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 right up until the birth of the first of her three daughters. She has a fantastic work-ethic, and a determined spirit, recognizing the value of parents' sharing wisdom and guidance, but not pushing their children to make choices (and how "You can't put an old head on young shoulders" She shares the story of how she met her husband (who emigrated to Canada from Holland as a teen) and their hard work to buy their first house in Georgetown, their further work to build a new family home on a one-acre lot in Limehouse, and the many times over the years that the hard work and patience was able to see them reach life-goals, such as getting a cottage up north, and her husband being able to start his own wood-working business a few years before he passed away.

She's also played the piano since she was twelve years old, having gifted her piano to her granddaughter when she moved. In her interview she shared that her current dream was to play the piano at the sermons at Riverside Glen and we found out that she got to do this just a short time later! Truly beautiful. Thank you Arlene for sharing your story!

This interview was originally recorded on Feb 2nd, 2022

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 North Dakota while her father was working with the Airforce in WWII. From there, she went to the University of Wisconsin for school, where she met her husband, who's career would then take them all around the world for research, including stretches of living in Australia, France, and New Zealand. Her first child was born in Australia, two in Guelph, then one in France and she shares some of the differences at that time in these places, when it came to child birth. She's a fascinating guest with many experiences and we're so glad she connected to share them with us!

This interview was originally recorded on January 26th 2022

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 of Toronto, settled in North Western Ontario with her husband and still continues to go back when she can. She speaks of the profound impact Lake Superior has had on her writing, and how she uses writing to try to make anarchy of life. You can find her earliest published work under her married name "Joan Kurisko", and her novels and other published work after that point (including her recent short story "The Bear out there" were published under her maiden name of "Joan Skelton" Thank you so much to Joan for being our guest!

This interview was originally recorded on Jan 19th, 2022

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 College and eventually settling into a decades long career as a high school guidance councillor. Some folks may recognize him from his days at GCVI during the 1960's-1980's. He's had a varied life full of surprising experiences, and it's a fun listen! Thanks Ron for sharing with us a lot of interesting history and perspective!

This interview was originally recorded on Jan 12th, 2022

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 our optimistic tendencies to brainstorm how we could implement some needed changes in the music industry. This is a special, longer-episode - we were about to wrap up when Leslie flipped the script and started to interview me about music, and some really interesting reflections unfolded that we wanted to share. You will also hear a few live-performances of Leslie on the harp. You can find Leslie @thewelldressedharpist on Instagram. Thank you Leslie for making the time to connect!Photo by Ryan McKinnon- Mori

This interview was originally recorded on Jan 6th 2022

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 access to naloxone*.

*Naloxone is a medicine that rapidly reverses the effects of opioids on the brain. It is an important tool that can save the life of someone experiencing an opioid poisoning.

To help meet this growing need, St. John Ambulance is now offering an Opioid Poisoning Response Training program*. The OPRT is a two-step program that provides training and nasal naloxone to frontline workers in homeless-serving organizations. Some examples of organizations that are eligible for this program include shelters, harm reduction sites, peer support groups, libraries, and more."

Bang and I talk about the important work Bang's team has been doing to address the Opioid pandemic, and the essential role of self-care in supporting this work. We talk about the added effects of a pandemic, and how country-wide facilitated conversations are not only allowing for the sharing of resources and knowledge, but also helping track the migration of drugs across the country. Bang shares some very important insights into how the language we use to talk about these topics can have a huge impact on how they're responded to, and reminds us that "People don't make good choices - people have good choices to make"

It is a fascinating and informative conversation and we hope you find it as valuable as we did.

You can see the available programs at: https://reactandreverse.ca/opioid-response-training-for...

You can follow this work on facebook at Opioid Poisoning Response Community

This interview was originally recorded on January 5th, 2022

For this episode I interview Dorothy Lloyd, a resident at The Village of Riverside Glen. Dorothy and I chat about Dorothy navigating this pandemic while recovering from a stroke, her goal of learning to walk again, and her learning how to knit with one-hand. Dorothy talks about her childhood in England during the war, her move to Guelph as a young married mom with four children, her life-long passion for sports, and some of the journeys these passions have taken her on. She's a true delight and we are sending her strength and well-wishes for a speedy recovery.

This interview was originally recorded on Dec 15th, 2021

For this episode I have the privilege of interviewing Dr. Soren Brothers - the inaugural "Allan and Helaine Shiff Curator of Climate Change at the ROM @romtoronto (Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto). As far as the ROM can tell, this position is the first of its kind, and today Soren shares some of the potential he sees in this position, some of his goals and aspirations, and the careful balance of sharing this important information with the seriousness it calls for, while leaning into optimism and highlighting ways forward and progress where they can be found.

About Soren (https://www.rom.on.ca/en/collections-research/rom-staff/soren-brothers)

Dr. Soren Brothers is the Allan and Helaine Shiff Curator of Climate Change at the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto. He is also an Assistant Professor at the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto. Soren’s research examines the effects of climate change on lakes, and how changes in aquatic systems can influence their greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere. More broadly, he is interested in understanding how feedback loops and the transdisciplinary study of lakes can help us better understand and predict global tipping points that may accelerate anthropogenic climate change.

Born in Mississauga and raised in Toronto, Soren has worked on lakes in a diverse array of environments around the world, including the Nunavut tundra, Quebec’s boreal forests, and the Great Lakes. He is leading a Global Lakes Ecological Observatory Network initiative to improve understanding of the widespread greenhouse gas impacts of desiccation. He is also passionate about science communication and community outreach and organized a climate change workshop at the United Nations Civil Society Conference in 2019. Before beginning at the ROM in 2021 he was an Assistant Professor of Limnology at Utah State University, and a CREATE program manager and postdoctoral fellow at the University of Guelph, focusing on multiple stressors and cumulative effects in the Great Lakes.

Research Group Website: sorenbrothers.weebly.com

Photo credits: © 2021 Saty Namvar and Pratha Samyrajah

This interview was originally recorded on Dec. 8th, 2021

For this episode I interview Mary Snyder, a resident in Long-Term-Care at The Village of Riverside Glen . Mary and I have an absolute blast bonding over our shared love of Guelph history, and being "borderline hippies". Mary and her husband's families go back many many generations in Guelph, all the way back to the Tree-cutter who cut down that very first tree for John Galt. We talk about our city's history new and old, reflecting on the tendencies of history books to track the wealthy and the businessmen, and over-look the tree-cutters and farmers and factory workers. We reflect on the changes of Guelph, and some of the silver-linings that come with changes. And we make each other laugh a lot too. This was a delightful conversation and we hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

This interview was originally recorded on Dec. 8th, 2021

For this episode I interview Thelma Barbeau, a recent new resident in Long-Term Care at The Village of Riverside Glen. Thelma is 100 years old and six months, and she seems to remember her whole life. She shares stories of being a young wife with a husband in the war during WWII, the depression, raising a family in the -post war years, and how proud she is of everything her family has accomplished. She's a hard worker too - for 22 years she volunteered helping support people with mental health struggles, and she continues to work, her current focus being on regaining her ability to walk after a recent fall. We appreciate the time Marilyn took to share with us today, and wish her luck and strength as she regains her physical health.

This interview was originally recorded on Dec. 1st, 2021