For this episode my guest is Elizabeth "Betty" Beard, a resident at The Village of Riverside Glen. Betty has lived closed to 100 years, and shares today about her family, growing up in Toronto and living for a time in Wingham, her musical background, playing the bells, and her family's band "The Beard Family Singers". Thank you Betty for making the time to chat!

This interview was originally recorded on April 4th 2024

Today I interview Anneke Haan, a resident at The Village of Riverside Glen. Anneke was born in Holland, and moved to Canada when she was three. She grew up in Fergus and Elora, and has lived all around this area, and she shares stories from her journey around these parts, starting a career in nursing before shifting to accounting, and for a time running a crafting/general store in Shellburne. We bond over a shared love of plants, crafts, and spread sheets. She's still adjusting to this new stage of life, and is open about that experience, and her story will likely connect with lots of folks in one area or another. It was an enjoyable chat, and I'm thankful Anneke took the time to connect!

This interview was originally recorded on March 28th, 2024

For this episode I interview Elaine Beattie, a resident at The Village of Riverside Glen. Elaine was born and raised on Prince Edward Island, before the bridge was built. She shares her story of what life was like on the island, then moving to the exciting city of Montreal to become a nurse, starting a family, and later pivoting to become a United Church Minister. Elaine is the president of the Resident's Council, helping to advocate for her fellow residents, and it gives her a great perspective to share from when giving a window into what life can be like at Riverside Glen. Thank you Elaine for sharing with us!

Original Recording Date: March 21, 2024

For today's episode my guest is Norah Chaloner, a resident at The Village of Riverside Glen. I know today's guest won't be a stranger to many of my long-time Guelphite friends, Guelph history-loving friends, and Guelph artist friends - Norah is an incredible fixture in our community! And it was such a treat talking about the history of Guelph and the surrounding area. She shared many Guelph stories I had never heard before, gave some insights into the possible inspiration for the Blacksmith Fountain (my favourite piece of Guelph historic art!) and shared about her advocacy work, working with several community groups to protect and defend the Yorklands Green Hub. This was a great conversation, and I look forward to future visits with Norah. I'm so glad we were connected for this! Tune in, and thank you Nora!

This interview was originally recorded on March 14th, 2024.

For this episode I interview Hearty Missier, a recent resident in Long Term Care at The Village of Riverside Glen. Originally from Sri Lanka, Hearty shares stories from growing up, her challenging home life, and how her strong will and outspoken voice carried her through it. I learned so much about Sri Lanka’s class system, how it affected Hearty’s emigration to Canada, who she was allowed to spend time with, and even wild details such as Hearty not being born in “Sri Lanka”, because she was born in 1940, and Sri Lanka didn’t gain independence until 1948, so she wasn’t recognized as being a citizen by birth. Hearty is a real character, quiet and observing when around her fellow residents, and apparently saving her stories for people like me, and I’m very thankful she opened up to me! We laughed a lot. It was a thoroughly enjoyable and educational conversation, and I hope you like it as much as I did!

This interview was originally recorded on Feb 22nd, 2024

Today I had the pleasure of interview Bob Seim, a Guelph-born, history-loving, retired child-psychologist with a myriad of hobbies including horticulture, and maintaining a newsletter devoted to the history of G.C.V.I. I've been very lucky lately with how much of a bond I've been able to form so quickly with my guests - Bob gave me a window into Guelph from his childhood, told through the lens of having grown up in an orphanage, in an era when kids hopped on their bikes and roamed the city till the sun went down. So many stories from Guelph's history that I haven't heard before! So interesting! Hopefully you'll enjoy our conversation as much as I did. Thank you Bob for being willing to share with me - I know it's not something you do all the time!

This interview was originally recorded on Feb 8 2024

Today I interview Roman Kramer, a resident at The Village of Riverside Glen. I haven't interviewed a lot of folks from Switzerland, and Roman provided a great opportunity for me to learn about Switzerland's history, particularly in relation to WWII. We speak about this, and hear of Roman's journey to Canada, and his successful career as a carpenter, supervising many huge builds in our area. He is also an incredible artist, a car-enthusiast, and we really bonded, as it seems like we have similar ways of thinking, and tackling massive and multifaceted projects. This was definitely a fun one. Thank you Roman for the fantastic conversation!

This interview was originally recorded on January 30th, 2024

For this episode I interview Tom Wilson, a resident at The Village of Riverside Glen. We kick off our chat talking about Guelph history, sharing where our respective geography crossed paths, at different periods of time. Tom shares some stories from his at-times-challenging-relationship with his many-decade career on the police force, and his frustrated feelings about where he is at this stage of life. It's very important to me that we create space for folks to share complicated and difficult feelings, and I'm glad Tom felt comfortable opening up to me. Thank you Tom for sharing your story!

This interview was originally recorded on January 6th, 2024

For this episode I interview Jo-Anne Lowden, a resident at The Village of Riverside Glen. Jo-Anne shares stories of early childhood in northern Ontario, her move to the big city of Hamilton to become a Hairdresser in her youth, and raising a family. Thank you Jo-Anne for sharing your story!

This episode was originally recorded on December 12th, 2023

For this episode my guest is Norman Coolahan, a recent resident in Long-Term-Care at The Village of Riverside Glen. Norman had a thirty year career with the TTC in Toronto. So with my background in bus driving, we had a lot to talk about! Listen to learn about the early days of buses and street cars and subways, about Norman’s, life transitioning into Long-Term-Care, and a little about his friend “Freddy” too. Thanks Norman for sharing your story!

This interview was originally recorded on Nov 21st, 2023