Sensi Magazine - Pittsburgh PREMIERE (November 2019) by Sensi Magazine

Premie re Issue

I PITTSBURGH

N OV 2019

MEET THE MAMA BEARS

Pennsylvania moms fight to give their children better lives

HACKING THE FEAST

How the hippies hijacked Thanksgiving

PLAYING IT FORWARD

The Steel City shows its big, jamminâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; heart

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PITTSBURGH SENSI MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2019

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F E AT U R E S

16 Meet the Mama Bears These mothers led the charge for legalization to give their kids better lives.

24 Single, Not Sorry More people are choosing uncoupled adulthood.

SPECIAL REPORT

30 Higher Education A college degree in cannabis is a real thing. And it’s a big sign the industry is legit.

36 Hacking the Feast How the hippies hijacked Thanksgiving.

D E PA R T M E N T S

9 EDITOR’S NOTE 10 THE BUZZ News, tips, and tidbits

to keep you in the loop. NANOWRIMO Make like Michael Chabon. GREEN From Dirty Burgh to sustainability leaders. 6 PODCASTS to keep you company on your drive. BREAKING VAPE The latest on the mysterious vaping-related illness.

44 THE LIFE Contributing to your

health and happiness. VOLUNTEER It’s good for you—and others, too.

48 THE SCENE

Hot happenings and hip hangouts around town. ONE LOVE Recapping Rock, Reggae & Relief

ON THE COVER Michael Franti brought music, love, and unity to Pittsburgh’s annual Rock, Reggae & Relief music festival and fundraiser. Photo by Scott Kostelnik/ Stereotype Photography.

50 THE END

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I NSTAG RAM @sensimagazine is home to exclusive photos and content.

EXECUTIVE Ron Kolb CEO ron@sensimag.com Tae Darnell President tae@sensimag.com

Alex Martinez Chief Administrative Officer alex@sensimag.com EDITORIAL Stephanie Wilson Editor in Chief stephanie@sensimag.com Doug Schnitzspahn Executive Editor doug.schnitzspahn@sensimag.com Leland Rucker Senior Editor leland.rucker@sensimag.com

Robyn Griggs Lawrence Editor at Large robyn.lawrence@sensimag.com Buzzy Jackson Contributing Writer DESIGN Jamie Ezra Mark Creative Director jamie@emagency.com Rheya Tanner Art Director Wendy Mak Designer Josh Clark Designer em@sensimag.com

B U S I N E S S /A D M I N Kristan Toth Head of People kristan.toth@sensimag.com Gina Vensel Publisher gina.vensel@sensimag.com Matt Raymond Associate Publisher matt.raymond@sensimag.com Amber Orvik Director of Administration amber.orvik@sensimag.com Andre Velez Marketing Director andre.velez@sensimag.com Neil Willis Production Manager neil.willis@sensimag.com Hector Irizarry Distribution distribution@sensimag.com

EDITOR’S NOTE

Sensi is a lifestyle. It’s a way of interacting

with the world and the community around us that cultivates a respect for our health and well-being. It’s a promise to live our best lives, to appreciate everything from art exhibitions to vinyasa yoga to anime conventions to the verdant green of a golf course. Sensi is about laughing and enjoying time with friends. It’s about speaking up, listening carefully, and making a difference in a world filled with so much background noise. Sensi is a future full of promise. This is us. This is how we live our lives. We hope to share that full vibe with you and learn and grow with you. With that philosophy in mind, we are overjoyed to welcome you to the first issue of Sensi magazine in Pittsburgh. We founded this magazine four years ago with a passion to speak to our community. Every month, Sensi will entertain and (we hope) educate you with both national and local content that speaks to our mission and values. Look for features and service pieces that will connect you to this urban hotspot and the wider Sensi family. Pittsburgh boasts a unique combination of tradition and forward thinking. This town has a well-deserved reputation for family and dedication. Just look at Mama Bears Heather Shuker, Diana Briggs, and Lolly Bench. When they saw what medical marijuana could do for their suffering children (page 16), they set out on the path to make it legal in Pennsylvania. That was not an easy choice, but it was one based in looking at the facts and taking action to support family. That’s Pittsburgh. Sensi is a natural fit for this town. We are proud to launch in this community and speak to its unique mindset. We can’t wait for you to join us.

Sensi is a natural fit for this town. We are proud to launch in this community and speak to its unique mindset.

M E D I A PA R T N E R S Marijuana Business Daily Minority Cannabis Business Association National Cannabis Industry Association Students for Sensible Drug Policy

Doug Schnitzspahn doug.schnitzspahn@sensimag.com NOVEM BER 2019

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THE

It’s NaNoWriMo. Send your inner editor packing. Who wants to be the next Michael Chabon? The time is now. NaNoWriMo—short for National Novel Writing Month—has begun. Since 1999, this annual writeathon nonprofit has sent caffeinated writers (who call themselves Wrimos) across the globe scrambling to complete a 50,000-word novel in 30 10 P I T TS BU RG H

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days—even if the novel is a pile of garbage—for the sheer satisfaction and a digital diploma. NaNoWriMo began as a challenge between 21 friends in San Francisco and has grown to include chapters in cities around the world. Though most Wrimos tackle novels, some—referred to as reb-

els—take on memoirs and nonfiction as well. “November is the perfect time to practice turning off your inner editor… and let your instincts run the show for a bit,” writes 13-year Wrimo Naomi Nakashima on NaNoWriMo’s blog. “See what comes from that amazing mind of yours.”

BEAT THE ODDS Though there are nearly 800K Wrimos, the number of novels that have been completed is only around 370K. Your local chapter gives you the tools and support you need to have the best shot at success. Pittsburgh has its own forum on NaNoWriMo.org. Sign up, join the conversation, and get your typing ﬁngers ready.

PHOTO OF MICHAEL CHABON COURTESY WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Around the Words in 30 Days

CONTRIBUTORS

Robyn Griggs Lawrence, Lauri Riihimaki, Leland Rucker, Doug Schnitzspahn

Homemade

for the Holidays

If you’re not the crafty type, don’t fret: you can still give handmade, one-of-a-kind gifts this holiday season—if you get your orders in now. “I usually close custom orders the weekend after Thanksgiving,” says Jamy Daily, the creative force behind Fortuitous Fox, which makes macrame jewelry and homewares in vibrant colors, accented with unique crystals for an upscale look. She says her love of this art form took root when she was a child. “I always loved making friendship bracelets as a kid,” she says. “I had all of my embroidery ﬂoss neatly compartmentalized by color.” Earrings like the ones you see here typically fall in the $35 to $50 range, and the length can be totally customized. (In our look book, bigger = better.) To place a custom order for this holiday season, visit the Fortuitous Fox Etsy page, and follow Daily on Instagram @fortuitousfox to infuse some beautiful handmade inspiration into your feed. Fortuitous Fox / etsy.com/shop/ourfortuitousfox

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THE BUZZ

SENSIBILITIES WHAT MATTERS THIS MONTH BY STEPHANIE WILSON

1 LIKE MAMA USED TO MAKE Fact: No stuﬃng will ever compare to your

mom’s. Except my mom’s. My mom’s was the best. Fact.

______ 2 ALT LIFESTYLE Instead of stuﬃng a turkey, why not stuﬀ some turkey into

a tortilla, then top it with cranberry salsa? It’s an easy twist on Thanksgiving, as long as you follow it up with pumpkin pie. Without the pie, it’s not Thanksgiving, it’s just Taco Thursday, and no one is putting that on a T-shirt.

______ 3 LIFE-CHANGING + BUDGET-SAVING If you’re a reader—and I know you

are; you’re reading this right now—you’ve got to download Libby. The free app connects you to your local library so you can borrow e-books, audiobooks, and magazines wherever you are.

______ 4 NOT NOT TRUE I heard somewhere that if you hug a palm tree, someone in

a place where palm trees don’t grow gets their wings. Or maybe they just start thinking about getting on an aircraft and winging it to a tropical locale—gotta use up those vacation days before 2020, after all.

______ 5 FAN OF FRONDS If you spot a palm-tree-hugger in the act this month

(portrait-mode selﬁes count), tag @sensimagazine and @stephwilll for a chance to be featured in an upcoming issue.

"Make all you can honestly. Save all you can prudently. Give all you can wisely. " —Henry J. Heinz, founder of HJ Heinz Company

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THE BUZZ

Podcastic! Six great series to tune into when you’re on the road or need a break.

Against the Rules

Journalist and bestselling author Michael Lewis looks at fairness “in a world where everyone loves to hate the referee.”

Broken Record

Malcom Gladwell, Rick Rubin, and Bruce Headlam talk music “for a world without liner notes.”

Jalen & Jacoby

Jalen Rose and David Jacoby break down sports and pop culture.

The Joe Rogan Experience

Ron Burgundy Podcast

WTF with Marc Maron

The Comedianʼs No podcast list Will Ferrell conversations would be comreprises everywith pop culture plete without oneʼs favorite icons, including the grandaddy role, conducting Robin Williams, of them all. interviews Keith Richards, JRE has been that have “a and President around for tendency to Barack Obama, nearly a decade, go off the rails” have garnered and Rogan has so “we find out the poscast been called “the things about more than Walter Cronkite people we never 260 million of our era.” wanted to know.” downloads.

PHOTO VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

The Green Burgh

Pittsburgh just became a leader in sustainability and the movement to stem climate change, but it comes somewhere you might not expect—in the buildings of the city’s skyline. The former Dirty Burgh is the second city in the world (after New York) to sign the United Nations Economic Council on Europe and the Green Building Alliance program to meet energy eﬃciency standards according to goals set out in the Paris Agreement, which the US has not signed. The Greater Pittsburgh International Center of Excellence on High Performance Buildings will oversee these policies and help train and educate builders, architects, and planners to construct a greener ’Burgh. “The International Centers transform how we build cities, from the materials we use to building design and construction, to the policies that set new standards for the future,” says GBA executive director Jenna Cramer. bit.ly/2IYVzmy NOVEM BER 2019

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Our longtime community members give back by spending long nights at public meetings, checking in on their elderly neighbors, and holding elected leaders accountable.

Pittsburgh is incredible at breeding a community of hungry, ambitious thinkers and doers. Younger businesses are guided to success through a vast network of universities, nonproﬁts, and investors.

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Through the arts and music scene from free street fairs to The Three Rivers Arts Fest to Picklesburgh to Jazz Festival and countless others, the city gives a great sense of community for all to experience.

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The ethnic population of Pittsburgh instills a sense of belonging to our neighborhoods. It provides each generation with a strong family connection of contributors to a variety of deserving causes.

VAPE EXPECTATIONS Black market cartridges may be to blame for a mysterious disease. In October, Pennsylvania reported its first vape-related death from the illness that has affected hundreds across the US. The recent incidents, including hundreds of hospitalizations and 26 deaths, have unquestionably been linked to vaporized products, and most cases have been reported in states where adult-use cannabis is illegal. Many seem to be tied to bootleg THC cartridges, which can be perfect knock-offs of legitimate ones and are sold on the black market, but a recent case in Oregon appears linked to a legitimate cartridge bought in a store. Scientists are tracking down the cause. But whatʼs lacking in most of the early reports is any nuance—what the cartridges contained, whether they were bought legally, and whether they might have been tampered with after purchase. The outbreak has prompted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to

issue a warning that people avoid using vaporizers until we learn more. In early September, the CDC warned of the potential of lipoid pneumonia, a rare condition that occurs when fat particles enter the lungs. The CDC is working with the FDA and individual states to find out whether the illnesses are linked to specific devices, ingredients, or contaminants. At least part of the confusion is because vaping cartridges are poorly regulated by federal and state governments. Expect more regulation of cartridges in the future as this plays out. The main thing for consumers, however, is simply to exercise common sense. Never buy cartridges off the street, no matter the price. And if youʼre doubtful about any product, follow your instincts and donʼt buy it.

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Meet the Mama Bears Rather than watch their children suffer, these dedicated everyday mothers took matters into their own hands and made the case that the state of Pennsylvania needed medical cannabis. Now, their kids are able to live better livesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and the fight continues. TEXT BUZZY JACKSON

n 2006, only 22 percent of Pennsylvania residents approved of legalizing marijuana in the state. By 2019, that number had risen to 59 percent. How did public opinion

change so drastically in such a short time? The fact that several other states had already successfully legalized cannabis certainly contributed. But the unsung heroes of this battle are a group of hard-

working Pennsylvania women, the kind of anonymous moms you see every day shuttling kids around town in minivans. You donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know their names, but the Pennsylvania State Legislature does. They call them the Mama Bears. NOVEM BER 2019

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PHOTO COURTESY HEATHER SHUKER

“Seeing the results of this program on a personal level as well as from all the individuals who are beneﬁting from it has been truly a miracle.” —Heather Shuker

Heather Shuker and her daughter Hannah

“My daughter Hannah was first diagnosed with severe intractable epilepsy in 2003,” says Heather Shuker, a proud Mama Bear. In the 13 years that followed, Hannah suffered from more than 100,000 seizures, which severely affected her development, and as a teenager she was still unable to walk by herself. In 2016, medical marijuana (MMJ) was legalized in Pennsylvania when Governor Tom Wolf signed Act 16 into law. Once Hannah was able to secure a consistent dose of legal medical cannabis, she discovered a quality of life she’d never known before. Today Hannah is over 95 percent seizure-free. She can walk independently, and she’s “showing her great big personality again,” Shuker says with pride—and a touch of sadness. “I cannot stop to think of how our life could have been different,” she says, trying not to dwell on how much might

have changed, from Hannah’s overall health to the years of suffering she and her family endured, had MMJ been available from the moment of her first diagnosis. “Seeing the results of this program on a personal level as well as from all the individuals who are benefiting from it has been truly a miracle,” Shuker says. But the legalization of MMJ wasn’t a miracle. And Shuker knows that better than almost anyone. The reason medical cannabis is legal in Pennsylvania today is because she and other moms whose children were also suffering decided to do something about it. Pennsylvania is now beginning to consider the legalization of recreational cannabis. Yet few of the issue’s supporters realize how much they owe to moms like Heather Shuker. In state after state, the pro-legalization strategy has been the same: first, legalize MMJ, then move on to full legal-

ization. That’s because it’s easy to accuse advocates of legalized recreational cannabis of being reprobate stoners. But it’s much more diﬃcult to criticize desperate mothers fighting for their children’s lives. The burden of the fight for legalization, though, falls to anguished parents. “Ryan used to suffer from over 400 seizures a day,” says the second member of this trio of Mama Bears, Diana Briggs. Her son Ryan was born in 2000 and also suffered from intractable epilepsy. Like Hannah, he first sought relief from standard prescription medications. “But he had horrible side effects from some of his pharmaceuticals,” Briggs remembers. “One harmed his kidneys, and then another put him into liver failure.” The Briggs family was trying to work within the established Pennsylvania medical system. But it just wasn’t working. And something similar was NOVEM BER 2019

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happening in Latrisha “Lolly” Bentch’s family, where her daughter Anna was exhibiting strange behaviors. “We’d give her books, and she would peel them and rip them into bits and pieces.” And then the seizures started. Anna began having dozens of dramatic seizures every day. Like Hannah and Ryan, Anna was eventually diagnosed with intractable epilepsy. It’s called “intractable” because it does not respond to pharmaceuticals. These children needed a different kind of medicine. Mama Bears Get Things Done Like many other parents with severely suffering children, Shuker, Briggs, and Bentsch began seeking solutions outside the mainstream medical establishment. And like many of those parents, their research led them to MMJ, particularly the Colorado example of Charlotte’s Web, a famous strain of high-CBD, low-THC cannabis (non-psychoactive) used to successfully treat the severe epileptic symptoms of five-year-old Charlotte Figi, who was enduring 300 grand mal seizures per week. After ingesting 6-8 milligrams of cannabis oil in her food every day, Charlotte’s seizures were reduced to two to three times per month, usually in her sleep. Bentsch actually considered moving to Colorado just to be near a legal supply of Charlotte’s Web. But like other parents, she felt it was unjust to have to travel to another state—or become a criminal—in order to save her daughter’s life. The Bentsch family decided to stay in Pennsylvania and fight for the legalization

of MMJ in Pennsylvania. That’s when she met Shuker and Briggs and other parents across the state who were working to educate legislators who tended to view cannabis use as a lifestyle choice about the life-saving medical benefits of MMJ. “It was the perfect storm of individuals from all over Pennsylvania and even several individuals from outside of PA,” Shuker remembers. “We came together and hung like a dark cloud over Harrisburg,” driving for hours to Harrisburg to lobby state legislators and Governor Wolf to take action for the sake of their children. “None of them are going to quit,” Bentsch told a reporter at the time, referring to the Mama Bears. “These are the diehards, and people who don’t start projects without finishing them.” With the passage of Act 16 in 2016, Bentsch was proved right. “I hoped and prayed that MMJ would be the answer for Ryan,” Briggs remembered. “I never truly imagined the miracle that it has become. MMJ has been life changing for Ryan and our family.” From hundreds of seizures a day, he now experiences fewer than 50. “I also never imagined the other health and wellness benefits he’d receive from MMJ,” marvels Briggs. “We used to see his doctors every 30 to 60 days due to all of his illnesses and seizures. We now only visit them once a year for well visits.” The legalization of MMJ changed the lives of their children. But it changed the Mama Bears’ lives, too. When asked whether she had any experience with political activism before her son’s diagnosis, Briggs says, “No,

It’s easy to accuse advocates of being reprobate stoners. It’s much more difficult to criticize desperate mothers fighting for their children’s lives. The burden of the fight for legalization falls to anguished parents.

TOP: T-shirts for Empower Your Odyssey, Heather Shuker’s new platform to raise awareness on the benefits of medical cannabis. The shirts and other accessories are available at empoweryourodyssey.com BOTTOM: Diana Briggs and her son Ryan

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never. I was just a mom who was fighting for a better quality of life for my child. I never imagined that I would work closely with my legislators or that they would become friends and heroes to our family.” Shuker concurs. “Absolutely not, but nothing motivates you more than fighting for the life of your child.” Both women have gone on to fight for the inclusion of more approved medical conditions for MMJ therapy, helping thousands of other Pennsylvania citizens who will never know the Mama Bears’ names. Bentsch’s activism also changed her career. Once Act 16 was passed, she stayed vigilant, fighting to make sure the state

plan was effective. When she suggested the state hire a patient liaison to make the program accessible to those who needed it, the Pennsylvania Department of Health hired her for the job. Now Bentsch works with families and individuals across the state and spearheads the Compassionate Caregiver program, which allows certified caregivers to purchase MMJ on behalf of their homebound patients—a crucial but often overlooked medical necessity. Politicians Weigh In In September 2019, Governor Tom Wolf and Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman announced they would now support the

legalization of recreational cannabis, and they also urged citizens convicted of nonviolent, low-level cannabis-related crimes to apply for pardons through a new, expedited, and free process through the state Board of Pardons. The legalization argument has now matured to include not just medicine, but social justice, too. Even though her own son can now get the legal MMJ he needs, Briggs insists that she “will continue to educate and advocate on behalf of this misunderstood plant until everyone has access to it.” Thanks to the heroic advocacy of Briggs, Shuker, Bentsch, and so many other Mama Bears, that day could come very soon.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Buzzy Jackson is a freelance writer and the author of Shaking the Family Tree: Blue Bloods, Black Sheep, and Other Obsessions of an Accidental Genealogist.

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gle,

NOT SORRY

Why more and more people are ditching the wedding ring and choosing uncoupled adulthood. TEXT ROBYN GRIGGS LAWRENCE

y first newspaper job was on the night desk of a daily. Weekends off were the only time to have any sort of normal life with nine-to-fivers (most of the world), and they were awarded based strictly on seniority. When my time finally came to trade in Wednesday and Thursday for Saturday and Sunday, my boss said not so fast. Steve, who had started several months after me, had a wife. Steve needed weekends off more than I did. “You understand,” my boss said. I was furious, but it was the ’80s. I gave Steve the weekends because that’s what you did (and my boss hadn’t really given me a choice). Over the next couple years, I would leave the newspaper business

and marry the first of two wrong-for-me husbands, beginning decades of coupledom that ended recently. I’m single in the age of Tinder, and this is a whole new world. Singledom today is nothing like it was when I was a twenty-something copy editor looking for love (in all the wrong places, as it turns out). It’s no longer weird to be single. Lots of people have made it their choice. And if you give weekends off to the married guy, you’ll likely be called out as a singlist, which some people consider just as bad as being a sexist or a racist. Singles are demanding respect—and getting it—because they’ve (oh, sorry, we’ve) become a powerful force, in numbers as well as inﬂuence. As Americans live longer, marry later (or not at all),

and divorce more, singles have increased from 29 percent of the adult population in 1970 to 48 percent today. Baby boomers are driving the numbers with divorce rates that have nearly doubled (and involve unprecedented numbers of second and third marriages) from 1990 to 2015, the Pew Research Center reports. Determined not to make their parents’ mistakes, more and more millennials are skipping the whole wedding thing. The number of unmarried 18-to-29-year-olds has grown from 40 percent in 1960 to 80 percent today, and the Pew Research Center predicts a quarter of today’s young adults will be single when they turn 50. More than half— 51 percent—of 18-to-34year-olds reported not

having a steady romantic partner last year, a record high for the annual University of Chicago survey. Getting married isn’t the great big life goal it was 25 years ago, when I was among the last of my high school friends to walk down the aisle at 27. More than half—55 percent—of participants in a 2017 Census Bureau report said getting married wasn’t an important criterion for becoming an adult. Instead, 95 percent said formal schooling and full-time employment were key. Half of young millennials told Tinder they were worried about being in a long-term relationship because they didn’t want to lose their independence. A Bustle survey found that 60 percent of people who were single and not dating were prioritizing self-care. NOVEM BER 2019

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But Kislev has found most people to be pretty closed-minded about OF PEOPLE marital status. Singles ARE ASEXUAL, have heavier workloads meaning they do not and earn less money, he experience sexual attraction. says, and have a harder Like every orientation, asexuality is not a choice. time renting apartments because they’re considered less reliable and stable. “We are open to various sexual identities, we celebrate different ethnicities, and we tolerate a wide array of political views,” he “is your own strength and identified.” In an opinion piece writes in his book, Happy and ability to say with In “Make Way for the for Inter Press Service, confidence, ‘Hey, I made Singlehood: The Rising Single Age,” J Walter demographer Joseph Chamie, former director Thompson calls it “a par- this life decision. I’m the Acceptance and Celebration of Solo Living, “yet adigm shift in adulthood one who lives with it. I of the United Nations we still live in a society made these choices.’” uncoupled…a natural Population Division, where singles, especially Singledom has its adcalls this trend “a signifi- evolution alongside job cant global demographic hopping, coliving, sexual vantages, as a viral Reddit in advanced adulthood, thread asking what people are urged to couple up or change having far-reach- openness, digital conotherwise face prejuloved most about it reing consequences yet re- nection, and a nomadic cently laid out, everything dice.” ceiving scant attention.” workforce.” The US Federal Code from not getting dragged He predicts single-perstates the president can “I Made These Choices” to lame family events to son households will not having to laugh at un- prohibit discrimination Singledom is a choice continue to grow expobased on marital status, funny Facebook memes. nentially throughout the that 44-year-old Brian And with social media, no but there are more than Gross, who has owned world, increasing global 1,000 laws giving marBSG PR since 2001, made one ever feels lonely. demand for housing, ried couples legal and Gross sets his Tinder deliberately. A serial motransportation, natural financial incentives and nogamist for many years, radar to wherever he’s resources, and energy. benefits. Singles make traveling to before he he nearly got married “People across the once and thought better goes and has friends wait- an average of $8,000 less world are bucking the per year and pay more ing in new places. stigma of living alone and of it. Now he relishes for everything from Sociologist Ekyakim singlehood. He can make embracing independent Kislev says marriage isn’t housing, healthcare, and lifestyles,” Euromonitor his clients his priority, answering to them 24/7. for him because he likes mortgages to cell phone International’s “Top 10 plans, insurance, and his freedom and seeks Global Consumer Trends He travels to wherever he wants, whenever he other ways of interacting taxes. Unmarried women 2019” reports. Sociolget hit on more in the with significant others. wants, and meets new ogist Eric Klinenberg told the Christian Science people along the way. He “There are many ways to workplace, according do things,” Kislev says, to a Suffolk University feeds himself when he’s Monitor the shift is “the study, and single workers greatest social change of hungry and works out at “and we need to accept, even celebrate, the are still being asked to the last 60 years that we his whim. “I think what whole spectrum.” stay late and cover weekcomes in time,” he says, haven’t already named

ALONE AROUND THE WORLD: SOUTH KOREA

Unmarried women between 30 and 34 have jumped from 1.4 percent of the population in 1970 to 30 percent today. Young Koreans are called the “sampo” (“giving up on three”) generation because they’re not interested in dating, marriage, or children.

JAPAN

Seventy percent of single people in their 40s and older say they’ll never marry and are prepared to grow old alone. Single women proudly call themselves “wagamama,” which means “self-determining.”

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ends and holidays more often than married ones. The stigma is real, Kislev says. “My research showed me that it is critical for singles to replace falsely internalized negative images of singlehood with positive ones.” “The Most Exciting, Challenging, Significant Relationship of All” Single people exercise more, sleep better, are more open-minded and deeply engaged in social and civil life, and have a much broader definition of “family” than married people. They’re more generous with their time, money, and caregiving, according to numerous studies, and are happy and satisfied with their lives. They take music and art classes, dine out more often, and keep Lululemon in business. In a three-year study of 79,000 US women aged 50 to 79, women who stayed single or got divorced ate healthier, exercised more, and drank less than married women. Several studies have found that single people pay more attention to relationships with friends, neighbors, siblings, and parents, while married couples are more insular. “There is a huge misconception that being alone and lonely are the same,” Kislev says. “Mar-

“Instead of facing loneliness at its roots, many people chase partnership only to discover that loneliness is a standalone problem, the cure for which lies mainly within oneself." —Ekyakim Kislev, Happy Singlehood

ried people can sometimes still feel lonely even if they are not ‘alone.’ It was proven time and again in many studies that married people can be very lonely and emotionally deprived within their wedlock.” In Happy Singlehood, Kislev explains: “Instead of facing loneliness at its roots, many people chase partnership only to discover that loneliness is a standalone problem, the cure for which lies mainly within oneself, as researchers have repeatedly argued.” In a popular TED Talk, women’s rights activist and What a Time to Be Alone author Chidera Eggerue agrees, saying people often use relationships as a distraction from themselves. “We use other people as a tool to run away from the responsibility of getting to know who we really are,” she says. Paul Dolan, who wrote Happily Ever After: Escaping the Myths of the Perfect Life, told The Guardian that married people only present as happier than singles when interviews are conducted with spouses in the room. “When the spouse is not present: [expletive] miserable,” he said. Women who never married or had children are the healthiest and happiest, Dolan found. We ladies are getting it. The number of mar-

ried American women dropped below 50 percent for the first time in 2009, and it has continued to drop as a new feminist wave challenges traditional roles and sexuality. We don’t need marriage for money, social status, sex, or babies anymore. Over the life of Sex and the City, the early twenty-first century series that Harper's Bazaar said changed our view of single life forever, Carrie Bradshaw goes from thinking that being alone was the modern-day equivalent of being a leper to thinking it meant “you’re pretty sexy and you’re taking your time deciding how you want your life to be and who you want to spend it with.” With its focus on Carrie and her friends’ romantic exploits and weddings for all in the end, Sex and the City was hardly a poster child for modern singledom. But Carrie did figure out something about relationships toward the series’ end that bears repeating. “There are those that open you up to something new and exotic, those that are old and familiar, those that bring up lots of questions, those that bring you back,” she says. “But the most exciting, challenging, and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself.” NOVEM BER 2019

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Robyn Griggs Lawrence is the author of the bestselling Cannabis Kitchen Cookbook and Pot in Pans: A History of Eating Cannabis.

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SPECIAL REPORT

Higher Education A college degree in cannabis is a real thing— and it’s a big sign the industry is legitimate. TEXT STEPHANIE WILSON REPORTING LELAND RUCKER

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ull disclosure: When I was getting my degree in journalism from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, I never once imagined that I’d put it to use one day in the legal cannabis industry. Although, technically, I’m not in that industry today, as the editor in chief of this magazine, I oversee a team of editors making a series of city lifestyle magazines covering markets across the country. Those magazines, like the one you’re reading now, appeal to advertisers in the cannabis industry—companies eager to reach you, dear reader, and introduce you to their newly legal and therefore probably newly launched brand. But technically, I don’t work in cannabis. My job is indirectly related, my company ancillary. But it’s still part of a growing stat, a field that just a few years ago didn’t exist but now is the fastest growing industry in the US. There are more than 211,000 Americans working full-time in the booming industry, directly employed in cannabis. When ancillary jobs such as mine are taken into account, that becomes 296,000. That means in the US there are now more legal cannabis industry workers than dental hygienists. Than brewery workers (69,000) and coal miners (52,000) and textile manufacturers (112,000). These figures come from a March 2019 special report by cannabis website Leaﬂy with consultancy Whitney Economics, which looked at the stats the US Bureau of Labor Statistics won’t touch, given that cannabis is still illegal on a federal level. But that isn’t stopping it from booming growth, decreased stigma, and sky-

rocketing interest from all sides. As of September 2019, 11 states and Washington, DC, have legalized cannabis for adult-use, and 34 more have legalized medical use in some capacity. Legal cannabis sales in 2018 topped $10.8 billion. The job market is heating up, and the demand for educated employees grows higher every day. It’s a wide-ranging industry, and there are a lot of career paths one could take within it. Beyond the obvious—dispensary manager, budtender, grower, trimmer— there are a ton of opportunities in the field. Career website Glassdoor released a report earlier this year on the state of the job market for the cannabis industry. The research found that between December 2017 and December 2018, the number of job listings increased by 76 percent, covering highly diverse roles, from marketing to retail to research to agriculture to technology, logistics, and law. It concludes that “workers with higher education and skills in fields as varied as marketing, horticulture, and logistics will only be more desirable as the industry grows.” Even now, those skills are in high demand. Cannabis industry employers struggle to find qualified applicants to fill specific roles that require specialized knowledge— broad-based understanding and highly specific skills. Reacting to that employer demand, schools in the US are stepping up, introducing cannabis curriculum to help prepare students to enter the $14-billion-and-rising global industry as trained professionals. From certificate programs to master’s degrees, with everything in between, higher learning is here.

The first four-year undergraduate degree dedicated to teaching students about the cannabis industry was introduced fall 2017 at Northern Michigan University, under the innocuously titled Medicinal Plant Chemistry. Derek Hall, a spokesperson for NMU, says Professor Brandon Canfield suggested the idea for a medicinal plant chemistry degree program after attending a conference. “He came back thinking it was a place for us to step in. On the one side, you have the growers, and on the other side you have the users. In between, you have a chemistry lab measuring compounds—how much and what is being used. Those are the people we are interested in.” The degree program offers two different tracks: bio-analytical and entrepreneurial. The program description mentions that the additional focus means graduates will not only be qualified to perform the instrumental analysis in a laboratory, but “will also be empowered to build their own testing laboratory, dispensary, and growing operation from the ground up.” When the school announced the program, it wasn’t expecting much interest, but it proved to be quite a viral topic. Hall says a lot of people were looking for a credential to help them get into the cannabis industry. “We fielded a ton of calls from people who were serious about it. One interesting thing is we had a lot of students who said, ‘My parents suggested it.’ A lot of others said they knew people who had benefited from the medicine.” It’s a very demanding program. “The heavy chemistry requirements are mind-boggling. Kids who are there are very, very serious,” Hall says. About 20 people signed up NOVEM BER 2019

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for the program in the fall of 2017, when it opened to grads and undergrads. A year later, there were 225. “We’re pulling in students from all over the country.” Minot State in North Dakota introduced a similar program this year, making it only the second college to offer a four-year degree program specializing in cannabis. In the Rocky Mountain region, Colorado State University, Pueblo, offers a minor in Cannabis Studies, with courses focused on cannabis and its social, legal, historical, political, and health-related impact on society. The degree brochure mentions that “as part of a Hispanic Serving Institution, there is an emphasis on understanding and appreciating the impact cannabis has had on the Chicano/Chicana community and other regional populations of the Southwestern United States.” In New York, SUNY Morrisville is introducing a Cannabis Industry minor this fall semester that combines courses in agricultural science, horticulture, and business programs. It also includes hands-on instruction in cultivating cannabis plants with less than 0.3 percent THC, thanks to the school’s license to grow hemp. In June 2019, University of Maryland announced the country’s first postgraduate program in the field, a master’s of science in Cannabis Science and Therapeutics. Associate degrees in the field are offered at Stockton University in New Jersey and at Philadelphia’s University of Sciences, where students can earn an associate degree in Cannabis Health Therapy. Even the Ivy League is getting into the field. Cornell launches a

“On the one side, you have the growers, and on the other side you have the users. In between, you have a chemistry lab…Those are the people we are interested in.” —Derek Hall Northern Michigan University

“Cannabis: Biology, Society, Industry” course this fall, with plans to introduce a master’s in cannabis next year. That program is said to have an emphasis on oral and written communication skills with media and industry stakeholders, according to reports from Quartz. At Harvard, law students in a Cannabis Law class last spring considered “criminal law enforcement, land use, civil rights, banking, and other issues arising from the Degree in Green These schools offer cannabis cultivation, distribution and use of tracks and classes, or will in the future: marijuana for recreational and/or • Clark University, MA medical purposes.” The university, • Colorado State University along with MIT, received a $9 mil• Cornell University lion alumni donation this summer • Harvard University earmarked for independent research • Minot State, ND on the inﬂuence of cannabis on • Northern Michigan brain health and behavior. University • Stockton University, NJ The University of Vermont’s • SUNY Morrisville, NY pharmacology course in Medical Cannabis is considered the first of • UC, Davis • University of Connectiits kind at a US academic insticut tution, and the medical school • University of Denver is also the first to offer a profes• University of Las Vegas sional certificate in cannabis and • University of Maryland medicine. And it’s fully online, led • University of the by faculty from the college, geared Sciences, Philadelphia toward teaching doctors, phar• University of Vermont macists, nurses, PAs—medical professionals—what wasn’t on the course lists whenever and wherever they earned their degrees. Cannabis courses are popping up in undergrad and graduate programs at schools coast to coast, from UConn (Horticulture of Cannabis: From Seed to Harvest) to UC, Davis (Cannabis sativa: The Plant and its Impact on People). Even more institutions have launched certificate programs covering a range of topics. Clark University in Worcester, MA, introduced the country’s first certificate program in cannabis NOVEM BER 2019

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control regulation. University of Las Vegas runs the Cannabis Academy through its continuing education division, with classes in cannabis and the opioid epidemic, cannabis professionals, and pets and cannabis. Professor Paul Seaborn has taught a class titled “The Business of Marijuana” at University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business for a few years now. Seaborn says after legalization in Colorado in 2012, it seemed like a good idea to approach the topic from an entrepreneurial point of view. He offered the first class in 2017, and it was the only accredited business school offering a class in cannabis at the time, open to undergrads and grads. “I’ve never had as many different people—alumni, staff members, parents, students—who showed interest.”

The cannabis industry needs people who have general business skills to help those who don’t. “A student might have a marketing or finance or accounting major, but we’re adding on to that with history and regulation, so we can get the best candidates who can hit the ground running,” says Seaborn. “It’s a steep learning curve, and the competition has gotten more fierce. It’s not guaranteed success. The bar keeps rising, and the more you can be prepared, the better.” To create the curriculum, Seaborn had to start from scratch. “When you teach a course, you use standard materials. In this area, there is no road map. You have to figure it out on your own.” Seaborn drew on people working in the new Colorado industry as guest speakers and found many eager to help. Business Insider reports that the

semester culminates with a field trip to Sweet Grass Kitchen, where students tour the facility and hear from management, including marketing director Jesse Burns. Burns has an MBA from the University of Colorado, Boulder. “It’s been the foundation that I’ve built my career on,” Burns says. “The skills I acquired helped me do the best and become successful and achieve goals. Having that formal education helped me see the bigger picture and helped give me the confidence to make the best decisions.” And as the manager, he does a lot of the hiring. He is very excited to see more qualified applicants enter the field—ones with an education specific to the industry. “A lot of students are ready,” says Seaborn. “It’s a question of universities catching up to them.”

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HACKING THE FEAST How the hippies hijacked Thanksgiving and had a feast that canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be beat. TEXT JOHN LEHNDORFF

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ack before football and the Black Friday frenzy came to dominate the day, Thanksgiving was the stodgiest of the big American holidays. The national feast day was mostly a quiet family home meal with the same turkey, boxed stuﬃng, and green bean casserole. It was traditional, but not necessarily that much fun. I come from Massachusetts where Thanksgiving was always a big deal. The Pilgrims and Wampanoag Indians got together for a three-day harvest feast in 1621 about 50 miles from where I grew up. More importantly, I was just down the turnpike from Stockbridge, the town where folk singer-songwriter Arlo Guthrie and a friend dumped trash over a cliff in 1965. That seminal moment sparked a folk song that would change Thanksgiving history.

“This song is called ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ and it’s about Alice and the restaurant, but Alice’s Restaurant is not the name of the restaurant” When Guthrie’s Alice’s Restaurant Massacree debuted in 1967, the song immediately became an underground hit. For young males like me approaching the age when we could be drafted into the military to fight in Vietnam, the song about questioning authority was a call to action as well as a cautionary tale. It was also about the communal nature of Thanksgiving.

“My friend and I went up to visit Alice at the restaurant” I grew up loving Thanksgiving with our large, overextended family of Austrian, Sicilian, and Polish relatives who contributed ethnic side dishes. The bird was always filled with mashed potato and

Italian sausage stuﬃng. However, the title track of Guthrie’s Alice’s Restaurant album describes a holiday with friends that sounded much more like a party than the sometimes nerve-racking family feasts we knew at home. Because of the epic, 16-minute talking blues track by the son of folk icon Woody Guthrie—the singer-songwriter behind classics such as “This Land Is Your Land”—nondenominational Thanksgiving Day soon became the hippies’ unoﬃcial national holiday.

“Now it all started two Thanksgivings ago” I was an American student at McGill University in Montreal in the early 1970s when our household decided to host the hippest Thanksgiving ever. We recorded a soundtrack on a reel-to-reel tape deck of our favorite songs—some early Springsteen like “Rosalita,” lots of country rock including Emmylou Harris’s “Bluebird Wine,” and, of course, “Alice’s Restaurant.” The tunes were supposed to fit the various stages of the festivities, including digestive tunes for the aftermath. Some of the memories are a tad foggy, but it was a great time.

“Had a Thanksgiving dinner that couldn’t be beat” We were antiestablishment, so we kept the parts of Thanksgiving we liked—the wine and the pies—and got rid of the parts we couldn’t stand, such as the need to dress up. Long before it caught on with mainstream, the counterculture hosted vegetarian Thanksgivings with a big-tent approach that welcomed side dishes of all denominations. What mattered NOVEM BER 2019

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Long before it caught up with the mainstream, the counterculture hosted vegetarian Thanksgivings that welcomed dishes of all denominations. What mattered was gathering like-minded members of your tribe. was gathering like-minded members of your tribe. Besides, Thanksgiving with friends was also the one holiday bash other than New Year’s Eve when we could enjoy highly illegal cannabis along with beer and wine.

“And everything was fine, we were smoking cigarettes and all kinds of things, until the sergeant came over”

“I walked in, sat down, I was hung down, brung down, hung up, and all kinds o’ mean nasty ugly things” Turkeys have been overcooked and undercooked when I’ve hosted. I’ve burned dishes that only needed to be warmed. Once the fridge was packed, and I was tired on Thanksgiving night so I left the turkey carcass on the back porch on a near-freezing night. I awoke to a brutally attacked turkey scattered across the porch and back yard after an alley gang of obnoxious raccoons broke in. I mourned the lost meat and soup.

Over the years, I’ve hosted Thanksgiving or helped stage the feast dozens of times, but not without combating the prevailing paradigm. Magazine covers and TV shows show perfect birds, oh-soeasy side dishes, and 126 things you can do to decorate your home for the happy feast day. You must remain the relaxed and gracious hostess or host. It is a fairy-tale feast complete “You may know somebody in a with unreasonable expectations, be- similar situation, or you may cause stuff always happens. No won- be in a similar situation” der folks end up making reservations Another year, I knew that at a restaurant instead of hosting an slicing the turkey in the alumielaborate meal. I feel their pain. num pan was a really bad idea,

but I went ahead anyway. I sliced through the pan, and the hot, fatty, delicious collected juices started pouring out on the cutting board, counter, and ﬂoor. The thing is: we all get anxiety attacks over hosting Thanksgiving. I’m getting nervous even as I write this, because this year everybody’s coming to eat at my house. I figure it’ll be worth it for the leftovers.

“Kid, have you rehabilitated yourself?” In a recent feature on feast dishes for 50 states in The New York Times, cannabis got special attention. “It’s diﬃcult to assess exactly how much legalization…may have changed the Thanksgiving menu. But it has indubitably increased the snacking that goes on afterward,” the esteemed publication noted. We would remind the Times that cannabis and Turkey Day have been intersecting for many decades in many places. NOVEM BER 2019

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I interpreted the wisecrack to mean that we love our leftovers. If I’m going to bust my buns pulling off Thanksgiving, then I want enough goodies so I can relax and enjoy the meal in the days that follow.

and such. A month (or three) from now, I will dig into the freezer and smile when I find carefully packaged gravy, cranberry sauce, turkey, and side dishes for a comforting, easy dinner.

in the late 1960s to the early ’70s. It wasn’t all peace and love, either.

“If you want to end war and stuff you got to sing loud”

Is hosting a Thanksgiving feast really worth the hours of prep, the “Had another Thanksgiving dinner “You can get anything you want at cleaning, the shopping, the cookthat couldn’t be beat” Alice’s Restaurant, excepting Alice” ing, and commotion of inviting I look forward to turkey breast Ironically, our antiestablishment others into your home for a dining BLT’s, dark meat turkey in French counterculture ended up creating experience fraught with so many dip sandwiches with gravy replacrituals that are followed annually. possible disasters? ing the au jus, and turkey tacos in Many radio stations have made it My answer is still yes. chocolate-chile mole sauce. I love traditional to play the 16-minute What I remember best about making waffles out of leftover bread protest song on Thanksgiving Day, Thanksgiving Day dinners is not stuffing, and serving latkes made sometimes several times. the food or the faux pas, the politifrom Italian sausage and potato If Grandpa and Grandma get a cal tiffs or the football games. I am stuffing topped with eggs. silly gleam in their eye when they thankful for the funny, argumentaI turn that precious turkey hear “Alice’s Restaurant” playing, tive, and heartwarming moments carcass into a hearty broth that be- they may have been hippies. There shared among the folks who filled comes frozen broth cubes that I will were challenging times, chronicled the circle around the table on evebag for later use in sauces, soups, in the song, that they lived through nings in November. NOVEM BER 2019

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John Lehndorff is the former chief judge at the National Pie Championships and the host of Denver’s culinary radio show, Radio Nibbles (streaming at kgnu.org).

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For the Good of Everyone Research shows that when you volunteer your time and talents for others—especially during the holidays—you also help yourself. TEXT LELAND RUCKER

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The holidays are approaching, and maybe you haven’t been feeling so good about yourself. You’re looking for a change in attitude. Or maybe you’ve recently moved to the area and are trying to find new friends and like-minded people. Or maybe you’re out of work and looking for something challenging. There is no doubt that helping others can help make you feel better. Not

that you need a study to prove it, but a few certainly suggest it. (And we can’t find any that say it’s bad for you.) If you’ve ever volunteered, you know exactly what we’re talking about. “When nonprofits post for help, there are real-time needs in organizations that can create impact. Volunteering is a great way to help,” says Basil Sadiq, senior marketing manager at

VolunteerMatch, an online resource that hooks up nonprofits and volunteers. For many people, the first thing that comes to mind when they think of volunteering is serving dinner at a shelter on Thanksgiving or Christmas Day. While working a food line on holidays is a wonderful way to get involved, meet other people, and make a difference, Sadiq says offering your skills can be even more valuable. “There are ways that can be tailored to you as a person,” he says. “Adding expertise is adding value, and we’re doing it in a way that we haven’t been able to imagine before.” VolunteerMatch works with 122 nonprofits and volunteer efforts around the country. More than a million people visit the website every month. Sadiq calls VolunteerMatch a two-way marketplace—like Airbnb or Uber. On one side are nonprofits posting their volunteer needs. On the other are volunteers looking for the right organization. The site’s search parameters are designed to hook people up with opportunities based on their passions. “They can include skills they have or ones that they’re looking for,” Sadiq says.

“If you play music, you can volunteer to play guitar, or if you’re a programmer, you can create computer code for a nonprofit website,” Sadiq explains. So begin by thinking about what skills you can offer and where they might be most beneficial. Do you love animals? Look for local humane societies and shelters to find out what help they need. (Consider adopting a shelter animal while you’re at it.) Want to help veterans or seniors? There are organizations that deliver meals, build or renovate facilities, or provide child-

care to those who can’t leave their homes. Have a love for history and art? Look into becoming a docent for a local museum. If you’re passionate about education, there are endless volunteer possibilities at your local schools, libraries, and resource centers. There are also business mentorship programs where you can help upand-coming professionals become more successful in the workforce. If you’re retired, there are plenty of chances to get involved. “Volunteering makes seniors feel less lonely because of the social component,” Sadiq says. Plus, adults

over 50 who volunteer on a regular basis are less likely to develop hypertension, according to a study published in Psychology and Aging. Don’t feel bad about getting something out of it for yourself, either. “It’s a way to leverage your skills and learn or get better at those in very practical ways,” Sadiq says. “I saw an article recently that said when we give to others, we feel happier than when we take from others. We’re all a little wired to give.”

80% of holiday volunteers

report improved mood, self-esteem, stress level, and overall well-being. SOURCE: Kantar THS on behalf of United Health Care, 2016

VolunteerMatch volunteermatch.org

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Playing it Forward Rock, Reggae & Relief prove that Pittsburgh has a big, jammin’ heart.

The city of Pittsburgh proved just how big a heart it has—and brought some Caribbean warmth to more than 2,000 people in the streets at the end of August. The third annual Rock, Reggae & Relief show lit up Market Square and Forbes Avenue with music from Michael Franti and Spearhead, Gavin Degraw, Ghost Town, Magic!, Roots of Creation, The Expendables, Flow Band, and Ras Prophet. But this was far more than a feel all right party. The show 48 P I T TS BU RG H

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is dedicated to raising funds for needy causes. Last year, Rock, Reggae & Relief donated $20,000 to the Pittsburgh Latin American Cultural Union, to help Puerto Rico recover from Hurricane Maria, and Asking for Change and the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, to support local ministries and the services they provide for the homeless and those in need. This year, the show partnered with the Piatt Family Foundation to raise funds for cancer research in

the name of Julie Guss, a local real estate agent with Rock, Reggae & Relief’s corporate partner, Piatt Sotheby’s International Realty. The Piatt Family Foundation backs the humanitarian efforts of the event. “Ultimately the goal of The Piatt Family Foundation is to provide support to initiatives and causes that impact the communities and individuals we work with and within,” said Lucas Piatt, president and COO of Millcraft Investments

Inc. “What led us to forming this foundation is our signature event, Rock, Reggae & Relief. RRR is a music festival designed and curated to bring people together for two days of live music, unity, and a celebration of life. We believe that we are all a lot more alike than we are different, and one thing that transcends all differences is music. We feel this event is a unique and diverse celebration of our city, with our community and with our neighbors near and far.”

PHOTO BY SCOTT KOSTELNIK

TEXT DOUG SCHNITZSPAHN

ROCK, REGGAE & RELIEF 2019 WHERE: MARKET SQUARE WHEN: AUGUST 24 & 25, 2019 PHOTOS: SCOTT KOSTELNIK AND STEPHANIE MURIN

“All the freaky people make the beauty of the world.” —Michael Franti, Musician

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Hatchet Job Axe throwing is a thing—and it will come to you.

Looking for a good girls’ night out? Something different for the oﬃce Christmas party? Icebreaker for a first date? It’s time to channel that inner lumberjack and try your hand at axe throwing. With locations in Millville, Monroeville, and Mt. Lebanon (and a Cranberry location opening soon), Lumberjaxes provides targets and throwing hatchets as 50 P I T TS BU RG H

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well as instruction on how to toss that hardware. The time-tested exhibition of honed-in-the-wild skill has become a hip evening entertainment for urbanites—with the occasional actual redneck sprinkled in—and the appeal is especially strong for women. “I thought I would be horrible at it,” says Molly Teasdale, a Millvalebased CPA whose husband had

to drag her to the venue the first time. “But it turns out I’m pretty good. I usually beat the guys.” If you don’t feel like moving too far from the couch, the axe fun will come to you via a mobile setup with caged-in lanes and targets at the ends so you can show off your, um, chops. axethrowingpgh.com

PHOTO COURTESY LUMBERJAXES

TEXT DOUG SCHNITZSPAHN