Latest / Coffee In The Park with Jennifer and Cam / A Coffee with Christy Morin, Executive Director of Arts on the Ave

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A Coffee with Christy Morin, Executive Director of Arts on the Ave · Coffee In The Park with Jennifer and Cam

• 0:14
  Well, hello, everybody, and welcome to another edition of the ABA Coffee In The Park.
• 0:19
  My name is Cam Milliken, and I am here with my co-host extraordinaire, Jennifer Herrick, the Executive Director of the Acheson Business Association.
• 0:27
  Hello, Jennifer.
• 0:29
  Hello, Cam, on this beautiful, sunny morning here in beautiful downtown Acheson.
• 0:34
  You know what, it's a great day.
• 0:35
  You know, I don't care.
• 0:37
  So, wherever you're listening, this will drop at some point.
• 0:41
  And yesterday in Canada was a big day.
• 0:44
  We had election.
• 0:45
  We had our federal election.
• 0:46
  That's right.
• 0:46
  We were voting on our Prime Minister.
• 0:48
  And I'm not going to say who won or didn't win or anything like that.
• 0:51
  Some people are all ee and others are like, oh, this is great.
• 0:54
  And you know what, I'm just glad it's over.
• 0:56
  Can I just say that? I'll also say i'm glad its over.
• 0:57
  I'm really glad it's over.
• 0:59
  Now we can get on with life again.
• 1:01
  Yeah.
• 1:02
  And I want to let everybody know that we are coming to you live from the Wall Coffee Roasters in the heart of beautiful downtown Acheson.
• 1:11
  That's right.
• 1:11
  So if you hear some machines whirring in the background, people talking, kids screaming, there are kids here today.
• 1:16
  Yes, there are today.
• 1:17
  It's because we're live in a coffee shop, in the Wall Coffee Roaster coffee shop.
• 1:22
  That's right.
• 1:22
  It's awesome.
• 1:23
  It is.
• 1:23
  If you've never been to the Wall Coffee Roaster, no matter where you're listening to us, you should fly here and come to the Wall Coffee Roaster because it's great coffee.
• 1:31
  It's awesome.
• 1:32
  Hop on a flight.
• 1:33
  That's right.
• 1:33
  Jennifer, anything you need to tell us?
• 1:35
  We want to thank our gold corporate sponsors, which include the Myshak Group of Companies, Genics, Parkland County, and Bow Valley Credit Union.
• 1:42
  That's right.
• 1:43
  Without them, we would not be able to do what we do.
• 1:46
  So thank you guys and girls too for everything you do for us.
• 1:49
  We really appreciate it.
• 1:50
  It's awesome.
• 1:51
  It is.
• 1:51
  Yeah.
• 1:52
  Well, should we get into it?
• 1:54
  I am so excited.
• 1:55
  Me too.
• 1:56
  I am very excited.
• 1:58
  You know what?
• 1:58
  I was trying to count back on how long I've known this particular individual on our podcast today.
• 2:04
  And oh, it has to be well over 20 years.
• 2:07
  20 years.
• 2:08
  So you knew her when you were like 14.
• 2:09
  That's right.
• 2:10
  Unbelievable when you were both like 14.
• 2:13
  Incredible.
• 2:13
  That's a long time.
• 2:14
  It is.
• 2:15
  Yeah.
• 2:15
  So our guest today is Christy Morin, who's the Director of Arts on the Ave.
• 2:20
  So welcome, Christy.
• 2:21
  Christy.
• 2:21
  Good morning, you guys.
• 2:23
  It's great to be here.
• 2:24
  And the coffee is fantastic.
• 2:25
  Isn't it?
• 2:26
  It's great coffee.
• 2:27
  It's all roasted right here, right in that room, right over there.
• 2:29
  That's where they make it.
• 2:30
  It's pretty incredible.
• 2:31
  Yeah.
• 2:32
  So let's kick it off.
• 2:33
  Yeah.
• 2:34
  Christy, tell us a little bit about yourself.
• 2:36
  Where were you born?
• 2:37
  Where did you grow up?
• 2:39
  Well, I am a definite Edmonton story.
• 2:43
  Born at the Misericordia Hospital.
• 2:48
  I mean, the mis.
• 2:49
  Full of mercy.
• 2:50
  And grace.
• 2:51
  And grace.
• 2:52
  And grew up in Edmonton.
• 2:55
  Left Edmonton just for a couple of years to Calgary and came back.
• 3:00
  Saw the light.
• 3:00
  Came back.
• 3:01
  So what high school did you go to?
• 3:03
  Well, that's an interesting question.
• 3:04
  So I went to J.
• 3:05
  Percy Page, which was the first South Edmonton high school, which was like the cool looking school.
• 3:11
  Yeah.
• 3:11
  And then my drama teacher had sort of lassoed a whole group of us because Victoria's School of the Arts, which was Vic Comp back then.
• 3:19
  Yes, Vic Comp.
• 3:20
  Yeah, became a school of arts.
• 3:21
  And so she said, hey, guys, all of us drama nerds, let's get down there.
• 3:26
  So we'd all carpool in grade 12.
• 3:28
  Oh my goodness.
• 3:30
  And walked the halls of Vic Comp.
• 3:31
  Yeah.
• 3:32
  And that's sort of the beginning of high school stuff.
• 3:35
  Yeah.
• 3:36
  Well, the only reason this is intriguing me is because I went to Ross Shep.
• 3:39
  Oh, did you?
• 3:40
  You're a Shep boy.
• 3:40
  And my drama teacher was Mrs.
• 3:43
  Whelan.
• 3:43
  Oh, I don't know Mrs.
• 3:44
  Whelan.
• 3:44
  Well, you know, I bet you do, actually.
• 3:46
  Her husband was Ed Whelan, who was the announcer for Stampede Wrestling.
• 3:50
  Oh, yes, yes, yes.
• 3:50
  Oh, isn't that cool?
• 3:52
  My grandpa listened to that every Saturday morning.
• 3:54
  And she was like, she was like, "oh, Shakespeare, to be or not to be." And so there was always this competition at Ross Shep with other drama departments.
• 4:04
  Right.
• 4:05
  So I get it.
• 4:05
  Yeah.
• 4:05
  So yeah.
• 4:06
  So that's where that's where the everything happened.
• 4:09
  What was the what was the what was the Vic Comp mascot?
• 4:14
  Oh, man, we were the Redskins.
• 4:20
  So that sort of ages me a bit, doesn't it?
• 4:23
  I don't think that that changed, but I think a few years ago.
• 4:26
  Listen, people, don't send emails.
• 4:30
  This was another day in time.
• 4:33
  Many decades ago.
• 4:34
  She had no part of naming them.
• 4:36
  It was no, don't start that.
• 4:38
  Yeah.
• 4:39
  No, no.
• 4:39
  Okay.
• 4:40
  Well, we were the Thunderbirds.
• 4:41
  Oh, were you?
• 4:42
  Okay.
• 4:43
  So fantastic.
• 4:43
  Yeah.
• 4:44
  So you went to Ross Shep.
• 4:45
  All right.
• 4:45
  Good.
• 4:45
  I went to Vic.
• 4:46
  You went to Ross Shep.
• 4:47
  Well, I didn't really go, I skipped a lot.
• 4:50
  Anyway, that's a little bit of a story.
• 4:51
  So, yeah.
• 4:52
  So you graduated and then, so did you go to Calgary right after graduation or what was the in between?
• 4:58
  Well, actually, what happened was I was working for Canadian Airlines because my degree was French and Drama at the University of Alberta.
• 5:05
  And so then I got a job down in Calgary working as a manager of customer relations.
• 5:13
  So they said, there's 10 of us.
• 5:15
  And so it was like, oh, you're going to deal with accommendations and issues.
• 5:20
  Well, it was 99% issues.
• 5:22
  That's what customer relations is.
• 5:24
  So if you had trouble with res, if you had trouble with whatever and couldn't get where you needed to go.
• 5:29
  Kevin Jenkins, who was present at the time, he was amazing.
• 5:32
  And he was like, let's look after these customers.
• 5:34
  And so I was one of his folks that looked after the customers.
• 5:37
  Cool.
• 5:37
  Canadian Airlines, folks.
• 5:40
  Did you fly?
• 5:40
  You flew Canadian Airlines?
• 5:42
  That's like a flash from the past.
• 5:44
  It is, isn't it?
• 5:44
  Canadian Airlines.
• 5:45
  Ward Air, Canadian.
• 5:47
  Ward Air.
• 5:49
  I'll tell you a story about Ward Air, just real quickly.
• 5:51
  My wife, we lived here at the time before we moved to Vancouver.
• 5:54
  My wife applied to be a, in those days, they called them stewardesses with Ward Air.
• 6:00
  And she got accepted.
• 6:01
  Wow.
• 6:02
  And she got accepted.
• 6:03
  And then a week later, before they were going to fly her to wherever to do, become one of them, Canadian Airlines bought Ward Air and fired her before she even started.
• 6:13
  That's a sad story.
• 6:16
  Well, I still have the T-shirts.
• 6:18
  I still have the T-shirts.
• 6:19
  I won't part with them.
• 6:21
  So yeah, that's my Max Ward, Canadian Airlines story right there.
• 6:26
  So then from that, that's actually, they were getting, well, things weren't going very well for Canadian.
• 6:31
  So I got a package and then moved back to Edmonton and went into real estate.
• 6:35
  My dad was a realtor and he's like, Christy, why don't you get into real estate with me?
• 6:40
  So I did, loved it.
• 6:42
  But then as time went on, sort of went, you know what, I don't know if these evenings are great for my lifestyle stuff.
• 6:49
  And I was very involved in community.
• 6:51
  And so we switched up on that and I became an artist in residence teaching drama in schools.
• 6:56
  Come on.
• 6:57
  Yeah.
• 6:57
  So I did K to 6 curriculum in Francophone and French immersion schools.
• 7:02
  And that was a blast.
• 7:04
  I loved it.
• 7:05
  Physical theater, drama with these kids.
• 7:07
  Just seeing like, you know, it's so interesting how kids just didn't know how to play and things are getting increasingly tricky to get them into imagination and play.
• 7:18
  I agree.
• 7:19
  Yeah.
• 7:19
  Kids got to play.
• 7:20
  Yes.
• 7:20
  They got to play.
• 7:21
  Yes.
• 7:21
  That's where it starts.
• 7:22
  You got to use your imagination.
• 7:23
  You got to be creative.
• 7:25
  Arts programs, I think, are just so critical to schools.
• 7:29
  And it bugs me when that's the first, the budget cuts, they're the first to go.
• 7:33
  100% and people don't realize what it actually does, right?
• 7:36
  What we need.
• 7:37
  I mean, math is good, I guess.
• 7:38
  I didn't really, it hasn't really helped me a whole lot.
• 7:42
  Right.
• 7:42
  But you know what?
• 7:43
  We got to get back to music, arts, theatre for kids.
• 7:48
  And they all work together, science.
• 7:49
  Yeah, they do.
• 7:50
  All of it works together, right?
• 7:51
  That's the beauty of it.
• 7:52
  Yeah, so that's a little bit about me.
• 7:54
  OK.
• 7:54
  You guys, you are definitely going down.
• 7:56
  Well, OK, so you were doing real estate, or you had you met your husband, Darcy, at the time?
• 8:03
  When I was doing real estate, Darcy and I were singing in a church choir.
• 8:08
  And he was a guy that, this is crazy, in high school at Percy Page.
• 8:13
  There was a group that me and my whole group of friends started, IVCF.
• 8:19
  And so we decided that we were going to get the Edmonton Eskimos at the time to come out and we were going to play against them.
• 8:24
  And so that was all really cool.
• 8:26
  And so Darcy was a jock.
• 8:28
  I was a drama nerd and I thought, I'm going to invite him to this volleyball game.
• 8:33
  It's like, it'd be great to have some, you know, jockey kind of guys playing with us.
• 8:37
  So I made an attempt.
• 8:39
  It was an attempt and he always laughs because I, the Galleria, for those that know Percy Page, is like the place that people meet up, you know, and stuff.
• 8:46
  So I was watching for him when he got out of his one class and I beelined.
• 8:50
  So I'd meet him at the top of the stairs of the Galleria and I said, hey, are you Darcy Morin?
• 8:55
  And he was like, yeah.
• 8:56
  And I asked him about like what school he went to and he was like, yeah.
• 8:59
  And I'm like, hey, you might want to come out to this like cool thing.
• 9:03
  And he looked at me and said, hold on a second.
• 9:06
  And he turned around and talked to his little buddy, came back and said, no thanks, Mr.
• 9:10
  Christie.
• 9:12
  Okay, so first of all, that was like the worst name to call... And you married this guy?
• 9:17
  And I married him.
• 9:20
  This is the craziness.
• 9:21
  So after that, I went back to the group and I'm like, okay, off the list, these Morin guys.
• 9:27
  We're never going to talk to them again.
• 9:28
  I go to Calgary, do my stuff, get my degree.
• 9:32
  I'm in a church choir. Out of side out of mind.
• 9:34
  And all of a sudden I'm sitting there and I'm looking at the tenors section and I'm like, this guy in a bandana and wearing bike shorts.
• 9:45
  And I'm like, that guy's a really great tenor voice.
• 9:49
  And then I thought, I think that's the guy that called me Mr.
• 9:53
  Christie.
• 9:54
  And it was.
• 9:56
  So, you know, I thought distance is a good thing.
• 9:59
  I wasn't going to talk to him.
• 10:00
  But then maybe about three months into choir, he came up and asked what I was doing after choir.
• 10:08
  Well, of course, me and my girlfriends always would go to Cheesecake Cafe on 51st, 51st Avenue.
• 10:16
  Right?
• 10:16
  Those monster cheesecakes we share.
• 10:18
  And I was like, okay, which girl is he trying to like, you know, get in and the interest section?
• 10:25
  So I was like, well, let me talk to my friends.
• 10:27
  So I came and said, you know, because I thought, oh, maybe there's this one that he liked, because she was quite sweet on him.
• 10:32
  And they said, well, okay, he can come.
• 10:35
  He can come, you know, okay.
• 10:37
  So we said, yeah, you're welcome to join us.
• 10:40
  And he brought a couple of his buddies, you know, so we're like, oh, now this is no longer our girls' connection.
• 10:45
  This is like getting bigger.
• 10:47
  So after three times of the same thing every week, what are you doing after choir?
• 10:51
  And I'm like, oh my goodness, this guy, like already ask the person out, ask the person out that you're gonna ask.
• 10:57
  Let's get moving on here.
• 10:59
  And no, he just kept on coming.
• 11:01
  And so then finally the third time, I said, you know, okay, yeah, you can come.
• 11:06
  And he said, well, I just don't think you're quite understanding.
• 11:08
  I'm asking what you're doing after choir.
• 11:11
  Well, that was a whole lot.
• 11:13
  Things changed now.
• 11:15
  All right.
• 11:16
  He had a change of heart.
• 11:18
  Yeah, well, he all of a sudden, and he did not know I was Mr.
• 11:21
  Christie until after our first date.
• 11:24
  Oh, so he didn't recognize you.
• 11:27
  Oh, this is an even better story.
• 11:30
  He did not recognize me.
• 11:31
  Wow, and how did that, wow, that must have been a great conversation.
• 11:37
  It was crazy.
• 11:39
  After the first date, we went out, and it was a really nice time and everything, and then I was getting dropped off, and I said to him, do you know who I am?
• 11:49
  He's like, yeah, I know who you are.
• 11:52
  I said, I'm like Mr.
• 11:54
  Christie that you met in high school.
• 11:57
  He felt so bad, you guys.
• 11:59
  I was gonna say how many shades of red, how many like, wow.
• 12:03
  And you know, away we went.
• 12:05
  Away we went.
• 12:05
  We continued dating.
• 12:07
  I love it, what a story.
• 12:08
  What a great story, I love that story.
• 12:11
  And now you're married, obviously.
• 12:12
  And now we're married, yeah, we're married.
• 12:14
  We're married now.
• 12:14
  Does he ever call you like when you guys fight, does he look at you and call you Mr.
• 12:17
  Christie?
• 12:18
  I hope he will not start.
• 12:19
  That would be like the worst, that'd be the death nail.
• 12:21
  That'd be the death nail man.
• 12:23
  Oh yeah, I hear ya.
• 12:24
  Okay, well that's pretty cool, all right.
• 12:28
  That's how we met.
• 12:28
  That's how you met.
• 12:29
  That's a great story, Christy.
• 12:31
  And how many children?
• 12:32
  Oh, so two children.
• 12:33
  Alison is a teacher and Zachary runs a men's clothing store, Downtown Edmonton, and Ali's teaching French and music.
• 12:42
  And you told us something really incredible that you just had your first grandbaby.
• 12:45
  We did, Ali and Joel, they just had our first little grandson.
• 12:50
  So he is six months now.
• 12:53
  Oh, he's the best.
• 12:54
  The best.
• 12:55
  We can probably spend the rest of the podcast talking about Ollie.
• 12:58
  Honestly, Ollie is the best.
• 13:00
  He is such a happy little guy.
• 13:02
  And now he's starting foods.
• 13:04
  So we're moving on for nursing and moving on.
• 13:08
  And he can't wait.
• 13:09
  He can't wait.
• 13:10
  Yeah, because we were sitting at the table the other day.
• 13:12
  And I sort of like, because he wanted my sandwich so bad.
• 13:16
  So I let him sort of munch on it, of course.
• 13:18
  And he couldn't wait.
• 13:20
  And I said to Ali, come on.
• 13:22
  It's like six days before he's six months.
• 13:24
  But you know, she's... You remember those days.
• 13:26
  Well, I don't remember those days.
• 13:27
  I barely do.
• 13:27
  I don't know those little kids.
• 13:30
  Oh, he couldn't wait.
• 13:31
  Yeah.
• 13:31
  So this is exciting.
• 13:32
  Yeah.
• 13:32
  So Ollie's part of our lives.
• 13:34
  Good too.
• 13:34
  Yeah.
• 13:34
  Awesome.
• 13:35
  So awesome.
• 13:37
  So Christy, tell us a little bit about, so you and Darcy got married.
• 13:41
  Yeah.
• 13:42
  Now, this is where you and I eventually met.
• 13:47
  Did you move into the 118th Avenue right away after you got married?
• 13:51
  We did.
• 13:52
  So it was interesting.
• 13:53
  So before we got married, my dad, of course, being a realtor, a remaxer, which is like, you know, you definitely have to own.
• 14:00
  You're not going to rent.
• 14:01
  That would be like almost it's like sacrilege.
• 14:04
  So he's like, where are you going to buy?
• 14:06
  And so I was like, I don't know, dad.
• 14:08
  And Darcy was like a little gun shy about purchasing.
• 14:11
  So we started looking either a condo on the south side, which is where I grew up, was a south side girl or north side.
• 14:17
  We could buy a house.
• 14:18
  And so we started looking and, you know, I'm quite a nostalgia, like I'm getting to realize more and more how much tradition is means to me.
• 14:27
  So when dad's family moved from the farm, which is out by the Andrew Mundare area into the city, they moved into the Eastwood area.
• 14:34
  And so I'd always hear about that as a little kid.
• 14:36
  And so then I was like, so when we were looking, like we could get a house with a basement suite.
• 14:41
  I think it was $82,000, you guys back then.
• 14:46
  So we were like, well, let's do it.
• 14:48
  We didn't know though, Jen, all the social implications, right?
• 14:52
  We knew that it was tough.
• 14:54
  We knew it was going to be, but then I was like, you know what?
• 14:56
  We ripped up the carpet floor in the living room and we're like, look at this beautiful maple, gold maple, what's it called?
• 15:03
  Maple something floor, like that, whatever, the little narrow strips.
• 15:06
  And we were like, we can sell this house, you know, in two years, we'll keep it, we'll flip it, we'll move back to the South side.
• 15:12
  And that was sort of the plan.
• 15:13
  But things changed.
• 15:15
  Things changed.
• 15:15
  Yeah.
• 15:16
  And now 31 years.
• 15:18
  Still there.
• 15:19
  In the same house.
• 15:21
  And for people who don't know Edmonton that well, this is important because there's a lot of history in the area where you live.
• 15:28
  I do know this for a fact that right after the war, that area was, it was built hugely for people returning from the war.
• 15:36
  The houses were a little bit smaller, but that was an area where...
• 15:40
  It's central Edmonton, so it's right...
• 15:43
  Yeah, at that time, it would have been considered...
• 15:45
  Well, at that time, it would have been considered a little bit of north Edmonton, I guess.
• 15:49
  That's right.
• 15:50
  But yeah, it then became central Edmonton and a very unique neighborhood, very unique 118th, a very unique neighborhood.
• 15:57
  It really was.
• 15:58
  I mean, back from what I do the reading and what I hear from dad, and it was a burgeoning place to be, right?
• 16:04
  Everyone had the big gardens.
• 16:05
  It was very culturally based.
• 16:07
  So lots of Ukrainians moved in, lots of Polish moved in.
• 16:11
  Then Portuguese moved in, Italians moved in, right?
• 16:14
  So it was very much a landing place, like you're talking.
• 16:18
  After the war, people coming back, they needed to have housing.
• 16:21
  A lot of the housing, I mean, was out of the catalog, the Eden's catalog, which is pretty cool to see that history still in this community.
• 16:28
  So it was some beautiful old historic housing.
• 16:32
  Yeah, it really was a great, my mom, who lived in the city all her life, talked a lot about that area, had a lot of friends in that area.
• 16:40
  Very cool.
• 16:41
  And they lived on the south side, but she would often take the bus and be over there.
• 16:46
  And so when we used to take her down to Stanwicky's for dinner, our uncle Ed's there, and she would tell me as we drove down 118th, this used to be here, and this used to be here, and this used to be here.
• 16:55
  Fascinating.
• 16:56
  Yeah, it really is.
• 16:57
  There's so much and those stories, right?
• 16:59
  Somehow we need to keep those stories because they are amazing, amazing.
• 17:03
  But then things started to change.
• 17:05
  Yeah, things changed.
• 17:06
  So the Yellowhead, when the Yellowhead was built, it was a huge success for Edmonton, but it wasn't for this community because the East West Corridor, all of a sudden, wasn't 118th Ave that ran across the whole entire city.
• 17:18
  I mean, it's still there, of course.
• 17:19
  Yeah.
• 17:19
  But a lot of those businesses were like, okay, we don't have the same traffic.
• 17:23
  Now we have the Yellowhead running East West.
• 17:25
  So they were a lot of shadows, a lot of little shop owners decided, let's pick up and move.
• 17:31
  And then the neighborhood became really renowned for crime and grime.
• 17:36
  And so when we moved in, like it's funny because I grew up in Edmonton, but I didn't know the extent.
• 17:44
  It was like you were in a different world.
• 17:46
  Yeah.
• 17:47
  Like we went for our Gingham Blanket Picnic after we got married, because we got married in July, he moved in, or we got married in October, he moved into the house in July.
• 17:57
  And so we were trying to like, you know, furnish it and everything.
• 18:00
  And so we went for a picnic to Eastwood Park.
• 18:02
  And as we sat down, it was brutal.
• 18:05
  I mean, there's a gal being chased by a guy with a two by four.
• 18:08
  We see some, you know, incredibly people in need shooting up under the spruce trees.
• 18:16
  And I was like, did we make the right choice?
• 18:19
  Like, do we just need to flip and move?
• 18:21
  That was the question that we sort of wondered at that time.
• 18:24
  But then we were like, you know what, we're sort of young professionals.
• 18:26
  Darcy just finished his NAIT stuff.
• 18:28
  He's a welder, pipe fitter guy.
• 18:30
  So sort of like, you know, let's just stick around and see if this works.
• 18:34
  But man, the issues, I think there were at least three girls on every corner if you ran from Northlands to NAIT.
• 18:43
  So it was real.
• 18:44
  The pain was real.
• 18:46
  Nothing was in closets.
• 18:47
  Everything was exposed.
• 18:49
  Yeah, yeah.
• 18:50
  It became again a neighborhood, I think, personally, a forgotten neighborhood in terms of the city and that sort of thing.
• 18:58
  It was just they let it slide.
• 19:00
  They did.
• 19:01
  They really did.
• 19:01
  I think it was we had many talks and Jennifer was part of them.
• 19:05
  I mean, is this the city's sort of refuse?
• 19:08
  Is this where things go?
• 19:10
  Is this where things get dumped off?
• 19:11
  And these are people.
• 19:12
  And the funny thing, not funny, but the interesting thing about that is a lot of people always just think of the downtown core.
• 19:18
  Right.
• 19:18
  As being the hub, the central, for a lot of that sort of the crime, the drugs, all of that kind of thing.
• 19:24
  Not always.
• 19:25
  No.
• 19:26
  I mean, not necessarily.
• 19:27
  And 118th sort of was like that.
• 19:29
  You know, it's interesting because that's sort of an ongoing tension, right?
• 19:34
  When we talk to city council.
• 19:36
  Because when we, they talk about the core, they talk about Jasper.
• 19:40
  Yeah, exactly.
• 19:41
  But crime doesn't stop at that.
• 19:43
  That's why I say it's forgotten.
• 19:45
  Exactly.
• 19:48
  Sometimes I think it's sort of out of sight, out of mind.
• 19:50
  You're right.
• 19:51
  Which I think is not a good attitude.
• 19:52
  They have obviously.
• 19:53
  It was, yeah.
• 19:55
  Even during the pandemic, craziness between drug lords, there was 210 fires in residence that happened in that community.
• 20:06
  You would think that that would have been a flag that went up the pole.
• 20:10
  Until community got in front of Global, which we were a little bit afraid to do.
• 20:15
  Because at that time, these drug lords were alive.
• 20:18
  Now one of them has passed on.
• 20:20
  But it was like, OK, my face is going to be on camera now.
• 20:24
  Like, I'm going to be the one that people are going to see.
• 20:26
  Like, do we take that risk?
• 20:28
  But then honestly, people were coming to The Carrot, which is our Community Arts little coffee house, very, you know, community driven little spot.
• 20:35
  And were afraid.
• 20:36
  They thought like their kids weren't sleeping at night.
• 20:38
  They're like, they thought, are these firecrackers?
• 20:40
  No, it's a house going up in flames, you know?
• 20:42
  And so people that are, you know, welders is, you know, what's going to be next?
• 20:46
  Right.
• 20:46
  And is it going to be catastrophic?
• 20:48
  I mean, so it was.
• 20:50
  So this community has always struggled since that whole transition.
• 20:56
  Yes.
• 20:56
  Yeah.
• 20:57
  So you're living in the midst of this.
• 20:59
  Yes.
• 20:59
  You're raising your family in the midst of this.
• 21:01
  Isn't that crazy?
• 21:02
  And what I mean, obviously, you said, I can't leave.
• 21:07
  Yeah.
• 21:07
  I want to make a difference.
• 21:08
  Yeah.
• 21:08
  Start that journey for us.
• 21:10
  Yeah.
• 21:10
  So we, Darce and I, so I was working as an artist in residence.
• 21:14
  Darce was working, I think he was working at PCL at the time and were going out to Nisku and we had two little ones and we kept thinking, okay, you know, this is okay, but we'll move.
• 21:26
  But there was this group of folks that were connecting and moving into the neighborhood and it was not even a plan.
• 21:33
  Like there wasn't a plan, but good people were moving in.
• 21:36
  And I say good people and the people that can carry capacity, people that are carrying jobs, that are having, you know, lives that are, you know, somewhat balanced, right?
• 21:44
  You know, and so I see this.
• 21:46
  And then the city of Edmonton, through Stephen Mandel's leadership, had said, let's do a revitalization.
• 21:52
  And it was actually sort of crazy.
• 21:55
  It's 27 blocks.
• 21:57
  Yes.
• 21:57
  Okay.
• 21:58
  Yeah.
• 21:58
  Again, for those who aren't familiar with Edmonton, 118th literally runs from one end of the city to the other.
• 22:06
  Well, not now, but at that time, it was one end of the city to the other.
• 22:09
  So 27 blocks from the Yellowhead on the north side, all the way up to 112.
• 22:14
  So we've neighboring with McCully, Little Italy on the other.
• 22:17
  And it was like, let's start a revitalization.
• 22:20
  So I wasn't political, you guys, at all.
• 22:23
  My dad would tell me how to vote.
• 22:25
  I'd go vote.
• 22:25
  Like honestly, this election would have been like, dad, who do I vote for?
• 22:31
  Okay, I'll go vote.
• 22:32
  Use your democratic voice.
• 22:33
  Okay.
• 22:34
  So I would do it.
• 22:35
  But then it was such a city initiative.
• 22:38
  My next door neighbor at the time was like, Christy, you should come out to these meetings.
• 22:41
  Like, is there actually really one to hear community?
• 22:44
  And I was like, okay, I'll go.
• 22:46
  So I went to one and it was a lot of discussion and it was like five different pillars, like zoning, blah, blah, blah, beautification, all these things.
• 22:56
  And then it was like, okay, like I thought, you know what?
• 22:59
  The arts is really missing in here.
• 23:01
  Like, you know, there was a lot of great stuff, but where's the soul, right?
• 23:06
  And so you change your zoning.
• 23:07
  So you change this, you change that.
• 23:08
  But where are the people going to connect?
• 23:11
  Where are the stories going to happen?
• 23:13
  And so then a friend, Anita Lenny, she was an actress in the neighborhood.
• 23:18
  There was tons of artists that were moving in because of course it was affordable housing.
• 23:22
  Funny enough, right?
• 23:23
  It's old stock.
• 23:23
  People could buy a house for $28,000, $38,000.
• 23:27
  And the artists decided to move in and it was pretty cool.
• 23:31
  Nothing that I did, right?
• 23:33
  But it was just really wonderful how people were coming together.
• 23:36
  And then we started meeting in each other's houses.
• 23:39
  And it was really cool.
• 23:40
  We just started having coffee.
• 23:41
  So very organic.
• 23:42
  Very organic.
• 23:43
  Very grassroots, right?
• 23:45
  It was.
• 23:46
  And then like the guy that owned the Avenue Theatre at the time, it was still a cinema.
• 23:50
  And he was like, well, let me get in on this, you know?
• 23:53
  And so let's talk.
• 23:54
  And so we'd all sort of start talking.
• 23:56
  And the artists, I mean, they're visionaries.
• 23:58
  We're visionaries.
• 23:58
  We see things in multi-colours and our glasses are way different.
• 24:03
  And I think that's a blessing and a curse, honestly.
• 24:06
  No, I agree.
• 24:07
  Sometimes I think we should have more politicians who are creative types, not all of them.
• 24:13
  No, we need that balance.
• 24:14
  We need the balance.
• 24:15
  Because you're right, creative people know vision.
• 24:20
  They see the vision.
• 24:20
  They see vision in a different way.
• 24:23
  And I would rather have to pull somebody back.
• 24:25
  100%.
• 24:25
  Hope we won't go into that.
• 24:28
  She works with me, she knows.
• 24:30
  I would rather have to pull somebody back than try and...
• 24:32
  But that's why I'm saying, I think sometimes we need more creative people.
• 24:36
  I think so.
• 24:36
  And I think a lot of creatives did start these businesses, these commercial industries, because they were creative.
• 24:43
  They knew how to take something and make something, take nothing and make something.
• 24:46
  And they saw the big picture in many respects.
• 24:47
  And they saw the big and little picture, which is hard to do too.
• 24:50
  So artists are unique that way.
• 24:52
  And so as we started to hanging, we were like, let's do a festival.
• 24:56
  We all know festival, we're Festival City.
• 24:58
  Like, let's do a festival.
• 24:59
  And that's where it started.
• 25:00
  We did a multi-disciplined festival.
• 25:04
  So theater, music, dance, film, and we took over some old spaces like the old George's Cycle building, this old parking lot, one of the community leagues that was locked down because there used to be gunfights.
• 25:16
  It opened up to us and we were like, let's start.
• 25:19
  And it was magic.
• 25:20
  It was magic.
• 25:21
  Yeah, people came and Captain Tractor, a whole bunch of their members lived in the neighborhood.
• 25:27
  They came, they were the headliner.
• 25:29
  I mean, it's pretty, it was 20 years ago.
• 25:31
  And how long did this festival run?
• 25:33
  It was only a day.
• 25:36
  It was a one day festival, yeah.
• 25:38
  And so that was sort of the spark, right?
• 25:40
  That we went, okay.
• 25:42
  And I think for me, it was like, there's something here.
• 25:45
  There's something that you don't find.
• 25:46
  But it's grown and morphed.
• 25:47
  Oh my goodness.
• 25:48
  Now we do.
• 25:48
  It's huge.
• 25:49
  It's crazy.
• 25:50
  Kaleido was huge.
• 25:51
  Kaleido Family Arts Festival is three days.
• 25:55
  It runs in September.
• 25:56
  It's the last festival of sort of the summer run.
• 25:59
  We see 65,000 people.
• 26:00
  We shut down the avenue for five blocks and we use that real estate plus parks and grassy spaces and roofs of buildings and balconies of businesses.
• 26:09
  And we just sort of do this over abundant radical change of arts in the community.
• 26:16
  And it feels like a little cool village.
• 26:19
  It just comes alive.
• 26:21
  And the community is part, right?
• 26:23
  So it's not like let's separate.
• 26:25
  It's like, you know, we had, you know, sad story, but a little boy down the street, Bradley, his dad was in prison.
• 26:33
  His mom was dealing with abuse and stuff.
• 26:38
  And he came to that festival for every day of his life.
• 26:42
  He passed away this year.
• 26:43
  He was 25.
• 26:45
  But he looked forward to this festival.
• 26:48
  Yeah.
• 26:52
  Yeah, people don't get it.
• 26:54
  I think they really don't.
• 26:58
  I mean, Jennifer knows my story.
• 26:59
  I worked for 30 years in Vancouver.
• 27:01
  A lot of it in the downtown east side.
• 27:03
  And people don't get it.
• 27:04
  There is hope.
• 27:06
  There is the ability to change things.
• 27:07
  And there's ability to touch people's lives.
• 27:10
  In a very deep way.
• 27:11
  In a very deep way.
• 27:12
  Yeah.
• 27:12
  And you know, it's not, it's not your normal way of making connections.
• 27:17
  Well, it's not your typical sort of government, institutional program.
• 27:21
  And that, in my estimation, most of, some do, but most of those don't work.
• 27:26
  100%.
• 27:26
  This works.
• 27:27
  This, this is something special.
• 27:29
  Because it touches people at their heart and at their soul.
• 27:32
  Yeah.
• 27:32
  It's amazing.
• 27:33
  And what I want to say about your community, Christy, is people know their neighbors.
• 27:41
  Yeah.
• 27:42
  Right?
• 27:42
  It is true community, which I think is something.
• 27:45
  We've lost that.
• 27:46
  Yeah, we've lost that.
• 27:47
  We really have.
• 27:47
  You know, the laundry lines, you know, we're trying to get everyone back to getting their laundry lines back up because everyone has the poles in their backyard from the 1950's.
• 27:54
  Oh, I remember those, hanging the laundry on the thing.
• 27:57
  And talking to the person across the fence.
• 27:59
  Oh, I remember that as a kid.
• 28:00
  I mean, talk about people getting to know you intimately.
• 28:03
  They see every part of your life out on the laundry line.
• 28:07
  My aunts would scream at me because we go running through the backyard and grab the clothes off the line.
• 28:12
  I just, washed it.
• 28:13
  That's right.
• 28:14
  Right?
• 28:14
  That was, yeah.
• 28:16
  And you're right, Jen.
• 28:17
  It's all about people being neighbors and almost going back to that old homesteading, the gardens.
• 28:24
  Absolutely.
• 28:25
  We've lost that.
• 28:25
  There's no doubt about that.
• 28:28
  As I was going to say, as we get more modern, but that's a really dumb way to put it, we've become less relational with our neighbors.
• 28:36
  More robotic.
• 28:37
  Yeah, more robotic.
• 28:39
  And there's a lot of reasons for that we could discuss elsewhere.
• 28:41
  But I mean, it's a sad thing because those community neighborhoods, they're gold.
• 28:47
  They are.
• 28:49
  So that's where it started, was the festival.
• 28:52
  Then it was everybody's still meeting in each other's homes.
• 28:54
  And namely, my husband was like, OK, we have an eight, nine year old, like, you know, let's sort of see if we can get a spot for community to hang.
• 29:02
  So it's not just in the houses.
• 29:03
  And so we found an old bakery that was honestly needing a lot of love that had moved.
• 29:10
  And they opened a new bakery just down the block, which was a great story.
• 29:14
  But this little corner was empty.
• 29:16
  And so we said, let's give it a shot.
• 29:18
  So we sat in there with just like, you know, your picnic chairs and sort of did a visioning.
• 29:26
  It was like so non-visioning.
• 29:27
  You know, like session.
• 29:28
  It's like not the sessions that now we go to and lead.
• 29:31
  It's like you're sitting with your long chair in an old dilapidated corner store and saying, what could we do?
• 29:38
  What do you want, guys?
• 29:39
  How are we going to make this happen?
• 29:41
  And so we had a grant from the city and I think it was $3,000.
• 29:45
  We bought an espresso machine.
• 29:47
  We bought a vacuum and six months rent.
• 29:52
  And all the rest was volunteer power.
• 29:55
  It was crazy.
• 29:56
  It's crazy.
• 29:57
  Tell everybody the name.
• 29:58
  Oh, The Carrot Community Arts Coffee House.
• 30:01
  The Carrot Community Coffee Arts.
• 30:03
  And if you have not been there, you have to go.
• 30:06
  You were telling me you say they make one of the best chai lattes.
• 30:09
  Honestly, it is.
• 30:10
  I know.
• 30:11
  I used to come out for a chai all the time.
• 30:14
  We're going to have to revisit and check out.
• 30:16
  You guys have to come for a visit.
• 30:17
  Yes.
• 30:18
  We will.
• 30:18
  Well, Christy, 30 minutes has flown by.
• 30:20
  That's crazy, you guys.
• 30:22
  We're not done.
• 30:22
  One final question.
• 30:24
  And I know I could sit here and talk to Christy for hours.
• 30:26
  We could do another hour or two on this one for sure.
• 30:29
  Christy, what's the best piece of advice you've been given either personally or professionally that you carry with you to this day?
• 30:36
  So my dad, who just recently passed three years ago, I say recent, it was three years ago, he'd always say, you know, everyone puts on their pants the same way, one leg at a time.
• 30:48
  And that helped.
• 30:49
  Because you're dealing with city council, you're dealing with the prime minister's office, you're dealing with people all over the place.
• 30:55
  And that just grounded me.
• 30:57
  And the other thing that if I was writing a book, you guys, it would be 10,000 coffees.
• 31:02
  Because to build community, it's all about that coffee.
• 31:05
  We say that.
• 31:06
  You know, yeah, we say that.
• 31:08
  And I know we're running out of time here.
• 31:10
  Interesting fact, Michael, who owns the Wall Coffee Roasters, his first house was just off 118th.
• 31:17
  Oh, isn't that cool?
• 31:18
  Right in your community.
• 31:19
  Isn't that great?
• 31:19
  And I believe, and I know Michael well, and we won't go into it, Michael's been on our podcast, but I believe it was him being there that really helped spur a lot of this right here.
• 31:30
  I agree.
• 31:32
  And it's phenomenal.
• 31:33
  This has been amazing.
• 31:34
  We literally could go, you know what, here's what I think we should do, I think we should go to the Carrot.
• 31:39
  And I think we should do a remote.
• 31:42
  A remote.
• 31:42
  Why should you guys?
• 31:44
  We should just go down there and do that.
• 31:46
  We would love that.
• 31:48
  We'll just go down there and we'll just talk.
• 31:50
  We'll talk to everybody.
• 31:51
  And we'll have a chai latte.
• 31:53
  You have to have their chai latte.
• 31:55
  We would love to host you.
• 31:57
  Thank you for being here.
• 31:58
  Thanks, you guys.
• 31:59
  Thank you for sharing your vision, your heart and your work.
• 32:02
  Hey.
• 32:03
  Awesome.
• 32:04
  Thanks, Christy.
• 32:05
  Take care.
• 32:07
  Christy is such a genuine person.
• 32:09
  Man, that was amazing, Jennifer.
• 32:12
  What they're doing is incredible.
• 32:14
  She has done so much for, I'll just say community as a whole.
• 32:18
  Yeah.
• 32:19
  And what a great person.
• 32:20
  She's just awesome.
• 32:22
  Yeah.
• 32:22
  I loved it.
• 32:23
  That's great.
• 32:24
  Thanks, everybody, for listening.
• 32:25
  Hey, I hope you enjoyed it.
• 32:27
  Hey, maybe check out.
• 32:28
  The Carrot Cafe.
• 32:30
  Yeah, that'd be kind of cool.
• 32:31
  Exactly.
• 32:32
  Maybe one day we can do a live remote from there.
• 32:34
  I think we should.
• 32:35
  That would be really cool.
• 32:36
  Hey, everybody, check it out.
• 32:37
  And thanks for listening.
• 32:38
  And by the way, make sure you tell somebody about our podcast.
• 32:42
  Tell your friends, tell your neighbours, tell your co-workers.
• 32:45
  If you don't have any friends, make one so you can tell them.
• 32:48
  You can even tell your enemies.
• 32:49
  And be sure to subscribe.
• 32:52
  That's right.
• 32:53
  Thanks for listening, everybody.
• 32:54
  Thanks, everyone.
• 32:54
  See you next week.
• 32:55
  See you soon.
• 32:55
  Bye bye.