Posted on July 21, 2016 under Faces in the Crowd with no comments yet

 

“I have been treated very well by the arts community in Antigonish, which allowed me to find and build space here.”

Meet Amberlee Boulton.

The daughter of an Anglican priest, Amberlee spent her formative years in Guelph, Ontario; the oldest of three children. The home was a very busy place and her father and mother were very much a team in matters of family and church.

She learned about “community” at an early age, as the church hall was the epicentre of much activity. And it was a forward-thinking, progressive church. In addition to hosting karate classes and a pre-school, it provided a welcoming host space for an LBGT congregation, “Rainbow Church”. It also celebrated the arts. In a show of respect, Sunday collections were done discretely with a basket placed at the back of the church so as not to expose those who couldn’t afford to give.

Her mother, the proclaimed “backbone” of the family, was diagnosed with cancer when Amberlee was 10, and this shaded her outlook on everything for years to come. She died three years later, but not before an epic family trip to Disney, much of the money for it having been raised by the community.

Amberlee discovered her love of music at an early age. She studied classical guitar and performed in Kiwanis festivals.

High school is chaotic at the best of times, but when your anchor is no longer around, things can surely go awry. Girl Guides provided some much needed structure in Amberlee’s life. In grade 9 she went on a Disney cruise, spent time in Nicaragua on a mission trip and travelled to London, England as one of a select group of Pathfinders.

In grade ten things started going off the rails, but thankfully her community of friends rallied around her. In Grade eleven she learned the basics of team building as she co-chaired Student Council.  One day she saw a friend sporting the iconic “X” ring.  Amberlee loved the East coast and wanted to go to University in Antigonish but opted for Waterloo, a little closer to home.

At one point in her educational journey she thought about becoming an Anglican priest, but she was becoming disillusioned with her own church on its lack of progress around issues important to her.

Antigonish continued to beckon, so she spent a period of time shuttling between that small Nova Scotia community and Ontario. Sandwiched in amongst these trips was an incredible visit to India, where she sat with monks, went on pilgrimages and witnessed poverty up close.

She ultimately decided that she need to be near the ocean and she now calls Antigonish home. She is fully engaged in the arts community as coordinator of the Antigonight Art After Dark festival. She has been supported by many local artists and wants to give something back to the community, especially to youth. She mentors the youth group, “Unicorn Vomit”, which celebrates contemporary art in Antigonish.

“One of my goals is to build resilience in young people through the arts” says Amberlee. Her organizational skills, artistic flair and genuine empathy make her an ideal candidate for the job.

 

 

Posted on July 18, 2016 under Monday Morning Musings with 3 comments

 

Flashbacks.

Every now and then something happens that immediately teleports me to my youth. It’s usually a song that I’ll hear on the radio. When I hear the opening bars of “Whiter Shade of Pale,” I find myself stumbling around the Parish Centre at a high school dance begging for a waltz with that special someone. Ask me how that went!

I was out for my morning walk yesterday and it was simply the most wonderful morning of the summer. Saturday evening’s rain shower cooled things down and the air was deliciously fresh and clean. Part of my walk took me on a short trail that many people aren’t aware of. Shortly after you turn off Hawthorne Street onto Vincent’s Way ( across from Brendan’s ), if you veer to the right, you will notice what looks like the start of a roadway. If you’re an old timer like me, you might remember that many years ago, there was talk of a road that would connect upper Hawthorne Street to “the interval”, to alleviate traffic entering the downtown. That roadway is now a path that takes you through the interval and exits at the bridge over the Wright’s River near the former dairy.

Shortly after entering the pathway, I was hit with a sensory explosion. It was incredibly still and silent save for the birds that were chirping . The warmth was starting to emanate from the ground and I could see a few bumblebees and the odd grasshopper. The powerful and awesome smell of several wild rose bushes greeted me. There were buttercups galore and endless bunches of clover.

And, “bam”, just like that, I was a young lad on Hillcrest Street, wandering through the back field on my way to distant lands… the woods up behind the cemetery! In order to get there, I had to walk through the woods behind the old Antigonish High School ( now the Annex ), cross the Bishop’s Bowl, pass through the graveyard and re-enter the woods near what is now Church Street extension. Most times, you would travel this route with a few buddies but occasionally you walked alone. Yesterday’s walk so reminded me of these solo walks where all your senses are on high alert. Sorry, Disney, but nothing can capture magic like a solo walk with Mother Nature. Her “magic kingdom” is right in our back yards… and free!

I am spending much of my summer hanging out with my 8 year old granddaughter and her friends. I am happy to report that when they get together, there are no computer games played. There is a great deal of making crafts, walking down to explore the Brierly Brook, trips to the water park at Columbus Field, sojourns to the library and the occasional ice cream at one of the ice cream stands. It is nice to know that kids can still have “unorganized fun” without staring at some electronic device.

Have a great week.

Posted on July 14, 2016 under Faces in the Crowd with no comments yet

 

“Through our travels, we redefined the meaning of wealth. It is not about acquiring possessions. It is about collecting experiences.”

Meet Kathleen Moran and Chris Cairns.

Kathleen grew up in Judique, the youngest of three siblings. She loved small town life and became a devotee of Highland dancing. Chris was raised in Charlottetown along with his older brother. He loved the fact that P.E.I.’s capital had all the amenities of a bigger centre, but was safe enough to play outside unattended and build forts as a child.

Kathleen decided to begin her academic journey at Acadia where she knew no one. “I wanted to push myself and extend my boundaries.” She then transferred to Dalhousie to pursue her studies in pharmacy. In her third year, she travelled to Tanzania as part of a multi-disciplinary team of medical people working with AIDS/HIV. She officially contracted the “travel bug.”

According to Chris, his family consisted of a “herd of pharmacists” so it was no surprise that his dad ferried him to Dalhousie in his freshmen year. He took some sage advice from his father who urged him to get 50% of his learning inside the walls of academe and 50% outside. Chris did two educational trips during his university career including a stint in El Salvador, helping a team build an extension on a school for children with special needs.

Even though Kathleen was a year ahead in the pharmacy program, they ended up going on a class trip together to the Dominican in 2011 where they struck up a relationship.

After graduation, Kathleen took a one year contract in Pictou. During this time, the urge to travel bubbled to the surface. She decided that when the contract was completed, she was going to hit the road for a while… destination unknown.  She issued an ultimatum to Chris who was about to graduate: “You can come with me or stay at home.” The challenge came with a sweetener. “You can pick anywhere in the world to travel.”

And so, in early September of 2013, they headed to Bogota, Columbia with a pair of one way tickets. They had been so busy leading up to the trip that they had done almost no planning. Upon arrival, they suffered immediate culture shock and wondered how they would find their hostel with a dearth of English speaking people.

On the second day of their adventure, they returned to the hostel to find the place surrounded with sirens blaring and police wielding AK 47’s. Their place had been ransacked and robbed. Virtually everyone in the hostel had their passports and other valuables stolen, items that were secured in padlocked lockers. Kathleen and Chris were two of the lucky ones and only lost one of two cellphones. A few weeks later, that number was reduced to zero, much to the chagrin of their parents who wouldn’t be getting regular updates (to make sure they were safe!).

They learned a valuable lesson from the experience. “We realized that nothing was insurmountable. It was the best thing that could have happened. We learned to roll with the punches and take things as they come.”

They returned to Halifax and suffered a dose of reverse culture shock.  It took them a couple of months and a ten minute conversation to decide on a year-long trip to Europe, Africa and Asia. Towards the end of the epic journey, they started to look for work and chose Antigonish as their headquarters for the next while.

And what are the future travel plans for these young adventure seekers? “We want to explore our own province and the rest of Canada. Other travellers we met at hostels raved about Canada and we realized that we hadn’t spent much time exploring our own country

And what were the major lessons learned? “Acquiring possessions can be a burden. Travel taught us to be minimalists.”

“And I took the one less travelled by, and that has made all the difference.”  

The Road Not Taken – Robert Frost