The Drive Magazine // Fall 2022 // Issue 145

LIFE CAN CHANGE JUST LIKE THAT. TINA’S JOURNEY IS NOT OVER.

Welcomeback,Lancers!

You’re at Rose City Ford

thankYou!

On behalf of Erie Shores Health Foundation, Thank you and Congratulations (x 210,000) to all of the committee members, volunteers a nd road warriors who supported The Ride to Survive 2022.

In partnership with T2B, these funds will go towards cancer care programs at Erie Shores HealthCare – providing compassionate, quality care close to home to patients in Essex County.

Because of you, big things in care and comfort are coming.

DRIVE

CONTRIBUTORS

CONTENTS

THE DRIVE THRU Spago Trattoria Expands

Footprint in Little Italy.

By Jen Brignall-Strong.

THE DRIVE CULTURE

Art is All Over

By Matt St. Amand

ISSUE 145

AROUND TOWN

Noteworthy Mentions

Around Town

THE DRIVE MUSIC

Windsor Rockers Ashes of Soma Climb the US Billboard Charts

By Devan Mighton

THE DRIVE PORTRAIT

Tina Roy on Surviving Cancer, Living with Intention and the Power of Positivity

By Jen Brignall-Strong

FOOD

30 Oh So Mona: Cinnamon Apple Fritters

By Mona Elkardi

THE DRIVE SPOTLIGHT

Leave Your Leaves By Alley L. Biniarz

THE DRIVE LEADERSHIP

We are Women by Alley L. Biniarz

THE DRIVE COMMUNITY

Mio Manz Charities. Making a Difference Decade after Decade by Matt St. Amand

THE DRIVE CULTURE Gas of Tank By Dean Chasnoff

THE PSYCH DRIVE

Thriving Under Pressure in Entrepreneurship

By Dr. Andrea Dinardo

THE DRIVE INNER-VIEW

Love, Loss & Music

By Devan Mighton

THE DRIVE HEATH

Managing PCOS Naturally

By Jen Brignall-Strong

STUDENT ESSAY

Having a Passionate Plan for Financial Resilience

By Emma Bleakey

A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER

Fall is officially here with crisp weather and vibrant foliage. Autumn in Windsor-Essex is the perfect time to get outdoors and enjoy our parks, trails, and green spaces.

With the season changing comes time for reflection. Join us in counting blessings as we give thanks for the friends and loved ones who bring joy to our lives.

We acknowledge Breast Cancer Awareness in October, a dedicated time to celebrate survivors, pay tribute to those we’ve lost, and advocate for those still fighting. Our cover honours Tina Roy as she shares her fight with breast cancer. A survivor, wife, mother, and successful businesswoman, she reflects on her diagnosis and treatment, getting candid about what it’s like to live with a form of cancer that will inevitably return one day.

In our Fall issue, you’ll also read about the resurgence of Windsor’s own Ashes of Soma, who are currently climbing the Billboard rock charts after a nearly decade long hiatus. Be sure to find our scrumptious apple fritter recipe from Oh So Mona, as you savour our issue with many stories you’ll enjoy.

Thank you to our advertisers and our readers for your continued support. We encourage you to continue supporting the wonderful small businesses throughout Windsor and Essex County as we head into the holiday season.

In closing, we would like to pay our respects to several of our team who have recently lost loved ones since our last issue. Marnie Robillard, Sabine Main, and Syx Langemann, our thoughts and prayers are with you and your families.

Yours truly,

Paul St. Pierre Publisher

OLE’ WALKERVILLE PLUMBING

Plumbing companies are a dime a dozen. How do you know which one is the best one? When you call Ole’ Walkerville Plumbing., you can rest assured that you aren’t getting any average plumber – you’re getting Windsor and Essex County’s premier professional plumber. Owner Alex Gouin and his team handle all types of emergency plumbing work, sump pumps, toilet repairs, clogged pipes and all things plumbing. Servicing all of Essex County, Ole’ Walkerville Plumbing has all stateof-the-art equipment and technology. Big or small, Alex and his team do it all. At Ole’ Walkerville Plumbing, they have over 12 years of experience in finding the source of these problems and repairing the problem quickly and effectively. To schedule an appointment, please call 519-981-5657 or visit them online at olewalkervilleplumbing.com

Welcome to our custom content page meant to highlight unique news from the Windsor-Essex region

PAUL MURRAY

On November 11th, 2022, chances are you’ll be singing, clapping, and dancing to the Fab Four performed by multi-Juno, hall of fame legends, regional & local superstars, and world class rising stars. A never seen before exhilarating original production, Paul will be recreating the grove and beat of The BEATLES greatest hits live at the Chrysler Theatre. Internationally renowned visual artist, Paul Murray, will be speed painting huge pop-art portraits of John, Paul, George & Ringo in just minutes. His unorthodox art routine will keep you guessing. The Music’n Arts Aid Live show is an exciting night of music, magically combined with the mystery and drama Murray invents as he creates live art. 100% proceeds from ticket sales & the auctioned live art of the BEATLES will go to support professional musicians & visual artists in Windsor/Essex that were impacted by the recent restrictions over the past few years. For more information on the event go to PaulMurray.com today.

BMR WINDSOR

The wait is now over. BMR Windsor recently underwent a major interior and exterior store renovation over the past few months. The transformation is simply incredible. BMR Windsor has been a leader in the community as your one stop shop for home building and renovating supplies. Their expertise in hardware and building materials coupled with their in-depth knowledge of their respective markets allows them to offer consumers and contractors highly personalized service. Be sure to stop by the newly renovated store located at 11365 Tecumseh Road East (near Banwell ) or feel free to call them at 519-979-5250 or visit them online to search for that specific item for your home or business at bmrwindsor.com

WHAT’S POPPIN POPCORN FACTORY

From humble beginnings in the festival circuit to three stores, Jeff and Christa Gamble have created a brand that fits your every need. This authentic kettle cooked gourmet popcorn is a favourite for fundraising, wedding and event bars, personalized favours, gift boxes or just a movie night in. With over 25 flavors to choose from including their chocolate drizzled gourmet selection, you will not be disappointed. What's Poppin Popcorn Factory- 1395 Tecumseh Rd. E. Windsor, 1701 Wyandotte St. E Walkerville. What's Shakin Ice Cream Parlour -1395 Tecumseh Rd. E

COTTA FOOD BAR

Enjoy your next special occasion or a simple night “in” with friends or family while still enjoying the restaurant experience. Leave the cooking and mess to them. Cotta also specializes in private functions, bringing all the joys of the restaurant experi ence into the comfort of your own home. Enjoy the conviviality of dining with your family and friends without the work. Cotta also offers full-service event planning. Let them take the stress out of your next social occasion. They offer full staff for Food, Bar, Clean-Up service. They can also source music (DJ or Live Enter tainment) and Decor. This includes indoor as well as outdoor parties. Cotta has what it takes to create the vibe. Healthy, honest and simply delicious. To book a reservation, please call 519-9156882 or visit them online at cottafoodbar.com today.

AFFINITY CUSTOM DESIGNS INC.

Founded in 2020 by owner James Gibb and located in Belle River, Affinity Custom Designs Inc. is pleased to announce their new brand of outdoor living furniture, Affinity Outdoor Living Products serves our residential and commercial clients with products and services to improve their living and working spaces by building unique and genuine outdoor products from Canadian recycled plastics. Designed and built in Essex County, the manufacturing capital of Canada, Affinity blends specialty designs and some of the latest in design and manufacturing processes to craft their unique transitional line of furniture, built to be eye catching, durable, and practical. “We specialize in crafting plastics to make beautiful furniture”. For more information about Affinity Outdoor Living Products please contact James at (519) 564-2878 or visit their web page at affinityoutdoorproducts.ca

PARKS & REC GASTROPUB

Parks & Rec is a Gastropub established in 2016 in Forest Glade, Windsor. When visiting Parks & Rec, you’ll find a warm in and inviting atmosphere, where families, friends, co-workers and neigh bours alike and enjoy delicious food and drinks in the company of one another. They offer a large sports bar atmosphere, fresh gastropub fare, beautiful patio with heaters and a unique pavilion to host your private party. Be sure to meet Miro, the new General Manager. Miro came to Parks in 2019 and has since launched his menu in 2020. His menu offers a wide variety of fresh food and creative features. Before he started at Parks & Rec, Miro gained his experience by cooking in kitchens in Toronto, Niagara Falls, England, Scotland, Spain and Poland. Don’t hesitate to come out and try his famous Reuben and Fried Chicken Sandwich. parksrec.ca

Addicted to the Drug

A MUST-LISTEN HIT

Windsor rockers Ashes of Soma climb the US Billboard charts.

By Devan Mighton Photos by Syx Langemann

If you put something out that people want to hear, and as long as ideas keep getting magically dropped into your head, and, for some reason, you say that I have to write this song, and put it out—then we'll keep doing that, if my mind goes blank and nothing falls into it, then I guess I'll stop.

Imagine having one of the hottest rock tracks on the US Billboard charts, gaining recognition around the world for your musicianship, but your music not being recognized in your hometown.

On the heels of their new radio hit Addicted to the Drug, for Ashes of Soma vocalist Randy Gray, that is a real-life problem. Gray says their song, which has reached No. 25 on the US Billboard rock charts, has received a great reception, but has not received much in the way of local airplay or recognition.

"It's a shame though because around here there's no station that would be playing it," states Gray. "It's unfortunate that there's stations all around the States that are playing it, but locally, and even Detroit, there's no real outlet for a new rock band because aside from the WRIF, there's not really much where it could be played. It's being played in Kansas and Illinois and Louisiana, but not anywhere near here, so people around here won't be that familiar with it because there's no radio station for it."

Founded in 2002, with Gray on vocals, Mike Preney on guitar, Joel Bishop on bass, and Paul Doman behind the drums, after 20 years together, Ashes of Soma have stood the test of time. With the recent additions of co-vocalist David Creed and guitarist Brian Fry to the fold, the band has been cranking out singles.

"We haven't stopped writing," explains Gray. "In the past 5-10 years, it's been constantly, 'Write this, write that,' but it's just been a matter of putting out the music. In the past year or so, we've put about 10 or so songs and we have another 30 or so more coming behind these that we’re putting out.

Aside from those 30 that are almost there, we always have constant new ideas. As long as the people are there to listen to it and as long as people are liking it, we'll keep writing the music and keep putting it out because it's something we enjoy, and we have the means to do it because we have our own studio."

According to Gray, the COVID-19 pandemic, with its lockdowns and business slowdowns, created a perfect situation for at-home song writing. Early in the pandemic, he purchased a portable studio and started interacting with his bandmates online.

"I would be writing things and sending them over to my guitar player and he would write something and send it back over to me, then we'd send it to the band to check out," says Gray. "We'd all have a little bit of input and send things back and forth."

With a catalog of four albums, 2005's Exit 674, 2010's self-titles album, 2013's The Singularity, and 2020's Novel 1, the COVID writing sessions have jump-started a renais sance in the band's career.

"We've been writing for the past two or three years, and trying to keep putting out a song a month, if possible," reports Gray. Originally conceived by Preney, from these sessions, Addicted to the Drug was born.

"I had a couple ideas for vocals, but it wasn't really complete," he says. "After meeting with [producer Marty Bak], we started writing some lyrics together and changing some of the melodies. For the chorus, we were looking to sound a little more like Finger Eleven's Tip album— [singer Scott Anderson] does a lot of falsetto stuff— that's where the choruses were kinda coming from. We co-wrote that together, the three of us, in Marty's studio and recorded a bunch

of parts, we recorded a bunch of parts at Mike's studio too, and decided to give it a whirl and shop it to radio."

With the prolific output of new singles and the success that Addicted to the Drug has enjoyed, Gray says that Ashes of Soma is dedicated to sticking with the times and keeping the new tracks strictly digital.

"There's no real need for CDs anymore because it's really wasteful," he states. "We'd have to put a CD out and who has a CD player anyways these days? Everything is digital. There is no real need for hard copies. I'm sitting in my truck right now and I don't even have a CD player in this truck. So, I'd have no way to play it if I wanted to."

However, if the conditions are right, performances could be back on the agenda for the band.

"Not necessarily any touring, but shows would be in the future," says Gray. "We could always play in Detroit, but there's lots of markets now that are asking us to come play there, but we're not going to just drive to Mississippi for a show, so it would have to make sense to do it. We'll keep pushing that single that we have, and when that runs its course, we may put another single out in the next couple months as well, push it to radio, and see what happens."

After 20 years, the tunes are still flowing. Gray, who is now 42, says that the seeds of the band formed when he started playing at 16 years old with Preney while still in school. With the band expanded from the original four members to include Creed, who Gray says will handle the growlier vocals, and Fry, as well as inviting friends and session players like Shawn Walstedt on guitars, Ashes of Soma has discovered new ways of reinvigorating their sound and keeping the fans listening.

"If you put something out that people want to hear, and as long as ideas keep getting magically dropped into your head, and, for some reason, you say that I have to write this song, and put it out—then we'll keep doing that," states Gray. "If my mind goes blank and nothing falls into it, then I guess I'll stop."

"That's the magic of song writing. As long as we have it, we'll keep putting it out."

C H R I S T O P H E R K A S S A

CARRYING ON THE TRADITION

Spago Trattoria Expands Footprint in Little Italy

Whether it’s an intimate dinner for two or a 200-person wedding reception, the owners of Spago Trattoria see every event as cause for celebration.

“The size doesn’t drive the event; the people engaging in conversation and enjoying the moment is what it’s all about. That’s what’s important to us,” says co-owner Pete Vitti. “There’s nothing better than breaking bread with friends and family.”

Since taking over the popular restaurant in 2008, Pete and his brother Ralph have grown the Erie Street mainstay exponentially; expanding to three locations while maintaining the reputation for high quality Italian fare and old-world hospitality that have made the brand a household name in Essex County for over 32 years.

“Our story is simple and yet has a tremendous amount of emotion tied to it,” he says. “If you think about it, 32 years is grand but what’s really amazing is that so many people in Windsor have celebrated some type of family event here; a baptism, a birthday party, an engagement. You name it; there’s been something where people have made a family memory. Being a local family ourselves, that means everything to us.”

Helping create lifelong memories is something the team will continue in the coming months as they begin a new chapter in their own family story; acquiring the reception hall at St. Angela Merici Church at the corner of Erie Street and Louis Avenue.

It’s not officially a fourth location; more of an expansion of their current footprint in Little Italy, explains Pete.

Jen Brignall-Strong Photo by Marcello Pizzo

“We’re going to be doing some group dining out of there, some small weddings, caterings, events, and those types of experiences,” he explains.

“The main reason why we took over the hall at St. Angela was to solidify and keep the Italian tradition on Erie Street,” he continues. “My parents were married at St. Angela; when you talk about memories and being a pillar of the community, that’s it. We don’t want to just maintain those traditions, we want them to grow.”

Pete says they’re currently starting on a few small but impactful renovations and will be taking bookings for 2023.

In the meantime, the team remains focused on servicing their loyal clientele at their existing locations on Erie Street, in South Windsor, and at Caesars Windsor. While each of the restaurants features the same familiar menu items, Pete says they all have their own unique atmosphere.

“We made them all look a little diff erent for a reason; they all have their own ambiance to them,” he notes. “Everyone says, ‘You need to make them all the exact same’ but we kind of went against the grain and said, ‘No we don’t’ because at the end of the day, the Spago brand is about more than just looks; it’s about people coming together.”

It’s also about the food; all prepared by hand by their team of red seal chefs and dedicated kitchen staff. The entire menu is made from scratch, in house with local produce and responsibly sourced meats, notes Pete.

“The ingredients we use are very important to us,” he says. “We source responsible ingredients; our chicken and veal are hormonefree and steroid-free. Many of the cured meats we use are made from our own cellars; there are no nitrates in them. Our salad dressing, also made in house; no additives, no preservatives.”

All their vegetables are local as well, sourced through local grocery stores, farms, and greenhouses.

“We get a tremendous amount of tomatoes straight from Leamington,” he adds, noting that all of Spago’s pasta sauces are made in house as well.

“Our ravioli are hand-made too; we don’t even use a machine,” he continues. “We make our lasagnas, we make our manicotti. We make those in house with our own local labour, so to me when you talk about local, it’s not just local product. We make as much as we can on our menu with the hands right here in Windsor, Ontario.”

While that menu is fi lled with classic Italian dishes, Pete says they’re always cooking up new items to dazzle their diners.

“Our chefs have some really creative stuff they like to do,” he shares. “We have some fun things planned that we’ll be launching for the holiday season.”

The team’s passion for innovation and entertaining is what continues to drive Spago as they look ahead to the future while remaining true to their family roots.

“Our entire organization is obsessed with our customers,” he reflects. “We love what we do and we’re going to continue to service this community.” D

WIN THE OCTOBER

SCAN HERE FOR TICKETS

LIVING EVERY MOMENT

Tina Roy on surviving cancer, living with intention and the power of positivity.

By Jen Brignall-Strong Photos by Syx Langemann

At 35 years old, Tina Roy was young, healthy, and ambitiously pursuing her career aspirations. The vivacious local realtor had just purchased a place to build an office for her growing team and was an active member of her community; living life to the fullest with her husband Marc and their two young boys, Sebastien and Isaac.

That’s when she found the lump. An aggressive form of breast cancer. Advanced staged.

“I was full steam ahead, a million miles an hour,” recalls Tina. “My first thought when I got my diagnosis was, ‘How the hell am I going to pull this off? So many people are depending on me; letting them down is not an option.’”

“I had just hired my first full-time administrator; she quit her job to join me in building my vision from the ground up. There were other families that were depending on my leadership,” she continues. “My own family was depending on me. I’ve always been the constant. The rock. The girl who gets it done. Life was very, very full.”

Facing a world of uncertainty, months of debilitating treatment, and a long road ahead, Tina knew what she had to do.

“Find the sunshine in every day, make time to rest but not wallow in self-pity, and keep living life to the fullest.”

Now, five years later, Tina is reflecting back on her journey thus far; sharing her struggles, her successes, and the reality of living with a cancer that will inevitably return one day.

“My surgeon was crystal clear with me. It’s not a matter of ‘if’ the cancer returns, the reality is ‘when’ it will return,” she says. “Some forms of cancer are very treatable and the likelihood of it never returning can be very good. But that’s just not my diagnosis; it’s one of those things I’m going to live with for the rest of my life, however long that is.”

“It was a really easy decision for me; I didn’t struggle with it whatsoever,” she says matter-of-factly. “I just followed my gut. Just take it all; let’s fix this and give us the best chance moving forward.”

When the topic of reconstructive surgery was brought up, Tina also opted to forgo implants.

“I looked at him and said, they are just boobs ‘I don’t need them. Let’s just focus on getting through this,” she says. “I was very focused on survival. How I was going to look when it was done was the furthest thing from my mind.”

After the mastectomy, Tina had a very short time to heal before beginning a 6-month course of chemotherapy, followed by radiation and hormone therapy. During that time, she also lost her hair, which she shaved off during a bittersweet celebration with her closest friends and family.

Every day, I intentionally spend my time the way I want to. Time is our most precious possession. Surround yourself with those who bring out your best self, and don’t miss an opportunity to do something that you’ve never done before.

Tina discovered the lump in her left breast in November 2015 and was immedi ately sent for an ultrasound and a slew of tests by her family doctor, followed by a biopsy.

“That was it. Your life can change just like that,” she says.

“From the minute we found it, my doctor pushed for things to happen quickly,” she remembers. “The care I received right here in Windsor was outstanding.”

She was then referred to Windsor Regional Hospital’s Cancer Program where she met with the team to discuss a treatment plan. Prior to staging the cancer, the surgeon initially recommended a lumpectomy of the affected breast, in order to minimize damage. Not knowing how far it had spread, Tina instead insisted on a double mastectomy.

“Your self-image just goes out the window; you can’t make that a priority,” she relates. “You need to put your vanity aside. It’s just hair, they’re just boobs. I couldn’t make my appearance part of my story as it was something I couldn’t change.”

Tina admits the physical changes have been disappointing nonetheless, but she doesn’t allow them to affect her spirit. “The scars are a reminder of all the things I lived through and have created a consistent awareness of how important it is to take care of myself.”

“Am I disappointed when I look in the mirror and I’m not who I was before? Yes, I’m not superhuman,” she continues. “But you make a conscious choice not to let it change your self image. Healing, growth, and self-love are the keys to an authentic journey.”

Despite that initial change in appearance and an arduous treatment schedule, Tina managed to carry on with ‘business as usual’ for the greater part of a year; hiding her diagnosis from everyone but a small group of friends and family. She conducted most of her real estate dealings via phone or email from hospital beds and waiting rooms.

“One of the first things I did was swear everyone close to me to secrecy so I could fight my battle without judgment,” she explains. “I’m a professional in my community; I couldn’t risk being sick and watching my business crumble.”

“If the cancer didn’t kill me, that would have,” she jokes.

Keeping her hectic schedule is what gave her the energy to fight, she says, noting that she wore a wig after losing her hair solely to avoid questions and sympathy from well-meaning colleagues and clients. She credits her strong support network of friends and family for ‘taking all the noise away’ and allowing her to heal and work at the same time.

She also hid the gravity of the situation from her two sons, who were 9 and 7 at the time of her diagnosis.

“I said as little as possible,” she explains.

“I never lied to them, but they didn’t ask many questions either.”

Her main focus was to continue to care for them with minimal disruption to their daily lives, she says.

“I was really positive and focused on the end game; I didn’t think I was dying. I knew I was going to come out on the other side of it,” she says. “But the second scare was where we fell apart.”

This past summer, less than four years after being discharged from the cancer clinic, Tina was faced with the possibility of yet another battle. One she knew she might not be able to win.

“That second scare was the real one for me,” she says. “We actually went to our families and said, ‘This is it.’ It was terrible.”

Tina had been experiencing pain for a prolonged period of time near the left side of her rib cage, directly behind where the breast cancer was removed. After multiple scans, her family doctor referred her back to the cancer clinic.

“Along with my doctor, I started researching, ‘What could this be?’ How does breast cancer metastasize?” she says. “With the pain being in the same area as the original cancer, and the appearance on the scans, everything just made sense that it

could be bone cancer. Everything we read, everything I talked about with my doctor; it just all lined up.”

After looking at survival rates, Tina and her husband Marc started to talk tough decisions; getting Tina’s aff airs in order to ensure her family was taken care of in the event of her passing.

“The first time, I was young and strong and I just kept going but this time it was, ‘Well, this is it. They’re just going to keep me comfortable.’”

After months of worrying and a barrage of tests, Tina’s doctors ruled out bone cancer and are now currently monitoring several

I THINK THE REAL JOURNEY IS HOW YOU LIVE WITH IT. IT’S NOT WHAT WE GO THROUGH FOR A FINITE PERIOD OF TIME; IT’S HOW YOU GO ON

LIVE WITH PURPOSE AND AUTHENTICITY, STRAIGHTEN YOUR WIG AND SHOW UP WITH A SMILE

benign tumors. A welcome relief, but a reminder that her battle is never quite over.

“I think the real journey is how you live with it,” she says. “It’s not what we go through for a finite period of time; it’s how you go on.”

The loss of time has truly been the most difficult part of the past fi ve years, she shares.

“I think that’s one of my biggest lessons to share. You never get that time back,” she explains. “It’s not just the time of going through chemo; we’re getting older. Things change. I’ve never felt the same again.”

It’s for that reason that Tina chooses to live every day to the fullest and encourages others to do the same.

“Every day, I intentionally spend my time the way I want to,” she says. “Time is our most precious possession. Surround yourself with those who bring out your best self, and don’t miss an opportunity to do something that you’ve never done before.”

Tina says through all of this, she’s found the freedom and space to defi ne herself. Now, she set goals for her betterment rather than functioning for mere survival.

“I feel like I live an authentically full life,” she says. “If something happened tomorrow, I can go without regret.”

Tina hopes her perseverance and positivity through her own journey can be a beacon for others who have been recently diagnosed and are struggling with how to move forward.

“We all have powerful stories to tell,” she reflects. “I want to tell my story so others may know hope and spend their days doing things that breathe life into their souls. If I can inspire someone to persevere and thrive through something when they really just want to curl up and give in, that’s the real reward.”

Recovery is a process, she shares. It takes time, it takes patience; it takes everything you’ve got.

“But a few bad chapters don’t mean your story is over,” she adds. “Live with purpose and authenticity, straighten your wig, and show up with a smile.”

fritters

INGREDIENTS

2 large granny smith apples peeled and diced

1 tbsp butter

3 tsp cinnamon

1 ½ cups bread flour

2 tsp baking powder

¼ cup brown sugar

½ tsp salt

½ cup milk

2 large eggs

For the Glaze

2 cups powdered sugar

½ cup milk

3 3

DIRECTIONS

1. In a frying pan on medium heat, add butter, diced apples and 1 tsp cinnamon. Cook until apples are tender. Set aside to cool.

2. In a medium bowl, prepare your glaze by mixing milk and icing sugar together. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, brown sugar, remaining cinnamon, and salt.

4. Once combined, add milk, eggs, and the cooled cooked apples. They should be about room temperature before adding them to your mixture. Mix until just combined with a whisk, being careful not to over-mix. Set aside.

5. Prepare a pot on medium-high heat with grapeseed or vegetable oil for frying. The oil should be about 1.5-2 inches deep.

6. Once the oil is hot, spoon 1/3 cup amounts of batter into the pot. Fry 3-4 fritters at a time. Cook for approximately 1.5-2 minutes on each side or until golden brown.

7. Remove the fritters from the oil onto a plate with a paper towel to absorb excess oil. Dunk the fritter in the glaze immediately and ensure that all sides are covered. Remove from the glaze and place on a wire rack to cool and to provide room for the excess glaze to drip.

8. Once your fritters have cooled, you can enjoy them immediately or store them in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days. D

Mona Elkadri is a lifestyle blogger with a fondness for everyday living and entertaining, from sweet recipes to home décor and DIY, and everything in between. Ohsomona.com

Photo by Vicki Bartel

LEAVE YOUR LEAVES

Instead of raking them away, keep the leaves on your lawn for personal and environmental benefits.

By Alley L. Biniarz

A beautiful chill is in the air and that means the falling leaves are not far behind. Autumn is supposed to be a time of renewal where we see nature begin to shed the season past to kickstart the upcoming period of rest, which can instead trigger homeowners into a frenzy of fall garden cleanup (including raking up all those leaves that have fallen). As aggravating as it can be to see the patches of leaves on our lawns, we may want to rethink this task when it comes to our fall chores.

Saving the Pollinators

We’ve all heard the campaigns for saving the pollinators by planting a butterfly garden or increasing biodiversity in our yards, but

we can also increase pollinator populations by not raking our leaves!

Pollinators are a keystone species, meaning that their existence is critical to the balance and health of our ecosystem. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 75% of our food crop types depend on the help of pollinators and 1/3 of our food is brought to us by pollinators. This is why we’re working to restore, reestablish, and protect these species.

Since our lawns are the largest managed crop, they’re also the largest potential pollinator habitat and the perfect place to start restoring those essential pollinator communities. Solitary bees build nests in dead

plant stems, bumblebee queens hibernate in shallow holes, butterflies and moths lay eggs on the undersides of fall leaves and then seek shelter under leaf cover as the days get colder. Those browned leaves, if left on our lawns, are the planet’s butterfly nursery, according to the David Suzuki Foundation.

The simple act of leaving our leaves can lead to a massive increase in pollina tors come spring, which will help with our gardens, our pest control, and for the overall function of our ecosystem.

Fertilize Your Grass Naturally

There have been rumours going around that leaving leaves in place on our lawns causes blotchy and uneven patches of growth

for the grass, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. According to Texas Horticulturalists, turf can take a lot of volume of leaves before it becomes “excess” or harmful to its growth. Excess leaves would mean that the lawn is completely covered by a thick layer and becomes smothered.

By leaving an appropriate amount of tree leaves to accumulate in and around the landscape, we’re providing an excellent source of natural organic matter and nutrients for our lawns and additional landscapes. Broken down organic matter like leaves works the same way that compost does: as a slow-release nutrient-dense fertilizer that breaks down gradually over winter and gives your lawn all that it needs to thrive for spring.

By using what nature provides us, we can eliminate the need for synthetic lawn sprays that are damaging to soil life, harmful to human and pet health, and further injure our pollinator species according to Kiss the Ground soil experts.

If you have a lot of leaves on your lawn, you can always gently rake them and place them as mulch on your vegetable gardens, herb pots, or to distribute excess onto flower beds for that same nutrient boost.

Allows you to slow down when nature does

If we’re not motivated by any of the other points, we can all agree that the idea of saving time and labour is reason enough to stop raking our leaves. Autumn is meant to be a time to slow down, go inwards and reflect, and finally settle down after the busy spring and summer seasons. Unfortunately, many of us work right through this slowdown, which leads to further burnout and exhaustion at a time where we should be more still.

As simple as it seems, something as small as not raking your leaves can get us into a mindset of stillness. It reminds us that we aren’t separate from nature; we’re absolutely a part of it. We don’t need to be ramping it up just as we’re supposed to let go.

Instead of spending that time raking leaves, exchange it for time spent with your family and friends, or doing something that you love. It will bring a whole new perspective to autumn and allow you to enjoy the gorgeous weather and the wildlife that might visit your garden.

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WE ARE WOMEN

A look into the work of female leaders Christie Nelson, Nour Hachem-Fawaz, and Yvonne Pilon and how they are

redefining what equity, diversity, and inclusion looks like in the education and employment sectors.

By Alley Biniarz Photos by Trevor Booth

What do three powerful WindsorEssex women have in common? They’re all breaking barriers and paving the way towards a more equitable and empowered local community. By taking their respective sectors in education, employment, and technology, linking their intersecting needs, and gluing the pieces together, Christie Nelson, Nour Hachem-Fawaz, and Yvonne Pilon show us that to build a stronger Windsor, we must work together.

Change is essential, but the greatest impact can be made within our education system. Christie Nelson with fellow co-founders Salem Berhane and Clarese Carter started Family Fuse with funding by the Ontario Trillium Foundation to support Black parents, guardians, and caregivers to navigate the education system. Along with supporting fundraising, Family Fuse sets families up with the proper tools and resources to ensure that their child not only performs their best but feels confident and comfortable within the classroom.

“We see the advertisements on inclusion and diversity, but some families feel as though they don’t completely experience it,” Christie explains the need for the individual and group programs that Family Fuse provides. Family Fuse received the grant for this project three years ago and had over 200 parents sign up for free coaching and workshops by year two. Parents of

Black children from across Canada have come forward expressing microaggressions, racism, targeting, feeling overwhelmed and they are seeking help.

“There are beautiful Anti-Black racism initiatives, coaches, and counseling happening in the school boards but it’s not enough,” Christie says. “We need to focus on those who are silenced, students who aren’t performing well, or students who are burying themselves in schoolwork to cope. Like what some of our Black parents see, some of our Indigenous, our Gay and Trans children are falling and if they say they’re not being supported, then we need to refocus,” she adds.

Christie emphasizes that this includes working through trauma, aggression, isolation, and feelings of acceptance with all stakeholders: the principals, teachers, parents, and children. Through goal setting, overcoming barriers, and putting resources into place, Family Fuse makes sure families are supported so they may thrive as advocates for their children, which then results in evening out the playing field for these youth to be qualified for all future opportunities.

Nour Hachem-Fawaz shares in Christie’s vision and passion for social impact. Together, Nour feels they can work together with parents to raise equity and provide valuable insight into how school aged children can be

by parent involvement whether they start in grade school or come in through college or university.

Nour also works to give voice to those who are underrepresented in the community. She is the President and Founder of Build a Dream, a national nonprofit that delivers specialized programs to encourage and empower female students to explore careers where women are underrepresented, while also working to create a gender-balanced workforce.

“I realized that the barriers keeping women out of these rewarding careers were common to other male-dominated paths and I wanted to create a non-profit to encourage and empower young women to explore careers they may have never considered,” Nour says.

Build a Dream brings their expertise and passion to build up individuals, students, and parents through education as well. Since its inception in 2014, Build a Dream continues to deliver programs to inspire young women by providing confidence, fi lling workforce skill gaps, and offering a new perspective for workforce problem-solving.

Programs like Nour’s and Christie’s are increasing throughout the region, including inclusive and groundbreaking programs in the technology and innovation sectors. Yvonne Pilon, President, and CEO of WEtech Alliance is at the forefront of these movements in tech, taking her 15 years of experience in the industry and building an inclusive, collaborative and connected entrepreneurial ecosystem. WEtech Alliance is working to help create an ecosystem that supports all tech founders. Throughout the last 10 years, WEtech Alliance has worked to support indigenous entrepreneurs, women entrepreneurs, women in mobility and automotive innovation and most recently, Black entrepreneurs and business owners thanks to a grant by the federal government. x. “By working to support diversity in entrepreneurship, we work to ensure the future is built for everyone by everyone. There is no innovation without diversity,” Yvonne says.

As a woman who has proved herself within a male dominated industry, Yvonne is passionate about the work that she, Christie, and Nour are doing individually in pursuit of the collective vision. “We are all women who have made tremendous strides in our

respective fields. We are fueled by a strong vision and sense of purpose, surrounded by outstanding mentors and allies, are extraordinarily resilient and believe in lifting others up,” she says.

Yvonne adds that they are the women who have realized that by working together that they can reach their goals much faster. They have all worked tirelessly in pursuit of their dreams, have fought to make themselves heard, and have earned a seat at the table. Now that they’re there, they want to offer other women every ounce of support that they need to pursue their ambitions.

“We are women who believe in leaving the ladder down, opening the door, and pulling others through. We are cheerleaders. We are advocates. We want to be women who young women can look up to. There is room at the top for us all,” she adds.

All three of these women honour those who paved this path before them and demonstrate how far we’ve come. They demonstrate that collaboration rather than competition is possible; that to create sustainable and positive change for all, we are stronger together than apart. D

Need a break from browsing through our vast selection of tile? Stop by our espresso bar and enjoy an espresso and biscotti made by our brewmaster Stefan on Saturday’s 10-12.

ALWAYS ON DISPLAY

MAKING A DIFFERENCE DECADE AFTER DECADE

David Batten and Eddie Mio look back on 30 years of changing people’s lives with Mio Manz Charities.

By Matthew St. Amand Photos provided by the The Mio Manz Charity.

Sometimes good ideas don’t announce themselves, they just arrive.

That is how it was for David Batten and former NHL goalie, Eddie Mio, who founded the Mio Manz Charities thirty years ago. During that time, the charity has raised over $4.5 million and made a difference in the lives of numerous children who have either a life threatening illness or severe disability. Thirty years on, David and Eddie feel it is time to draw the curtain. As stated in a commemorative book about the charity: “In 2022 our founders decided to throw one last benefit before hanging up the skates for good. The 2022 Mio Manz Celebrity Golf Benefit is both our 30th Anniversary and our Grand Finale.”

For all of the congratulations and praise they received for their efforts, David and Eddie offered their own thanks and gratitude throughout their conversation with The Drive Magazine.

“We could not have done any of this without the generosity and compassion of the people of Essex County,” Eddie says. “They are the ones who made it happen.”

“The foundation of our event was two guys,” David says. “Wayne Gretzky and Canadian chairman and president of Ford Motor Company, Jim O’Connor. People asked us: ‘How did they get a power house group like those two?’ Jim O’Connor pledged so much at that time. And it was amazing for Wayne to show up to this humble little golf benefit.”

The original idea stumbled together from a few different directions.

Eddie is quick to say: “It was David’s idea,” but David counters, saying: “Well, Eddie had his own fundraising deal, for the Erica Borgens Research Fund, in the States. We had a beer one day and Eddie was telling me about it. I said I would like to put together something for this region, raising money for local kids.”

Inspiration came when David visited Walt Disney World with his wife and small children. As they stood in line for a ride, David and his wife, Pat, noticed a child with a disability also waiting. They were both struck by the look of genuine excitement and wonder on the child’s face. That image stuck with them, and they felt there was a great need to make sure that others had the opportunity to experience that same sense of wonder.

David brought the idea to Eddie.

“We didn’t know what we were doing,” David explains. “We thought about a celebrity golf tournament. Someone asked: ‘Who will get the money?’ We had no idea. We thought about Make a Wish Foundation, but when I enquired, they said the money would go nationally. We wanted the funds to stay local.”

As they attended to their businesses and daily lives—David had triplet sons and a daughter—he and Eddie moved forward with their plans for a celebrity golf tournament.

From his years in the NHL, Eddie had numerous contacts among professional hockey players. Wayne Gretzky was one of his best friends. In fact, Eddie was best man at Wayne’s wedding to Janet Jones. That was a start.

“A guy I played golf with worked for Air Ontario,” David continues. “He said they could probably help with getting a deal on flights, bringing people in.”

In the end, the first Mio Manz Celebrity Golf Tournament took place at Pointe West Golf Club. Among the celebrity attendees were Wayne Gretzky, Jim O’Connor, and an entourage of NHL players. By that time, David and Eddie had also learned about the Sunshine Foundation, which was founded in 1987 by a London, Ontario police constable as a legacy to his son who passed away from muscular dystrophy.

The Mio Manz charity event raised $75,000.

Subsequent Mio Manz charity golf events took place at Beach Grove Golf & Country Club, and David and Eddie had a way of attracting celebrities to their cause. Hockey legend, Bobby Hull, never missed an event. Musician Alto Reed, long-time saxophonist for Bob Seger’s band, attended each year.

“I remember when Alto came to his first event,” David says. “I asked him where his golf clubs were, and he said: ‘I don’t have any clubs.’ I asked where his golf shoes were, and he said: ‘I don’t own a pair.’ Well, we got him outfitted and he had a great time. Turned out, that golf tournament was the first time he ever golfed in his life!”

Mio Manz Charities was involved with three Dream Lifts with the Sunshine Foundation.

As David and Eddie wrote in the commemorative book, looking back on

thirty years of Mio Manz Charities: “What was unexpected was the gifts they provided us. Returning from Orlando, walking down the dimly lit aisle of the plane, was a young man out of his wheelchair, back to the window sound asleep. He wore a Mickey Mouse hat and embraced several stuffed Disney characters and banners. His smile would melt our hearts.”

During our conversation, David and Eddie continuously praised the efforts of the celebrities, donors, along with the charities’ volunteers, and its numerous sponsors.

“They made it possible,” Eddie says.

“We just wanted to do something for kids,” David adds.

For more information on how to donate and/or volunteer, visit miomanz.com. D

GAS OF TANK BOOK REVIEW

A new local law enforcement memoir takes the reader into the gritty world police face everyday.

By Dean Chasnoff

Raw, Real Insight Into Life as a Cop in Ontario

Retired Ontario Provincial Police constable, Todd Ternovan, was known as a “digger”: never satisfied with pat answers or loose ends in cases. His diligence and tenacity once solved a vicious home invasion that saw an elderly man beaten and left for dead and robbed of $20,000. It took more than a year, but Todd tracked down the assailant, recovered the stolen money, and personally returned it to the victim.

This and countless other “truth is stranger than fiction” stories are told in Todd Ternovan’s new law enforcement memoir, Gas of Tank: A Canadian Law Enforcement Odyssey 1979 – 2019, written by LaSalle writer, Matthew St. Amand.

are

In 1979, while his peers were waiting tables, pumping gas, or delivering pizzas, Todd worked as a corrections officer at the Windsor Jail when he was eighteen years old. A year later, while attending Ryerson University in Toronto, he worked for another four years at the notorious Don Jail—the toughest institution in the country. Among other terrifying characters he ran into, there, Todd spent a summer guarding Nazi war criminal Helmut Rauca leading up to Rauca’s deportation from Canada in the early 1980s.

Todd became a constable with the Ontario Provincial Police in 1990. His first call was a twenty-five-car fender bender in a funeral procession in the town of Merlin. He quickly learned that smalltown policing isn’t just rescuing cats from trees and performing wellness checks. The concession roads and rural routes of south western Ontario are home to some incredibly kind, resilient people, and scene to some strange, tragic, and heinous events. Todd dealt with them all, from the naked machete-wielding man who claimed to be Jesus Christ, to armed American fugitives, decades-old sexual assaults, harrowing traffic accidents, and even a year spent “Uncle Charlie” (undercover) investigating drug traffickers.

From there, the gyrations and twists of fate that governed Todd’s career with the OPP take the reader on a roller coaster ride: working patrol, B&E squad, drug squad, undercover, highway interdiction in Merlin, Chatham, Malden, Casino Windsor, Lakeshore.

If there is one through-line in this story, it’s Todd’s uncanny ability to police with his wits and cultivate confidential informants. In the era of the Rodney King beating, Todd used his innate cleverness and gamesmanship to outsmart the bad guys, tricking them into writing “letters of confession” and otherwise lifehacking cons to do the right thing: to inform on each other. Todd wasn’t just about policing—he sought to solve crimes.

The book’s unusual title comes from a traffic stop Todd and a partner made of a group of outlaw motorcycle gang members along Highway 401. When the bikers were allowed to go, one of them decided to show his disdain for police by pulling a wheelie on his motorcycle and flipping Todd and his partner “the finger.” The biker was brought to court for stunt driving, and in his defense—delivered in a thick Quebec accent—he stated: “It is not possible to pull a wheelie on a Harley. I had a full gas of tank!” For Todd, that garbled phrase embodied all of the surreal, upside-down, unbelievable encounters police face on a daily basis.

Amid the humour and the horror of these stories, the reader has a front row seat to Todd’s policing style. He specialized in cultivating informants. When the stakes were low, particularly with Highway Traffic Act infractions, Todd gave offenders a chance to pay their debt to society by giving information about other crimes: those that already occurred, or those as yet to happen. This resulted in dangerous weapons and drugs being taken off the street, while at the same time, avoiding clogging the system with people who made bad decisions, which were ultimately harmless.

Reader reviews on Amazon.ca state: “Gas of Tank is an engaging, interesting and highly entertaining read! It is both funny and heartbreaking, poignant and moving”, “Raw, Real Insight Into Life as a Cop in Ontario”, and “This book was a real page turner! Very well written! Totally enjoyable. It is an eye-opener about what police deal with EVERY SINGLE DAY!!”

Gas of Tank: A Canadian Law Enforcement Odyssey 1979 – 2019 is available at Juniper Books and Story Teller Bookstore, both on Ottawa Street, and at River Bookshop in Amherstburg, as well as Amazon.ca.

ART IS ALL OVER

Conceptual artist

IAIN BAXTER&, Zengeist, &man, shares his singular vision of the world.

By Matthew St. Amand Photos by Iain Baxter

IAIN BAXTER& dwells in the fifth dimension. His vision of the world is that of a telescope focused on the eyepiece of another telescope. Since 1958, he has shared what he sees through his art.

“Iain Baxter” was born in Middlesbrough, England in 1936—he legally changed his name to IAIN BAXTER& in 2005. His family immigrated to Canada the year after his birth, settling in Calgary. After earning a degree in zoology at the University of Idaho, IAIN and his pregnant wife moved to Japan in 1961 where he studied art and aesthetics. The first exhibition of his work took place in Kyoto, showing large Japanese screens he created on which he painted abstract images.

“I entered the art world through the back door,” IAIN explains. “I didn’t attend art school.”

In 1964, he earned a Master’s Degree in Education. Teaching provided the financial stability that allowed him to create art. IAIN’s first post as teacher was at the University of British Columbia. Among his neighbours was a young David Suzuki.

“Having no formal art background,” IAIN continues, “I learned along with my students. I gave fun projects. For one, I said: ‘Go find the center of the city and make a piece of art on that spot or about that spot. Take photos.”

Another assignment asked students to find a suitcase or briefcase and make a piece of art using that.

“One student came in with a cooler,” IAIN recalls. “From that she took out a frozen briefcase. I asked her what it was. She said: ‘That’s my soup case!’” A look of utter astonishment comes over IAIN’s face, all these years later, and he says: “That blew my mind!”

It wasn’t long before IAIN, himself, became a master of blowing people’s minds. This is where the tidy bounds of chronology are replaced by an unending stream of his ideas and work: In 1992, IAIN filmed an entire driving trip across the Trans Canada Highway, creating a 110 hour movie titled “One Canada Movie.” In the late 1960s, IAIN created his own company called N.E. Thing. For a 1969 exhibit at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, he set up his area to resemble a modern office. More than a few patrons entered the installation and inquired where they could find IAIN’s exhibit—not realizing they were standing in the middle of it. Another project had people play the board game Monopoly with actual money.

“In the 1960s, I was traveling somewhere in the United States and pulled into a service station,” IAIN recalls. “There I saw a large vacuumed-formed plastic spark plug in an advertisement on the wall. That got me working in plastics. I vacuum-formed a carrot, a paint brush, all kinds of things. I used plastic to create inflatable clouds.”

Among his influences, IAIN counts American artist Gaylen C. Hansen who was his instructor for one of the few art courses he took. “He did his thing, and he let me do my thing,” IAIN says. “That’s how I tried to teach.”

He continues: “I also fell in love with Giorgio Morandi, an Italian artist who continuously rearranged a group of bottles in his home, which he painted. And of course, Marshall McLuhan was also a major influence.”

IAIN does not restrict himself to any single medium. In another exhibit in the Banff School of Fine Arts, 1987, IAIN filled a wall with a few hundred slices of Wonder

Bread and cut out the silhouettes of three figures: a father, mother, and child, depicting their shadows on the floor before them in toast. “I called it ‘Food for Thought.’ It was a comment on the processed junk that people eat,” IAIN says.

An exhibit that took place at the Art Gallery of Windsor in 1996, titled “Animal Preserve,” saw IAIN place brightly coloured toy animals “pickled” in Mason jars filled with distilled water. “Here the artist gives us a playful reminder of how these toys represent endangered animals deserving our careful consideration,” one observer wrote.

IAIN has lived with his wife Louise Chance-BAXTER& in Windsor since 1988, teaching art at the University of Windsor until 2002. He has taken and published numerous photographs from around the city. Among them is the street sign for Dot in west Windsor.

In 2005, he legally changed his name to IAIN BAXTER&. The ampersand signifies the notion “There is always something else,” IAIN says. He has created a series of sculptural works using the ampersand, including “And,” a 10-foot inflatable silver version in 2008.

His work has been displayed in the Louvre in Paris, the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Windsor, and countless other galleries and spaces around the world.

In 1983-84, IAIN worked at Labatt’s as a creative consultant— “A sort of iconoclastic court jester,” he recalls—advising the C suite about how to engage with the public.

IAIN’s awards and honours include: 2003: Officer of the Order of Canada, 2004: Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, 2019: Companion of the Order of Canada.

Many of IAIN’s ideas vault over whatever boundary exists between art and marketing. One in particular could be a boon for the City of Windsor.

“Windsor is one of the few places in the world that has section called ‘Sandwich,’” IAIN explains. “We should have a sandwich festival every year, bringing in sandwich makers from all over the world. There could be prizes for Best European Sandwich, Best South American Sandwich, Best Asian Sandwich, and so forth. We could showcase wines from this region at the same festival. I have no idea why the people in charge of the city aren’t doing this now!”

He enjoys the slogan “Art is all over” because it can be taken to mean “art is finished,” or that “art is everywhere.” IAIN always leaves the interpretation to the observer.

Far from being the mythic “tortured artist,” IAIN maintains a playful, humourous aspect to his work.

“I’m having a great!” he says. D

RENOWN DESIGNER BEATRICE RUSSO Joined Hi Neighbor to bring her professional services to collaborate with Architects, Interior designers, Builders, as well to all Hi Neighbor customers.

Anatolia Tile I Style Raffino

THRIVING UNDER PRESSURE IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Why do some entrepreneurs feel overwhelmed in stressful situations, while others thrive and flourish in reaction to heightened stress? What explains the difference between these two groups of individuals?

Stress hardiness is a key factor in psychological resilience - the ability to remain healthy and strong during challenging times. Hardy individuals transform stressful events into opportunities for growth by taking direct action in response to stress and adversity.

CHALLENGE

Challenge is the understanding that change is normal and acts as an incentive for self-improvement

A core component of resiliency, especially in entrepreneurship, is the ability to pivot and flex when a business does not go as planned.

The need to adapt and recalibrate is amplified post-pandemic. Many companies are on the edge of collapse, and equally at the threshold of opportunity.

Anchor Yourself

Focus on what remains consistent during rapid change and use it as an anchoring technique at the start and end of each day.

The sun still rises. The birds still sing. Your favourite movie continues to make you laugh.

Integrate this anchoring exercise into work meetings, family dinners, and conversations with fellow business owners.

Simply asking, “what parts of your day remain the same during uncertain times” shifts the dialogue from grief to gratitude. Laying a solid foundation for bouncing forward.

Reframe The Challenge

The A-B-C Model of Cognitive Psychology, developed by Dr. Albert Ellis, underscores the notion that as a business owner, it is not what happens to you that matters most, it is your thoughts about what happens.

For example, two entrepreneurs experience the same setback in rival businesses: an Operating Loss in two consecutive quarters. (Activating Event)

One person perceives fi nancial loss as a neverending failure, while the other sees it as an opportunity for learning and growth. (Belief and Thoughts).

The entrepreneur racked in self-doubt often spirals into learned helplessness, undermining their ability to bounce back and learn from failure. (Consequences and Emotions).

A. Activating Event: Operating Loss

B. Belief and Thoughts: Failure vs. Learning Opportunity

C. Consequences and Emotions: Learned Helplessness vs. Confidence

Therefore, connecting entrepreneurs in community is so important. Opening the conversation and reducing the shame around failure helps move the mind from negativity bias to broaden and build.

We all fail. It is a universal experience. Success is not a straight line.

CONTROL

Control is the belief in one's ability to influence life events.

Locus of control is a key ingredient in both stress hardiness and mental resiliency. Knowing the diff erence between what is within your control and sphere of influence and what to let go of and surrender is a daily process and wellness habit.

Take Inventory

Make a list of all the activities that you are responsible for in a 24-hour period, including weekends.

What happens outside working hours is just as important as what happens during. Everything is interconnected. Especially in entrepreneurship, where boundaries between work and home are often less clearly defined.

Include chauffeuring duties to and from school, cooking meals, shopping for groceries, tending to your aging parents, making spreadsheets for financials, forecasting next year’s sales, and marketing your business. Leave nothing off the list.

Rank Order

Order the list in terms of your top priorities in business, health, and home. For example, if you are working on an MBA, while simultaneously running a business and a home, it is paramount to select your “top priorities” to focus on, because nobody can do everything – eff ectively.

Energy And Time Management

Within the top priorities list: Make a list of items that are beyond your control. Areas of your life that drain your energy, motivation, and enthusiasm.

Next, make a list of moments and situations that lift you up. Areas where you create impact. Focus on those areas. Surrender the rest.

You can’t add more to life, without fi rst letting go.

COMMITMENT

Commitment is the ability to engage fully in all aspects of life, no matter how big or small, with a sense of purpose and meaning.

How many times have you wanted to give up as an entrepreneur in the last two years?

What kept you going? What drew you back in?

Most likely it was the initial vision for your company.

Something that often fades with the day-to-day running of an organization.

Beginner’s Mind

Time travel back to your early days as an entrepreneur and tap into the energy of new beginnings. Ask yourself “Why” you started your business in the fi rst place.

Relax, sit back, close your eyes, and take a long deep breath. Imagine the seeds of your fi rst innovative idea, the moment when your passion for entrepreneurship took hold.

Remember Why You Started

Entrepreneurs are pioneers and innovators searching for something better. To make the world better. Whether it be treating cancer patients with groundbreaking technology, designing electric car charging stations, creating hybrid workspaces, or urban farming. They are united in a vision and a yearning to make a diff erence in the world.

Reconnecting with this vision daily, whether it be through journaling, meditation, and/or conversation is key to thriving under pressure in entrepreneurship.

Motivation is what gets you going. Commitment is what keeps you going.

Stay focused on your North Star.

Original Source WETech Alliance Technology Blog

WEtech’s vision WEtech Alliance - Home (wetech-alliance.com) is to build a regional technology community that fosters entrepreneurship, innovation, and collaboration, creating a wealth of opportunity and prosperity for Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent.

Dr. Andrea Dinardo

Psychology professor and keynote speaker with expertise in stress, resilience, and mental health. Visit DrAndreaDinardo.com to learn more about her speaking services and leadership programs.

TO LEARN MORE, CONTACT

People, relationships, especially going through loss—it’s the highs and lows of life ... and I lean into that in those moments and that’s how I create.

LOVE, LOSS & Music

Mike Cerveni discusses life and the power of music.

By Devan Mighton Photo by Syx Langemann

On the twilight side of a brutal pandemic, many of those among us are left with bad memories—a job lost, a divorce, isolation from loved ones. However, for some, the burden was even more extreme.

Local songwriter and musical artist Mike Cerveni attempted to capture the raw emotion of the pandemic in his music video for Shooting Star—a stunning new song released by him this past summer.

To the backdrop of the pandemic, in the video, Cerveni deals with the loss of a relative that disappears suddenly from his life, only to succumb in a hospital with no one but masked nurses to hold his hand as the life drains from him. Cerveni attempts to force his way into the clinic, but to no avail.

“You’re a shooting star, you’re my wish afar—tell me you’re okay,” mourns Cerveni in Shooting Star. “You’re my guiding light in the dead of night—give me some sign. I wanna know that you’ll always be with me.”

Although the music video was inspired by the struggles of millions worldwide over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, the song itself comes from a personal loss in Cerveni’s life over a decade ago.

“If you’ve seen the video for Shooting Star, it’s about my mom—she passed away 14 years ago,” reveals Cerveni. “Without her, I wouldn’t exist and she was always the one

encouraging me to do music when I was younger. I’ve never felt like I’ve wanted to stop, but it’s also a good way to keep that memory alive for me—for her, knowing that I’m still making music—because it’s really because of her.”

Cerveni draws the inspiration for much of his powerful rock songs through a strong emotional core.

“I’ll just pick up the guitar and play a few chords and I’ll come up with melodies instantly—even co-variations of melodies,” he explains. “It’s strange to say, but in a matter of minutes, it’s usually done if that inspiration hits.”

“People, relationships, especially going through loss— it’s the highs and lows of life ... and I lean into that in those moments and that’s how I create.”

Cerveni says he wouldn’t describe his music as uplifting, but that there is certainly a positive message within. He adds that, at the core, Shooting Star is his wish that his mother was here to witness all that she has missed.

During his childhood, Cerveni says that he was always around music. His family, especially on his father’s side, was very musical and he has fond memories of his grandfather playing guitar at family functions.

“What really happened was, I remember sitting watching a concert on TV, I think it was Third Eye Blind,

thought,

to

“It snowballed until I was 11 years old, sitting in my room alone,

songs by ear—Blink 182, Green Day, all of those bands.

was the spark—and then I started writing at 16.”

days, Cerveni is the father to a five-year-old son who is drawing inspiration from his old man.

“I have tons of videos of him singing randomly on the microphone, himself and me creating music,” he boasts. “I’m like, ‘This doesn’t need to stop!’”

“I wrote a song for my son, who was one at the time. It’s called Everything’s For You. Being a father changed me. All you do is think about your kid and you have all those worries and stuff. Other priorities fall into place and it’s what’s more important. I wouldn’t change it for the world—he’s five now, so it’s pretty amazing. He loves music too and he loves watching me create.”

In 2010, Cerveni released his debut album, The World You Know. Three years later, he put out the song What Would You Do?, inspired by the television show of the same name. The song, with the help of local women’s shelters and organizations, helped draw light to the issues of domestic violence in the Windsor-Essex community. In 2019, after getting married and the birth of his son, he released a self-titled follow up album.

Lately, Cerveni has been attempting to adapt to the ever-changing streaming game, opting for singles over albums.

“Singles really are the way to go,” he explains. “Then, if you have enough, you can always put out an album if it makes sense for them to be together and then you can distribute it that way.”

“You’ve got Spotify, you’ve got all the streaming services—people really just do the one-song-at-a-time kind of thing these days.”

With the positive reception received by Shooting Star, Cerveni has been gearing up towards the release of a new single, Been Through So Much, on Oct. 10—World Mental Health Day.

“I wanted to put two different topics in the verses because I know people have gone through similar things—feeling alone, feeling invisible, depression, anxiety, those are the main themes,” discloses Cerveni. “It could be getting bullied at school—getting through those struggles and challenges, where you think you’re not going to get out, but if you do, you’ll come out even stronger because of it.”

Cerveni, who has family in Serbia, has brought on Serbian rapper Janko Francisty for an alternate mix of the song, described as a Linkin Park-esque arrangement, to be released later. After seeing the rapper on Facebook, Cerveni knew he needed to collaborate. “I was like, ‘I don’t know what he’s saying, but I like his voice and I’m going to reach out to him.”

The singer says that he has been busy preparing to promote the song, having just shot a video for Been Through So Much that is set to land at the end of October. He has also assembled a live band, who he is currently rehearsing with for future live shows.

For more information and new music in the coming months, please visit www.MikeCerveniMusic.com or follow him on all social media platforms at @mikecervenimusic. To pre-save the upcoming single, Been Through So Much, please visit https://ff m.to/btsm.

ONTARIO YOUTH APPRENTICE PROGRAM

SUCCESS STORY

Providing a pathway for kids into satisfying, well-paying, lifelong careers.

By Matthew St. Amand Photo by Syx Langemann

The people of Ontario have heard it before—most recently from the Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development, Monte McNaughton: “The greatest economic challenge we face today is the labour shortage created by people in skilled trades retiring with too few young people lined up to fi ll their roles.”

No one has heeded this warning as proactively as Jason Lepain and the administrators of the Ontario Youth Apprentice Program (OYAP). OYAP is a school-to-work program that opens doors for students to explore and work in apprenticeship occupations through the Cooperative Education program. Students can become registered apprentices and work towards becoming certified journeypersons in a skilled trade while completing their secondary school diplomas.

According to Minister McNaughton: “By the year 2025, one in five jobs in Ontario will be in the skilled trades.”

OYAP inspires young people to give skilled trades serious consideration as a career choice. The program abounds with success stories. One that is particularly illustrative involves a seventeen-year-old Walkerville student named Caidence who gave OYAP a try and found a passion she didn’t realize she had.

“I heard about OYAP through the Create Your Future program,” Caidence explains. “My teachers at Walkerville thought OYAP would be a good fit.”

It was a brave choice for Caidence because joining OYAP meant splitting her time between her familiar home school, Walkerville, and W. F. Herman Secondary School where the Department of Technology Studies is located. This pushed her out of her comfort zone. With the support and encouragement of her teachers, however, such as Natalie Browning-Morgan, Caidence took the leap. Among the challenges she faced was finding transportation from Walkerville to Herman.

“This is a gap,” says Natalie Browning-Morgan. “Caidence struggled with it at first, but she overcame it.”

Although hesitant at the start, Caidence was determined to give OYAP a fair shot.

“At first, I didn’t think I would like it,” she says, “but then I met Mr. Kotevich at

Herman, and he showed me that this was something I could do.”

Caidence did her General Machinist apprenticeship at Nickleson Machine & Tool in Windsor.

“When I fi rst started, I was nervous about using the CMM machine,” she says. “Some of the other machines were the size of a house. Some boring mills were just huge, radial drills, huge rotary surface grinders the size of a shed.”

Sixteen years of age the time, Caidence was the fi rst female Nickleson had on the shop floor. She saw that the floor personnel were very close and wondered if they would accept her. They did.

After working on her General Machinist apprenticeship, Caidence gained enough experience to realize it really wasn’t the direction for her.

“After completing my first year, I decided I preferred tool making,” she says. “It was more hands-on. Every day it was something different. I had to bring my own creativity and problem-solving.”

As a result of OYAP, if Caidence maintains her academic average, she’ll have a Level I apprenticeship when she graduates from Walkerville in June. She will work the summer at Nickleson and continue working on her apprenticeship through St. Clair College in the fall. Students pay for their courses upfront, but if they successfully complete them, they are reimbursed those costs through grants.

After they trained me on CMM, I was the only person doing those inspections. At times, they had me under pressure because every project has to be on time. I told them:

Following her time at Nickleson, Caidence’s co-workers missed her.

“The employer had so many great things to say about Caidence,” Jason Lepain confirms. “They really miss having her. She did so many things there.”

Caidence sums up her experience with OYAP, saying: “It has been amazing. I love working in my field. I was so lucky with my placement at Nickleson. They really took me in and taught me so much. My foreman did a great job helping me. He saw that I got a wide variety of training, experience. I tried almost every machine in there. I can’t wait to go back.”

Caidence’s foreman, Darren Roy, wasted no time beginning her training. She started on the CMM machine (Coordinate Measuring Machine), which is a tool used for measuring the dimensions of machine/ tool parts using coordinate technology. The dimensional measurements the CMM records include height, width, and depth in the X, Y, and Z axis. It is used for inspecting parts before shipping to customers.

“After they trained me on CMM,” Caidence says, “I was the only person doing those inspections. At times, they had me under pressure because every project has to be on time. I told them: ‘You can have the other guy do it.’ But my foreman said: ‘No, you are totally capable of doing it.”

The skilled trades are fast becoming the career of choice among many young people. OYAP is a proven pathway into satisfying, well-paying jobs. For more information, please contact Jason Lepain or Justin St. Pierre to explore the many different OYAP or Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) programs offered at the GECDSB that could lead an exciting career in the skilled trades. If you are an employer looking for GEDCSB COOP students in Manufacturing or any other sector, please reach out to us as well. More information on SHSM program can be found at ontario.ca/SHSM.

Justin St. Pierre – Justin.St.Pierre@publicboard.ca 519-791-7166

Jason Lepain – Jason.Lepain@publicboard.ca 519-816-6170

‘You can have the other guy do it.’ But my foreman said: ‘No, you are totally capable of doing it.

MANAGING

PCOS NATURALLY

Naturopathic Doctor urges women to be their own advocate.

By: Jen Brignall-Strong Photo by Dave Hunter

When Dr. Jennifer Strong, ND read about The University of Windsor’s H.E.A.L Lab research in issue 144 of The DRIVE Magazine, she knew she had something to add to the conversation.

The naturopathic doctor works in partnership with the Victory Reproductive Care clinic and was directed to the article on Polycystic Ovary Syndrome research by an office colleague.

“One day Dr. Pattinson stopped me in the hallway and asked, ‘Did you read that article about PCOS in The DRIVE?’” she recalls. “Once I read it I thought, ‘There’s so much we can offer these women.’”

“I felt for the researcher; she described how these women felt alone and that there weren’t many answers,” she continues. “A lot of patients I see, that’s their story too. They’ve gone through conventional care and they’re not getting the answers they need or

the treatment they need because that model of care often isn’t designed for that.”

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrine disorder for women of reproductive age. Symptoms include infrequent, prolonged, or abnormally heavy menstrual cycles and elevated levels of male hormones that can result in excess facial and body hair, severe acne, and baldness. If left unmanaged, the condition can lead to serious complications including Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and an increased risk of uterine cancer, infertility, and depression.

For the past three years, Dr. Strong has worked with her colleagues in traditional medicine to offer women a more holistic approach to managing a variety of reproductive health conditions, including PCOS.

“At the fertility clinic, my role focuses more on the lifestyle aspect. What can we

do and what can the patients themselves do to better their care?” she explains. “That’s where I’m able to spend more time and explain to them what they can do that fits into their lifestyle.”

The partnership came as a result of the patients she’d been seeing in her own family practice over the past decade, explains Dr. Strong.

“I had a few patients that were also patients of Dr. Victory. There was one particular woman who was going through fertility care and was enrolled in a clinical trial with a new medication,” she recalls. “She didn’t know the name of it, so I wrote to Dr. Victory to see what it was.”

Shortly after, the two doctors met to discuss how working together could support fertility clinic patients and a partnership was born.

“We really approach it as a team,” she says. “It’s quite a unique situation. With naturopathic medicine, we have so much to offer; especially in cases like PCOS where there are many diff erent factors involved. Then bridging that with conventional care because they are able to do more in terms of testing.”

Naturopathic medicine is about learning how your body works best, making choices that support your health goals, and being mindful of your physical and emotional needs. Holistic PCOS treatments complement conventional healthcare and have been supportive for patients of the fertility clinic and women at her own family practice, notes Dr. Strong.

“In terms of a patient’s goals, not everyone necessarily wants to get pregnant, so when we have a fertility patient who’s doing an IUI in a few months, their treatment plan is going to look very diff erent than someone who’s not looking to have babies but is suffering from PCOS.”

Dr. Strong notes that there isn’t one set protocol for managing the disorder, and while there are guidelines, every case is different in terms of what women are experi-

encing. Weight is often a discussion point, she says, so fi guring out the best dietary guidelines is the first course of action.

With naturopathic medicine, we have so much to offer; especially in cases like PCOS where there are many different factors involved. Then bridging that with conventional care because they are able to do more in terms of testing.

“From there we look to see if there’s any emotional support that’s needed for anxiety or depression because stress plays a huge role in how you metabolize your food. Then we add in supplements if needed and look at what would be helpful,” she says, noting that supplements like fi sh oils are often used to reduce inflammation, lower cholesterol, and regulate mood.

While there’s a little more time and effort involved in discovering the root cause of the

sy mptoms, Dr. Strong says the end result is more substantial and lifelong.

“With PCOS, women often struggle with anxiety and depression just from feeling crummy all the time,” she continues. “When we help them get more regular periods or manage their weight or we see cholesterol levels come down, it’s really great to be a part of that. If they would have just gone a more conventional route like using birth control to regulate their period without looking at the nutrition portion of it, I’m not sure they would have achieved that same level of success.”

She also stresses the importance of being your own advocate when it comes to your health.

“If you’re not feeling better, go back with more questions,” she says. “Keep having the conversation. I know it can be frustrating when you feel like you’re not being heard, but always ask if there’s another specialist or a counsellor or even a pelvic floor therapist. There are a lot of options. It doesn’t end with a diagnosis. We need to find something else; another person, another plan, another route to healing.” D

IT WOULD LOVE US BACK.

Money doesn't seem to work nearly as hard for us as we do for it. So change how you do money. Keep more of it, worry less about it, put it to work locally. And hey - get a little extra every now and then just for making good decisions.

money better means making it work harder for you. Talk to a Libro Coach

The Drive magazine in partnership with Libro Credit Union is challenging Grade 12 students to write an essay focused on their day-to-day lives.

Once a school is selected, the top five articles chosen by the teacher are further reviewed by our editorial team and the winner receives a $500 RESP from Libro Credit Union, along with publication of the essay in our issue.

Congratulations to Emma Bleakley for being our September winner!

We are proud of all the participants and will continue to support our community through continued literacy and a path to higher education.

Having a Passionate Plan for Financial Resilience

By Emma Bleakley

always build up an emergency fund, the reason you should build this up is because life always throws curveballs at you, and you never know when you might need a little bit of extra money. Another prime way is to make sure you pay off your debt as soon as possible, letting your debt build up negatively effects savings and your process of building up your money.

Financial resilience has always been a topic to be passionate about, being able to overcome financial difficulties and other issues created by the stress of saving and processing what to do with your money. Financial resilience is the potential to deal with life’s circumstances that have correla tion with money or one’s income, including but not limited to medical bills, disability, or other problems that may affect an individual.

There are many ways to build financial resilience, the most common way to make sure you live a comfortable lifestyle, you should always have a plan about what you want and need to do with your money, how to save it and how to build it up. You should

Planning for your finances is easy. First, start by setting goals for yourself, do not set goals that are unattainable, but set realistic goals that you know with a little bit of effort you can achieve. Have a plan for your taxes, taxes add up over time. Part of being finan cially resilient is having a plan for paying taxes and having a plan for any tax refund that comes. Just remember if you can dream it, you can do it. Everything is achievable if you are prepared to work for it. Having a plan for your retirement is also important to financial resilience. Retirement Is supposed to be a relaxing time to celebrate the end of all your arduous work and finally being able to relax and enjoy your life. If you save up money you can comfortably enjoy the rest of your life, whereas if you have no savings, you have a lot more stressors in your life, so you are not able to fully enjoy the time you deserve.

Building up an emergency fund is not a challenging thing to do. Looking at it, it is just making a budget to be able to have extra money when you need it. Most banks offer an option to set up automatic deposits, so essentially when you get paid you allow the bank to transfer the money you have selected into a separate account so you are not left with the stress of figuring out every month how to transfer the required money

over to save, it will already be done for you. Financial resilience may also include, look for other ways to build up your income, to relieve yourself of extra financial hardship by saving a little extra money every pay cheque, try to cut extra expenses wherever you can. At the end of the day, money can be a tricky thing to come by, because sometimes we just do not know what to expect. That is why it is important to have an emergency fund, so when the worst happens, you can still afford to live a fulfilling life.

Paying off your debt and making sure your life is affordable is part of financial resilience. Life is expensive and it is an incredibly stressful thing when you cannot afford to pay your bills on time, when you cannot buy your children those brand-new Jordan’s because spending that extra money on those shoes, may mean you cannot put food on the table. We all make sacrifices in our lives to make sure those we love are happy, but debt does not need to be a lifelong problem. First, if you can spare the money pay more than the minimum payments this will help by shortening the amount of time you need to be paying the debt for. Always pay off your most expensive loan first, that way the amount of interest being charged is not increased for the higher payment. Keep track of your bills, make sure the payments are received and paid on time.

At the end of the day money comes and goes. Building up your financial resilience does not have to feel like it is a burden. Be sure to keep track of and responsibly manage your finances in a way that does not add additional stress to your life. Financial resil ience is something to be passionate about. D

TO IGNORE.

It’s okay to stare, the Frigidaire Professional series features a bold, unapologetic aesthetic that transforms any kitchen space.

TO IGNORE. It’s okay to stare, the Frigidaire Professional series features a bold, unapologetic aesthetic that transforms any kitchen space.