare for the upcoming holiday season) at one of The Cookbook Co. Cooks’ baking classes. Whether you’re trying your hand at pâte à choux (November 6) or adding to your Christmas baking repertoire (November 27), your tastebuds will thank you. 722 11 Ave. S.W., 403-265-6066, cookbookcooks.com
CO. COOKS PHOTO BY MARNIE CUNNINGHAMK nitting Classes at Stash
The team at this Inglewood store have spent the last decade showing Calgarians how to knit in classes such as the two-part Learn to Knit, which will teach you how to do everything from purl stitches to read patterns as you make a buttoned cowl. If you’d prefer to master it from home, Stash offers its Learn to Knit instructional video series for free on YouTube. 1237 9 Ave. S.E., 403-457-0766, stashlounge.com
If filling your home with flickering candlelight and dreamy scents gives you the warm fuzzies, this two-hour workshop is for you. With a drink in hand, you’ll discover the art of scent-blending, as you craft your own candle and reed diffuser in two custom fragrances. 7, 1450 28 St. N.E., 403-454-5451, milkjar.ca
2022 Distinguished Alumna Anchor Global News
Linda Olsen is an award-winning journalist, producer and broadcaster in Calgary’s media scene. Recognized as the sole anchor of Calgary’s Global News at 5 and co-anchor of Global News Hour at 6 , Linda has distinguished herself as a local media icon, covering some of the biggest events in Alberta’s history. In 2015, Linda was awarded an Honorary Degree from SAIT for her many accomplishments.
2022 Outstanding Young Alumnus Sports Reporter Rogers Sportsnet
Kyle Bukauskas began his broadcasting career as a student, doing play-byplay for the SAIT Trojans hockey team. Shortly after graduation, he was offered a practicum at Sportsnet in Toronto. He served as correspondent for the Ottawa Senators and the Montreal Canadiens. Today Kyle files stories for Rogers Sportsnet and Hockey Night in Canada — and always visits SAIT students when he’s in town to cover the Calgary Flames.
2022 Outstanding Young Alumna Food and Beverage Service Instructor SAIT, Hospitality & Tourism
Madeleine MacDonald brings her mentorship skills — honed while working in the creative cocktail field — to every class she teaches. Madeleine translated an internship at Calgary’s award-winning Model Milk restaurant into a role as beverage director, going on to create dynamic cocktail programs city-wide and winning national cocktail competitions. Madeleine also works to improve the hospitality industry from within, including serving on the Bartenders Benevolent Fund board of directors.
Alana Willerton C andle & Diffuser Making Workshop at Milk Jar STASH PHOTO BY JILLIAN LOGEE; MILK JAR PHOTO BY PETER KACZAN Kyle Bukauskas Radio, Television and Broadcast News ’13 Madeleine MacDonald Hospitality Management ’13; Linda Olsen Radio, Cinema, TV, Stage & Radio ’88Now in its fourth year, the Made in Alberta Awards continue to showcase incredible products created right here in our province. From delectable foods (savoury and sweet) and refreshing drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) to products that make us feel beautiful, make our spaces beautiful and make beautiful gifts for others, we’re thrilled to present the best of the many entries we received for 2022.
BY TSERING ASHA, KAREN ASHBEE, KENDALL BISTRETZAN, CARMEN CHENG AND LYNDA SEA PHOTO BY JARED SYCH THANK YOU TO OUR JUDGES AMY WILLIER AWARD FOR INDIGENOUS ARTISANS: YVONNE JOBIN AND JOCELYN LAMOTHE; BEAUTY: MARIE BERTRAND AND TARA COWLES; CRAFT: QUIN CHEUNG AND NICHOLE WINDBLAD; DRINK (ALCOHOLIC AND NON-ALCOHOLIC): OWEN KIRKALDY AND CANDY LAM; FASHION AND ACCES SORIES: ROPA MUPAMBWA AND HAITHEM ELKADIKI; SAVOURY FOOD: CARMEN CHENG AND MATT PENNER; SWEET FOOD: DAN CLAPSON AND TONY MARSHALL; FURNISHINGS AND HOME DECOR: KAREN ASHBEE AND KRISTEN MCKAY; UNIQUE PRODUCT: KELLY JUBENVILL, MELANIE LOVE AND JASEN ROBILLARDINNOVATIVE AND DELICIOUS
Born Again Protein Brown ie Mix by GroundUp eco-ventures is the whole package: An innovative and sustainable product that bakes up into a deli ciously chewy treat.
SWEET FOOD
Born Again Protein Brownie Mix
by GroundUp eco-ventures
MADE IN OKOTOKS $9.99 groundupev.comFour years ago, Shawn Leggett started reading more about circular economies and upcy cling. What he learned would prove the catalyst for his busi ness, GroundUp eco-ventures, which uses spent grains and coffee grounds from cafés and craft breweries to make “super flours,” baking mixes and coffee oil. “There are a lot of things that we view as waste that have unbelievable amounts of po tential and value,” says Leggett.
“I wanted to start my own company, but I wanted to do something different. It just made so much sense and was such a positive message.”
Being innovative and sustainable is one thing, but GroundUp’s Born Again Protein Brownie Mix also proved delicious. The moist and chewy brownies have a flavour so deep and satisfying it earned them the Overall Grand Prize honours in this year’s Made in Alberta Awards.
By using byproducts of brewed beer and coffee as source material, GroundUp also isn’t creating any waste products of its own. Currently, it collects spent grains from local craft breweries including Calgary’s Cabin Brewing, High River Brewing, Big Beaver Brewing in Okotoks and Turner Valley’s Fahr Brewery. “The breweries see what we’re doing and they get it. They really like it, and it saves them money because they don’t have to pay to have it disposed,” Leggett says. GroundUp gets its coffee grounds from Blackbird Cold Brew Coffee Co.
Leggett’s background includes 23 years working in oil and gas in downtown Calgary. His two careers even overlapped for a time: when he and his wife
Candace were first developing their coffee oil prod uct for skin and hair, he would grab grounds from Analog Coffee in Bow Valley Square. “I would drop pails off in the morning on my way to my day job and pick them up at the end of my day.”
Leggett incorporated GroundUp eco-ventures in 2018 and spent the next three years doing research before opening the doors of a 4,000-square-foot zero-waste facility in Okotoks in June 2021.
Leggett says, unlike recycling, upcycling is tak ing something of little or no perceived value and creating a product of higher value. If you recycle something like glass, it just makes glass. Recycle pa per and you get a lower quality of paper every time you recycle it. “When you look at coffee grounds, you wouldn’t think there was any value, but if you upcycle it, you extract the oils and create an ingredi ent. All of a sudden, it now has a ton of value.”
The company is already generating buzz, and Leggett says they plan on expanding and adding new products. At SIAL, the largest food-innovation trade show in Canada, GroundUp won a Gold Innovation Award, meaning it will be showcased in the grand show in Paris this month.
The Born Again Protein Brownie Mix came about after playing around with a family recipe. It features the company’s own Brewer’s Barley Saved-Grain Flour and its Gluten-Free Coffee Flour, which gives everything a darker colour and has a nutty, choco latey flavour. “Coffee is used in baking to highlight the flavour of chocolate, so brownies just seemed like the right application,” says Leggett.
Along with being protein-rich, GroundUp’s brownies are also high in fibre. “We know 95 per cent of North Americans only get half of their daily recommended fibre,” he adds. “If you can have a brownie and eat better, why wouldn’t you?” —L.S.
I LOVED THAT THESE BROWNIES WERE EASY TO MAKE, NOT TOO SWEET AND CONTAINED UPCYCLED INGREDIENTS. THE FACT THAT THEY HAD MORE PROTEIN AND FIBRE WAS JUST A BONUS! ”
TONY MARSHALLPHOTO BY JARED SYCH
WHAT THE JUDGES SAID
WHAT THE JUDGES SAID
THIS IS THE HIGHESTQUALITY SOAP I ’ VE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY OF TESTING IN THE PAST FOUR YEARS OF BEING A BEAUTY-CATEGORY JUDGE. LONG-LASTING, QUALITY INGREDIENTS, LUXURIOUS FOAM.” MARIE BERTRAND
BEAUTY
Bar Soaps by CleanO2
MADE IN CALGARY
$8 each cleano2.ca
In 2013, CleanO2 Carbon Capture Technology founder Jaeson Cardiff was working as a plumber and HIVAC technician. Aware that his industry accounted for about 20 per cent of Canada’s carbon emissions, he began researching ways to limit the harm caused by natural-gas heating appliances.
This journey led Cardiff to create the world’s first soap made from carbon-capture technology. CleanO2 Soaps are inspired by the cir cular economy, a production model that involves reusing and recycling for as long as possible.
The carbon is captured through patented CarbinX units that gather gas from the flues of natural-gas heating boilers and furnaces in com mercial buildings and sequester it before it can cause climate damage. The captured carbon takes the form of pearl ash, which is what gives the soap its silky feel. Even after the soap has been used, the carbon has been permanently gathered and can
not escape back into the atmosphere. The proceeds from the soap help offset additional research, development and deployment of CarbinX devices.
Judges praised the soap for its rich lather and lovely scent. While environmentalists and beauty-product lovers make up a large portion of CleanO2's customer base, there has also been keen interest in the brand from a demographic you might not expect — those who work in the oil and gas industry. “They’re in the value chain and they’re looking to mitigate their carbon impact,” says CleanO2’s COO, Alistair Hazewinkel. “It’s a myth that Albertans don’t care about climate change.”
The CleanO2 team has plans to expand into creating other personal care products, as well as finding additional avenues for carbon capture.
In the meantime, you can look for their soaps at various Canadian Tire, Safeway and Sobeys stores.
K.B.
CRAFT
Mom and Baby Grizzly by Michelle Atkinson
MADE IN CALGARY
$475 michelle-atkinson.ca, @matkinsonyyc
Michelle Atkinson is a multidis ciplinary artist with a penchant for glass. Born and raised in Alberta, she is heavily inspired by landscapes and the natural world. Her sculptures of swift foxes, bull trout, whooping cranes and griz zly bears are made from kiln-cast slabs of recycled glass otherwise destined for the landfill.
“I try to use recycled glass where possible. It’s the whole reduce, reuse, recycle idea and the environ mental aspect of my work,” Atkinson says. “The animals in the work are classified as threatened or endangered … They represent what we’ve lost through the amount of construction and destruc tion we do to the land we settle on.”
Atkinson uses broken glass windows, tempered glass and even old gin bottles to create the ghostlike silhouettes. Much of her glass material is do
nated: in February last year, she put out the call for empty Bombay Sapphire gin bottles and, by June, she had enough (roughly 70) to make her slab. She smashes the old glass into small pieces, and then places them into a ceramic mould in her kiln to melt down. Once they've cooled into slabs, she uses a high-pressure stream of water with garnet grit to cut the animal shapes. “Because it’s so precise, I can do something like a puzzle piece,” says Atkinson.
Striations where the pieces of glass melded together create an appearance similar to glacial ice — another detail that evokes an awareness and conversation around biodiversity, environmental ism and recycling. “I’ve always liked glass,” says Atkinson. “It almost has two personalities, which I find alluring and fascinating at the same time. It has a strength, but it’s also really fragile. It can be really smooth, but also sharp. There are so many ways it plays both sides of the fence. And just the fact that it can play with light is a big deal for me.” —L.S.
WHAT THE JUDGES SAID
I LOVED THE UNIQUE CONCEPT OF THIS PIECE. TO ME, IT REALLY REPRESENTS CANADA THROUGH THE GRIZZLY BEAR, AND, IN ADDITION, SPEAKS BEAUTIFULLY IN THE WAY MOTHER AND BABY FIT TOGETHER.” QUIN CHEUNG
PHOTO BYWHAT THE JUDGES SAID
AMY WILLIER AWARD
F OR INDIGENOUS ARTISANS
Citrus Shine Shampoo & Conditioner Bar Gift Set by Jack59 Inc. MADE IN EDMONTON
I APPRECIATE THE ATTENTION TO DESIGN DETAIL AND THE NOPLASTIC PACKAGING.
AFTER USING IT JUST ONCE, I EXPERIENCED SOFTNESS IN MY HAIR THAT I HADN’T FELT IN A LONG TIME, EVEN WITH HIGH-END SALON BRANDS.”
JOCELYN LAMOTHE
Brushing your teeth or washing your hands are universal hygiene practices and don’t typically incite loyalty to specific brands. But washing your hair is an entirely different matter. That’s what Vanessa Marshall, CEO of Jack59, has zeroed in on with her shampoo and conditioner gift sets.
“I don’t want people to tolerate our products; I want to amaze them. Our conditioners have a literal wow factor to them,” Marshall says.
The pack of two bars (one for shampooing, one for conditioning) comes in a compostable hemp container. The hemp is sourced from Spruce Grove and the containers are made in Edmonton. One bar can last more than 80 washes, eliminating approxi mately three average-sized plastic shampoo bottles and five conditioner bottles.
The 90-gram bars are made from a powdered form of coconut-derived, dry surfactants, with hand-pressed essential oils, nutrients and scents. There are 11 varieties for different hair types, and all are pH-balanced between 4.5 and 5.5 and are sulfate- and silicone-free and vegan — making them colour-safe and gentle on your scalp. Most impor tantly, Citrus Shine bars actually lather.
As a women-led and -operated company, Marshall (who is Métis) says she is conscious about offering a living wage and flexible working hours to all her employees and sees Jack59 as a “global brand rewriting the way businesses are run.”
You can find the bars at the Jack59 storefront in Edmonton, as well as a variety of local boutiques and chain retailers such as Sobeys and Safeway, and, most recently, in 25 Hudson’s Bay stores across the country. —T.A.
PHOTO BY JARED SYCHNON-ALCOHOLIC
DRINK
Botanical Cocktails by Wild Folk
MADE IN CALGARY
$5.50 each, $22 for a four-pack drinkwildfolk.com
Back when Dalia Kohen was running The Coup vegetarian restaurant, she noticed customers increasingly cutting down on their alcohol intake. It led to her creating alcohol-free botanical cocktails for the menu that turned out to be very popular.
“I believe that the growth of the non-alcohol category is largely due to an increase in people wanting to live a healthier lifestyle,” Kohen says.
After selling The Coup in 2020, Kohen came up with the idea of producing her cocktails as canned beverages. She altered the recipes for the canning process, then launched her company, Wild Folk.
The drinks are steeped, rather than distilled, which brings out the nuances of the ingredients. The robust flavours cater to an adult palate and pair nicely with meals. Taking inspiration from the Americano cocktail of the 1860s, Wild Folk’s
Sparkling Negroni is made with rhubarb, grapefruit rind, star anise, rosehip and juniper. It has a natural burnt-orange colour and sweet-bitter complexity that mimics the Campari and vermouth in the clas sic alcoholic version. The Vermouth Spritz is lightly carbonated and also nicely balanced between bitter and sweet, with notes of coriander, cinnamon, basil, hops, ginger and chamomile — a great choice to open the palate before a meal or to help settle the stomach after eating.
These free-spirited, zero-proof takes on classic cocktails balance the convenience of ready-todrink products with the complex flavours of wellcrafted cocktails. Wild Folk botanical cocktails can be found at retailers, restaurants, liquor stores and hotels across Alberta. As 95 per cent of the ingredi ents are organic and many are sourced sustainably, instead of a hangover, consumers of Wild Folk’s botanical cocktails can wake up celebrating their good choices. —C.C.
WHAT THE JUDGES SAID
SIPPING COCKTAILS IS ONE OF MY FAVOURITE WAYS TO CATCH UP WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS. WILD FOLK DELIVERS A SOPHISTICATED ALCOHOL-FREE OPTION, SO WE CAN ALL EXPERI ENCE COCKTAIL CULTURE ON OUR OWN TERMS.” CANDY LAM
PHOTO BY JARED SYCHWHAT THE JUDGES SAID
ALCOHOLIC
DRINK
Don't Call Me Sweet Pea Garden Amaro by Field Notes
MADE IN EDMONTON/FORT SASKATCHEWAN $32 to $38 sipfieldnotes.com
I WAS NOT EXPECTING THE PEA FLAVOUR TO BE SO FRESH OR PRESENT IN A COMPLEX AMARO. IT HAD THE EFFECT OF TRANSPORTING ME TO A BACKYARD GARDEN, DEVOURING FRESH PEAS STRAIGHT OFF THE PLANT.”
OWEN KIRKALDY
After working in economic develop ment for four years, Faaiza Ramji understood the A to B of export, as well as the agricultural supply chain — selling raw ingredients to countries that process them into more complete, value-added products and then buying them back at higher price points. She was compelled to localize that process.
At first, Ramji experimented with peas and pulses to make a dairy alternative, until she recog nized the potential of Alberta’s brewing and distill ing culture. This sprouted another idea: Could she turn field peas, along with other ingredients native to the Canadian Prairies — honey, botanicals and natural grains — into a decidedly Albertan amaro?
Don’t Call Me Sweet Pea Garden Amaro, a deli cious, prairie-inspired herbal liqueur, is the result. Along with Italian aperitivo culture, Ramji took
inspiration from her South Asian upbringing — her grandma, aunts and mom always talked about using natural remedies to aid digestion, immunity and skin care — to create what she calls her “gar den amaro,” made with locally foraged roots, barks, berries and herbs, like sage and dandelion.
“I wanted to make something that tasted kind of like the prairies and something that was very her baceous, like you were walking through a garden or a forest,” Ramji says.
The spirit is a purely Albertan product, from start to shelf. “The more that we can do with an industry within the province, the better for the province,” says Ramji. “We can add jobs, we can add more GDP, and we’ve got more tax revenue coming in, which is great for creating that prosper ity that we need.”
You can find Don’t Call Me Sweet Pea Garden Amaro at shops across the province. —T.A.
The best of business at your doorstep
The best of nature just steps away
Oxford was made in Alberta and we are proud to support local business in our community.
Centennial Place | Devon Tower | Eau Claire Tower Bow Valley Square
FASHION
WHAT THE JUDGES SAID
KARI WOO’S CREATIONS ARE A BREATH OF FRESH AIR, LIKE LISTENING TO JEAN-MICHEL JARRE’S ‘ OXYGENE, PT. 6 ’ FOR THE FIRST TIME. THE PIECES ARE MINIMALIST AND SENSUAL. I IMMEDIATELY FELL IN LOVE.” HAITHEM ELKADIKI
Signature Collection by Kari Woo MADE IN COCHRANE AND CALGARY$24 to $295 drawthelinejewelry.com AND ACCESSORIES
Jewellery artist Kari Woo first con ceived of her Signature Collection in 2001. At that time, Woo was finishing school at Alberta College of Art + De sign (now Alberta University of the Arts) with a specialty in jewellery.
During her early years at ACAD, she had learned about continuousline drawing, where the artist puts a pen or pencil to paper and doesn’t take it off until the drawing is complete. She took that technique and applied it to her own field, shaping jewellery pieces from one long continuous piece of wire.
“It was a bit of a stress-management activity,” Woo explains. “Working with the wire was almost like a knitting or crocheting activity for me in a way, so that’s where it all began.”
Since then, Woo’s early designs have evolved into the current collection, which judges praised for its versatility and timelessness.
Crafted with materials such as sterling silver and solid 14-karat gold, Woo’s pieces can work day-to-night, so the on-the-go wearer doesn’t have to switch out jewellery for different occasions. The collection includes earrings, bracelets and neck laces, and they can be dressed up or down based on the mood and taste of the wearer, whether they’re looking for a statement piece or a minimalist hoop.
Woo’s designs are a true embodiment of the idea that less is more. She describes her Signature Collection as “a direct response to the increas ingly complex world that we live in and contend with every day.” Always elegant and accessible, the collection sees the beauty in day-to-day life. The pieces are also accessibly priced, allowing those on a modest budget to enjoy the luxury of custom artisan jewellery.
“I aim to simplify life by creating jewellery that can be worn all day, every day,” Woo says. —K.B.
PHOTO BY COLIN WAYMORE THAN EVER, THE WORLD NEEDS MORE CANADA.
Congratulations to TAP graduates on their Made in Alberta Awards nominations:
Have big dreams for your business? Learn how to realize your global potential and propel your business towards global growth at: tapyyc.com
WHAT THE JUDGES SAID
“
SAVOURY, SPICY, WITH A TOUCH OF THE BEER COM ING THROUGH IN EVERY BITE. ALL THIS FROM A PRODUCT THAT WAS SUPER-EASY TO MAKE. IT’S A WINNER FOR ME — AND A PANTRY STAPLE.”
MATT PENNER
SAVOURY
FOOD
Dillapeño Beer Bread Kit
by Lazy BakeMADE IN CALGARY
$14 lazybake.com
This delightful kit yields one loaf of freshly baked bread, featuring flavours of dill and jalapeno, made start-to-finish in less than an hour.
The judges marvelled over the ease of this kit, while the smells of the loaf baking in the oven had them all swooning.
Like many of us, Katie Duffin rediscovered her passion for baking in 2020. As she dug deeper into baking projects, she noticed a gap in the marketplace — while many meal kits were emerging during the pandemic, there didn’t seem to be many baking kits available.
Lazy Bake launched in October 2020 with a vision to spread joy through kits that only require a few steps, but still bring the warm smells and tastes of home baking to your kitchen. Duffin makes the effort to support other local businesses by sourcing ingredients from Calgary companies,
including Village Brewery, which helped develop her line of Beer Bread kits. (Duffin’s father is one of the founders of Village Brewery, making this an obvious collaboration.) “It was really fun working with the team at Village,” she says. “I’ve paired this bread kit with the Village Wit, which happens to also be my favourite beer!”
Busy (or lazy) bakers will love how quickly this savoury dill bread with a kick of jalapeno comes to gether: Combine the contents in a mixing bowl with a bottle of beer, and bake. There’s no need to knead, proof or rise the dough, and non-beer drinkers can substitute the beer for any carbonated beverage. Slather a thick slice with butter and honey, or use it to make delicious grilled-cheese sandwiches.
Lazy Bake kits can be found at retailers across the province. Customers can also order kits online through lazybake.com, or join a monthly subscrip tion service, so that wonderful fresh-baked-bread smell is always just a quick mix away. —C.C.
PHOTO BY JARED SYCHFURNISHINGS
AND HOME DECOR
The Architect Metal and Walnut Dining Table by Iron Hide Woodworks
MADE IN EDMONTON $5,700 ironhidewoodworks.com
When Brad Neilson built his first table for his new home and friends started asking him to create one for them, he knew he had an instant hit. Seduced by a passion for wood- and metal-working, Neilson left his day job to forge a new career in custom furniture. Having worked in the oil patch for 12 years, he was naturally adept at using his hands, but found his previous job left little outlet for his creative side or time for his family.
Launched seven years ago with his wife and partner, Jennifer Neilson, Iron Hide Woodworks is known for unique designs that incorporate both wood and metal. Case in point: Neilson’s canti levered dining room table, named The Architect. Measuring 10 feet long, the table features a walnut top with three pieces of 14-gage sheet metal
welded together and painted black to form a solid cantilevered base. The resulting effect is one that appears to defy gravity.
The table can seat up to 10 people and most of the materials used were sourced from local businesses. Neilson says he came up with the idea three years ago when a client requested a dining room table with a showstopping design, so he decided to create a piece that paired wood with metal. Cantilevered bases show off the blend of both materials best. Like most of Neilson’s work, this statement-making table is at home in a variety of decor styles including rustic, modern, farm house or industrial.
“This certainly has become a signature piece,” states Jennifer. “My husband’s creativity really shines with this table, as it’s not just a piece of furniture, but rather functional art.”
The Architect and other custom pieces are available at ironhidewoodworks.com. —K.A.
WHAT THE JUDGES SAID
“ I WAS DRAWN TO THE HANDSOME, YET ELEGANT DESIGN AND SIMPLICITY OF THIS PIECE. THE HIGH-QUALITY, BEAUTI FULLY HANDCRAFTED MATERIALS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.” KRISTEN MCKAY
WHAT THE JUDGES SAID
OUT OF THE WAY, KIDS! WE WANT TO DO THESE OURSELVES! WHAT A GREAT WAY TO GET OUTDOORS, ESPECIALLY FOR THOSE OF US WHO DIDN ’ T GROW UP IN AN OUTDOORSY FAMILY.”
MELANIE LOVE
UNIQUE
Wild Life Outdoor Adventure Subscription Box by Wild Life Outdoor Adventures
MADE IN CALGARY $39 to $45 jointhewildlife.ca
Wild Life Outdoor Adventures was established in 2019 and sent out its first subscrip tion box in March 2020. This might suggest it was created to fill a specific gap in socially distanced enter tainment due to COVID-19. However, the sentiment be hind the program, which enables families to explore the outdoors and learn life skills such as navigation, shelter-building, first aid and outdoor cooking, without having to plan the adventures, preceded the pandemic, and is still the backbone of the Wild Life business model.
Owner Jenelle Peterson has fond memories of playing outside with her brothers and spending the summers participating in park ranger programs.
“When I became a parent, my brothers and I started talking about how we could give our kids the
same kind of experiences we had, in a day and age where we’re competing with on-demand technol ogy and lots of distractions,” she says. “We wanted to develop a way to ... create those experiences, whether it was in the backyard or backcountry.”
Wild Life offers monthly or quarterly subscrip tions. Each box includes essential outdoor gear, activities, games, crafts and an enamel merit pin. The activities are based on outcomes from the Alberta Education curriculum for Grades 3 through 6.
In the past 24 months, subscription boxes have been sent to every province and territory in Canada, and the brand has recently expanded into the U.S. “We are so privileged to have grown up in Alberta,” Peterson says, “and I feel compelled to share some of that with kids and families across North America, whether they’re living in apart ment buildings or rural places. It’s going back to our roots.” —K.B.
READERS’ CHOICE
Glass Oil Dispensers by Glass House Xperience
MADE IN CALGARY
$98 ghxperience.com
Glass-blowing is not for the faint of heart. Dating back to the first century, the technique involves heating silica, soda lime and potash until it becomes molten at 2,150˚F. Glass-blowers then add air through a metal pipe, inflating the glass to the desired shape.
Mandy Patchin’s introduction to glass-blowing came in 2011 after sign ing up for a class on a whim. She immediately fell in love. She opened Canada’s only mobile glass studio in a 40-foot truck, insulating the equipment with refractory material in order to withstand the high temperatures. Patchin continues to use the truck to create and teach her art. She also works out of Fascapple Glass and another private studio.
The idea of working with molten glass may be scary for some; for Patchin, it’s the opposite. “I love glass-blowing because it’s methodical and medita tive,” she says.
Patchin focuses mainly on functional glass art — pieces designed for common purposes such as eat ing, drinking and cooking. The olive oil bottles she creates are some of her most popular items.
“Personally, I always cook with oil, so if I have it in a nice bottle, then it’s something nice to look at on the counter,” she says. Avenue readers seemed to agree, voting Patchin’s glass oil dispensers the winner of this year’s Readers’ Choice Award. Unlike the other judged categories in the Made in Alberta Awards, this award is decided entirely by the public.
It’s no easy feat to curate such a dedicated fol lowing, but Patchin has managed to do so through constant engagement with customers and dedica tion to growing with her work. “The other thing I love about glass is all the various techniques and colour applications, which leads to a lifetime of learning,” she says. “It took thousands of years for glass to evolve, and you can only master a tech nique with replication.” —K.B.
PHOTO BY JARED SYCH2022 RUNNERS-UP
1 Azure Dream Cloud Multi-Acid Recovery Fusion by Pura Botanicals
Made in Edmonton
Runner-Up: Beauty
This lotion-serum hybrid sloughs off dead skin cells while softening the skin’s appearance. $122, purabotanicals.ca
2 Smudge Candle by Land of Daughters
Made in Calgary
Runner-Up: Amy Willier Award for Indigenous Artisans
An alternative to burning real smudge bundles to cleanse your spaces, this coconut and soy wax candle has an herbal and sage scent and a lead-free cotton wick.
$30 to $44, landofdaughters.com
3 Blueberry Vanilla Bean Cider by True North Cider Co.
Made in Camrose
Runner-Up: Alcoholic Drink
A custom apple blend cider that ferments for at least six weeks before it’s sweetened with blueberry juice and aged with vanilla. $4 to $5, truenorthcider.com
4 Gradient Vodka Soda by Gradient Beverages Corp.
Made in Calgary
Runner-Up: Alcoholic Drink
These canned cocktail beverages made with Western Canadian-sourced vodka and Rocky Mountain water come in an array of alcohol strengths, from three to seven per cent. $12 to $26, drinkgradient.com
5 Métis Beadwork by Rose & Clover Beadwork
Made in Rocky View County
Runner-Up: Amy Willier Award for Indigenous Artisans
These jewellery designs feature glass beads and caribou or moose hides that have been traditionally tanned, as well as modern materials like Ultrasuede and leatherette.
$10 to $300, rose-and-clover-beadwork. myshopify.com
6 Rattan Basket Wall Decor Set by JennyCraftsbyJJC
Made in Calgary
Runner-Up: Craft
Wall-decor placemats handwoven with rattan straw from Indonesia, featuring intricate patterns that showcase artist Jenny Cheng’s meticulous weaving techniques. $185, jennycraftsbyjjc.com
7 Siyanda Conscious Wear by Siyanda
Made in Calgary
Runner-Up: Fashion and Accessories
With this ethically handcrafted clothing made with organic hemp and cotton, you can literally wear your values on your sleeve. $58 to $178, siyandaconsciouswear.com
8 Queen Bee Honey Blond by XhAle Brew Co. Inc
Made in Calgary
Runner-Up: Alcoholic Drink Alberta’s first all-women and queerowned-and-operated brewing company’s collaboration with Fallentimber Meadery is a Belgian blond beer made with Alberta dandelion honey. $20 to $23, xhale-brew-co.myshopify.com
9 Caf-A-OK Body Lotion by Lowen’s Skincare
Made in Calgary
Runner-Up: Beauty Deemed “lotion that makes you happy,” this all-purpose hand and body lotion is infused with cocoa butter and coffee-oil extract. $22, lowens.ca
10 Hairpipe Necklace by Oji Creations
Made in Calgary
Runner-Up: Amy Willier Award for Indigenous Artisans Saulteaux/Métis artist Autumn Whiteway’s necklaces are made of bone or horn hairpipe beads, and are smudged before being sent to customers. $50, oji-creations.square.site
11 Wild Rose Ring by NVR NUDE
Made in Calgary
Runner-Up: Fashion and Accessories Made with 14-karat white and yellow gold and adorned with diamonds surrounding an imprint of a wild rose, this elegant ring showcases the beauty of Alberta. $4,500 to $5,500, nvrnude.com
12 Memorial Glass Keepsakes by Glass House Xperience
Made in Calgary Runner-Up: Craft
A heartfelt way to memorialize someone special as a work of art, these blown-glass keepsakes are custom-created for clients using the cremated ashes of their loved ones. $70 to $325, ghxperience.com
13 Leather Wallet by Open Air Options
Made in Grande Prairie Runner-Up: Craft
Created by police officer Ash Browne, these wallets made with vegetable-tanned leather are designed specifically to hold a police badge. $120, openairoptionscanada.wordpress.ca
14 Badlands Vest by C. Heritage Co. Made in Calgary
Runner-Up : Fashion and Accessories
From the apparel division of firefighterfounded Calgary Heritage Roasting Co., this piece of outerwear has been field-tested on hikes, fishing trips and other adventures. $340, calgaryheritageroastingco.com
15 Shampoo and Conditioner Bars by Jack59 Inc.
Made in Edmonton
Runner-Up: Beauty
Métis entrepreneur Vanessa Marshall's sulfate-free bars (winner of this year’s Amy Willier Award for Indigenous Artisans) come in multiple options for nearly every hair type. $20, jack59.ca
16 The Jumbo Basin Basket by Baskets&BowlsShop
Made in Okotoks
Runner-Up: Furnishings and Home Decor
These eco-friendly, handcrafted rope baskets come in three sizes and are made with 100-per cent unbleached cotton rope. $85 to $275, basketsandbowlsshop. patternbyetsy.com
17 Stone Age Oatmeal by Stoked Oats
Made in Calgary
Runner-Up: Savoury Food
Maybe oatmeal isn’t a dish that typically gets you excited, but our judges felt otherwise about this oatmeal, which has flavourful pumpkin seeds, coconut flakes and walnuts. $11.99, stokedoats.com
18 Mighty Pine Mixers by Mighty Pine Collective Corp.
Made in Strathmore
Runner-Up: Non-Alcoholic Drink
This zero-proof drink also makes for the beginning of a great cocktail, in flavours that include Peach Cobbler, Prairie Punch, Blueberry Basil and our judges’ favourite, Rhubarb Habenero.
$16 to $18, mightypinemixers.com
19 The Oliver Table by MollyWolly Woodworking Inc.
Made in Spruce Grove
Runner-Up: Furnishings and Home Decor
Incorporating modern and traditional joinery and clean lines, this timeless piece is durable enough to withstand seasonal humidity changes and household wear and tear. $3,500 to $5,000 mollywollywoodworking.com
20 2021 ‘Sweet’ Botanical Beer Vinegar by Marigold Manufacturing
Made in Aldersyde
Runner-Up: Savoury Food
Made from fermented and oxygenated craft beer, this vinegar captures the nuance and complexity of Alberta produce through the addition of farm-grown botanicals. $15, marigoldmfg.com
21 Frozen Haskap Fruit by Rosy Farms
Made in Edmonton
Runner-Up: Sweet Food
These haskaps from organic and regenerative farming operation Rosy Farms are 100-per cent Alberta-made, including the packaging. The northern superfood boasts three times the antioxidants and five times the antiinflammatory properties of blueberries. $9, rosyfarms.com
22 Bolo Classics Triple Chocolate Cake by Bolo Cakery
Made in Calgary
Runner-Up: Sweet Food
This three-layer chocolate cake has been called “an experience” by loyal customers for its ganache filling made with organic cream and dark Callebaut chocolate, enveloped by Bolo’s signature Swiss-meringue buttercream. $89 to $178, bolocakery.com
23 Butter Chicken Sauce by The Curryer Pakistani Kitchen Made in Calgary Runner-Up: Savoury Food This Halal-certified sauce is rich with the unique flavours of Pakistani cuisine. $7.95, thecurryer.ca
24 Organic Teas by Jolene’s Tea House Made in Banff
Runner-Up: Non-Alcoholic Drink
Tea houses have a rich history in the Canadian Rockies. Jolene’s Tea House teas allow Albertans to create the experience at home with blends such as Banff Breakfast, Alberta Rose Sencha and Creamy Earl Grey. $16 to $19 each, jolenesteahouse.com
25 All Purpose Cleaner & Concentrate by :AM Cleaning YYC Made in Calgary
Runner-Up: Unique Product Free from toxins and artificial fragrances, these plant-based cleaning products are infused with orange, peppermint and eucalyptus essential oils.
$20 to $30, amcleaningproducts.com
26 Kokedama by Atelier Secret
Kokedama! Made in Calgary Runner-Up: Unique Product Maker Cece Chow uses the traditional Japanese planting technique that emphasizes the structure and nature of plants by growing them in a moss-covered soil ball, called a kokedama, rather than a typical pot. $40 to $400, kokedama.ca
27 Friceys Prairie Fruit Pops by Broken Tine Orchard
Made in Beaverlodge
Runner-Up: Sweet Food
These creamsicle treats are made entirely with Alberta ingredients, including sugar from sugar beets, ice cream from Foothills Creamery and haskap berries from Broken Tine Orchard, a fourth-generation farm and winery.
$4.20 to $4.50, brokentineorchard.ca
28 Rocky Mountain Tisane by Rocky Mountain Tisane Company Made in Calgary Runner-Up: Non-Alcoholic Drink These refreshing drinks are certified organic, vegan, and sugar-, sweetener- and gluten-free, with zero carbs and calories, and come in four flavours: Hibiscus Cinnamon, Lemon Ginger, Fruit Infusion and Mountain Chai.
$2.99 each, rockymountaintisane.com
29 The Armory by GOLFwood
Made in Edmonton
Runner-Up: Furnishings and Home Decor For the avid duffers out there: this sophisticated take on a golf locker is equipped with ample shelving and has divoted, oil-rubbed doors.
$4,325 to $5,800, golfwood.ca
30 The Blessing Blanket by Blue Eyed Buffalo Inc. Made in Okotoks
Runner-Up: Unique Product More than just a baby blanket, this lovely keepsake tells a visual story through art on one side, while the other side is inscribed with narrative blessings. $130, blueeyedbuffalo.ca
MEET THE JUDGES
KAREN ASHBEE
Furnishings and Home Decor
Karen Ashbee is the Calgary city editor for Western Living and a regular con tributor to Avenue. She holds a degree in marketing and economics from the University of Guelph and formerly developed major national accounts for beauty and lifestyle clients at Flare magazine. She also writes for the Globe and Mail and covered the first Saut Hermès event at Paris’ Grand Palais for Bombardier magazine.
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’Oreal Canada, developing skin-care training programs for cosmeticians and dermatologists throughout Canada. In 2018, Bertrand launched her own skin care line, Aliquote Skin.
CARMEN CHENG
Savoury Food
Carmen Cheng comes from a long line of food-lovers and notorious over-orderers. She loves learning about different cultures through understand ing and honouring their culinary stories. She shares her food adventures on various forms of media including print, online, radio and TV. When she’s not eating, cooking or talking about food, Cheng works as a talent strategies leader in Calgary.
QUIN CHEUNG Craft
The mind, heart and hands behind Quinspired Ceramics, Quin Cheung makes minimalist, functional pottery inspired by her Asian heritage. She be lieves that, when the items we eat and drink from are thoughtful and beautiful, it makes us more present in the moment to enjoy more deeply and appreciate the little things that make our everyday. Her gold whisky tumbler won the Made in Alberta Awards Craft category in 2021.
DAN CLAPSON
Sweet Food
The Globe and Mail’s restaurant critic and columnist for the Prairies, Dan Clapson is also co-founder of the media and events company Eat North. The award-winning writer has contributed to Out Magazine, Air Canada enRoute, Eater, Vice, the Calgary Herald and others. His first cookbook, co-authored by Twyla Campbell, is set to be released nationally in late 2023 through Appetite by Random House.
CANDY LAM
Non-Alcoholic/Alcoholic Drinks
Candy Lam is co-founder of the bever age company Parch, a runner-up in the Made in Alberta Awards Non-Alcoholic Drink category in 2021. After immigrating to Calgary as children, Lam and her sister/co-founder, Joyce Lam, created Parch to maintain a connection to their Chinese roots and traditions by sharing their culture and wellness practices through herbal tea-based products.
JOCELYN LAMOTHE
Amy Willier Award
Jocelyn Lamothe is a citizen of the Métis Nation of Alberta. Born and raised in the Edmonton area, her ancestry is traced back through the Peace River area, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. She creates traditional beaded works under the name Willow Rose Beads from a studio space in her home in Spruce Grove, Alta. Her Willow Rose creations were awarded the inaugural Amy Willier Award for Indigenous Artisans in 2021.
MELANIE LOVE
Unique Product
Melanie Love is a SheEO Activator, supporting Canadian women-led busi nesses. She is also a 10-year contributor to the Calgary Stampede, previously vice-chairing the Western Showcase Creative Arts & Crafts sub-committee and currently on the Downtown Attrac tions Committee. In 2016, she led a team to pitch the idea for a craft market at the Calgary Stampede that ultimately became the Maker Market.
TONY MARSHALL
Sweet Food
Tony Marshall is president and cofounder of Highwood Crossing Foods, which was named one of Canada’s Top 20 Artisan Food Producers. Marshall has served on the board of directors for the Canadian Organic Growers Association and he and his Highwood Crossing co-founder and wife, Penny, were also named Canadian Food Heroes by Slow Food Canada.
Furnishings and Home Decor
Kristen McKay grew up in Banff and Canmore and worked for more than 20 years in the destination resort hotel industry. In 2020, she started Camp Four, a luxury, small-batch, handmade candle company. She is passionate about the craft of candle-making, creating highquality products and fragrances that awaken the senses. She is the mother of three girls and lives with her husband and beloved Boston terrier in Banff.
KRISTEN MCKAYTARA COWLES
Beauty
Makeup artist and beauty entrepreneur
Tara Cowles is the founder and director of Artists Within Makeup Academy and the creator of the makeup line AW03 Maquillage, which she launched nearly 15 years ago. AW03 is available at the Artists Within storefront location in Calgary, as well as at various Alberta salons and online at artistswithin.com.
HAITHEM ELKADIKI
Fashion and Accessories
Libyan-born Haithem Elkadiki challenges the norm in Canadian fashion with sleek fits, bold colours, loud prints and mega-sexy swimwear for men through his label, KaaDiki. His collections have shown at Berlin Fashion Week and Toronto L’Oréal Fashion Week, and have been worn by Hockey Night in Canada’s Elliotte Friedman. He is a graduate of The International Academy of Merchan dising and Design in Toronto.
YVONNE JOBIN
Amy Willier Award
Yvonne Jobin is Cree First Nations origi nally 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, namesake of the Made in Alberta Award for Indigenous Artisans. Jobin’s knowl edge of traditional Native culture and spirituality is reflected in her artwork, which is in private and public collections in Canada, the U.S. and Europe.
KELLY JUBENVILL
Unique Product
An advocate for all things local, Kelly Jubenvill supports Alberta small businesses and non-profits with creative, fast and affordable project and operations solutions through her consulting practice, Solve4 Results Ltd. She helped develop and chair the Calgary Stampede’s Maker Market and spent two years chairing Your Brain on Art, a fundraiser for the Branch Out Neurological Foundation.
OWEN KIRKALDY Non-Alcoholic/Alcoholic Drinks
Owen Kirkaldy is president and education director of the Edmonton Homebrewers Guild, a Master-ranked BJCP Judge, and has acted as an instruc tor in beer-judging preparation courses. He has been a judge at the BC Beer Awards, Canadian International Beer Awards and Northern Lands Festival, and is co-founder and head judge of the Alberta Beer Awards.
Fashion and Accessories
Ropa Mupambwa is a fashion designer and founder of CELYN ROZE, a shoe company that offers its vibrant designs in five different heel heights. Mupambwa wants people to feel beautiful and confident in any shoe of any heel height, in any colour. She aspires to change the shoe industry, one heel at a time.
MATTHEW PENNER
Savoury Food
Matt Penner has worked in the natural foods industry for over 15 years and is currently category management lead & manager of e-commerce for Community Natural Foods (CNF). He believes that, with a commitment to people and the planet, we can truly make change in the world, focusing on reducing packaging and sustainable ingredient sourcing. The CNF core value that he resonates with most is radical transparency.
JASEN ROBILLARD Unique Product
Jasen Robillard is the founder and creative source behind the Calgarybased StumpCraft wooden jigsaw puzzle studio. His whimsical creations featuring Canadian fine art are collected by art patrons and puzzle fans worldwide, and were a category-winner in last year's Made in Alberta Awards. He enjoys chatting philosophy over local craft beer, playing disc golf and board games, and enjoying the great outdoors.
NICHOLE WINDBLAD Craft
As producer/director of the Art Market Art & Craft Sale, a position she took on in 2020, Nichole Windblad believes in supporting fine art and craft, and serving both consumers and the artisan community. She is a former co-owner of a construction company with her husband and was head horticulturist for a private golf course for 10 years. She is the mother of two adventurous, fabulous boys.
ROPA MUPAMBWATHE MUSIC MAN
The walls of Russell Broom’s studio are lined with vintage guitars, including a 1957 Fender Esquire and a 1950 Gibson J50, which he refers to as his “power tools.” Among them is a collection of memorabilia — awards and platinum/gold records — from his storied career as a guitar player and producer who has worked
with a range of artists, most notably Jann Arden.
Broom loves his studio, a homey space he has settled into after leaving the life of a touring musi cian behind to focus his efforts on bringing the music of others to life. Arden and Broom’s working relationship spans three decades, including 14 years of touring between 1994 and 2008. Whether he’s playing guitar, recording or writing songs, Arden considers Broom nothing short of a genius. “His guitar is like an extension of his fingers,” she says. “And he has a very good sense of song struc ture, how songs work and how they’re laid out.”
Though he has given up life on the road, Broom still looks back on his touring days fondly. He says the best part of performing is when a song ends, the rush subsides, and there’s a second or two of complete silence before the audience applauds. “That’s when you know everyone’s listening, and those are magical moments,” Broom says.
Born in Hull (the city in East Yorkshire, England, not Quebec), Broom immigrated to Canada with his family when he was three years old. They lived first on the East Coast, then went all the way to Tsawwassen, B.C., before eventually settling in Calgary when Broom was five. Broom recalls his father listening to a lot of folk and country music — one of his favourites being Ian Tyson. When Broom came of age, and was able to pick his own playlists, he gravitated to early Elvis Costello records and
Award-winning musician, producer and songwriter Russell Broom has evolved from a touring guitarist for Jann Arden into a key figure in Canada’s recording industry, and a mentor for emerging artists in Calgary.
“[RUSSELL’S]
Jimi Hendrix’s Band of Gypsys. “[That] album was the first time guitar really blew my mind,” he says. Broom describes himself as a child who was quite nerdy and insular, yet he understood innately that music made him feel better. He taught himself how to play guitar. “I sort of learned to play the instrument backwards,” Broom says. “My ear led me, and then I wanted to learn everything that my ear told me sounded right.” Official guitar lessons followed. His first guitar was a vintage Hondo Les Paul copy made from plywood, given to him when he was six years old. Broom played it so much he wore off the sunburst golden paint on its neck. After high school, Broom went on to study
music at Mount Royal Conservatory. When he was 19, his father passed away, inspiring existential feelings within him about how short life can be. It’s what drove him to make a living playing music. “I decided I was going to do it and I didn’t look back.”
With no Plan B in mind, Broom played gig after gig as a guitarist, eventually moving to Montreal in the early 1990s. While he was there, he bought a cassette of Calgary-based recording artist Jann Arden’s first album, Time For Mercy, after hearing and liking her plaintive hit song, “I Would Die For You,” on MuchMusic. Though he didn’t know it then, he would one day end up playing this and other songs from Arden’s repertoire as her touring
guitarist — and go on to earn a Juno Award for their songwriting together.
After spending two years in Montreal, Broom came back to Calgary in 1994. One night, shortly after his return, he took the stage for the open-mic night at the now-shuttered Morgan’s Pub. Neil MacGonigill, Arden’s manager at the time, was in the audience; impressed by the performance, he wasted no time tracking down and hiring Broom.
In October 1994, Broom joined Arden on tour for her album, Living Under June. Performing in his second-ever show with Arden, in Victoria, he walked out on stage and quickly realized he had forgotten his guitar in the green room. The guitar tech hustled back there, grabbed Broom’s guitar, and walked it to the stage through a sea of fans, holding the guitar over his head. Broom was sure he was going to get fired, but, luckily, “Jann had a great sense of humour.”
Alongside Arden, Broom played iconic venues all over the world, among them Australia’s Sydney Opera House and what is now known as the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London, England. They shared marquees with The Chicks, Michael Bublé, Bob Dylan and Sting, and opened for Eric Clapton on home turf at the Saddledome.
Arden and Broom would come to recognize that they had a unique connection — a “synergy,” as Broom explains it. He based himself in Calgary when not on the road, so he could write and record with Arden. Many songs, including the hit, “Where No One Knows Me,” were initially recorded at Broom’s home. Broom would present a song to Arden, and they’d chat through it. Like other times he knew he’d landed on something good, when Arden heard “Where No One Knows Me,” she stopped talking and started scribbling down lyrics.
In 2002, Arden and Broom were co-winners of the Songwriter of the Year Juno for their song, “Thing For You.” Around 2008-2009, however, they parted ways, both feeling it was time for a creative
GUITAR IS LIKE AN EXTENSION OF HIS FINGERS.”
JANN ARDEN
In concert with artists Ian Tyson and Corb Lund.
change. Broom wanted to focus on being a parent and build his reputation as a producer, so he made the decision to stay in Calgary, despite the city’s relatively low profile within Canada’s music indus try. “There’s this idea that it can’t be that good if it’s local,” Broom says about the notion that musicians must move to a music capital to be successful. “But I always argue that everybody’s a local band.”
He adds that, since Calgary is not necessarily a music industry player on the scale of Toronto or Vancouver, artists can develop at their own pace with fewer outside influences, which is generally a positive thing. That said, while there is amazing talent here, the city’s lack of infrastructure can pose challenges for artists. He equates the music scene in Calgary to flowers growing in concrete: “It’s like living on the moon, which kind of sucks, but is also great at the same time.”
The prairies, Broom says, have always had a reputation for creating great musicians, and western landscapes have inspired many albums and lyrics. And the fact that Albertan winters can last up to six months also has an impact, he laughs.
“[Musicians] work hard on their craft because what else is there to do than practice and create music?”
Lindsay Ell, a country singer from Calgary who has worked with Broom for years, agrees that the prairies are an incubator for artists: “There is an as pect to the prairies that always reminds me about how wide the open world is. We have always put such importance on the arts in our province.”
As a producer and guitarist, Broom has worked with some of Canada’s best musicians, includ ing his late father’s favourite, Ian Tyson. Broom describes working with Tyson as a “full-circle moment.” He admits to dismissing Tyson’s music growing up, since it was his dad’s music, but he grew to love and appreciate it, and considers Tyson one of the greatest songwriters who’s ever lived.
In addition to working with established artists like Tyson, Arden, Ell and Albertan country musi cian Corb Lund, Broom is also helping develop the careers of emerging artists through his relation ship with The Prophets of Music (POM). The local non-profit was created in honour of Joshua Hunter and Zackariah Rathwell, members of the band
Zackariah and the Prophets, who were among the five young adults murdered at a Calgary house party in 2014. The program provides mentorship, artist and band development and other advice to those looking to succeed in the recording industry. Broom’s niece and nephew knew Hunter, which is what led to Broom’s involvement with POM. The artists selected for the program get to work directly with him. “They will actually make a record produced with Russell,” says Dan Owen, owner of local recording facility OCL Studios.
Another full-circle moment for Broom was reconnecting with Arden in 2018, when she asked him to collaborate on the soundtrack for her CTV series, Jann. Since then, he has been helping Arden produce albums and even joins her on stage for corporate and charity shows in Calgary. Arden says she is grateful for any time she can get with Broom due to his busy schedule and jokes that, one day, she’ll drag him out on tour again.
“Our friendship is the catalyst to the music,” Arden says. “We’ve got lots left to write about. There’s no end to the ideas Russell has.”
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT Denis Dufresne, Brett Kissel, Steven Tyler and Russell Broom at a David Foster charity event in Calgary. In L.A. during the making of Jann Arden’s record, Happy? Broom performing with Michael Bernard Fitzgerald when the Juno Awards were held in Calgary in 2016.Cork flooring, which was popular in the 1970s, is recently making its second comeback thanks to its clean, natural design and sustainability. When the cork is harvested, only the outer layer of bark is removed, allowing the tree to regrow as a sustainable resource.
Brody Haugrud, business director at CDL Carpet and Flooring, says that thanks to expanded design options in cork flooring, there’s a style that can fit most aesthetics and homes. Beyond a classic cork appearance, which offers a warm, natural look ideal for any informal, casual décor, homeowners can choose a natural wood grain look or vinyl-coated cork for unique tile and wood prints. It can further be customized with different options for
panels, tiles and plank styles, so even if you have cork throughout your home, each room can have a different look and feel. Practically as well, Haugrud says cork is now designed to be water resistant and waterproof, so it’s no longer susceptible to water damage. This new durability means cork is a popular choice to install in the kitchen, bedrooms and basement. The click or floating installation method makes it easy to install. Once it’s in place, there’s minimal maintenance needed as, unlike traditional cork flooring, the new paneled and plank cork doesn’t need to be refinished. Now, more than ever, cork flooring is more practical, comfortable and aesthetically appealing, making it a well-rounded option if you’re looking to freshen up your floors.
The pandemic intensified the demand for resources for victims of domestic violence. And, though COVID-19 restrictions have lifted, the need continues to grow.
Warning
THIS STORY CONTAINS DESCRIPTIONS OF PHYSICAL ABUSE THAT SOME READERS MAY FIND DISTURBING.
The sound of silence. Normally, the phones at women’s shelters in Calgary are ringing off the hook, but when the COVID-19 pan demic first descended, the ringing stopped, replaced by an eerie stillness.
The pseudo-calm didn’t last. Instead, it morphed into what the UN refers to as a shadow pan demic, a worldwide escalation of intimatepartner violence against women and girls. And now, women’s organizations throughout Calgary are grappling with a growing tsunami of need.
REACHING OUT
“He just started yelling at me. And he grabbed the phone from me, slapped me and hit me on my neck. I [fell] over, and he started kicking [me] and I just kind of went into a little ball.”
Barbara King is describing the day she cut off contact with her husband. They’d been mar ried for a few years and owned a small busi ness together, but he was steadily becoming more abusive and controlling.
At first, King tried to hide the abuse, hoping that the counselling her husband was receiv ing would make a difference. But, when his counsellor phoned and advised her to get out of the house because things were going to get worse before they got better, King decided to leave. She moved in with her parents and reported the abuse to the police, who encour aged her to phone the Calgary Women’s Emergency Shelter helpline.
Since then, King has shared her story pub licly in several television interviews, and says that, every time, she gets messages afterwards from women asking her for advice. While the memories are traumatic, she understands how important it is to talk about it. “That’s why I don’t mind sharing it,” she says.
King’s story took place before the pandem ic. When she phoned the shelter helpline, she was matched immediately with a counsellor who met with her biweekly for two years, a connection that King says made all the differ ence to her healing journey. But, for women who have experienced domestic violence dur ing the pandemic, receiving help is not always this straightforward. The severity of abuse has
intensified, and more women are requesting the same limited services.
The pandemic provided the ideal environ ment for domestic abuse to fester and grow. When families have to isolate together, there’s typically nowhere for victims to go, making it easier for abusers to monitor phone calls and other communication, and to harass, belittle and manipulate. Relentless togetherness, combined with job loss and financial stress, acted as a pressure cooker for many families, with no schools, friends or workplaces to act as a release valve. In some homes, this led to the escalation of existing abuse.
“The pandemic really played into the use of tactics of power and control,” says Jan Reimer, executive director of the Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters (ACWS). “We saw, overall in this province, an increase in the severity of abuse and a rise in police calls.”
It took a little longer for calls to emergency shelters to rise. In spring 2020, when lock downs began, some women weren’t even aware that shelters were still open, and many shelters initially received fewer calls and admitted fewer women. “People were really afraid,” says Kim Ruse, CEO of the Calgary Women’s Emergency Shelter (CWES). “They were afraid of coming into congregate-living spaces because of the virus.”
Women had to choose between two terrible options: live with the danger at home that at least they already knew, or potentially expose themselves and their children to a virus that government and media constantly reminded them was deadly. Inside shelters, staff had to manage their own anxiety about COVID-19 while finding ways to keep families separate in spaces designed for communal living.
“We saw a lot of burnout with our frontline staff, a lot of mental health concerns. They kind of ran into the fire when everybody else was running out,” says Stacey Ashton, man ager of shelter services and affordable housing at YW Calgary. Government guidelines about congregate-care facilities were rapidly chang ing and sometimes unclear, and staff had to constantly adjust cleaning and admission pro cedures as restrictions developed and shifted.
As the pandemic stretched from the spring into the summer of 2020 and beyond, and the virus and its effects became better under stood, demands for shelter increased until they reached and often surpassed pre-COVID
levels. But shelter capacity didn’t necessarily follow suit — in facilities that shared bath rooms or kitchens between families, capacity remained reduced. Some shelters occasionally used hotels and Airbnb as short-term solu tions for women and families in desperate cir cumstances. There just wasn’t enough space.
NO ROOM
AT THE INN
“I see girls come in who are beat up, bleeding, torn apart, in real crisis. Women come in just fleeing. And, the majority of the time, I can’t get them in anywhere.” Jacquie Meyer oper ates HER Victory out of a Forest Lawn church on the corner of one of Calgary’s last remain ing strolls. It’s a refuge where women caught in the sex trade can access essential services and build trusting relationships with staff.
Despite the urgency for these services, there is often no shelter space available. “It’s very rare that I’m able to immediately get someone in. It’s heart-wrenching,” says Meyer, who adds that the situation was already difficult, but the impact of COVID restrictions on shelter capac ity turned it into a nightmare.
Meyer’s angst is shared by shelter staff. “It’s this endless stream of people with really seri ous concerns and domestic violence [experi ences] and there’s no housing or resources. There’s a waitlist,” says Ruse. In addition to shelter space, CWES offers a wide array of services, from counselling to housing support. Demand for those services has increased throughout the pandemic, too.
“The call volume started to spike in that first summer, and [it] really hasn’t come down since,” says Ruse. “We had 1,000 more calls in the first three months of this year compared to the first three of last year.” During the first quarter of 2022, CWES had to turn away 1,159 callers* in need of emergency shelter.
Shelters and women’s programs need to expand, but growth is expensive. While the pandemic saw an increase in federal and provincial funding to shelters to help deal
with COVID-related expenses — the province immediately gave $7 million in addition to its regular funding levels, and, in winter 2021, it distributed an additional $21.5 million be tween women’s and homeless shelters — the money wasn’t adequate to address longstanding capacity issues.
Private donors are another essential source of funds, and, in some cases, gave extra money to shelters as COVID-related needs such as PPE became clear. But, over the course of the pandemic, most shelters have seen a signifi cant drop in donor funding. There are only so many Zoom fundraisers people can attend before the crisis fades into the background.
TARGETED RESOURCES
While there is a general demand for more funding and capacity at women’s shelters, the pandemic has also highlighted our city’s distinct need for shelters that offer culturally specific resources. Maskan is a nondescript house on a quiet Calgary street. It means “small peaceful place of dwelling” in Urdu, and it was opened by the Canadian Pakistani Support Group Association in 2019.
“For immigrants, refugees and newcomers, you need to offer programs that are specific to their cultural needs,” says Zainab Khan, a proj ect manager at Maskan. To that end, Maskan provides halal food (which women in the shelter often prepare together in the commu nal kitchen), and its staff speak Hindi, Urdu, Pashto and Punjabi, among other languages. These resources make all the difference to women in crisis.
Serina** arrived in Canada with her children after losing her husband to a bomb blast in Afghanistan. Speaking only Pashto and some Farsi, and being unaware of her rights, she was abused by her brother-in-law and his family, who confined her to their home for eight years. A coordinated rescue by the Calgary Centre for Newcomers brought Serina to Maskan, where she was overjoyed to hear
“Wesaw,overallinthisprovince,anincreasein theseverityofabuseandariseinpolicecalls.”
Khan greet her in Pashto. Later, says Khan, “I saw her looking out the window, and I asked her what she was thinking. She said, ‘This is the first moment [in eight years] that I’m feel ing like I can breathe freely.’” Serina went on to learn English and is now living independently with her children.
Like most shelters in the city, Maskan has a long waitlist and saw demand rise during the pandemic. But the level of community sup port surrounding the shelter offers a glimmer of hope: the Pakistani community has rallied to help purchase a permanent location for Maskan, after the shelter spent several years dealing with the disruption of rental proper ties and landlords.
Culturally appropriate, communitysupported care can make the difference between women seeking help or continuing to endure abuse. Dee Adekugbe, the execu tive director of Ruth’s House — an emergency shelter for African women, families and individuals — points to language and systemic racism as being major barriers to care, and she emphasizes the role of community support: “[It allows women to say,] ‘I can ask for help. I can have my community behind me. I can access services, because I have people who
Culturallyappropriate,community-supportedcare canmakethedifferencebetweenwomenseekinghelp orcontinuingtoendureabuse.
understand where I’m coming from.’”
Ruth’s House opened in 2022 amid the pandemic, in response to need in the city’s Af rican community, and Adekugbe expects this need will continue to grow as Calgary sees an influx of immigrants from Africa. “Our services are in high demand because people see the relevance,” she says.
Specialized services are also vital for In digenous women, who face disproportionate levels of violence. Kristen First Rider stayed at Awo Taan Healing Lodge Society, a shelter for Indigenous women, when she first arrived in Calgary almost two decades ago. She now works with Indigenous clients at Alpha House, a shelter, detox and outreach facility. “I find that, because I’m Indigenous, and because I’ve been a victim in every way … I have all this knowledge. I know how to ask somebody a specific question. Not being so direct, being
sensitive towards them, because [I] know [they’re] reliving trauma.”
THE NEXT STAGE
For most women, a stay in an emergency shelter will last only a few weeks. Emergency shelters are an immediate safe harbour in a storm, not a long-term solution. Often, women will move on to a second-stage shelter where they can begin rebuilding their lives.
There are only three second-stage shelters in Calgary — The Brenda Strafford Centre, Discovery House and The Sonshine Centre — and, while women can self-refer, waitlists are long. The shelters charge low rents for private units, and offer around-the-clock security, counselling and support for women as they establish new lives for themselves and their children.
After a second-stage shelter, women will normally move into a transitional-housing program that continues to offer support, but with increasing independence, or into nonmarket housing (housing that is governmentsubsidized and not tied to the real estate market). Second-stage shelters partner with agencies such as Calgary Housing Company (CHC) and the Calgary Homeless Foundation to assist women in these moves. Typically, women will stay at second-stage shelters for about a year before moving on. But, these lengthy stays mean other women waiting for a second-stage spot may not get in at all.
“It takes time,” says Khan. “We look for ad ditional options. And, if there are no options at all, that means that the woman has to go from one emergency shelter to another. The journey becomes more traumatic.”
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
One of the reasons women are staying longer in second-stage shelters is the city’s chronic shortage of affordable housing (an um brella term that includes non-market rentals,
near-market rentals and affordable home ownership). “There’s never been enough supportive housing,” says Heather Morley, executive director of Inn from the Cold, a fam ily emergency shelter in Calgary. “And there’s certainly not enough private housing. So, it’s a continuous scramble, and a lot of families end up in unsafe and precarious living situations because there’s nothing out there.”
Morley isn’t a pessimist; she’s simply being honest about the state of affordable housing in Calgary. She’s also working to do something about it. Sierra Place is a unique collaboration between Inn from the Cold and HomeSpace that’s converting a vacant office building on 7th Avenue and 6th Street S.W. into living space. Tastefully updated with large windows and sleek siding, the tower will contain emer gency shelter space, a transitional-housing program and 82 units of affordable housing that will be rented at 37 per cent below market value. Construction began in summer 2021, with plans for completion this fall.
It’s a welcome project in a city desperate for more affordable housing. “Housing need has grown throughout the pandemic, and our waitlist is actually the highest I’ve ever seen it for subsidized housing. It’s approaching
6,000 households,” says CHC president Sarah Woodgate. The CHC waitlist prioritizes wom en coming out of shelters, she says, but finding non-market housing can still take time.
Renters with CHC and other housing programs tended to stay in place during the pandemic, rather than moving into market housing. At the same time, many families’ in comes shrank, increasing the need for units.
“The pandemic identifies the gaps in the housing system,” says Woodgate, who esti mates Calgary needs to build 2,000 new units of non-market housing per year, in addition to addressing the current shortfall of 15,000 units. She says that, by 2025, 100,000 Calgary households will need housing support.
The City is working to address those gaps by helping non-profits and developers cut through red tape to start new affordablehousing projects, and by providing land at book value for these developments. In addition to Sierra Place, there are other Citysupported housing projects underway, such as the Dashmesh Culture Centre’s transition al- housing project for women and children in Saddleridge, and the Indigenous Elder’s Lodge under construction in Highland Park.
But, we still need more. For women coming
Forwomencomingoutofshelters,the availabilityofaffordablehousingcanliterally bethedifferencebetweenlifeanddeath.
out of shelters, the availability of affordable housing can literally be the difference between life and death. “[CHC housing] extended my lifespan because I was in a violent relationship and they gave me the opportunity to be in a home where I didn’t need anybody’s help to pay the rent,” says Tasha**, a renter with CHC. Shelters and affordable housing are essential pieces to solving the domesticabuse puzzle, but, on their own, they’re a Band-Aid — prevention is crucial.
POLICE AND PREVENTION
It’s May 19, 2022, and the Calgary Immigrant Women’s Association (CIWA) is holding a panel discussion on preventing domestic violence, in front of an audience of immigrants from around the world. All the panel members are insightful, but one stands out: Acting Staff Sergeant Glenn Andruschuk is one of only three men in the room.
The Calgary Police Service (CPS) has sometimes received a bad rap for how it deals with domestic abuse, but Andruschuk, who is part of its Domestic Conflict Unit, is trying to change that. He works with Equally
Safe — a partnership that includes CPS, CIWA, CWES, Awo Taan, YW Calgary and the Kerby Centre — to pool resources and help families dealing with domestic violence. Andruschuk tells the audience that Equally Safe was formed in 2019 as a way for CPS “to go from being reactive to domestic violence to being proactive in trying to prevent further domestic violence and stop it before it happens.”
A significant part of that shift is how CPS is working with perpetrators. “We’re reach ing out to give them support, as well as to be able to show them what their actions are doing and how it’s affecting their family,” says Andruschuk, who goes on to note that, since the partnership began, he’s seen a significant increase in the openness of immigrant and Indigenous families to working with the po lice, because Equally Safe partner agencies are providing language and cultural support.
Engaging with perpetrators can be a thorny topic, but, for sustained change to happen, it’s necessary. “Building more shelters is very im portant, but we’ll just keep filling them,” says Ruse, who is also part of the panel. “You actu ally have to be working with all the members of the community, perpetrators and victims.”
At CWES, this includes providing counsel ling services and online materials to victims
and perpetrators, alike. Ruse acknowledges that not all shelters share the same perspec tive on working with perpetrators, but she argues it’s essential for real change to occur. In some cases, the support will enable families to rebuild after abuse.
CWES recently completed a study of its men’s counselling service and found that 75 per cent of the women involved reported a dramatic improvement in their partner’s behaviour after the program. In other cases, counselling can help prevent abuse from occurring in new relationships. “We’ve heard from men that … they wish someone had ac tually helped them so they could maintain and restore relationships earlier,” says Ruse.
Communities are also essential for preven tion. Women who are experiencing domestic abuse typically share the information with a friend or family member first. If they receive support, they are much more likely to reach out for help before the abuse escalates.
MOVING FORWARD
The panel discussion at the Calgary Immigrant Women’s Association has wrapped up and Rekha Gadhia, CIWA’s manager of fam ily services, is asking the audience to stand together and take a symbolic step toward ending domestic violence in Calgary. There are giggles throughout the room as everyone awkwardly shuffles forward, but the gesture feels meaningful. It’s dragging the issue of do mestic abuse — something that so often takes place in the isolation and secrecy of individual homes — into the community and acknowl edging that it will take all of us to solve it.
The pandemic has been devastating for women in crisis. It intensified domestic abuse, strained shelter capacity and added to the waitlist for affordable housing. But, perhaps the cracks in the system have widened enough to make the need for resources and prevention impossible to ignore: May the tsunami of need be a call to action.
*Number contains some duplicate callers. **These names have been changed.
A TRAVELLING EXHIBITION THAT EXAMINES THE EXPLOSION OF INNOVATIVE TEXTILEBASED ART ON THE CANADIAN PRAIRIES BETWEEN 1960-2000.
Opens September 9, Nickle Galleries, University of Calgary. prairieinterlace.ca
Pat Adams REMEMBER THAT SUNSET WE SAW FROM HERE ONE TIME? 1984 Collection of Julia and Yolande KruegerA Pinch of Comfort
IN TIMES OF CRISIS, PEROGIES HAVE THE POWER TO CONNECT COMMUNITIES AND BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER.
t first bite, they couldn’t be more simple: Flour, eggs, water and salt turned into a dough and filled with ingredients like potato and cheese. The humble perogy is the ultimate comfort food, but, for many, that sense of comfort extends beyond what’s on the plate.
In Calgary, perogies have long served as a beacon for people who are searching for a way to help, or find solace, in the midst of a crisis. In the face of the ongoing war in Ukraine, pinching dumpling after dumpling — an art honed by generations of babas passing down the technique to their children and grandchildren — keeps idle, worried hands busy.
The perogy has roots in Poland, Russia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Ukraine, with slight dif ferences between each country on the names and fillings. Ukrainian perogies, known as varenyky, can be stuffed with sweet or savoury fillings. Most commonly, they have the tooth-sinkable filling of potato and cheese, while sometimes perogy-makers tap into the Ukrainian penchant for sour foods by adding cherries or kraut.
Ukrainians serve perogies at Sunday dinners, Christmas Eve feasts and on special occasions. Ukrainian lore also used to have women eat ing perogies on the second day of their wedding celebrations to bring about well-being, while farm ers would often eat the halfmoon-shaped food in the fields to conjure abundance.
The ubiquitous presence of perogies in Alberta also has its roots in farming. Beginning in the late 19th century, the Canadian government actively recruited Eastern European farmers to work the sparsely populated prairies. Hundreds of thousands made the journey, with many homesteading in Alberta. They created communities, set up churches and brought their culinary traditions, includ ing perogies, with them. The village of Glendon, northeast of Edmonton, has a 27-foot-tall roadside
attraction professing its love of the dumpling. In Calgary, affection for perogies is best exemplifed by the crowds of people who line up every time a church announces a perogy sale.
Helena Haridzuk runs the kitchen at the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Parish (ABVM) in the northeast neigh bourhood of Renfrew. Several years ago, the kitchen at ABVM began an annual perogy fundraiser to help with the church’s operating costs. The first year, volunteer perogy pinchers raised $4,000, and were elated. The next year, they doubled that. Word got around and demand continued to increase until 2019, when the lineup snaked down the block and sales skyrocketed. “It was amazing and overwhelm
ing,” says Haridzuk. “We were exhausted, but it felt so nice to see that support.”
Among those waiting in line at that 2019 sale were third-, fourth- and fifth-generation Ukrainians, standing alongside newcomers and Calgarians of all backgrounds. As customers walked away, arms laden, many asked when the next perogy sale was happening. The appetite for the homemade comfort food was insatiable. Then, COVID-19 hit. In-person church services were halted, along with perogypinching group gatherings in the church hall. Sure, the perogies themselves were missed, but the biggest loss was the sense of community. For many Ukrainian-Canadians, getting together to cook is an antidote to loneliness.
Members of St. Stephen Protomartyr Ukrainian Catholic Church pinch around 300 dozen perogies in one day to raise money for Ukrainian charity initiatives.LEFT
Practice makes perfect when it comes to sealing perogy filling inside the dough.
RIGHT Ed Tysowski (left) and Jim Ochitwa start the perogymaking assembly line at St. Stephen’s by rolling and cut ting the dough into circles.
LIKE YOU ARE PINCHING OUT YOUR WORRIES .”
Larysa Gelleta is part of the Ukrainian Catholic Women’s League (UCWL), a national organization with branches across Canada, including at Gelleta’s parish, St. Stephen Protomartyr Ukrainian Catholic Church in southwest Calgary. St. Stephen’s roughly 100 UCWL members often lead volunteer initia tives, activating work bees, including perogy pinch ing for the annual Christmas dinner (perogies are the third course in the 12-course meal). At work bees, there is a job for everyone, from mixing the fillings to loading finished perogies in the freezer.
“The work bees are a time for people to get together, talk and be less lonely,” says Gelleta, who, prior to COVID, regularly gathered with friends to chat and make perogies by the dozen. When pan demic restrictions lifted, and both she and others grew more comfortable at the idea of meeting again, there was a collective exhalation of relief. “[Perogymaking] is like therapy,” says Gelleta. “When you get together with a group, relax and talk — it’s like
you are pinching out your worries.”
There is a lot to worry about these days. When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Calgary churches became a magnet for people looking for ways to show their support for Ukraine.
“It was overwhelming to have so many Canadi ans ask what they can do and how they can help,” says Haridzuk. “We knew we had to do something, so we started pinching away again.”
Dozens of volunteers at ABVM made borscht, cabbage rolls, perogies — whatever they could. People added an extra $10, $100, $500 to their pur chase to boost the fundraising. “It was unbelievable. I’ve never seen people be so generous. We just kept going,” Haridzuk says.
ABVM’s largest single sale was in March 2022, soon after the crisis began. Haridzuk stocked the kitchen with all the necessary supplies and dozens of volunteers of Ukrainian heritage gathered to make 6,000 perogies in one evening. It was an enor
mous and emotional endeavour. “It started with everyone telling their story — where they came from, what was happening in their area. Toward the end, they all started singing,” Haridzuk says. “[A perogy work bee] is a good place to come and heal a little bit. It brings us closer together.”
Perogy sales are so popular now that ABVM has put a perogy watch on its website to announce up coming sales and volunteer opportunities. Initially, the sales paid for bulletproof vests, night-vision goggles, food for the frontlines and those fleeing, a van to transport people from their destroyed communities and more. Now, ABVM and other churches are turning some of their attention back to what is happening here as more Ukrainians — mostly women and children — come to Calgary.
“It’s a little bit of home,” says Gelleta, of welcom ing newcomers to the perogy pinching parties. “Belonging to something and doing something that feels normal.”
LARYSA GELLETA, UKRAINIAN CATHOLIC WOMEN’S LEAGUEWHERE TO GET
IN CALGARY PEROGIES
KALYNA EUROPEAN MARKET & UKRAINIAN DELI
Kalyna’s own brand of perogies are like a one-bite trip back to baba’s kitchen. Grab a bag or two from the freezers, or, if you’d like to dig in right away, call ahead to order a ready-to-eat plate, along with fried sausages, cabbage rolls and more. Round out the Ukrainian comforts with a sweet treat, such as a cherry or cheese bun. 8, 7400 Macleod Tr. S.E., 403-457-0990, kalynastore.ca
BACK OF THE SPOON
Owner Erin Chromik is famous for her perogy casserole, which consists of savoury, handpinched perogies in a rich mushroom-dill sauce. Add some additional braised beef, sauerkraut or cheese perogies to your order for good measure. The name of Chromik’s business is inspired by a hot tip from baba: if you stir with the back of the spoon, you don’t break the perogy dough. backofthespoon.ca
UKRAINIAN FINE FOODS
The perogies here come with all the familiar fillings, as well as untraditional ones like jalapeno. There are gluten-free options, too. Find them frozen at the Ukrainian Fine Foods shop in Manchester, or at Crossroads Market, where you can also buy them hot. If you happen upon one of the shop’s two food trucks, try the taco perogies. 540 Cleveland Cres. S.E.; and Crossroads Market, 1235 26 Ave. S.E.; ukrainianfinefoods.com
MARGARITA’S DISHES
Margarita Korduner came to Canada from Odessa, Ukraine, in 1982 and started serving her delicious food to Calgarians soon after. Currently, you’ll find her namesake booth at both Calgary Farmers’ Market locations, where the menu offers perogies stuffed with homemade cottage cheese, and other classics like blintz, borscht and cabbage rolls.
Calgary Farmers’ Market South, 510 77 Ave. S.E.; and Calgary Farmers’ Market West, 25 Greenbriar Dr. N.W.; calgaryfarmersmarket.ca
PEROGY BOYZ
One of Calgary’s first food trucks, Perogy Boyz made perogies a street-food mainstay. The truck keeps it classic with a potato and cheddar perogy, but topping choices include fusion-inspired options, such as Tex-Mex, poutine and huevos rancheros. Frozen perogies, including vegan and gluten-free versions, are also sold online. perogyboyz.com
HERITAGE BAKERY & DELI
The family behind this restaurant is Polish, but that makes little difference — the subtleties of perogies from Ukraine versus Poland are less about the country and more about the prefer ences of the person filling them. Here, the handpinched perogies come in 10 varieties, including blueberry, sauerkraut and mushroom, and potato and cottage cheese.
1912 37 St. S.W., 403-686-6835, heritagebakeryanddeli.ca
PHOTO BY JARED SYCHMOUNTAIN
N EWS HOTEL
Basecamp Grows its Alpine Empire
When entrepreneur (and Avenue Top 40 Under 40 Class of 2019 alum) Sky McLean opened her first fleet of hotels under the Basecamp Resorts banner, they felt like a revelation. McLean’s original Canmore properties — Lamphouse Hotel, Basecamp Lodge and apartment-oriented Basecamp Resorts Canmore — were designed with an eye on modern Airbnb-inspired trends, and budget-conscious pricing (by Bow Valley standards). After a pandemic pause, Basecamp has undergone a dramatic expansion, with a mix of new builds and the acquisition and renova tion of older hotels in need of some TLC in the corridor stretching from Canmore to Revelstoke.
In 2020, McLean opened Basecamp Suites Canmore, a collection of 11 apartment-style units in downtown Canmore, ranging from studio-size up to three-bedrooms; as well as a Basecamp Resorts property in Revelstoke. Since then, she has expanded further by acquiring a 17-room lodge in Golden, B.C., dubbed
Basecamp Lodge Golden, and is building 40 additional townhome units on the property. McLean also purchased the old Days Inn by Wyndham Canmore, renovating and rebranding it as the Northwinds Hotel.
Perhaps most notable is McLean’s purchase earlier this year of Baker Creek Mountain Resort in Lake Louise. She displayed the wisdom to leave the recently renovated 16-room lodge and 19 cabins almost exclusively as-is, simply renaming it Baker Creek by Basecamp. The heavy lifting will come with the rebuild of the resort’s restaurant, which burned down in 2021. Beyond that, McLean is opening her first hotel in downtown Banff this fall, a set of 21 Basecamp Suites in Cascade Plaza on Banff Avenue.
“It’s a multifaceted strategy, but it has helped us gain traction,” McLean says. “We want to have as many options as possible within our brand — traditional hotel rooms and suite-style rooms — to be able to offer flexibility to our guests.”
Calgarians have the privilege of being able to drive out to the mountains for a day trip, but there’s something undeniably magical about waking up in the shadow of the Rockies. The hospitality scene in the regional mountain areas is ever evolving and new efforts are always being made to provide spaces to relax in that reflect the spirit of the natural surroundings. The last couple of years have seen a lot of action — here’s a rundown of what’s new and noteworthy out there.
R ejuvenated Jasper
Jasper is a substantial trek from both Calgary and Edmonton, but that distance gives both the national park and the town a laid-back, homespun feel. Jasper’s relative remoteness has also meant that the accommodations tend to be more stagnant than those in flashier Banff and Canmore. But things have been moving in Jasper over the last while, as evidenced by the development of the Forest Park Hotel, the first new hotel built in Jasper since 1983.
Forest Park is the work of growing global tourism brand Pursuit, whose Banff Jasper Collection portfolio of properties and experiences includes Banff’s Mount Royal Hotel, the Banff Gondola, Columbia Icefield Adventure and Skywalk, and boat cruises on Lake Minnewanka and Maligne Lake. Pursuit has made significant investments in Jasper over the last few years, acquiring properties like Pyramid Lake Resort
and The Crimson hotel, as well as the Pocahontas Cabins, which were updated and rebranded as the Miette Mountain Cabins earlier this year. The Forest Park Hotel is located at the edge of the Jasper townsite, as an ad dition to the former Sawridge Inn and Conference Centre. Expect modern rooms with kitchenettes and ex panded patios and a modern-looking palette with design accents that pay homage to the surrounding forest.
A couple of smaller Jasper hotels have also seen a refresh: Bear Hill Lodge renovated its deluxe lodge rooms and added two new premium Homestead cabins, fitted with gas fireplaces and kitchenettes, with ca pacity for up to six adults. The Mount Robson Inn has also undergone a major renovation, sprucing up 29 of its double-queen rooms.
And finally, the jewel of Jasper ho tels, the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year with a $1.4-million renovation to the area around Lac Beauvert, install ing accessible waterfront pathways as well as patios on some of the prop erty’s junior suites. The resort is also bringing back its popular signature events this year, including Christmas in November, which has been on hiatus throughout the pandemic.
PHOTO Basecamp Lodge Golden. The new Forest Park Hotel in Jasper features in-room kitchenettes. Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge on Lac Beauvert.T he Post Changes H ands
Canadian Rocky Mountain Resorts (CRMR), the company behind Banff’s Buffalo Mountain Lodge, Deer Lodge near Lake Louise, and Yoho National Park’s Emerald Lake Lodge, recently acquired another iconic mountain property, The Post Hotel and Spa in Lake Louise Village. After decades of being run by brothers George and André Schwarz, another pair of brothers, CRMR’s Larkin and Ryan O’Connor, have taken stewardship of the hotel. Being the wise hoteliers they are, the new management has not made any noticeable changes to the already idyllic Post, working behind the scenes to make sure the company keeps the hotel’s 80-year legacy intact.
The CRMR team has been busy with other projects, as well: last year, it completely overhauled the lobby at Buffalo Mountain Lodge and reimagined the main building’s restaurant as The Prow, a brighter, more casual take on mountain cuisine. Big changes are also coming for Deer Lodge, which is closing this fall for a multi-year redevelopment that will include a new building housing brand-new guest rooms, new dining concepts and the addition of a conference facility and a fullservice spa, all while preserving the heritage aspects of the beloved property.
POST PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE POST HOTEL The Post Hotel’s F Suites sleep four and feature fireplaces and whirlpool tubs. Housing more than 25,000 bottles, the Post Hotel’s wine cellar, adjacent to the Lake Louise Dining Room, is legendary.M ountain Hotel Dining News
Hotels in the Rockies often include a food and beverage element, if only because guests don’t want to leave the coziness of their lodge-like accommodations once they’re hunkered in for the night. Pursuit opened two new restaurants this past summer, including one at its marquee Mount Royal Hotel at the heart of Banff. Replacing a Tony Roma’s, the concept for the new Brazen dining room is inspired by the colourful characters from Banff’s formative years. The company’s other new restaurant is Terra, a contemporary farm-to-table spot at The Crimson in downtown Jasper.
There has also been a culinary shake-up at the Fairmont Banff Springs. Following the departure of the hotel’s executive chef, Robert Ash, earlier this year, new chef, Atticus Garant, is now overseeing the grand hotel’s kitchens. Garant has been working with Fairmont hotels over the last 12-and-a-half years — between that and other restaurant gigs, he has worked in a total of 17 countries around the world. Garant oversees the Springs’ massive culinary program, which includes restaurants like 1888 Chop House and The Vermillion Room, as well as the afternoon tea, private dining experiences and room service.
Brazen is a new restaurant at the Mount Royal Hotel in Banff.
Fairmont Banff Springs’ new executive chef, Atticus Garant.
Afternoon Tea at the Fairmont Banff Springs.
More Mountain Hotel News
The Fairmont Banff Springs is midway through a $35-million renovation that began in January. Look for redesigns of the luxe Royal Suite at the peak of the castle’s iconic turret, as well as Fairmont Gold rooms and other one- and two-bedroom suites and terrace suites.
Banff has also seen a couple of new hotel openings over the past two years: the boutique Dorothy Motel, named after mountain trailblazer Dorothy Carleton, opened its doors in March 2021.
The Peaks Hotel and Suites also opened in Banff in early 2021, just a block off of Banff Avenue. And, while not new, the Banff Aspen Lodge is now “like new,” having recently completed renovations to both its rooms and main lobby.
Fernie, too, is experiencing a mini-boom in hotel renovations. The Fernie Fox Hotel recently received a 4 Green Key rating with Green Key Global, thanks to the installation of one of the largest solar panel structures on a commercial building in B.C. The mountain town’s historic Royal Hotel is also undergoing a huge renovation, due to be complete by the end of the year, and the rooms at Park Place Lodge also had significant makeovers.
aybe it’s a holdover from our cave-dwelling days, but indoor fires draw us in both physically and emotionally. Fireplaces are warm, they’re welcoming, they invite easy conversation when we gather around them — and they’re the ultimate way to level up your home’s coziness in the cooler winter months.
“Fireplaces are a comfort of home; they’re a gathering place,” says interior designer Nyla Free of Calgary-based Nyla Free Designs Inc. “When you combine fireplaces with candles and music, it creates a whole experience.”
This ability to enhance ambience is one reason Free is starting to see her clients requesting fireplaces in multiple rooms in a house, includ ing dining rooms and bedrooms. “You can have your fireplace on with a cup of coffee in bed, on a cozy winter morning,” says Free. “It can really set a mood.”
Fireplaces are especially important in Calgary, where the dark, chilly days of fall and winter call on their main function — to heat things up. With that in mind, here are three fireplaces designed by Free that will inspire you to keep the home fire burning this season.
HOME IS WHERE
Hibernation season is upon us: Up the warm and toasty vibes in your home through elevated fireplaceTransitional
THE STYLE
Transitional bridges the gap between traditional and modern. In this living room, the classic, square gas fireplace has modern lines and a concrete surround, but its parchment-coloured finish, combined with the furniture’s warmer tones and textures, keeps the overall look somewhere in the middle.
T HE INSPIRATION
Free wanted the fireplace to be the focal point in this space, with the furniture arranged accordingly. The chunky surround and five-inch mantle add dimension and presence. “The size and shape of the mantle are a great scale for the room, keeping furniture and conversation in mind,” says Free.
G ET THE LOOK
Choose a square fireplace, says Free, and use simple, clean materials for the surround such as concrete or natural stone. Select a herringbone pattern or brick lay option for the fireplace panel. Consider a neutral colour palette, but don’t shy away from creating contrast by pairing taupe with black, or cream with charcoal. Mixing textures is key, too — this room has upholstery and leather, a nubby area rug, plus patterned pillows, candles and a floral bouquet for visual interest.
Contemporary
T HE STYLE
Clean lines, rectangular shapes and monochro matic black, grey and white tones are the hallmarks of contemporary style. This double-sided, low and wide gas fireplace checks off all the boxes. In the living room (right), a large panel of grey natural stone makes up the top of the surround and acts as a piece of art, while the hearth is composed of black custom millwork. On the flip side, in the family room (above), the millwork extends to the ceiling and the hearth is a piece of concrete-coloured quartz. On both, raw steel immediately surrounds the linear silhouette, and works to connect the two rooms.
T HE INSPIRATION
Due to its size and volume, the living room needed a commanding showpiece above the fireplace, while the cozier family room, with its sectional and camouflaged TV, called for a less formal treatment. Hence, Free designed two very different spaces that are tied together by the millwork and fireplace.
G ET THE LOOK
Two-sided linear fireplaces are a great choice for contemporary homes, providing two looks with a cohesive feel, says Free. “In a modern space, the focus is less on the fireplace unit, and more about the materials surrounding it,” she says. Downplay the fireplace panel with a solid colour like black, grey or brown, but play up textures and interesting materials, such as stone, oversize tile, rich wood or the whimsy of a button-tufted ottoman.
Burn, Baby, Burn
QWhat kinds of fireplaces are you seeing these days?
A lot of nice, classic homes from 1910 to the 1960s had really good fireplaces, and the people who kept them often retrofitted gas to them. What I’m seeing is people pulling all that out, so they can go back to wood-burning. It’s more of a piece: Not many people nowadays are us ing the gas to heat up their room, so it’s more about having this beautiful vintage or modern fireplace in the living room that they just put on occasionally. In modern homes, we’re seeing more Scandinavianstyle freestanding fireplaces, too.
QDo lots of buyers have fireplaces on their wish lists?
Definitely. They’ll tell me, “We want a fireplace in our living room,” or, “We want a fireplace in our bedroom.” And a lot of people get turned away by the cheesy glass insert fireplaces nowadays — they want something a little cooler looking that isn’t gas. In the last two years, the interest in fireplaces is higher, and it might be be cause people are spending more time at home since COVID-19. My clients want a wood-burning fireplace, preferably with a log lighter because it makes life so much easier, in the living room that’s safe. That’s a big one: A lot of the fireplaces in these older homes that I sell haven’t been used in 20 years, or even longer. So, a lot of times [my clients are asking], “Is this still safe? Is this still up to code?”
QWhy do you think wood-burning fire places are experiencing a resurgence?
I think it’s because the usefulness of the fireplace is going away, and it is more of a showpiece now. And people don’t want something they’re going to turn on that has a couple of little flames — they want something that looks like a fire.
QIn your experience, is Calgary a fireplace city?
For sure. It’s hard to find a house built between 1960 to 1980 that doesn’t have a fireplace in it. We’re cold six and a half months of the year, and everybody talks about their holiday mornings with the fireplace going.
QYou go inside a lot of houses — what are some of the most interesting fireplaces you’ve seen?
Personally, I love hanging fireplaces, the ones coming off the ceiling in bright burnt orange. But the more unique fireplaces are some times hidden, too: You’ll have this ’90s stonework on the front and when you start to rip that back, there’s a beautiful, ’60s modern aesthetic fireplace under neath. But that’s obviously a great find — I’m not going to tell anybody to go rip their fireplace apart because there might be a nicer fireplace underneath!
Dominique Lamberton CALGARY-BASED REALTOR JAKE M c INTYRE, WHO SPECIALIZES IN INNER-CITY CHARACTER HOMES, CHATS ABOUT THE RESURGENCE OF THE WOOD-BURNING FIREPLACEWinter is Coming: Prep Your Bar Cart
JESSE WILLIS, CO-OWNER OF VINE ARTS, SHARES THE BOTTLES TO STOCK FOR FIRESIDE SIPPINGA CLASSIC RED
Clos Bellane Côtes du Rhône Villages Valréas ($31)
“My go-to wine for the winter is a classic Côtes du Rhône. The style is like a warm hug on a cold day with supple texture, warm fruit notes and savoury spice; they’re great for pairing with heartier dishes or just sipping around the fire. One of my favourites is the Clos Bellane Côtes du Rhône Villages Valréas — it offers consider able depth and complexity for the price point.”
A LIGHT AND FRESH AMARO Cardamaro ($42)
“Cardamaro is a great ‘gateway’ amaro that is lighter and fresher than many on the market. It’s made with a combination of 24 herbs and botanicals, and a base of Muscat wine. I enjoy it on the rocks with a twist of lemon before or after a meal, and it’s a good substitute for sweet vermouth in a classic Negroni or Manhattan.”
AN EASY-SIPPING COGNAC Château de Montifaud VS ($59)
“When I’m looking for a spirit to sip slowly on a chilly Calgary evening, I often find myself reach ing for cognac. The Château de Montifaud VS is a great option for a brighter, fresher cognac that plays well in cocktails, or, if you’re looking to splurge, the Château de Montifaud XO ($123) is incredibly smooth and delicious.”
A COCKTAIL ENHANCER
Proof Old Fashioned Syrup ($18)
“If you’re in the mood for a winter cocktail and want to make your life easy, I recommend this syrup from the team at Proof Cocktail Bar. The combination of brown sugar, orange peel and bitters create a velvety syrup that is ready to rock. Simply combine it with Bourbon or rye whisky in a glass with ice, stir and enjoy!” —D.L.
Two Calgary locations, vinearts.ca
Modern Prairie
T HE STYLE
This old-meets-new look pairs clean lines with rustic accents, such as wood floors or chunky support beams. “Warm and in viting is the goal when consider ing a modern prairie aesthetic,” says Free. “Come in and put your feet up and leave your worries at the door.”
T HE INSPIRATION
This dining room inside a new home on a rural property is a closed-off space that functions as the everyday eating area. “The owners didn’t want this space to feel too precious,” says Free.
The tall, rectangular gas fireplace, with its limestone sur round, adds a relaxed sophisti cation and a layer of warmth and intimacy to the vaulted space. It’s the focal point when the sun goes down, but during the day, the view from the bank of windows takes precedence.
G ET THE LOOK
Soft finishes and textures contribute to a successfully designed prairie home, says Free. Square- or portrait-shaped fireplaces are fitting options, and can be framed in limestone, con crete or quartzite — materials that provide texture and warmth.
Fireplaces
COMPARING THE THREE MOST COMMON TYPES
WOOD-BURNING
PROS Nothing beats the sound, smell and sight of a crackling fire in a traditional fireplace, transforming your home into the rustic retreat of your dreams.
CONS Maintenance — there’s the acquiring and chopping of wood, the ash and soot cleanup, plus regu lar servicing and inspections by a chimney sweep.
GAS
PROS With the click of a button, you’ve got instant coziness and warmth.
CONS It can add too much warmth, requiring you to turn it off after the room has been sufficiently heated and losing the ambience. And, if you need to add a gas line, it can be costly to install.
ELECTRIC
PROS If you have a spare outlet, you can have an electric fireplace, the most affordable and easy-tomaintain pick of the bunch. CONS They don’t produce as much heat as gas, and the virtual flames don’t have nearly the same visual impact as the real deal, or even gas options. —D.L.
Smoke-domed cloche matches,
from Steeling Home, 1010 17 Ave. S.W., 403-245-0777, steelinghome.ca
Get Cozy
COMFY
PHOTO BY AluminumOn a patch of grass overlooking the Glenmore Reservoir is a beached boat form built of white stone. Duration was created from five great blocks of prized Bethel granite and will likely be the most enduring sculpture by Peter von Tiesenhausen.
The artist, who is based in Demmit, Alta., has explored the boat form throughout his career. This exploration included the creation of ice boats during the winters of the late 1990s. After outlining an almond-shaped hull of a boat on a frozen pond, he scraped the interior every few days. The thin ice thickened and, after a month, the hull’s wall was 10 inches thick and extended down almost three feet, strong enough to support his family. When he cut the boat free with an ice har vesting saw, it bobbed up and rocked side to side.
When the City of Calgary called for public art to celebrate the 100th anniversary of its Waterworks in 2000, von Tiesenhausen’s submission — a quick charcoal sketch inspired by the ice boats and their thick walls — made the cut. To convey the relation ship between humans and water, he sought out the
strongest stone on the continent. The rough blocks of fine-grained Vermont granite were cut and finished by the late master carver Robert Sindorf, giving Duration its inviting surface and soft matte sheen. Sindorf also inscribed the bottom with a secret message that von Tiesenhausen gave him, now hidden on the underside.
Although von Tiesenhausen’s career has taken him to museums and galleries across the country and abroad, he is a familiar artist to Calgarians. He studied at Alberta College of Art + Design (now Alberta University of the Arts) and has mounted major exhibitions at the Illingworth Kerr Gallery, Glenbow and Esker Foundation. He also created three projects through Watershed+, the innovative program shepherded by the artist collaborative Sans façon with the support of Paul Fesko, former manager, Utilities and Environmental Protection.
Peter von Tiesenhausen also played a key role in Passages, a celebration of the Bow River in 2010, during which 100 people released small, charred boats from a bridge in Douglasbank Park. Von Tiesenhausen had carved a low relief figure in each boat. From above, they resembled early Christian
DATE 2020
ARTIST
Peter von Tiesenhausen
MEDIA
Bethel granite.
SIZE
Five feet high by eight feet wide by 26.75 feet long.
LOCATION
1668 56 Ave. S.W., south of the historic Waterworks building, accessible from the Glenmore Reservoir path.
NOTES
Commissioned by the City of Calgary Waterworks Division, 100th Anniversary. Peter von Tiesenhausen is represented by Norberg Hall in Calgary.
images of figures within mandorla, the halo around the body of the Blessed One. On the boat bottoms, he branded a digital return address. When the Sad dleridge reservoir was emptied for maintenance for the first time in 40 years, von Tiesenhausen, as cin ematographer, collaborated with filmmaker Dave McGregor and sound artists Magnus Tiesenhausen and Jen Reimer on the 14-minute film, Reservoir His most recent and least visible project with The City of Calgary Water Services, Meander, is a 100-metre-long living wall along the Elbow River designed to help with bank stabilization, while providing habitat for native flora and fauna.
Duration is an elegantly simple, minimal ab stract sculpture. The slight angle upwards toward the east and the subtle tilt to starboard invoke the moment his ice boat floated upward from its source, rocking gently.
PHOTO BY CURATED BY KATHERINE YLITALO TITLE Duration