Bridging the Social Distance

For this episode I interview Cormac Culkeen and Dave Grenon of Joyful Joyful , a two-piece music project who have just released their debut, self-titled album on Idée Fixe Records . Joyful Joyful and I are long-time friends, playing music together since the beginning of their musical journey many years ago, and the three of us reunited to talk about this release, and what it means for their projec...

For this episode I interview Judy Stark, a resident in Long Term Care at The Village of Riverside Glen . Born and raised in Lachine Quebec, Judy shares her story of schooling and work, going from high school into Sir George Williams Secretarial School - she tried out nursing, but felt it wasn't a good fit, however her interest in the medical side of it combined with her secretarial skills, and she...

For this episode I interview Florence Eland, a resident at The Village of Riverside Glen . Born in Guelph in 1930, Florence has lived here her whole life, and today she shares some of that history with us - growing up between the country and the city out at Fife road, attending the MacDonald Consolidated School on the University grounds, helping out in the school's big gardens, putting on performa...

For this episode, in honour of Parkinson's Awareness Month, my guests are Barbara Salsberg Mathews - a multi-disciplinary visual and performance artist, retired teacher, and Board member of the Guelph Arts Council, and Tristan O'Malley - a Grade 1 teacher with a myriad of passions and interests including athletics, and playing music. Both were diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in 2020, and they g...

For this episode I interview Karim Mosna - Content Producer for the podcast "Lucky Guy", and Lance Darren Cole, the "Lucky Guy" himself! From their Patreon: "This series explores unscripted antics of working professionally in theatre, unexpected opportunities in film, and challenging pursuits in television while spanning dynamic destinations from Montreal to New York and Barcelona. In the ongoing...

April is "Parkinson's Awareness Month", and I will be sharing two new episodes this month aimed to raise awareness about this disease. For this episode, I interview Theresa Daly - the Volunteer Administrator of the "Guelph Wellington Parkinson's Support Group".Theresa has had a 40+ career in health care, starting as a registered nurse. While working in the "Family Life" area of hospitals, working...

This episode marks the 100th interview for Bridging the Social Distance at The Village of Riverside Glen , and I interview Joyce Paul - a retired Salvation Army Officer, who has volunteered at Riverside Glen for 15 years, and is the sister of the late Lloyd Hetherington (Our first Riverside Glen guest for this show, and the resident who initiated this pandemic-era remote interviewing CFRU/Riversid...

For this episode, in honour of the "Trans Day of Visibility" I gathered with Emily Gleeson and Kevin Sutton to have an open-dialogue about our respective experiences exploring life outside the gender binary. All three of us identify as "They/them", but I am often "she", Emily at times is any and all of the pronouns, and as Kevin puts it, for them, "gender is a canvas". This conversation reflects h...

For this episode I interview Ted Presant, a resident at  The Village of Riverside Glen . Ted's life story covers a huge history of farming in the region. Some of his family members attended Guelph Ontario Agricultural College all the way back in the 1910s. Ted shares the story of his grandfather starting a farm in the Blenheim/Chatham area, the "Heart of the Golden Acres" circa 1913, supported by...

For this episode I interview Jennifer Dorner, Executive Producer of POP Montreal . Jen started her position with this organization in Spring 2020, just as the world was going into pandemic mode. And while starting a new job in arts' event planning, virtually, during a pandemic, isn't necessarily easy, Jen's background as a contemporary visual artist has prepared her with skills to take on this cha...

For this episode I interview Matthew Forbes, Head Seedsperson at Saturday Seed Co. Saturday Seed Co was born in April 2020 - like many of us, the pandemic put a pause to business (Matthew is also the barber of "Matthew's Barbershop") and he turned to his lifelong love of seeds to find a fulfilling and meaningful new way to contribute to community. Matthew and I talk about his role as a "seed curat...

For this episode I interview Aaron Senitt, an artist and Kindergarten teacher based here in Guelph Ontario. I interviewed Aaron in anticipation of the launch of his new book, an illustrated essay called "Kreepingarten", that is being published by Publication Studio Guelph (@psguelph). This thoughtful and whimsical guide "gently argues for the use of Physarum Polycephalum (the “many headed slime”)...

For this episode I interview Alida Zergerius, a resident at The Village of Riverside Glen. Alida is the oldest guest I’ve had so far on this show, and will be 104 on her upcoming birthday this year. She attributes her long life, clear memory, and perseverance through difficult periods of history to her strong faith. She shares incredible stories today - her family living through German-occupied Ho...

For this episode, to honour her first year here at CFRU, I interview Odesia Howlett , CFRU's Marketing and Outreach Director. Odesia joined us March 1st 2021. Today we get a glimpse behind the scenes to learn more about Odesia, what it was like to look for work during a pandemic, to start at a brand new workplace where you've never met your co-workers in person, to take over a vacant position and...

For this episode I interview Sheila Dantzer, a visual artist and resident at The Village of Riverside Glen. Today we get an inspiring glimpse into Sheila's path of teaching and painting. Her love of art dates back to childhood, first manifesting in the decorating of all of her school assignments, to later art classes when she was in grade 7 at the AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario) where her and her fel...

For this episode I interview Grace Lodder, a resident at The Village of Riverside Glen . Grace is full of incredible stories about history. She also has a heck of a sense of humour. She shares what she loves about Riverside Glen, and what she remembers from her move to Canada. She also talks about life during WWII, and how difficult it was afterward, when the German’s had taken many of Holland’s r...

For this episode I interview Adrian Stickland - born and raised in Guelph, Adrian has now lived in this city for over six decades! Him and I connect to talk about his history of playing music, his first drum kit, his first band, his first love of the Beatles and his discovery of punk. We compare notes as to our city's past music stores, and music venues, and try to imagine what might lie ahead. Tw...

For this episode I interview Randy Clayton, a former Guelphite, now-Brantford resident, and retired radio personality and bus driver. When Randy reached out to connect with me (having seen my posts about this radio show in the facebook group "If You Grew Up in Guelph Do you Remember") we were delighted to discover that we both have careers in radio-making and bus driving in common. So we HAD to co...

For this episode I interview Jenny Lodder, a resident at The Village of Riverside Glen . Jenny and I had a blast talking to each other, making each other laugh, and sharing our love for traveling across Canada. Jenny talks about raising six kids, and her subsequent 27 grandchildren and more than 60 great-grandchildren. And she takes us on a trip through German-occupied Holland during WWII, describ...

For this episode I interviewed Arlene Mulder, a recent new resident at The Village of Riverside Glen . Arlene has come to Riverside Glen, for a new chapter of life learning to live with Parkinsons, after many decades spent living in and raising a family in Limehouse ON. Right out of high school she got to work at Smith and Stone (a factory many people in the area will be familiar with) and worked...

For this episode I interview Renee "Mei Fei" Elrick. Mei Fei is a recent new resident at The Village of Riverside Glen , and a long-time Guelphite, both her and husband having worked at the UoG (her husband as a Soil Physicist, and her as a Social Scientist). She shares the story of her many homes in many countries over her life - born in Shanghai China, before moving to California and Northwood N...

For this episode I interview Joan Skelton-Kurisko, an author living at The Village of Riverside Glen . Joan speaks of the role of writing throughout her life, growing up in Toronto but spending meaningful time on the shores of Lake Simcoe at her family's cottages, when the area was still wild and full of nature. Joan realized she was a Northerner at heart, and after graduating from the University...

For this episode I interview Ron Langel, a resident at The Village of Riverside Glen . Ron is a very new arrival to the building, his wife and him moved into two different parts of the building, just before Christmas. He talks a bit about this transition, as well as growing up in Welland, first working in the trades as a woodworker/carpenter, then a police officer, before going to Teacher's Colleg...

For this episode I interview Leslie Shapiro, also known as the "Naked Harpist”, or more recently, the “Well-Dressed Harpist". Leslie is an artist/musician/harpist, community builder/activist, and mother, currently attending teacher's college in Toronto. We connect to reflect on the impact this pandemic has had on Leslie's various projects and travels, and to look ahead to the future, pulling from...

For this episode I interview Bang Ly, National curriculum lead for St John Ambulance's Opioid Poisoning Response Training Program (OPRT). "Opioid poisonings are on the rise across Canada, including at shelters and other homeless-serving organizations. More frontline workers than ever are witnessing and managing poisonings at their workplace. As a result, there is a growing need for education and a...