Windsor Life Magazine Summer 2020

DELIVERED DIRECTLY TO BUSINESSES AND RESIDENTIAL MAILBOXES IN WINDSOR/ESSEX CHATHAM/KENT

ART ON A GRAND SCALE

IDENTIFYING A NEED

TAKING CARE OF YOUR MENTAL HEALTH

DERKZ MURALS AND FINE ART

SAINTS & SINNERS

CANADA BLOOMS

FLIGHTS OF FANCY GET REAL IN GARDENS

THE TEA PARTY HITS THE ROAD

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SUMMER 2020 www.windsorlife.com

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Backyard

Buildup LAKESHORE PROPERTY GETS A MAJOR MAKEOVER

Custom Glass Partitions To Fit Every Need

Actual projects

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Elegant Kitchens

SUMMER 2020 VOLUME 27, ISSUE 5

PUBLISHER/EDITOR Robert E. Robinson CONTRIBUTING Karen Paton-Evans WRITERS Michael Seguin

Leslie Nadon CREATIVE DIRECTOR Carol Garant ART DIRECTOR Michael Pietrangelo PRODUCTION George Sharpe PHOTOGRAPHERS Sooters Photography

Michael Pietrangelo Francesca Ludikar Mike Pajax Mountain Escape Photography Mike Rozman Warner Brothers/NBC

ADVERTISING SALES 519-979-5433 VICE PRESIDENT ADVERTISING SALES

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PLEASE RECYCLE THIS MAGAZINE

CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE (CVD)

ALZHEIMER’S & DEMENTIA

Could the ear be a window to the heart?

Hearing loss and CVD linked

Dementia risk may be up to 5X higher with Hearing Loss

DIABETES Hearing loss 2X as likely for those with diabetes

DEPRESSION Symptoms go down, quality of life goes up with hearing aid use

HEARING LOSS

IS CONNECTED TO OTHER HEALTH CONDITIONS

HOSPITALIZATION 32% more likely for older adults with hearing loss

FALLING Hearing loss tied to 3-fold risk of falling

CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE (CKD) Moderate CKD associated with 43% increased risk of hearing loss

MORTALITY Hearing loss tied to greater risk of dying for older men

Contact Sound Hearing Care today to schedule your hearing test!

SOUND HEARING CARE TECUMSEH 13310 Lanoue St. | BELLE RIVER 962 Old Tecumseh Rd. 519.979.3300 | soundhearingcare.ca Donna Ellis

Tina Stafferton

PATIENT COORDINATOR

DOCTOR OF AUDIOLOGY

Publisher’s Note

DELIVERED DIRECTLY TO BUSINESSES AND RESIDENTIAL MAILBOXES IN WINDSOR/ESSEX CHATHAM/KENT

What the heck was that?

You can say what you want about 2020. No, seriously, say what you want. I have been trying for days to put it in words.

As I write this I have not been in direct contact with any of the Windsor Life Magazine team in about 125 days. Every part of this issue has once again been completed from remote offices. Contact has been through ZOOM as well as other means of modern technology. It is hard to believe that some of what I refer to as modern technology is now more than 30 years old. I wonder what the world would have been like, going through what we are going through, if we didn’t have these ways of communicating.

Day by day updates as to the spread of COVID-19 are received as they are announced. For the last while they have let us know that Windsor/Essex is behind many areas in the rest of the province in further opening businesses because we have not been able to contain the virus as well. The factors causing this are mostly out of our control but we need to remain diligent in our efforts to stop the spread.

THINGS TO DO TODAY THERE’S A NAP FOR THAT

WEARING A MASK TO A BANK

A BIG AFTERNOON OUT SHOPPING FOR GROCERIES

YOU USED TO GET ARRESTED FOR THAT

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What The Heck

Was That?

IT’S TIME TO START LIVING AGAIN

In the same room or not our creative team is always working.Their idea of a cover to reflect 2020.

As I remain in contact with our advertising supporters I am very happy to see and hear the ways they have implemented protocols to safely reopen their businesses. Facial masks and shields, hand sanitizers and protective barriers are in place and being used. Outdoor patios are open and social distancing rules are in place and being adhered to. The vast majority of us are doing everything necessary to get through this and come out the other side healthy.

We must not lose sight of the many people and families who have not come through this easily. Indeed, our community, always known as the most generous, has stepped up to help our neighbours in need. The June 27th Miracle Project added more than 2 million pounds of badly need food to the shelves of our area food banks. This story, as well as a host of others, are outlined in Karen Paton Evans’ “In this Issue” on page 12. Hopefully they will inspire you to start to enjoy your homes, show you that there are so many talented people in our area and give you a lift when we can all use one.

I also, at this time, want to thank the greatest team a publisher could ask for. The creative team and writers as well as the advertising marketing group who make it possible to present our publication have all done an excellent job during these times. We look forward to being in your mail the last week of each month for the rest of this year and ask that you keep the Three Ws in place. Wear a Mask - Wash your Hands - Watch your Distance.

“Please Stay Safe”.

Bob Robinson

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REINTRODUCING LESLIE CAMPBELL Advertising Sales Account Executive

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Lakeview Montessori School

Supporting the Lakeview Family Personal Learning Plans: To say that the Spring of 2020 was difficult would be a gross understatement. However, one continuous silver lining in this sea of dark clouds was how individuals and businesses came together to adapt to the unique challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic presented us with. And the Lakeview Montessori School is no exception.

Lakeview is one of Windsor’s proudest educational landmarks.

Over the last 40 years, Lakeview has practiced the methodology of Dr. Maria Montessori, which creates an individualized experiential learning program for each student. Teachers start with where the child is today, regardless of age or grade and accelerate from there. In small classrooms of 1 teacher to 15 students, Lakeview’s students are engaged, inspired and keen to learn.

What Will School Look Like in September 2020?

“Everyone across the planet has been affected by this unfortunate pandemic,” Head of School Professor Maureen Harris explains. “As we proceed into the next stages of this pandemic, Lakeview has adopted the necessary changes into our day-to-day routines to allow for a smooth and comfortable transition back into the classroom.”

In preparation for the reopening of Lakeview in September 2020, the staff have incorporated a detailed Pandemic Plan which was based on guidance from the school’s governing bodies and the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit.

As well, due to the pandemic, online learning has become essential. Lakeview’s online learning program involves scheduled Zoom calls, an individualized daily curriculum and one-on-one assistance through Google Classroom.

“We are well-prepared to continue to offer synchronous and asynchronous learning to our students if the Ontario Government requires that it be a mandatory option for the September start,” Professor Harris states.

Preschool Reopening: Lakeview’s preschool opened June 22nd, resulting in a fantastic first week back for staff and little ones. Everything went smoothly in the screening area for each cohort (classroom grouping). The sanitization of the school has been consistently monitored and maintained.

Giving Back to Our Community: What is perhaps most enlightening about the past few months is the true depth of generosity that the Windsor-Essex community has demonstrated during these dark times. Lakeview has taken the helm on several initiatives to assist those in need during the pandemic.

“During the pandemic, we recognized a pressing need for personal protective equipment (PPEs) for our frontline workers,” Professor Harris explains. “One of the ways that we were able to help was by offering our 3D printers to The Windsor-Essex County Chamber of Commerce to assist in the making of N95 mask ear guards and other necessities.”

In addition, Lakeview donated a bundle of iPads to the emergency hospital at St. Clair College. That way, residents could communicate with their loved ones over FaceTime during these tumultuous times.

As well, one of Lakeview’s teachers, Ms. Jazz, was able to sew a large batch of facemasks for the school’s staff, some of the school’s families and other frontline workers.

While the future remains uncertain, Lakeview remains dedicated to providing their students with the finest, safest possible education and helping parents return to work.

“One of the many things we realized over the course of the 2019-2020 school year was just how much we treasure our Lakeview family,” Professor Harris states.

For more information visit www.lakeviewmontessori.ca.

“TITAN in our COMMUNITY” Award Everyday people are doing extraordinary things in our community, quietly making a difference in countless ways. Shining a spotlight on Windsor-Essex County volunteers and workers who inspire others with their selflessness, strength, positivity, determination and continuous pursuit of knowledge, TCI TITAN GROUP invited nominations for the TITAN in our COMMUNITY Award.

“This award is in honour of our loving family member, Registered Nurse Priscilla E. Chaykoski, who passed away from ALS in 2017.

Priscilla was an example of a true TITAN within our community, a respected leader who stood up for what she believed in and advocated for those who could not,” says Celina Ussoletti, TCI TITAN GROUP vice president. “We were very impressed by the many nominated individuals and the wonderful service they provide.”

Jessica Seivewright was presented the award and a $2,000 cheque on June 23 by Celina and her husband, Art. The single mom uses her gift for organization in the Volunteer Tax Program offered by the Downtown Mission of Windsor. Volunteering since March 2018 and never missing a shift, Jessica has helped with the intake of more than 2000 tax returns for low income families.

"The Mission has provided me the ability to help people from various backgrounds.

I never thought I could help people; the Mission showed me I can. I'm no longer just receiving ...now I'm giving," Jessica says. "The Mission has shown me 'the good' in this world, and people should volunteer to be a part of that."

Celina and Art Ussoletti (right) and TCI TITAN GROUP honour Jessica Seivewright with the TITAN in our COMMUNITY Award. The Downtown Mission of Windsor volunteer is joined by Ellelayha and Ellelase, two of her four children.

TEL: 519-977-1125 • FAX: 519-977-0352 2489 SEMINOLE STREET, WINDSOR, ON www.tciwindsor.com

In This Issue

Solutions Moving forward without moving out Accessing your home equity can help boost your retirement income, ease pressure on your pensions and investments, and help you stay put.

IN A RECENT SURVEY of Canadian homeowners, only four in 10 respondents were confident they would have enough savings to maintain their lifestyle when they retire. 1One reason may be that, for many, a significant portion of their wealth at retirement is tied up in their home. And selling their house to free up that money simply isn’t what they want to do.

If that sounds like your situation, you may want to consider accessing the equity in your home to help boost your retirement income. One of the most common ways to do this is through a secured line of credit (also called a home equity line of credit).

A secured line of credit lets you borrow what you need, when you need it, at a very favourable interest rate because your loan is secured, or guaranteed, by your home.

In addition to helping you stay in your home longer, there are other potential advantages. When you access your home equity: I Your withdrawals are tax-free, unlike withdrawals from registered accounts such as Registered Retirement Savings Plans and Registered Retirement Income Funds I You may be able to avoid cashing out other investments and locking in losses when markets are volatile I You can ensure ready availability of funds to meet unexpected home or health care expenses I You can reduce the cost of other debts by transferring those balances to the secured line of credit (if the interest rate is lower than your other loans) Keep in mind that you may need to have enough cash flow from other sources to cover the monthly interest payments on the secured line of credit. To protect yourself and keep interest costs from becoming a burden, it’s a good idea to put a cap on the amount you borrow – for example, 20 per cent of the value of your home.

Your home is an important asset that should figure in your overall retirement planning. Schedule a no-cost appointment with me to find out how well this approach fits your personal situation. And plan to enjoy your retirement knowing that reaching this milestone with less saved than you hoped for doesn’t necessarily mean you need to sell the home you love. I 12016 Manulife Bank Homeowner Debt Survey, www.manulifebank.ca/debtresearch. The Manulife Bank of Canada poll surveyed 2,373 Canadian homeowners

in all provinces between the ages of 20 and 59 with household income of more than $50,000. The survey was conducted online by Research House between February 3 and February 20, 2016. National results were weighted by province, income and age.

INTERESTEd IN lEARNINg MoRE, PlEASE CAll oR EMAIl Barbara Allen, HBA, CFP Senior Financial Advisor Manulife Securities Incorporated Life Insurance Advisor Manulife Securities Insurance Inc. Direct Line 519-250-0515 519-250-5190, ext. 409 Barbara.Allen@manulifesecurities.ca 2255 Cadillac Street, Windsor Manulife, Manulife & Stylized M Design, Stylized M Design and Manulife Securities are trademarks of The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company and are used by it, and by its affiliates under license.

Although normal life hit pause during the novel coronavirus lockdown, local people continued to be active, creative and productive.

This issue of Windsor Life Magazine takes a look at what our neighbours have been doing.

Answering the urgent call to restock empty food bank shelves, organizers Matt Hernandez, Josh Lane and over 10,000 additional volunteers collected non-perishable donations from nearly every doorstep in Windsor-Essex County on June 27. Amassing 2,020,500 pounds of food, the Miracle Project earned the title of the largest community-wide grassroots food drive on the planet.

To help people encountering mental health concerns during COVID-19, three new projects have been created. Windsor Life spotlights the efforts of the University of Windsor Brief Online Therapy Project, WeHelpFirst.ca and the Ontario Psychological Association.

Back in studio working on a new EP and preparing for a 2021 tour, the Tea Party is marking 30 years playing the international rock scene. Stuart (bass, keyboards, mandolin and harmonium) recalls the band’s birth at The Coach and Horses in Windsor.

Going global with his huge murals, David Derkatz is based out of his Windsor studio, DERKZ Graffiti & Fine-Art, where he also produces portraits and fine paintings.

Local publishing company Karmic Malice Comics puts art in readers’ hands. It has launched Dream Reapers, the first in a new comic book series by author George Morneau and illustrator Keith Ashton.

Sue Demers, a tournament golfer and concierge at Chartwell St. Clair Beach Retirement Residence, is leading seniors living onsite in weekly games of golf played on a three-hole putting green.

Elise LeBlanc and Milos Savic of Windsor flew to Los Angeles to meet Ellen DeGeneres and appear on her televised show, Ellen’s Game of Games. They came home with glory and $75,000.

Canada Blooms was cancelled due to COVID-19; however, Windsor Life is able to share the national show’s trends and tips for beautifying yards while attracting birds.

Many of those ideas are already flourishing in the gorgeous backyard of a Lakeshore family home, featuring a refreshing swimming pool, waterfall, tiered patio and mature shade trees.

Happy reading!

Stocks, bonds and mutual funds are offered through Manulife Securities Incorporated. Insurance products and services are offered through Manulife Securities Insurance Inc. Banking products and services are offered through referral.

FINANCIAL PLANNING FOR ALL LIFE EVENTS SINCE 1995

www.ProtectMyFamilyWealth.ca

Karen Paton-Evans

IN HONOUR OF THE ONES WE LOVE YEARS

IN HONOUR OF THE ONES WE LOVE THANKS MOTOR CITY COMMUNITY CREDIT UNION Making A Difference Together For Our Families In Windsor And Essex County In celebration of their 80th Anniversary, Motor City Community Credit Union continues to make a difference, along with In Honour of the Ones We Love, for children who are dealing with challenges and serious illnesses.

Becky Langlois states, “They are so grateful to their members and this community in Motor City Community Credit Union’s history. Reaching 80 years as a financial service provider means keeping up with changing financial needs, while still giving back to the community.

Our donation made today can help In Honour of the Ones We Love make a difference in the lives of so many. Community connects everything. Thank you In Honour!”

In Honour’s continuing programs include: Breakfast programs, Music Therapy, Cooking Classes, 13 years of Little Ninjas, Sponsoring Fireworks, Potatofest, Hallowe’en Family Day and “in kind” volunteering.

In Honour of the Ones We Love is very proud and humbled by the loyalty and support of Motor City Community Credit Union.

For information about volunteering please call 519-972-0083 or Anita at 519-791-8633 email info@inhonour.ca

www.inhonour.ca

SUMMER STAYCATION Lazy, Hazy Days in Lakeshore STORY BY KAREN PATON-EVANS / PHOTOGRAPHY BY MICHAEL PIETRANGELO

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LIKE MANY HOMES in Essex and Kent Counties, one local backyard was subject to frequent sogginess. For years, the homeowners resigned themselves to not using the back half of their one-acre lot.

“In the spring, we’d have water in a good quarter or more of our property. It made it really tough for the growing season, especially for grass,” the husband says. Adding to the challenge were over 90 mature maple, oak and ash trees casting shade everywhere and preventing grass from growing well. The family lived with the resulting brown patches because they loved their trees far more than having a lush lawn.

Opportunity was forced upon the homeowners when an emerald ash borer invasion gnawed through Lakeshore. “We lost more than 70 trees that were 80 to 100 years old,” says the husband. Hundreds of trees died throughout the neighbourhood. After the dead trunks were cut down, sunshine lit up the yards.

Before the emerald ash borer attack, “everyone’s property in our neighbourhood was wide open, with mostly minimal fencing just around swimming pools,” the husband says.

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Clockwise from opposite bottom: Water spills over the ledge of a freestanding feature wall crafted of manufactured stone pavers in a Lakeshore backyard; an existing swimming pool was rebuilt, resulting in an elegant cool blue pool surrounded by stone paver coping and stamped concrete decking. Against the house is a composite raised deck that accommodates the grill and a cozy seating nook; with an acre of space, the yard has room for several seating areas, including a cluster of wrought iron armchairs arranged around a drum table that converts to a fire table. Market umbrellas offer zone shading.

Ensuring cold drinks are always within reach whenever a group is over, the homeowners have placed here and there outdoor coolers and small tables that can hold ice and beverages; flames fuelled by a natural gas line dance over rocks; planters lush with tropicals and flowers bloom throughout the yard. The homeowners enjoy doing their own planting - although everything else on the property was chosen for its low maintenance appeal. Glorious during the day, the property is enchanting in the evening, when gas lantern standards made in New Orleans and soft landscape lighting wink on.

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Corner of Manning & E.C. Row, Tecumseh ON 519-979-3642 / rosserreeves.com

Trees standing on property lines formed natural fences in the parklike setting.

To deal with a “bit of a swampy area on the flood plain” now exposed by the absence of tree cover, the neighbour next door decided to build up and raise his backyard, then redo the landscaping. “It turned out so well, we were inspired,” the wife says.

Work began in the late fall of 2018.

Winter came early, delaying the completion of the long task sheet to early summer 2019.

“First, we had to bring in a lot of fill and topsoil - about 20 one-tonne loads,” says the husband. “We pumped out excess water and then put in a drain at the back of our yard to capture water and prevent it from pooling after spring thaw or heavy rains.”

The bare earth was covered in a carpet of new sod.

“Now, we have really beautiful grass that we never had before. It’s so much better in the backyard with more sunshine. And we don’t have to worry about tripping over tree roots,” the wife notes.

Grateful to be able to save 15 big mature trees in the front yard, four in the back and two on the property lines, the couple was disappointed when a dominant green feature had to go: a 60-foot long Chinese wisteria that was planted after the house was built in 1979. Its thick tough vines were intertwined with an old wrought iron fence guarding the pool. “We couldn’t save the wisteria, but we did salvage the fencing and repurposed it when we built a new fence around our yard’s perimeter,” says the husband.

More than the pool’s fencing required attention. “Our old inground pool’s walls had deteriorated, so everything had to be re-dug and rebuilt,” the husband says. Thinking of their young grandchildren, the deep end was made shallower and the diving board disappeared. “The new liner looks like the blue of the Caribbean.”

Upgrades were introduced to elevate the pool’s style and extend its life. The stairs were refinished and the ladders replaced.

The former plastic edge bordering the pool was swapped out for manufactured stone paver bullnose coping. Stamped aggregate concrete forms the decking around the pool area. The coping material is repeated in the freestanding water feature wall and the raised patio overlooking the pool. The wife is pleased “there is virtually no upkeep with the stonework and stamped concrete.”

Hassle-free was also the goal in replacing the big old wooden deck with composite decking. “We decided we wanted to get away from the maintenance of caring for

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Getting Windsor back to business Charting your path forward We know many Windsor businesses are starting to get back on their feet and make plans for the future, and we’re here to help. From advice on government relief programs, tax insights or even a friendly chat about what’s next – contact one of our experts and we’ll assist you in any way we can.

Building a stronger future, together Contact us: Baker Tilly Windsor LLP – windsor@bakertilly.ca Now, for tomorrow

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wood,” the husband says. TimberTech natural-looking, sustainable decking in a pecan hue was selected to complement the house’s earth-toned brick and stucco exterior. The product is fabricated with capped polymer material, protecting against mold, mildew and damage from moisture. Best of all, the couple never has to stain their deck again.

They just hose it off when needed.

“The deck’s surface doesn’t get super-hot so it is easier to walk on barefoot,” the wife finds. “Its hand-scraped finish is textured so it isn’t slippery,” an important consideration year-round.

One of the backyard’s several sitting areas is comfortably grouped on the deck in the shade of the house. Farther along the platform are the grill and ice chest.

When dinner is ready, the couple have their choice of eating at the raised bar area, which seats four and overlooks the pool.

Or they may plop onto the grey and tan cushions of black wrought iron chairs and set their plates on a large round cast iron table that can easily convert to a fire feature when desired.

A long wrought iron dining table is surrounded by a dozen chairs in preparation for guests. Tan market umbrellas shield everyone from the sun.

Reinvigorated with hardscaping and furnishings, the property deserved fresh landscaping. Reveling in sun-loving options, the couple handpicked evergreens and birches for privacy and ornamental seasonal colour.

Maintaining their longstanding tradition, the couple once again rolled up their sleeves and planted exotic flowers and bulbs in 28 medium and large pots. “We put some on the deck, patio and tucked in the landscaping,” the wife says. “Normally, we go as a whole family on Mother’s Day to nurseries in Ruthven and get exactly what we want.

The grandkids get right into planting, helping out and learning. It’s fun!”

The husband also had family top of mind when he shelved his notion of reserving a small area for practicing his golf game. “Our kids have children and dogs who all love going into our huge backyard and running around. Watching them is my favourite pastime.”

Suspecting the backyard makeover has increased the property’s value, the couple believe their true investment is paying off in the pleasure it gives their family and friends.

“This year, people aren’t able to travel like they used to,” the wife says. “We are happier than ever that we have this resort right here.” WLM Back to Contents

Business Law ~ Wills & Estates ~ Commercial Leasing ~ Real Property Employment & Labour Law ~ Civil Litigation ~ Education Law ~ Administrative Law ~ Human Rights

Main: 519-969-9844 Toll Free: 1-866-422-7988 Web: www.shibleyrighton.com 2510 Ouellette Avenue, Suite 301, Windsor, Ontario N8X 1L4 S u m m e r

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Custom Building Hygienic and Happy Spaces for You and Yours WHEN YOUR HOME MUST FUNCTION as your shelterin-place sanctuary as well as a workspace and school, the walls may feel like they are closing in. Seaton Sunrooms opens up a world of possibilities with custom three-season and year-round sunrooms.

“Enlarge your home without incurring the greater expense and logistics of building a traditional addition,” recommends Brooke Watorek, whose family operates Seaton Sunrooms.

When winter’s cabin fever was extended through COVID-19 lockdown, immediately followed by early summer’s continuous heatwave, local homeowners considered ways to upgrade their properties. Many have turned to Seaton Sunrooms to help them take control over their personal environments.

“A well-designed, solidly constructed sunroom helps make the best of the pandemic reality we are all sharing,” Brooke notes.

“Now is the time to make your home your oasis, using the money you aren’t spending on travel and entertainment.”

With glass walls that are easy to disinfect, “a sunroom is a wonderful place to safely entertain when your trusted circle of people come over.”

Even a Talius Habitat Retractable Screen manufactured by Seaton Sunrooms and secured to the garage door, porch, pool house or gazebo can stretch your square footage. Vinyl-coated polyester outdoor mesh fabric repels insects and filters strong sunlight to cool the enclosure’s natural temperature by 80%.

The collection of seasonal and year-round sunrooms and Talius Habitat Retractable Screens and Shutters are on view in Seaton Sunrooms’ beautiful new showroom, now open at the company’s permanent home at 4600 Rhodes Dr. in Windsor. Presenting 3,000 square feet of ideas, “it’s certainly large enough to show people around without getting near to one another,” Brooke assures.

Everyone is required to wear masks, as mandated by the Essex County Health Unit. Staff clean the showroom after every visitor leaves.

Jason Watorek takes care of measuring your home to ensure the custom sunroom is built right. “For the sake of people’s health and peace of mind, I can measure from outside,” he says.

Great care is exercised during actual installation of the sunroom to keep homeowners and the Seaton Sunrooms team safe. Looking after their neighbours has been at the heart of everything Seaton Sunrooms has done since Brooke’s parents, Vern and Linda Seaton, founded the Windsor business in 1978.

Vern’s intelligent engineering continues to distinguish the threeseason sunrooms constructed in Seaton Sunroom’s local shop today.

“Our Seaton products are made with our own proprietary aluminum extrusions that won’t rot or rust,” Jason says. “All glass and roof panels are cut to order by Seaton Sunrooms’ own staff, which allows us to create the perfect design to complement your home, instead of trying to retrofit a kit sunroom.”

To address homeowners’ requests for year-round sunrooms and conservatories, the company became the exclusive Four Seasons Sunrooms dealer in Windsor-Essex County and Chatham-Kent County.

Comfort is assured with optional heating and cooling systems and solar blinds that Seaton Sunrooms can put in the sunrooms it installs.

When break-ins are a concern for cottage owners, snowbirds and businesses, Seaton Sunrooms provides security with its Talius Rollshutters, forming an attractive barrier over windows and doors.

“Our warrantied Seaton products are now proudly identified by the Ontario Made logo, a celebration of this province’s manufacturing led by Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters,” Jason says.

Discover ideas for your lifestyle at seatonsunrooms.com or drop into the showroom. You and your favourite people can soon be together comfortably and securely in a gorgeous new sunroom, conservatory or screened enclosure.

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The Tea Party, composed of Stuart Chatwood, Jeff Martin and Jeff Burrows.

CELEBRATING 30 YEARS OF ROCK AND ROLL STORY BY STUART CHATWOOD / PHOTOGRAPHY BY FRANCESCA LUDIKAR THIRTY YEARS AGO, on June 29th, 1990 the Tea Party was born at The Coach and Horses in Windsor, Ontario.

A long time ago—in fact Easter 1990 to be exact—Jeff Martin and myself took a break from our jobs in Toronto and returned to Windsor where we went out for drinks with Jeff Burrows. We ended up grabbing a few pints at The Coach and Horses on a Saturday night, where the venue was in need of patrons.

The manager of the pub asked Jeff Martin and Jeff Burrows if they were interested in performing again as a duo, like they had a few years back (imaginatively entitled B&M Blues). As the three of us were sitting there having a good time, we thought, “Why not go beyond a duo, and form a band for fun?”

We had been in bands together in the past but this time, having fun was the initial draw. The money they offered us was better than what Jeff Martin and myself had been making with The Stickmen in Toronto at the time and there was no pressure, so we thought, ‘Why not have a good time and play a weekend or two in the summertime?’

The following month Jeff Burrows came up to Toronto on an overnight Greyhound with a giant 4'X5' box of drums. We dragged that massive box on the sidewalk back to our penthouse apartment (yes, we were living large on our pitiful salaries). Then we packed the drums into my tiny car and made our way to Cherry Jam Rehearsal Studios. We had rented the space for Saturday, and they expected us to jam from noon until 5pm. But, our

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excitement for this new venture couldn't be contained and we headed over at 5 am! We set up quickly and broke into “Good Times, Bad Times” and “Heartbreaker.” After about 10 more hours of jamming our fingers were bleeding.

We had big Cheshire Cat grins and the excitement was palpable. We took a break for some lunch at the Knob Hill Farms lunch counter and immediately began discussing recording our first album, and, in turn, world domination.

Over the next few weeks the calluses on the fingers built up. I adjusted to the bass fine after being the singer and rhythm guitarist in The Stickmen, but I wanted to bring my bass playing chops up to Jeff Burrows and Jeff Martin’s level of musicianship. That meant many arguments with neighbours that failed to sympathize when I explained that I needed to jam on my bass for at least six hours a day for four months straight. Some neighbours were sympathetic, though! One neighbour, who must have owned a crystal ball, actually came over and gave us group tabla drum lessons. More rehearsals in Toronto over the coming months culminated in that debut summertime gig.

As we hit the stage—well all 4” of it—we didn't know what people would think. But we knew what we were doing was good enough to put smiles on our faces, so we knew deep down in our guts that this thing would resonate. It did and the rest was history!

Unfortunately, no photos exist in my collection from those first gigs. So, I pulled a couple of pics from the next few gigs in Toronto at “The Rivoli” and “C'est What”,

where we performed as The New-Stickmen.

Oh brother, what a lame name, but for us it was a tip of the hat to the New Yardbirds.

People often ask how the name The Tea Party came about and my memory is clear.

We always had a well-read copy of The Hammer of The Gods on the coffee table at our Toronto penthouse. In desperation, Jeff Martin scanned for references. The Crowleys, Loch Ness, Edgewater hotel, The Lori Moddox's and other names were rejected jokes. We settled on The Tea Party, home to Zeppelin's legendary four hour concerts on their first tour of America. It strangely resonated with us and was chosen in lieu of a better name, with the expectation that we’d change the name before the first album was released. However, I do remember sitting with Jeff Burrows and trying to talk Jeff Martin out of the name after our first review featured the line, “The Tea Party?

Grandmothers shouldn't be allowed to choose band names...”

For us it was a running joke. A sweet name juxtaposed against a group of longhairs playing some aggressive, passionate music.

Looking back is de rigueur right now, as we plan on embarking on our rescheduled Saints and Sinners Tour dates which will serve as a 30th Anniversary Tour for us.

Consider this an invitation to come check us out in early next year… after you buy a ticket of course!

See you on the road soon after we get this COVID mess under control. Cheers! WLM

Early next year, The Tea Party will be touring with Big Wreck, the Headstones and Moist for a 21-show multi-band concert called the Saints and Sinners Tour as part of their belated 30th anniversary celebrations.

“We’re really excited to celebrate 30 years of rock and roll by playing these larger shows again!” Chatwood states.

The tour will kick off in January 2021 and visits Ontario on January 29th and 30th at Casino Rama and February 3rd in Hamilton.

Details at saintsandsinnerstour2021.com.

The Tea Party has been nominated for 13 JUNO awards over the band's career including Best Rock Album, Best Group and Best Single. They have sold over 2 million records worldwide and have 4 Double platinum, 1 Platinum and 4 Gold album certifications.

In addition, the band is currently finishing up their follow up release to last year’s “Black River” EP. The new EP is scheduled for release later this year.

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Turning Heads with Synthetic Grass and Residential Exterior Upgrades A brown lawn, peeling porch and drab foundation do nothing for a home’s curb appeal. Each eyesore can be transformed efficiently and affordably with solutions carried by Hi! Neighbor Floor Covering Company.

With more than 1 million square feet of interior and exterior product in stock in its 20,000 square foot facility, the independent Windsor retailer is the expert source that homeowners and builders have depended on since 1939. Cash-and-carry products in the latest trends are ready to be installed by do-it-yourselfers, tradespeople and Hi! Neighbor’s own installers.

Starting at the front of the house, the porch can be stepped up to the next level with porcelain floor tile rated for outdoor use. “Our in-stock tile includes many solid colours, textured patterns and faux marble,” says Erik Rorseth, who co-owns the company with Terry Darbyson.

Another option for the porch is outdoor carpeting. “It also works well for patios, balconies and swimming pool decks,” Erik notes. More than 20 selections are in Hi! Neighbor’s inventory.

“Outdoor carpeting is a relatively inexpensive quick fix to make something shabby look terrific.”

Rolling out a permanently weed-free, absolutely no-maintenance lawn is simple with synthetic landscape turf. “We stock four different grades,” Erik says. “It’s hard to discern faux grass from the real thing – except during long heatwaves, when your lush, green never-mow lawn outshines your neighbours’ crunchy, dried out grass!”

Landscape turf also works wonderfully on balconies and pool decking, providing a soft feel underfoot and a soft place to land.

Pets, watering restrictions and pesticide bans can’t turn this grass brown.

“Rymar, our turf supplier, also manufactures coloured rubber mulch. We’ve added it to our collection of outdoor solutions this season,” Erik says.

Made from 100% recycled tires ground into 3/8” to 3/4” pieces, the environmentally friendly rubber mulch is clean, durable and free of dust and splinters. It won’t fade or blow away.

Hi! Neighbor Floor Covering Company carries convenient bags of black, brown and redwood varieties that are easily transported. “If you buy too much, just return the extra bags,” Erik says. “Compared to the cost of repeated applications of traditional wood mulch, rubber mulch lasts 10 times longer and quickly pays for itself. Put it down once and you’re finished with mulching for a decade.”

Stone has been gracing homes since cavepeople began the trend; today, innovative stone products are meeting homeowners’ increasing demand. Applying natural stone veneers, faux stone siding and manufactured stone panels is a snap with lightweight façades made by Canyon Stone Canada. “Install it indoors or outside, usually without

requiring a heavy-duty supportive foundation,” Erik says.

A home’s plain concrete foundation exposed 3 feet above ground becomes an architectural feature when clad in a stone façade. In dry stack stone, hewn castle stone or quartzite, the product defines the front entry and creates attractive landscape walls. Durable, weather-resistant and available in over 100 different varieties, colours and sizes, the stone panels can also finish the outdoor kitchen, fireplace and feature wall.

People wanting a simple design upgrade that doesn’t involve labour can achieve it with a Calvin Klein or other stylish outdoor area rug.

Hi! Neighbor Floor Covering Company’s big store is open Monday through Saturday. “Shop confidently, knowing our COVID-19 hygienic measures are in place,” Erik assures. “We think you’ll love our incredible selection and value pricing.”

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DWBIA CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN WETECH ALLIANCE SCALE(BACK) UP SHOWCASE WEtech Alliance is accepting applications for the fourth cohort of its ScaleUP tech accelerator program. The program, rebranded as Scale(Back) UP for 2020, will look to support the recovery of Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent businesses. Scale(Back)UP will select five entrepreneurs who will receive four months of intensive business mentoring and in-kind services valued at $15,000, discounts valued at $500,000 and much more. Pictured are Brian Hendel, Carrie Izsak, Lori Atkinson and Adam Castle. wetech-alliance.com.

The Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Association (DWIBA) has launched an online crowdfunding campaign to help small businesses, within its business district, during the pandemic. All donations support specific downtown businesses. The DWBIA hopes that launching this crowdfunding campaign will help local businesses that have been impacted by the non-essential closure. Pictured is DWBIA Chair Brian Yeomans. 519-252-5723. downtownwindsor.ca.

WINDSORESSEX COMMUNITY FOUNDATION DONATION

LEAVE THOSE KIDS ALONE The local youth band Leave Those Kids Alone performed on driveways outside local homes leading up to their Virtual Canada Day celebration. The performance can be viewed on Cogeco’s YourTV and the Windsor Summerfest Facebook pages. Pictured are band members Timothy Hole, Alex Bonadonna, Addisyn Bonadonna and John Dorman. leavethosekidsaloneband.com.

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The WindsorEssex Community Foundation has made $600,000 in funding available to local charities through the Government of Canada’s Emergency Community Support Fund. The WECF began accepting applications for funding from qualified parties earlier this month. It is anticipated that the grants will help with staffing and resources during the pandemic.

Pictured is Executive Director Lisa Kolody. wecf.ca. 519-255-6572.

LAKESHORE LANDSCAPING

LAKESHORE CINEMAS POPCORN GIVEAWAY On May 22nd and June 26th, Imagine Cinemas Lakeshore hosted a popcorn giveaway event. Staff and volunteers dressed as iconic movie characters and gave away free popcorn to motorists who drove into the parking lot. Pictured are Sylvia Ward, Meagan Marcoux, Owen Coutinho, Eric Bisson and Rachel Gray. 519-979-2400. imaginecinemas.com/cinema/lakeshore-cinemas.

RIDE TO SURVIVE The original 700 KM Ride to Survive took place in 2003 when Dave Hunter and Rob Pula raised close to $30,000 for Transition to Betterness (T2B).

Now, nearly 17 years later, the ride is back and bigger than ever! 100% of the proceeds raised from The Ride to Survive 2020 will benefit T2B. t2b.ca.

True community spirit has triumphed over an act of thievery. In late May, Adam Kunder and his cousins landscaped the front yard of their grandmother, Shirley Horwitz, for her eighty-ninth birthday surprise. The next morning, the Windsor woman was distressed to discover several empty holes where $1,000 worth of ornamental trees and shrubs had been planted.

The news hit social media and was seen by Lakeshore Landscaping team members, including Cory Garant who alerted the owners, the Pawluk family. Organized by Jay Rivait, customer service manager and landscape technician, the company delivered complimentary replacement plants plus extra touches and then installed everything. Ryan Pawluk felt touched that Shirley was so thrilled “she had a special landscaping cake made for us.” Pictured here are Ryan Pawluk (left) and Jay Rivait (right). 519-974-2000. lakeshorelandscape.ca.

THE WINDSOR YOUTH SHORT FILM SHOWCASE PATIOS OPEN Late last month, restaurant patios opened across Essex County. While this year has presented us with an unprecedented number of new challenges, sharing a frosty drink with old friends under the summer sun has never tasted better.

The Windsor Youth Short Film Showcase, a livestream project funded by the ACHF COVID-19 Enhanced Funding Grant, took place last month. The event showcased feature films made local filmmakers aged 12-24. Pictured is Project Coordinator Gemma Eva. windsoryouthshowca.wixsite.com/filmshowcase.

BLUE LIGHT DISTRICT To show their support for healthcare workers, some residential homes in South Walkerville have installed blue lights. However, the campaign quickly spread across the county. For the last two months, the lights on the Hanna Water Tower have been blue in recognition of our frontline healthcare workers. enwin.com.

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Clockwise from right: “Enlightenment” located at 1 Maiden Lane, Windsor, ON; artist David Derkatz, better known as DERKZ, creates a mural painted for the MH100 Program At-risk Youth Center located at Windsor Waterworld. Photo by Mike Pajax; “Contention” 28’x100’ spray paint mural 53 Pitt St E, Windsor, ON.

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DERKZ

Painting Beyond The Canvas STORY BY MICHAEL SEGUIN

“I got started with graffiti,” David states. “I watched my brother’s friend spray painting as a kid, and it caught my eye. From there, I started noticing street art around town. I got bit by the ‘graffiti bug,’ as they would say.

From there, I kind of just dove into it.”

For David, who was quiet throughout all of high school, graffiti allowed him to adopt a louder, bolder alter ego: DERKZ.

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FOR SOME ARTISTS, a canvas can be claustrophobic. David Derkatz is a member of Windsor’s growing art community. A fulltime painter for the last five years, David specializes in producing art on a grand scale.

“I specialize in large exterior murals,” David explains. “I paint large things.”

David’s artistic pursuits began in high school, with a can of spray paint.

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Above: “Reborn” 4’x7’ Spray paint on Canvas.

“Getting into graffiti and visual art and stuff like that really gave me a name in the graffiti culture,” DERKZ explains. “People don’t know who you are, but they know your work. I thought that was super interesting. I think that’s why I connected to it. And then also the rush and adrenaline that comes with creating these large, exciting works of art.”

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For a few years, DERKZ worked as a clandestine street artist.

As time went on, and DERKZ’s skill began to improve, he began experimenting with murals.

After dropping out of St. Clair College’s Graphic Design program, DERKZ’s life underwent a radical shift as he became enraptured by the siren call of Toronto’s artistic community.

“I dropped out of college and moved to Toronto for a few years,” DERKZ states. “Windsor will always be my home. It has such a character to it. But Toronto is a different animal. It has such a thriving feel. The energy there is so different. It’s very inspiring.”

It was during this period in his life that DERKZ decided to pursue his passion full-time. “At the beginning stages of my time in Toronto, I was serving at a restaurant to make money,” DERKZ recalls. “But, I didn’t want to do that anymore. So, after I got laid off for a summer and a winter I decided to take art seriously again.

I didn’t want to work anywhere else so I just pursued art full-time from there. I did a lot of canvas work for galleries and stuff. I sold a lot of commissioned pieces. I started making a living from it. And I haven’t really looked back since.”

After years of honing his talents in Toronto, DERKZ returned to Windsor in 2017. Since then, he has continued to develop his brand and his business as DERKZ Graffiti & Fine-Art. “A lot of people hire me for these larger murals, or I get commissioned through galleries or fine art canvas work,” DERKZ explains. “I do private sales.”

While DERKZ has ventured into various forms of fine art, his main area of expertise continues to be murals.

“I want to stay rooted to my foundation—graffiti and spray paint,” DERKZ explains. “I just like being at the wall. You’re not tied down to this little canvas sitting in front of you. You’re on the wall. You’re exuding a lot more energy.”

Murals, DERKZ explains, offer a much grander, more expressive scope free from the boundaries of a canvas.

“There’s a limit on canvas work or drawing,” DERKZ states.

“You’re kind of stationed in one place. Whereas with street art and graffiti, you use your whole body on the wall. You’re not limited to scale. You’re more involved, more immersed in the art. You become part of the wall. When you’re doing a long stroke, it’s a more dynamic movement. It’s never stagnant.”

However, while DERKZ’s favourite pieces tend to be large scale, he maintains a soft spot for human faces.

“I love doing portraits,” DERKZ states. “They bring me a lot of joy. There’s something about painting humans that I love, as opposed to non-organic things. I’ve always found human connection interesting. How you can meet someone and then run into them again later in life. So, I tend to paint faces a lot.”

And aside from the human connection, DERKZ maintains a strong emotional connection with all of his work.

“Every piece I paint becomes my favourite,” DERKZ admits. “I love every piece I do, until the next one. And then that one becomes my favourite. You hone in your skills a little bit more each time you paint. There’s a bunch of pieces that stay with me. But any large portrait I paint that gets people’s attention brings me a lot of joy.”

And aside from joy, DERKZ’s story is one of breathtaking perseverance.

“I’d been doing graffiti for so long,” DERKZ states. “When it came time to make that transition, it felt natural to stick to art and try to monetize it. So, it wasn’t hard to make that leap. But I could see how it would be hard for others though. They worry about security. That they might not have a lot of money. And there are a lot of ups and downs. There were plenty of times when I didn’t have

enough money for rent or food in the fridge. It was tough. But I stuck with it.”

DERKZ credits the bulk of his success to his vast network of supporters.

“My support system is key,” DERKZ states. “In everything. My friends and family have always supported me and my art. A lot of the times when I do paint, I’ll think it looks like trash and get stuck in my own head. Even now, with my girlfriend Sarah, every canvas or wall I paint, every hour I’m just like, ‘Oh, does it look good?

What about now?’ Having her and that support system around you pushes you further. I’m super lucky to have that. A lot of artists don’t. It’s an isolating discipline. It can just be you sitting in a dark room painting for hours on end.”

However, working as a professional artist brings along with it a slew of new challenges. Primarily, finding a way to juggle both art and commerce.

“I find the business side of it to be the hardest part,” DERKZ explains. “I realized halfway through my artistic career how important marketing and business are. And unfortunately, I’m the least business-savvy person out there. I hate numbers. I just want to paint. But you have to find a balance as an artist and an entrepreneur. That’s what I’m working on right now. Figuring out what’s important on that side and what’s important on this side.”

DERKZ Graffiti & Fine-Art offers a wide range of commissioned services. His work has taken him all over Canada and internationally into the United States, the United Kingdom and France. Notably, DERKZ was hired to plaster graffiti and murals across two large mansions in Las Vegas and California. And for DERKZ, that sense of scale remains at the forefront. “The bigger the wall the better for me!” DERKZ laughs. WLM Back to Contents

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Taking Care of Your Mental Health

Clockwise from left: Kim Willis, Director of Communications and Mental Health Promotion at the CMHA Windsor-Essex County Branch; Dr. Sylvain Roy, Clinical Neuropsychologist; Sanya Sagar, University of Windsor Clinical Neuropsychology student.

Three Mental Health Projects Rising Out of the Pandemic STORY BY MICHAEL SEGUIN THE NOVEL CORONAVIRUS HAS placed an enormous burden on the mental health of our friends and neighbours.

However, in light of these unprecedented times, three projects have arisen to support the mental health of those who are suffering: the University of Windsor Brief Online Therapy Project, WeHelpFirst.ca and the Ontario Psychological Association (OPA).

The University of Windsor Brief Online Therapy Project The University of Windsor Brief Online Therapy project was proposed by 31year-old University of Windsor Clinical Neuropsychology student Sanya Sagar.

“As psychology students, we’re trained to find problems in the world and try to fix them,” Sanya explains. “When this pandemic started, I saw lots of people who were struggling—my family, my friends, my colleagues. Preexisting psychological difficulties were getting worse and new psychological difficulties were cropping up. I knew something had to be done.”

Inspired, Sanya approached Dr. Josee Jarry, one of her professors and the Director of the university’s Psychological Services and Research Centre, with an idea.

“I was in the process of moving our entire clinic online,” Dr. Jarry recalls.

“Then, Sanya came forward with her proposal. She said, ‘Wouldn’t it be a good idea if we offered free, brief therapy to the people in the community?’ I thought that it was a great idea. It answers a need that is very present right now.”

Sanya and Dr. Jarry spent two months recruiting peers and supervisors. The project was a massive undertaking, the resulting in hundreds of hours of work involving writing multiple versions of a field manual, applying for grants, satisfying the College of Psychologists of Ontario’s professional criteria, obtaining administrative approval from the university and student training.

Dr. Jarry stresses how great the services her graduate students provide are.

“I’ve been training graduate students in psychotherapy for 20 years now,” Dr. Jarry states. “I’m continually amazed by how good they are. We train them superbly here in Windsor, but it’s always fascinating to me how talented these people are. They are an untapped resource. And now, they’re using their knowledge to help others.”

Aside from Dr. Jarry and Sanya, the University of Windsor Brief Online Therapy core team consists of Ashley Howard, Healey Gardiner, Noam Simon and

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Dr. Annette Dufrense. Numerous supervisors also assisted with the project, including Dr. Dana Ménard and Dr. Andrew Taylor.

However, Dr. Jarry is quick to remind us where this project originated. “This was all born out of Sanya’s big heart,” Dr. Jarry states. “She’s a very kind, considerate person.”

The program provides Windsorites with four free counselling sessions.“If people are not feeling better by the end of those sessions, we have a list of pro-bono providers registered with the Ontario Psychological Association that we can refer them to,” Dr. Jarry states.

Visit uwindsortherapy.com for more information.

WeHelpFirst.ca Kim Willis, the Director of Communications and Mental Health Promotion at the Canadian Mental

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Health Association’s (CMHA) WindsorEssex County Branch, recognized the profound impact the pandemic has had on everyone’s mental health.

“I don’t think there’s one person who hasn’t been impacted by COVID-19,” Kim states. “And there are so many reasons for that. The fact that we’ve had to be more isolated than what’s normal. Having distance between family and friends. And if you have someone in the hospital or a longterm care facility, not being able to visit them is very taxing.”

With anxiety and depression rates climbing, Kim and her team put together a peer support program to assist first responders with their mental health struggles.

“Two years ago, we were fortunate enough to receive a Ministry of Labour grant,” Kim explains. “The goal of the grant was to create a peer-support model for first responders across all disciplines in Windsor and Essex County. It was a phenomenal opportunity to bring together police, firefighters and EMS from the different municipalities.

Numerous other organizations stepped forward to assist with the project, including the Windsor-Essex Health Unit, Family Services Windsor-Essex, Windsor Regional Hospital, Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare and some local psychologists.

“The initial goal was to create a peer support model, knowing that these individuals are more prone to some mental health challenges,” Kim explains. “Often these are people who have been historically reluctant to talk to other people given the nature of their work. Many of them have been encouraged to keep these things to themselves, which we know is one of the worst things you can do.”

As well, the CMHA was able to use the grant money to develop WeHelpFirst.ca, a website and app that promotes the mental health of first responders.

“We hope that it becomes a designated spot for anyone suffering or need of information,” Kim explains. “We can direct anyone to that site for resources, upcoming events and training.”

The CMHA was also able to assemble a Family Subcommittee which continues to look for ways to support the family members of first responders.

“We’re looking at doing some training for them and social events once things open up again,” Kim states. “Right now, there is information available to them on the website.”

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Thus far, feedback towards the CMHA’s services and website has been overwhelmingly positive.

“Even though the grant has ended, there is uniform agreement across the board to keep these services going,” Kim states. “We encourage people, no matter what discipline they’re in, to share and speak up.”

More information can be found at wehelpfirst.ca.

Ontario Psychological Association (OPA)

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“These times are a moving target,” Dr. Sylvain Roy, a Clinical Neuropsychologist, explains. “It’s been stressful for clinicians and the population as a whole. Things have been evolving and changing constantly over the last few months. There’s populationwide anxiety and we’ve heard a lot about the mental health needs of children, parents, caregivers, seniors and vulnerable sector groups. Persons on the frontlines of the pandemic are also impacted by the constant threat of being exposed to the virus. They are at risk of experiencing trauma and/or burnout.”

In response to the crisis, 211 Ontario, the Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario (AFHTO), the Ontario College of Family Physicians (OCFP), the Nurse Practitioners’ Association of Ontario (NPAO) and the Ontario Psychological Association (OPA) partnered to ensure that frontline and essential workers in all industries get the care they need.

For the first time in the province’s history, frontline workers and their children will be able to connect to a psychologist at no cost, simply by dialing 211.

“We knew we had to do something to support mental health needs of our essential workers,” Dr. Roy states. “We mobilized our members to do something good for frontline personnel on the frontline of this pandemic, including clerks in grocery stores, daycare workers and PSWs. We also wanted to provide psychological services to their children because we were hearing more and more that they were struggling as well.”

Up to 6 treatment sessions are available, at no cost, provided by over 325 participating psychologists.

“Services are currently being provided within 24 hours,” Dr. Roy states. “It’s something that we consider important. If someone calls for help, we want to make sure they receive it.”

More information can be found at psych.on.ca. WLM Back to Contents

Timeless Quality Craftsmanship AT VLC CUSTOM HOMES, every project is a masterpiece.

VLC Custom Homes is a full service building contractor that specializes low volume, very high quality custom home building. The VLC team prides themselves on timeless quality craftsmanship that comes not only from the products they use but the experience of the people that build and install those products.

“I’ve been in this business since 2010,” Owner Vince Lapico explains. “I started very small. My father was a 30-year homebuilder in Windsor. He owned Vin-Pico Construction. He built a lot of custom homes in area. I grew up working for him on weekends as a kid and for a short period of time as an adult. But after my father passed in 2009, I decided to get into the business as I realized that I had a passion for this work. Since I wasn’t involved in the day to day operations of my father’s company I didn’t feel it would be appropriate to carry on with his company’s name. I wanted to earn my own stripes.”

Vince and his team initially started small, focusing on bathroom renovations, finishing basements, building garages and other additions. However, over the last decade, Vince’s projects have grown in scale with his team’s skill.

“We want to make sure that our customers are happy,” Vince explains. “When

I build homes, I’m always building them as if I’m building them for myself. I treat people’s homes as if they are my own.”

While VLC’s exquisite work can be seen in countless homes across Windsor and Essex County, Vince’s most recent project is truly breathtaking.

“It’s a custom 3600 square foot home,” Vince states. “Four bedrooms, three and half bathrooms and a three-car tandem garage. It’s located in Seven Lakes on the golf course.”

In terms of development, the new home is a creative tour de force! The house boasts of oak herringbone flooring, extravagant cabinetry and millwork, daring green-toned paint and a luxurious master suite with a walk-in closet that rivals most kitchens.

“We did a lot of cool stuff in this house,” Vince explains. “We did a ceiling treatment in the living room that you’d see in a fivestar hotel. It just turned out amazing. It’s a transitional home. It’s not super modern or traditional. It has a real timeless feel.”

The home is not just a testament to the skill of Vince’s team, but to the dizzying scale that they are able to work within.

“I’m a big behind-the-walls kind of guy,” Vince explains. “I like to make sure that my structure is sound. When you walk into one

of our homes, you can actually feel the quality, the floors do not bounce, the drywall doesn’t rattle and when you close a door it sounds like a Cadillac. Everything is nice and solid and square. If anyone’s looking for a truly custom experience, I’m their guy. I’m not just a contractor, I’m a builder that is on the job every day. I’m not a drive by contractor. I wear a toolbelt. I do the job. I know the job.”

At VLC Custom Homes, Vince’s commitment to helping clients achieve their homeowning dreams is truly unparalleled.

“To me, the most rewarding part of my job is when a customer sees their dream home realized,” Vince states. “When you give a customer the keys to their new home and they walk in and you see the happiness on their faces? That’s what we’re working towards.”

519-737-2169 | VLCHOMES.COM

BIRDS OF A FEATHER THEMED GARDENS DESIGNED TO CONNECT PEOPLE WITH NATURE STORY BY KAREN PATON-EVANS PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY CANADA BLOOMS

CANADA BLOOMS ARE THERE MORE birds in your neighbourhood now? Has the birdsong always been so joyful? When did that little feisty fellow and his mate move into your backyard?

Among the blessings that have accompanied the challenges of being isolated at home during COVID-19 measures is that we are growing more observant of the other living creatures in our midst. Being home during the day when many of us would typically be at work, school or volunteer locations has opened our eyes and ears to the activity of birds.

Resting our eyes from screens during online meetings or, even better, taking time to just be, a slow scan of the outdoors may reveal a community of birds busy building nests, shopping for food, getting their kids fed, singing for the heck of it and playfully chasing friends across the air. With exception of the flying part, it turns out our feathered neighbours are a lot like us. It’s wonderful to get to know them better.

This is the intended message of Canada Blooms 2020. Themed Birds of a Feather, the

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nation’s largest celebration of flowers and gardens displayed front yard, backyard and balcony gardens adorned with bird-motif décor, dotted with bird baths and feeders, and planted with avian attractors.

Unfortunately, the beautiful gardens created through the imagination and hard work of Landscape Ontario and many top designers and landscapers could not be

viewed by the 180,000 guests anticipated to attend the 24th annual Canada Blooms. The night before opening on March 13 at the Enercare Centre in Toronto, the COVID19 outbreak shut it all down.

Before the gardens were dismantled, organizers scrambled to take photos and video (canadablooms.com) to share with the disappointed public. Since Windsor Life

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Magazine was not able to be on site to shoot our own photos per usual, we are glad to share Canada Blooms’ pictures on our pages.

Water features starred as focal points, emulating nature with meandering streams splashing into ponds, bubbling through rocks and cascading over rock ledges. More formal arrangements still retained organic appeal, with water pouring in a vertical sheet from an oxidized copper frame or flowing down metal tiers on a stone and cedar feature wall.

While durable stone pavers were everywhere as low maintenance hardscaping, edges were softened by bulbs, annual and perennials in bloom.

Staying at home as much as possible these days, both adults and kids are reveling in their personal patch of outdoors, whether it be an apartment balcony or a big backyard. The largest garden in the history of Canada Blooms, The Bienenstock Natural Playground, demonstrated just what can be accomplished with creativity and materials found in nature.

Although the show’s indoor garden sprawled over 8,000 square feet, an element or two of the interactive, barrier-free playground could be incorporated into a small space. A side by side chalkboard and mirror framed with lumber would encourage little artists. A scooped out narrow log became a water chute for making structures in the giant sandpit enclosed by more logs. Woodcarvers turned the huge trunk of

Clockwise from opposite top left: Both people and birds are drawn to the sound and sight of moving water. At Canada Blooms 2020, a cedar and stacked stone feature wall comes alive with water overflowing from tiered stainless steel troughs, culminating in a mini waterfall pouring into an infinity basin at ground level; reflecting Canada Blooms’ Birds of a Feather theme, an exotic bird struts its feathered petals, arranged in vibrant chartreuse, fuchsia and purple; a curtain of water streams from an oxidized copper post and beam structure, providing a delightful spray to refresh the ferns and spring flowers blooming around its feet; standing tall, an A-frame structure shields tender flowering plants. Rustic wood notes also appear as the bench, tables and entry arbor; birds appreciate a solid perch when getting a drink or taking a bath. Both tasks are made easier with rock slabs staggered to form a small waterfall that washes into a stream; tools are conveniently at hand in a garden shed with open access. The resident green thumb grows plants in beds sprouting between hard paving and upon the living roof.

Above: Flowers and shrubs planted closely together help crowd out potential weeds while leaving enough soil exposed for birds to find tasty bites at mealtime. Top right: In the hands of an artist, a rusted shovel, rakes and other garden castoffs become a pair of bird sculptures gracing a raised bed.

a 250-year-old oak tree into a slippery slide for kids. More timber was fashioned into a tree fort and a ropes-and-log climbing mash.

Grownups could watch while resting on sofas, also hewn from logs.

Smooth, hard pathways linked the entire garden, making it safely accessible for people with mobility issues and wobbly toddlers who find the world spins a bit too fast. The playground’s perimeter was bordered by trees common to a Carolinian forest and a winding stream rushing over river stone.

Maintaining that “exposure to natural environments has been proven to bolster immune systems, as well as cognitive function and development, while mitigating aggressive behaviour and catastrophic injury,” Adam Bienenstock, founder of Bienenstock Natural Playgrounds, commented, “Natural playgrounds like this acts as an ecological stop over for migrating birds and insects and as a place where kids will develop their love of nature.”

Encouragement to get growing also sprung from edible gardens interspersed with flowering plants and greenery. Canada Blooms has long been an advocate of raising food at home, from scattering lettuce seeds in a patio pot to digging a large bed to raise veggies to eat this summer and freeze or can for winter.

COVID-19 has prompted people who never handled a shovel before to plant pandemic gardens during the spring. Wanting to avoid grocery stores and be more self-reliant by growing their own vegetables and herbs, homebound Canadians flooded seed retailers with online orders.

Those who added flowers to their mix have also helped the birds who feed in their yards.

“Plants are a one-stop shop for food and shelter. Birds prefer fruits and seeds right off the plant, and most birds either build their nests in a tree, shrub or stand of grass, or they make their nests from pieces of it,” said Mark Cullen, a perennial host of Canada Blooms, author and gardening expect.

To attract birds to the backyard, Mark recommended livening up the landscape with colourful asters, black-eyed Susan (rudbeckia),

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purple coneflower (echinacea) and coreopsis – favourites of cardinals, finches and other songbirds. Even the perennials’ dead stalks left to stand in winter can be an important food source.

Softly swishing in the summer breeze, native ornamental grasses draw sparrows, finches and other small birds that snack on the seeds.

Mark said, “Robins and sparrows pick up coarse blades to construct the main walls of their nest, then revisit for finer-textured blades to pad the soft lining of the interior.” He suggested planting big bluestem, little bluestem, northern sea oats or side oats. Left in place over winter, the grasses offer habitat to dark-eyed juncos and other birds not flying south.

Mulberry and serviceberry shrubs or small trees produce summer fruit and foliage that robins, waxwings and cardinals flock to when in need of a new home and a good meal. They also have a taste for the fall fruit of flowering dogwood and crab apple.

Noting that birds don’t rely on local humans as their sole food source, Mark observed that they will appear when conditions are favourable. One or more strategically placed feeders near a window, sunroom or deck can set the stage for nature’s feathered little performers.

It’s possible to put out an avian casting call by purchasing specific seed known to attract certain birds.

Black oil sunflower s eed i s t he f ood o f c hoice f or c ardinals, black-capped chickadees, mourning doves, dark-eyed juncos, song sparrows and common grackles.

Red-breasted and white-breasted nuthatches, blue jays and downy and hairy woodpeckers enjoy suet and bird peanuts – although peanuts that people eat have salt that can harm birds.

House and purple finches, A merican g oldfinches, co mmon redpolls and pine siskins are attracted to Nyjer/black oil sunflower seeds.

“Birds will forgive you for letting the feeders go empty,” Mark assured. They do, however, need a bird bath, pond or other water source to drink and bathe.

Cedars, spruce and fir offer required shelter year-round. Mark also commended white oaks that produce edible acorns and nesting spots for woodpeckers, jays and wood ducks. Other beneficial species for housing birds include red maple or black, red and white spruce, gray, white and yellow birch or black willow.

Singing for their suppers and helping to keep down the bug population at home, birds can help us remember to slow down and observe. Being amongst these winged neighbours going about their business, heedless of alarming coronavirus case counts, is reassuring to humans adapting to the new normal. And it’s lovely to remember that we aren’t actually alone. WLM Back to Contents

LAKESHORE LANDSCAPING

Creating Backyard Resorts Through Full Service Design, Installation and Aftercare “People are becoming more grounded these days. They are figuring out what is most important in their lives during COVID-19,” observes Ryan Pawluk. As a landscaper and co-owner of a homegrown family business, his hands have been in the earth for 22 years, planting for today and the future.

“Being outside on our own piece of property helps keep us connected – to ourselves, our families and the nature that surrounds us,” Ryan believes.

Creating a backyard haven can begin with homeowners seeing, touching and smelling the wonderful, recently enlarged array of trees, shrubs and perennials that Lakeshore Landscaping reserves for its own clients in the company’s big, private nursery. “I love being a part of choosing the life that is going to surround them, grow and transform their lives for years to come,” Ryan says.

The ability to provide turnkey, encompassing services is the result of the company’s steady growth. Ryan and his brother, Matt, and sister, Andrea, continue to listen to their clients’ wishes and respond with more of the great designs, products and workmanship Lakeshore Landscaping is known for.

“We are pleasantly surprised by the increased number of people who want to invest in their families and homes this year,” Ryan says.

“They see the value in hiring professionals to design their yards and put all the elements together.”

“Our company is distinguished by our intelligent use of space.

Our talented design team puts our creative twist on the layout that is the most logical and interesting,” he notes. “We learn so much

about the people we are designing for and our landscapes reflect their individuality.”

Clients appreciate the company’s new 3D design services that enable them to virtually walk through their landscape and tweak till everything is perfect.

Topping clients’ wish lists are mood-enhancing lighting; pergolas, garden houses and other outdoor structures; and fire and water features. Lakeshore Landscaping’s designs marry the best elements of indoor and outdoor living for superb comfort, convenience and style. Swimming pools and spas are also desired. “We collaborate with several local pool companies to deliver a refreshing and spectacular focal point in the yard,” says Ryan.

Another request is beautiful yet low maintenance design. Lakeshore Landscaping’s team bears that in mind when establishing the foundation that the homeowners will tend themselves.

Clients can also turn ongoing yardwork over to Lakeshore Landscaping. Jay Rivait, customer service manager and landscape technician, advises on maintenance and organizes requested services.

“She is providing fantastic post-landscape care to keep our clients’ finished yards looking terrific,” Ryan says.

Since Lakeshore Landscaping already has its own specialized team, equipment and a large inventory of plant material, natural stone and other products, projects can be installed quickly and efficiently. Ryan says, “I think that gives our clients confidence, realizing they are dealing with a professional firm that controls exactly what they are getting. It removes their unease of the unknown and replaces it with warm fuzzies.”

When past clients call in Lakeshore Landscaping to landscape their second and third homes, Ryan says, “that tells us we’re doing it right.”

Design. Build. Enjoy.

Enjoy the pleasure of being in your outdoor space.

519.974.2000 ~ www.lakeshorelandscape.ca S u m m e r

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BON

APPETIT! dining & nightlife guide

Restaurant Patios are OPEN all across Windsor/Essex Chatham/Kent Get out and support local establishments and have a great and safe time!

Antonino’s Original Pizza – A 61-year-old pizzeria. Antonino’s Original Pizza spares no expense in finding the finest and, whenever possible, closest ingredients. Fresh produce purchased daily. Authentic, thin-crust dough.

The best pizza in town or your money back!

4310 Howard Avenue/519-969-1959 (South Windsor). 1695 Manning Road/519-979-9759 (Tecumseh). 6535 Malden Road/519-978-2500 (LaSalle). originalpizza.ca Capri Pizzeria - Check out our take-out menu and be tempted by our famous pizzas, great pastas, fresh salads and much more! Penny more, penny less, Capri Pizza is still the best!

3020 Dougall Ave. 519-969-6851 Casa Mia Ristorante - Experience authentic Italian food, local wines and homemade desserts served in a casual, completely handicap accessible setting. For many years, chef and owner Frank Puccio has been making lunch and dinner fresh to order. Gluten free options.

Closed Sunday and Holidays. 519-728-2224 523 Notre Dame St., Belle River.

Cramdon’s Tap and Eatery - South Windsor’s friendly gathering place. Offering great food at affordable prices. Satellite sports and billiards in a pub-like setting. www.cramdons.com 2950 Dougall Ave. 519-966-1228 Eddy’s Tabouli – Discover Windsor’s newest source for authentic, homemade Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine. Fully-stocked wine menu. 1614 Lesperance Road. 519-979-9600 taboulibyeddys.ca.

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Open by Appointment Only

Fratelli Pasta Grill - Offering flavour drenched “woodfire” grilled steaks, seafood and pasta dishes. A fresh and healthy selection of modern and time tested classics. Located behind McDonald’s on Manning Rd. in Tecumseh. Take-out, catering, private parties. For reservations call 519-735-0355. www.fratellipastagrill.com

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The Hungry Wolf - The Hungry Wolf serves up Windsor’s best Greek, Canadian, Mexican and Lebanese food. Home of the best gyros in

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Frank Brewing Company - FRANK is pure, straight-to-the-point, old-fashioned beer crafted with dedication and pride. Beer-loving folk enjoy FRANK's small-batch brews made with only four natural and simple ingredients: water, hops, grain and yeast; and foodies enjoy the small plates, pizzas and sandwiches for pairing, and all the peanuts you can shell.

12000 Tecumseh Rd. E., Tecumseh, ON 519-956-9822

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Windsor! hungrywolfrestaurant.com.

3422 Walker Rd., Windsor 519-250-0811.

25 Amy Croft Dr., Tecumseh 519-735-0072.

Joe Schmoe’s Eats N’ Drinks - Family friendly restaurant in LaSalle. Handcrafted burgers, sandwiches and salads. Fresh ingredients and house made sauces. Local wines; 12 Ontario craft and commercial beers on tap. HDTVs. Fast, cheerful service. 5881 Malden Rd. (behind Rexall).

519-250-5522 www.eatatjoes.ca Johnny Shotz - Tecumseh’s #1 roadhouse and home of the Chicken Deluxe. Serving Halibut every Friday. Breakfast served Sunday. 37 HD TVs, 15 beers on tap. Follow us on facebook.

13037 Tecumseh Rd. E. 519-735-7005 Neros Gourmet Steakhouse - Indulge in the finer things in life at Neros where modern upscale dining meets traditional steakhouse fare. Fresh, local ingredients, an incredible wine selection and superb service.

1-800-991-7777 ext. 22481. caesarswindsor.com O’Maggio’s Kildare House - British-style pub.

Award-winning halibut fish and chips, housemade burgers, Irish nachos and crispy chicken wings. 21 cold beers on tap. Live music several nights a week. Outdoor patio. Takeout or dine in. 1880 Wyandotte St. E., Windsor.

519-915-1066. kildarehouse.com.

Paramount Fine Foods - Serving flavourful Lebanese dishes like no other! Famous for charcoal BBQ meats, including vegetarian and vegan options. Dine in, take-out and catering. Kids play area available. 3184 Dougall Ave., Windsor 519-915-9020. paramountfinefoods.com.

Spago – A legacy that stretches all the way back to the streets of Casalvieri. Fresh pasta noodles, authentic Italian dishes and traditional homemade desserts—all made daily. Impeccable service. Fresh, genuine ingredients from land to mouth. Enjoy the taste of Italy! 3850 Dougall Avenue. 519-915-6469. www.spago.ca.

Tea House Windsor - Local cafeteria offers Eastern/Western snacks with coffees, teas and drinks.

We make all fresh with the specialty of Pink Kashmiri tea. Dine in, take-out, catering. Frozen homemade snacks available. Halal options. Monfri 9am-4pm. Closed weekends and holidays.

Located in the Jackson Park Health Centre.

2475 McDougall St., Windsor Call to order: 226-348-6151

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For information on listings and advertising in Bon Appetit! please call 519-979-5433.

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Vito’s Pizzeria - Rustic Italian restaurant serving woodfired pizza, fresh pasta, veal, chicken, grilled steaks and seafood. Wonderful wine selection.

Private party spaces. Food truck and portable pizza oven for offsite catering. 1731 Wyandotte St. E., Windsor. 519-915-6145. catering@vitospizzeria.com.

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JUNE 27TH MIRACLE PROJECT Community Comes Together In World’s Largest Food Drive

STORY BY MICHAEL SEGUIN Top: The June 27th Miracle Project collected a staggering 2,020,500 pounds of food. Above: Organizing Committee members Matt Hernandez, Joshua Lane, Josh Spadafora, Adam Lally, Mark Jones and Steve Truant.

“We were all drawn to the underlying mission,” Matt explains. “There’s so much negativity and hardship going around right now with the pandemic. Ultimately, we wanted to provide something that the community could just catalyze around. It’s all about positivity, unity and community. It gives everybody something powerful to focus on. It gets everybody involved. It gets everybody together.”

Together, the team of volunteers embarked on a rigorous month-long planning process.

The team ended up coordinating 30 different drop-off points and 10 different collection hubs.

“What we asked people to do is really simple,” Matt explains. “We asked our neighbours to just leave a non-perishable food item on

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THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC HAS PLACED a significant strain on all of us.

However, one of the virus’s most unfortunate casualties was our community’s food banks.

Due to our current economic situation, many more people than normal have been forced to rely on food donations. And with dwindling supplies and increasingly barren shelves, Windsor and Essex County needed a miracle.

In response, residents, community leaders and local businesses came together to participate in the June 27th Miracle Project—the largest community-wide grassroots food drive in the world.

“The project originated in my hometown,” Matt Hernandez, a member of the Organizing Committee, explains. “On May 16th, Chatham hosted their own Miracle Project. It was their brainchild. After seeing the phenomenal success they had, a couple of us got together and said, ‘Hey, why don’t we do that here?’”

Matt, a Real Estate Investor and entrepreneur, was asked to participate in the event by his old friend Josh Lane.

“Josh and I are both originally from Chatham-Kent,” Matt states. “He sent me a text saying, ‘Hey! You heard about that thing we did in Chatham? We want to bring it here.’

I was intrigued and told him to give me a call. We ended up talking from 11 at night until the early hours of morning.”

From there, Matt joined the June 27th Miracle Project. The Organizing Committee is made up of nine other individuals, including Josh Lane, Steve Desjardins, Adam Lally, Steve Truant, Kerri Zold, Tracey Bailey, Steve Ilijanich, Mark Jones and Josh Spadafora.

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their doorstep. Then, a volunteer would swing by that Saturday and collect it. Every single house in Windsor and Essex County was covered.”

A project of this magnitude required a massive amount of volunteers. Fortunately, the influx of community support that the June 27th Miracle Project received was truly staggering.

“A couple days before June 27th, we officially reached over 10,000 volunteers,” Matt reports. “It was overwhelming. Ten thousand of anything is awesome!”

In addition, Matt and his fellow volunteers banded together to draw up as much awareness for the event as possible.

One member of the Organizing Committee, World Park Solutions Owner Mark Jones, hosted several different Neighborhood Paint Day events in which he invited Windsorites to display their own handpainted signs to draw up support for the event.

“We’re trying to bring the community together,” Mark reports. “Everyone is working together. It’s all about feeding people that need food. We’re hoping that after this event, no one in Windsor and Essex County will go hungry for the next two years.”

The night before the event, despite four weeks of intense planning, Matt was too excited to sleep. “I wasn’t sleeping much the previous week,” Matt laughs. “I couldn’t wait to see the turnout!”

On Saturday, June 27th, fleets of volunteers set out to collect the flood of donations.

“That Saturday was nothing short of a miracle,” Matt states. “It was insane! It was one of the best days of my life. Everybody, in all of our depots, were working together and having fun. Music was playing. It was amazing driving around seeing all the stickers on people’s cars, the signs on people’s lawns. It just really seemed like the whole community was involved.”

The volunteers collected so much food that some of the depots required a twohour wait time.

“We had some rough estimates about what we thought we would collect,” Matt states. “But the community surpassed our wildest expectations.”

Matt’s teams personally filled approximately seven 52-foot transports.

“We started unloading at approximately 3pm from some of the depots that were full,” Matt recalls. “We didn’t finish until one in the morning. They kept saying, ‘You

almost done? We got three more trucks coming in!’”

Collectively, the June 27th Miracle Project accumulated a staggering 2,020,500 pounds of food.

“Personally, my favourite part of the event was just taking in the little moments,” Matt states. “People were waiting in these long, long lines but still having fun and chatting with each other. Seeing everybody together and so energized was amazing. People told me afterwards that they wished they could have done more. But honestly, just the little bit that everyone did was so valuable. It was the sum total of our whole community’s efforts that turned June 27th into a miracle.”

The event’s success was so profound that even Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took to Twitter to recognize project’s success.

“Now that’s how it’s done – way to go, Windsor-Essex!” Prime Minister Trudeau wrote. “To the thousands of volunteers who rolled up their sleeves and to everyone who pitched in and helped those who need it most, thank you. You are what makes our country so great.”

At this time, the June 27th Miracle Project Organizing Committee is still deciding how to most effectively distribute the accumulated donations.

“Right now, we’re focused on creating a framework so that the organizations in Windsor-Essex that need the food will get it,” Matt explains. “We’re working closely with Goodfellows and the Unemployed Help Centre. As well, we’re listening to any organizations that are reaching out to us.

We’re not limited to the existing channels.”

Matt promises that the food will go towards our friends and neighbours that need it the most.

“If you donate in your community, the food is going to stay in your community,” Matt stresses. “This is not our food. This is Windsor-Essex’s food. We want to make sure that it goes to the people who need it.

This food is for everybody.”

Despite many hours of work and sleepless nights, Matt and the Organizing Committee would prefer to remain unsung heroes.

The true heroes of this event, Matt reminds us, are all the generous citizens of Windsor and Essex County who stepped forward when their community needed them the most.

“We’re extremely grateful to have been a part of this,” Matt states. “This is a win for Windsor and Essex County. I hope it’s something we talk about and look back on for many years to come.” WLM Back to Contents

Clockwise from left: Elise LeBlanc and Milos Savic. Photo by Mountain Escape Photography; Elise watches in anticipation as Milos takes the hotseat; Milo dancing on set with Ellen DeGeneres. Photo by: Mike Rozman/Warner Brothers/NBC; Milos Savic (in green) and Clint Miller competing in “Dirty Laundry". Photo by: Mike Rozman/Warner Brothers/NBC.

THE GAME SHOW BUG Local Couple Appears on Ellen’s Game of Games STORY BY MICHAEL SEGUIN

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TWENTY-FIVE-YEAR-OLD wedding videographer Elise LeBlanc and 26-year-old track athlete Milos Savic met the same way most couples meet: by accident.

“My buddy had shot a commercial for this clothing brand, Titika Active Couture,” Milos states. “In it, there was a shot of a girl running in slow-motion. I actually paused the video.

I said, ‘Who is that?’ He told me she was from Windsor. I didn’t believe him. I thought she was some model from Los Angeles or something.”

Unbeknownst to Milos, Elise was already enrolled in the same Film and Photography program at the University of Windsor as he was.

“I had switched programs, so I was a little behind,” Elise recalls. “I had to take a first year Documentary film course in my final year. Milos happened to be in his Master’s already, so he was my Teaching Assistant.”

“It was crazy. I saw this girl on video and then a week later, she comes walking into my classroom,” Milos states.

Elise denies walking into the room in slow-motion, but Milos contests this.

“After class I asked her if she was the girl I saw in that Titika commercial,” Milos reports. “And the rest is history. After the class ended, we exchanged phone numbers and here we are.”

Milos and Elise’s relationship has been one defined by adventure. Together, the two have backpacked around Europe and even spent a month trekking around the United States while living out of Elise’s car. However, they embarked on their greatest adventure yet over a year ago when the two made their first appearance on the small screen.

“For my birthday last year, I ended up getting tickets to Ellen DeGeneres through her show’s lottery system,” Elise explains. “Through sheer luck, we ended up winning front row seats for my birthday. I was so excited!”

Elise attended the taping with her mother, Debbie Leblanc, and her best friend, Kiara Knowler.

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“Before the show, we were talking to a couple producers,” Elise recalls. “One asked me if I would be willing to be called down from the audience if Ellen played a game.

She didn’t, but after the show, the production assistants told us to stay in our seats if our name was called—and mine was.”

After the live taping, the producers asked Elise if she would be willing to audition for the new season of Ellen’s game show, Ellen’s Game of Games.

“They said that they were looking for couples to appear on the program,” Elise reports. “They asked if I had anyone I would like to do the game show with. Immediately, I thought, ‘Oh my God. My boyfriend’s so competitive. I have to take him.’”

One Skype interview later, and the Windsor couple was on their way to Los Angeles.

“We got flown out that weekend,” Milos reports. “They really took care of us. We stayed the night in a cool hotel. We had a pickup time in the lobby and from there, we were admitted behind the scenes.”

As film school graduates, being on set was a profound experience for Elise and Milos.

“I’ve worked in the industry,” Milos explains. “I’ve been on feature films. But this was the Universal Studio lot. Ellen is the top dog in California. Just the scale of the set and the money that gets pumped into the show was crazy. It’s such a huge production!

You can learn about it all you want, but until you’re a part of it, you can’t really understand it. It’s really amazing. And everyone was so nice to us. Everyone was very genuine. It was really cool, being a part of that.”

The first game the two played was called Dirty Laundry. Milos and Elise were shoved into a together-sweater—a two-person sweater with one arm hole for each of them.

The two then had to race other sweaterbound couples through a pool of soapsuds, all while trying to land a ball into a net shaped like a laundry bin. After dunking, the two then had to answer Ellen’s trivia questions in order to obtain a point.

“Underneath the water were all these tripping hazards,” Milos reports. “I watched the video of us afterwards. We took two steps into the pool and faceplanted. We inhaled a ton of soap and by the time we got through the water, we’d already forgotten the clues to the questions they’d given us.

Despite the ordeal, Milos and Elise ended up winning the competition allowing Elise some one-on-one time with one of her childhood heroes.

“After we won, we got to celebrate with Ellen,” Elise states. “I just turned to her and

thanked her so much for this opportunity.

She just smiled and started dancing with us.”

Unfortunately, the two didn’t have time to celebrate for long.

“We flew out on Friday,” Elise states.

“And we had to fly back home really early Saturday morning. I had a wedding to shoot that day. I had to be at the bride’s house at 9 a.m. that morning. And I was pretty much burping bubbles the entire weekend.”

However, California wasn’t quite finished with the Windsor couple. After their taping, four winners from separate games were invited back to take part in a second round of trivia.

“You stand up on stage with a trapdoor underneath you,” Milos states. “If you get the question right, you stay. If you get it wrong, the trapdoor opens up.”

After considerable deliberation, it was agreed that Milos should be the one to contend with Ellen’s questions and the capricious forces of gravity.

“I decided to sit that one out,” Elise laughs.

“Questions ranged from super-easy to absolutely impossible,” Milos states. “It was just my luck the final question was a track and field question.”

After winning the trivia round, Milos was invited to participate in Hot Hands, a celebrity-recognition game.

“You have 30 seconds to name as many famous people as you can,” Milos reports.

“If you get 10, it’s a $100,000.”

Milos ended up listing 9 famous people, which netted him an impressive $75,000.

“I blanked out on a couple faces I should have recognized,” Milos admits. “But $75,000 isn’t anything to get upset about.”

Filming took place in June of 2019. The couple’s appearance was not broadcast until the following March. However, despite signing a Non-Disclosure Agreement about what happened on set, the studio gave Elise and Milos their permission to share their victory with their immediate family.

“We invited our parents out to lunch and told them we had something to tell them,” Milos states. “So, we met them at a restaurant and told them what we won!”

“Everyone thought we were getting married,” Elise laughs.

And now that the dust has settled, the two seemed to have contracted the game show bug.

“We’re very adventurous people,” Elise reports. “We’ve been applying for all kinds of game shows. Who knows? Maybe next we’ll try out for the Amazing Race!” WLM Back to Contents

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HOROSCOPE ARIES MAR 21 - APR 20: Families, relationships and different points of view seem to be taking a toll on what you are trying to do. You need to be extra careful about what you say and who you say it to. Someone may be deliberately trying to provoke you into an argument which could quickly escalate into an actual fight.

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GEMINI MAY 22 - JUN 21: You try to move too fast and by doing so you may pass by what or who you are looking for. You have to follow the rules and regulations in order to get what you want.

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You probably feel as if you are right back where you started from. Do not let the past steal your present and your future. Use the lessons you have learned to make a better future for yourself. You can do it. Your energy may be low so take a short break now and then to renew your spirit.

LEO JUL 24 - AUG 23: You can’t please everyone. Do the best you can and then please yourself. Maybe if you please yourself first, that will give you the energy you need to help others. You are one of a kind, unique and kind. You can move mountains if you have to. Others may be happy to help you. Don’t be shy.

VIRGO AUG 24 - SEP 23: You could find yourself becoming the leader of the pack. Create the perfect moment.

The planets that are showing a certain amount of chaos in the charts of others are actually working on your behalf. Use your ability to help others in times of need.

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LIBRA SEP 24 - OCT 23: Look at your ability to balance to help you move forward. Be creative and persistent.

When a door closes, a window opens. Be careful that you do not hesitate too long.

There are no guarantees in life but opportunities do arise from time to time and you need to be quick to act.

SCORPIO OCT 24 - NOV 22: You may need to go back and make some corrections in your life that seem to keep holding you back. It may be time to get onboard and do all the things you meant to do but never got around to doing. Now is the time to breathe new life into a project you put aside.

SAGITTARIUS NOV 23 - DEC 21: Although you are usually ready to take action, there is something that tells you that your timing just might be off a bit. It is not you. It is what is happening around you that makes you wonder what is going to happen next. Trust your intuition. Trust yourself to know when the time is right.

CAPRICORN DEC 22 - JAN 20: You may be feeling the weight of the world on your shoulders. There is only so much you can do. Help can come from where and when you least expect it to do so. You are not alone. Show others how they will profit by working with you.

AQUARIUS JAN 21 - FEB 19: Today is what is important.You will be reminded of how things turned out in the past and thus you may look for a different way of handling current issues. Strength and courage are the trademarks for recovery. You do not gain that from others. It comes from within.

PISCES FEB 20 - MAR 20 This is a can do, will do, make it happen time in your life. Dancing feet and a happy heart can bring others to look at the way you manage life and will give them confidence that if you can do it, they can do it too. You lift them up when they feel down.

Dentures Made In A Day Reduce The Number of Trips Out of Your Home and Reduce the Chance of Exposure WHILE ORGANIZATIONS ADAPT TO operating differently during the coronavirus pandemic, many preventative measures are standard procedure at Parisien Denture Clinic.

“Dental practices have always been stringently regulated but we’re now taking extra precautions to comply with COVID-19 guidelines to add another level of assurance for each person who comes into our office,” says Barry Parisien DD, who has been caring for Windsor area smiles for 20 years.

Observing that many of his patients are vulnerable seniors, Barry says, “it’s been a requirement that everyone in the office, staff included, wear facemasks even before they became mandatory.” Barry also wears eye protection and a face shield while treating patients now.

Only one patient at a time is permitted in the office during COVID-19. “Our inner door remains locked at all times. Phone from the parking lot to let us know when you arrive and we will let you in when it’s safe,” says Barry.

“When you enter, we ask questions to help determine your state of health and then take your temperature. If all is good, then we can begin putting a smile back on your face!”

Patients notice other safeguards, including two hospital-grade air purifiers. With UV lights destroying any present bacteria or virus, they sterilize the air every 15 minutes.

BEFORE

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Previously made traditional dentures

Dentures created by Parisien Denture Clinic

Barry’s work on the patient’s dentures is performed in a powerful suction chamber with a sealed HEPA filter – one more precaution taken to contain and eliminate contaminants.

“Another thing I’m doing to minimize the risk of exposure is offering full dentures made in a day,” Barry says. “Typically, it would take on average five appointments to make a set of dentures. Now we can dedicate one full day to making the patient’s teeth from start to finish. This means the patient isn’t making multiple trips out of their home and they will be the only person in the office that day.” The patient spends the morning at the clinic, where the denturist does mouth impressions, bite registration and teeth placement to verify functionality and esthetics. The patient then returns home and relaxes for several hours as Barry finishes the custom dentures. The patient returns later in the day to get their bright, beautiful smile.

“It takes me 12 to 14 hours from start to finish; however, the patient feels secure knowing they and my team are the only people in the office – and they have their teeth.

When the Ontario government announced lockdown several months ago, some of my patients were only partway through the process and had to wait until mid-June before we could continue with their dentures.”

After a patient’s visit is completed, the clinic’s team springs into action cleaning everything. “Our entire treatment room was always disinfected between treatments before.

Now we also decontaminate the reception desk, waiting room, doorknobs and all other common touch surfaces,” Barry says.

To accommodate the new safety measures, the number of patients that can been seen in a day has had to be reduced. Walk-ins for denture repairs and adjustment are no longer accepted; an appointment must now be scheduled.

“We are still here for you,” Barry affirms. “My team and I thank everyone in advance for their understanding and patience as we all get used to the new normal.”

To arrange a free initial consultation with Parisien Denture Clinic, please call 519-997-7799 or visit parisiendentures.com.

Check facebook.com/parisiendentures for updates.

Barry Parisien DD OWNER

375 CABANA RD. E. • 519-997-7799 WWW.PARISIENDENTURES.COM

DREAM REAPERS New Comic Book Series By George Morneau and Keith Ashton STORY BY MICHAEL SEGUIN PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN LIVIERO TALENT HAS A FUNNY WAY of lingering, of waiting, biding its time and then exploding outwards.

Karmic Malice Comics, a local publishing company, has just released the first issue of their debut title: Dream Reapers.

The comic was written by George Morneau and illustrated

by Keith Ashton.

George, a lumber yard worker, first started embracing his artistic talents in his early fifties.

“I come from a very artistic family,” George explains. “My brother and sister are unbelievable artists. We’re all self-taught.

None of us have any formal training. Then, about five or six years ago, I became a very spiritual person. I started applying these gifts in a more sincere way.”

Within two years, George experienced a volcanic eruption of creativity.

He began writing poetry and sculpting.

He donated an art piece to Crossroads on Ottawa Street. Some of his watercolors and poems were even featured at the Gibson Gallery in Amherstburg.

During this incredibly fertile period, George began working out the details for what would eventually coalesce into Dream Reapers.

“I’m friends with Tony Gray, from Glass Monkey Studios,” George states. “He’s developed his own comic book series, Conduit.

He told me I had a pretty good story, the makings of a great comic book. That I needed to find an illustrative artist.”

After a couple leads didn’t pan out, George encountered Keith Ashton at an art show.

“They had a bunch of artists in the area show up and set up booths in the Windsor Market Square,” George recalls. “I sold a couple pieces. At one point, I was talking to this other artist and said, ‘You know, I’ve got this story. Do you know anyone who’d be a good fit?’ And she said, ‘Yeah. The young fellow behind you.’”

The young fellow was Keith Ashton, a local freelance artist.

Keith first began pursuing art in his teens after becoming embroiled in an unlikely love affair with comic books.

“Back in high school, I never took art all that seriously,” Keith explains. “I dabbled, here and there. In high school, my art teacher,

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Illustrator Keith Ashton, left and comic book writer George Morneau.

Mr. James, taught me about comic book art. He was teaching me about different comic book artists and different styles and the techniques they were using.

I ended up looking deeper. I went to Border City Comics, a local comic book store. I looked at all the different comic books. One of the artists that I stumbled upon was a man named David Finch.”

To Keith’s surprise, David Finch was local. And thanks to his art teacher, Keith was able to meet his favourite comic book artist.

“When I went in, he showed me some of the techniques he was using,” Keith recalls. “He told me that I was way too rusty to be taken on as an intern but that if I kept it up for the next couple years, who knows?”

Emboldened, Keith ended up enrolling at the University of Windsor, hoping to secure an internship with David Finch.

However, at the time, Finch was not taking on interns. Undeterred, Keith continued to hound his hero for a position.

“I was emailing him every day for about a month,” Keith explains. “Eventually, he said, ‘You know what? You’re persistent enough. I’ll take you on.’”

The internship turned out to be Keith’s baptism by fire.

“David took me back to the drawing board,” Keith states. “He said I was one of the least experienced artists he’d taken on but I had the passion. So, for those four months I absolutely killed

myself. Multiple pages of sketches every day. But by the time the internship was done, I think I’d gone through 250 11x17 pages.”

Following the internship, Keith began sketching backgrounds for DC Comic’s New 52 Batman: The Dark Knight title. After about a year, Keith eventually left Finch’s tutelage to make a living as a freelance artist.

“I was working as a page layout artist,” Keith recalls. “I was trying to get my own standalone title. But, at the time, I didn’t feel like I had the experience necessary to pull that off. It’s one thing to be flying under somebody else’s wing while they’re doing a comic. It’s a completely different thing to do it yourself. And then I ran into George.”

George’s offer ended up being the motivation Keith needed to take the final step towards his dreams. The two collaborated on the title for months, meeting once a week at the Tim Hortons on Jefferson. “I would write a script and break it down into panels,” George explains. “Keith would have his pad and paper. Keith has this ability to break a script down, close his eyes and immediately understand it. He’s the other half of the brain I wish I had!”

“I’ve had a decent amount of experience with panels from when I was working with Dave,” Keith states. “Dave said that one of things he never had to teach me was storytelling. It’s one of my strong suits.”

“The only thing we’ve ever clashed about is who has to buy the coffee,” George laughs.

While hashing out the content, the two set about securing funding for the comic.

“Keith’s art really augmented the story I was trying to tell,” George explains. “But the big part was how we were going to pay for it. So I went around to different places. I didn’t have to go to a

lot. Each business that I went to sell advertising space for the comic were more than receptive.”

George and Keith were able to receive backing from 10 different companies around Windsor, including Capone’s Grill and Pasta Shop, Soulliere Solutions, JoJacks, Custom Home Builders and others.

In addition, George and Keith decided that a third of whatever profits they made would be donated towards Canadian Mental Health.

Dream Reaper tells the story of Conflict, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. After rescuing a damned soul, Conflict decides to thwart the end of the world by entering the dreams of those responsible for the devastation, using their worst nightmares against them.

The title is planned for eight or nine issues. George and Keith have also developed three other original titles: Vengeful Spirit, Malice Riders and Mr. Beeju.

“The big joke is that I’m going to have to get Keith a belt because he’s getting a hernia carrying the workload,” George states.

Significantly, the release of Dream Reapers allowed Keith to reconnect with his old mentor.

“After we released the first issue, I ended up running into David Finch,” Keith explains. “He was impressed by my panel layout and pages and the flow of the book. He said I’d proven that I could make it in comic books. He even bought a couple copies and invited me out for lunch!”

Dream Reapers is currently available for purchase at Border City Comics, Paper Heroes, Rouges Gallery, Storytellers on Ottawa Street, Brimstone Games, the CG Realm and a couple Home Hardware Stores in Essex. WLM Back to Contents

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PUTTING WITH SUE

STORY BY MICHAEL SEGUIN PHOTOGRAPHY BY MICHAEL PIETRANGELO

Chartwell’s Own Senior’s Golf League THERE’S ONE GOLF LEAGUE in Windsor-Essex that is anything but par for the course. On Monday mornings, a gang of seniors gather in the Chartwell St. Clair Beach Retirement Residence courtyard. While the retirement community has installed a variety of state-of-the-art facilities, the Chartwell residents continue to flock to the newest feature: a three-hole putting green.

The miniature golf course was installed on November 2017. Since the following July, every Monday morning the residents of Chartwell compete in their very own golf league: Putting with Sue! Putting with Sue! was launched by Sue Demers. A concierge at Chartwell St. Clair Beach Retirement Residence, Sue has spent the better part of her life on golf courses.

“I took my first golf lessons when I was 12 years old,” Sue recalls. “I thought maybe it wasn’t for me, because I was a swimmer. Then when I was 22, I picked up the game and started entering tournaments. And now that I’m a senior, I still travel out of town to enter events. It’s a great sport.

The camaraderie is amazing. I played in a lot of Ontario Amateurs and I can honestly say that I have a bed to stay in all over Ontario. You meet so many people through golf. It’s just so friendly.”

Sue is also a chairman of the Tournament of Champions, a 34-year-old event that brings together all Club Champions from the Essex/Kent County district golf clubs.

Sue was hired on at Chartwell St. Clair Beach Retirement Residence almost seven years ago. The idea for the miniature golf course was originally proposed by a resident named Ed Oleksiuk in 2016. From there, getting the green installed was a collaborative effort between Ed, Sue and General Manager Andrew Crow.

“Andrew Crow was really supportive,” Sue states. “He’s a golfer himself. And it was very, very kind of Chartwell to install this. They were hesitant at first because they didn’t think it would get used. Now, whenever head office comes down, they are so excited. They’re thrilled that we have this great league.”

Thanks to Putting with Sue!, Monday mornings have become energetic affairs.

Clockwise from top left: Sue Demers, Rita Drouillard, Maria Roth, Dee Renaud and Gabe Rosati hang out around the green as Marjorie Kennette lines up a shot; Ross Garrod lends a balancing hand to Rita Drouillard; John Cooper lines up a putt; Andrew Crow, General Manager, Marg Corin, Maxine Gregg, Grace McCann, Gabe Rosati, Marjorie Kennette, Rita Drouillard, Marg Rivet and Sue Demers.

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While the miniature golf course that Chartwell installed contains only three holes, the players makes the most of it. Sue routinely organizes a variety of different exhibition matches including games of Best Ball and Alternate Shots. And as with other golf leagues, Putting with Sue! hosts their own tournaments and banquets where the players can periodically take home prizes.

“It’s been absolutely amazing to see them improve,” Sue exclaims. “Their enthusiasm is contagious. Many of them never knew that they were competitive before. But boy does it come out!”

While many of the golfers are experienced former players, a few, such as Claire Munt, are complete newcomers.

“When Claire first started coming here, she was really down on herself,” Sue recalls.

“She said, ‘Maybe I shouldn’t be here.’ And I said, ‘Claire, come on. You can do it!’ And she won the whole tournament last week. She was over the moon. It meant so much to her.

Seeing everybody coming up to her saying, ‘Way to go Claire! Way to go!’ She was on twinkle toes!”

Other members, such as Gabe Rosati, have never so much as glanced at a golf club until last year.

“Gabe never played,” Sue explains. “He’s improved so much. He comes out and practices all the time.”

“I was a carpenter,” Gabe shrugs. “I just line up the measurements.”

However, not all of the Putting with Sue! members are new to the green. Some, such as Ross Garrod and John Cooper, still play at their own courses weekly. Another member, Marjorie Kennette, actually owned Orchard View Golf Club.

And one of the players was something of a local legend.

Grace McCann was a chairperson for the Essex-Kent Ladies District and a president of both the Ontario Ladies Golf Association and the Canadian Ladies Golf Association.

Grace represented Essex County in several tournaments and even won the Ethiopia Open.

“We called her Mrs. Canada,” Sue smiles.

And talent must be in the blood. Grace’s daughter, Nancy McCann, is another lifelong golfer. She served as a golf professional at Pointe West Golf Club in Amherstburg for 13 years before working as the Head Professional at Seven Lakes Golf Course in LaSalle for another 14 years.

“It’s all because of Mom,” Nancy smiles.

“She loved her golf. She played competitively when she was young and continued

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throughout her married life. She even won the club championship at Pointe West three years in a row after 50. She took on those youngins and beat them all!”

For years, Nancy came by Chartwell every Monday to play golf with her mother until Grace’s unfortunate passing earlier this year from Neuro Saroidosis.

“It brings everybody together,” Nancy explains. “This is their Monday morning. It’s just like golfing on a real course. And listen to them! They’re cheering! Sue does an awesome job.”

If this experience has taught her anything, Sue explains, it is that golf is truly ageless.

“Our youngest player is 73,” Sue states.

“And our two oldest players are 95. That proves that golf is truly ageless. And, looking around, I’m proud of all of them. Golf has kept them fit. They’ve kept themselves in really, really good shape. That’s one of the things that golf does—it keeps you young.”

However, when asked to describe the most spectacular part of the golf league, Sue returns to the bonds that have been forged between the players.

“It’s the camaraderie!” Sue exclaims. “The gang, they’re all so close now. They hang out now, together. Before they might have been going their separate ways, but now they’re a family. A tight one. For instance, Rita has a sore foot. She hasn’t been feeling well lately.

So the next thing you know the gang is checking up on her regularly. ‘Rita, how’s your foot?’ They’re very, very caring with one another. That’s what it’s all about. Being a caring family.”

Other members of the league include Elaine Johnson, Marg Vickers, James Denning, Claire Munt, Barb McMurray, Pat Cunningham and Bob Lavender.

In addition, Chartwell’s three-hole golf course is also used by multiple generations.

“One nice thing about the league is how many people you see using it on Sundays,” Sue states. “A lot of residents have their families here on weekends. You see a lot of kids out here. Husbands, wives. They’re all out there playing. It’s open for everybody. It’s something for the residents to do. It’s a wonderful sport!”

And the best part? Putting with Sue! shows no signs of slowing down. “Golf is in my blood,” Sue states. “I’m absolutely thrilled to come here Monday mornings and play golf with my friends!”

WLM This article is published in honour of Mrs. Canada, the incredible Grace McCann. It was written before the Covid pandemic began.

Back to Contents

Experience the difference

Your smile says it all We built our business on transparency and gained your trust. We challenged our process and won your hearts. The difference is in the Rose City Ford experience, thank you for your continued support.

www.rosecityford.com • 6333 Tecumseh road east, Windsor • 519.948.7800