By Pat Fream

Photos by Neville Palmer

Driving tractor, mucking out stalls and showing quarter horses – hardly the most common prerequisites for building a commercial cupcake empire. But Crave co-founders and sisters, Jodi Willoughby and Carolyne McIntyre Jackson, credit their rural roots with giving them the grit to veer away from conventional career options and take a chance on a sweet business idea.

“We grew up on a third generation farm just outside of High River,” says Jodi, the oldest of three girls in the McIntyre family. “Our father was a farmer/rancher with an entrepreneurial spirit; he grew and diversified when he saw opportunities and had the ability.”

Like most farm kids, the McIntyre sisters learned at a young age that the good things in life come from hard work, perseverance, and more hard work.”We never took anything for granted, we had to work for everything,” said Jodi, adding, “sometimes we went to school with two pairs of shoes, sometimes we only had one.”

But no matter the shoe status, Jodi and her sisters Carolyne and Antionette could be counted on to pitch in and help keep the family’s two-section farm just west of High River in good stead. “Dad didn’t have a lot of hired hands so we worked with him on the farm a lot,” she said. “In the summers, Antionette and I would tend cattle and show horses and Carolyn would either drive tractor or help mom with the cooking and baking.”

(Uh-Huh! Baking! The elusive kitchen duty that, under just the right circumstance, can turn farm girls into cupcake moguls!)

“Carolyne loved to be in the kitchen with mom,” said Jodi. “She envisioned herself as a modern day Kraft Kitchen Lady.” But baking sweet treats for a living was not the first pick for the two older McIntyre sisters, and the youngest of the trio had her sights set on a whole different career path. Then fate dealt the family a harsh blow.

“I had completed my second year at U of C and was taking a break, when our dad died suddenly of a brain aneurism,” said Jodi. “Losing him was devastating, it was extremely difficult for all of us, and not to mention our whole livelihood was at stake.” But tenacious genes run rampant in this family, and the girls and their mother pooled their strength, gratefully accepted help from neighbours and friends, and summoned the courage to carry on.

“Friends and neighbours helped mom keep the farm going for quite a few more years. It was difficult, but she wanted to stay there until we had all moved into places of our own, then she sold the homestead and moved to High River and went back to teaching,” said Jodi. Today Helen McIntyre is a retired active member in the community, and she still owns some of the family’s original land, which she farms with friends and neighbours.

All three girls graduated from Senator Riley and went on to university. Jodi continued on, earning a bachelor’s degree in community rehabilitation. Carolyne earned a Bachelor of Science degree in food business management. Antoinette got a degree in kinesiology and then went on to become a Calgary City Police Officer. All three girls were launched and employed, when the Kraft Kitchen Lady re-emerged.

“One day Carolyne came to me and said she was frustrated with having no creative latitude in her job. She asked me to join her in a cookie business,” said Jodi. “So I said ‘ya sure’, why not?” The girls (minus Antoinette who was content in her job) summoned their best cookie recipes, packaged them beautifully, and tried to sell them to a Calgary farmers’ market. They were turned down twice.

But the pair, still holding ‘real’ jobs persevered. “We really believed in the idea of a single serve dessert business, so we said, ‘Hey! We know how to do cupcakes!’” And so they did. Armed with their great grandmother’s chocolate cake recipe and their mother’s vanilla cake recipe, and steeped in their father’s staunch work ethic and keen market sense, they were off and running.

“We found a retail space in Kensington and Carolyn said, ‘Let’s go for it!’” said Jodi. “Carolyne quit her job first; I quit mine seven months later.” The pair did all the renovations themselves, and in September of 2004, Crave Cookies and Cupcakes made its debut in the Calgary market.

For several months, the pair ran the business entirely on their own. “Friends and family would come in and help, but basically it was just the two of us. We’d do the baking, open the store, sell the product, close the store,” said Jodi proudly. “We worked from four in the morning till close, seven days a week. We even had a shower in the back, we were there so much!”

But like the saying goes, you reap what you sow, or in this case, you reap what you bake. Crave became a raving success, with people lining up down the street to get their share of the decadent treats!

Today Crave has five stores in Calgary, one in Edmonton, and a new one that opened last fall in Saskatoon. Jodi and Carolyn work side by side in a suite of offices in Calgary’s Beltline. They recently added a kitchen to their head office so they can create, bake and test their own masterpieces onsite. “We source the best ingredients and all are pure and real,” said Jodi. “We use real butter; real whipping cream; we crack every egg one at a time.”

According to Willoughby, she and her sister have no regrets about the hours they have poured into the business. “It makes us truly appreciate every one of our (98) employees. All the positions, all the hard word, we know the demands, we’ve been there, and now we’re one big family.”

Echoes of farm life and the triumph over loss reverberate in all aspects of this family-run business. “Our humble roots have served us well,” said Jodi. “We never take our success for granted, we live for today and appreciate the time we have together, and we are deeply grateful to all the people who have helped us get here.”

Caroline and Jodi at their Willowpark location in Calgary holding their favourite flavour of cupcakes!

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]]> http://routesmagazine.ca/2012/01/livin-the-sweet-life/feed/ 0 http://routesmagazine.ca/2011/11/the-art-craft-and-science-of-lutherie/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-art-craft-and-science-of-lutherie http://routesmagazine.ca/2011/11/the-art-craft-and-science-of-lutherie/#comments Mon, 21 Nov 2011 02:03:11 +0000 admin http://routesmagazine.ca/?p=2205 Amid the sounds of sanding, the smell of hardwoods, and a peaceful small town setting, fine, handcrafted guitars are born.

By Pat Fream

Image by Neville Palmer

Q: What exactly is a luthier and what does your craft entail?

A: A luthier (pronounced loo-ti-er) is a maker and repairer of wooden stringed instruments. In the past it meant a maker and repairer of lutes, but today it includes other instruments. Folks who only do repairs usually refer to themselves as repairmen or guitar techs. Those who ‘jig up’ and run small factories cranking out a few models of guitars are light industrialists. Luthiers handcraft individual musical instruments.

Q: Explain how you came to be a luthier, and how one becomes a certified luthier today.

A: In the late 1980s I heard of a guy teaching guitar making on the west coast. I went out and met Michael Dunn, who was teaching at Douglas College in New Westminster and it seemed like a good mix to me. I studied there for two years, and received Certificates of Mastery in Musical Instrument Construction and Musical Instrument Construction-Advanced. Unfortunately that program is no longer running. Most existing ‘lutherie schools’ are short term and sometimes quite expensive.

Q: Are there many of you luthiers around? Or is this a dying art form in the face of mass production?

A: There are quite a few hobbyists, but few who have made the jump to full time. It’s not an easy way to make money. It is a competitive field especially for newcomers and you have to be consistently good and reliable. Often those of us who are doing well, are still not doing well enough that we can afford the loss in productivity that would occur should we take on an apprentice.

Q: What types of stringed instruments do you make?

A: Generally today luthiers make either violin family instruments or fretted instruments like guitars, banjos, mandolins, etc., but not both.  Although I do repairs to violin family instruments including cello and double bass; I only build fretted family instruments.

Q: Such as?

A: I’ve built a few banjos and an F-5 mandolin, but I mostly build guitars. I build fine French Polished, Classical and Flamenco guitars; loud balanced ‘Steel String’ guitars and a very good ‘Acoustic Bass Guitar’. I also specialize in a high performance type of jazz guitar invented by Mario Maccaferri, and played by the great Django Reinhardt.

Q: I’ve heard about an interesting instrument you are building for Calum Graham (profiled in this issue of Routes).

A: Yes, this is the second time I have been commissioned to make a ‘Harp Guitar’ (similar to a ‘Schrammel Guitar’ or ‘Contrabass Guitar’ as built in Vienna in the mid and late 1800s). It will have a normal six string guitar neck but also a number of extra bass strings off the bass side of the neck. I will incorporate things I learned from the earlier Harp Guitar, but this will also be somewhat different. We are pretty happy with the design, and have been talking about materials such as Flamed Maple, possibly with Brazilian Rosewood. I will also use an innovation patented by the great Toronto luthier Linda Manzer, called ‘The Wedge’. Basically the bass side of the instrument will be considerably shallower than the treble side. This makes it easier to bring the right arm over the instrument, making the instrument much more comfortable to play.

Q: What do you like best about your job?

A: That’s difficult to say. I’m very versatile; it’s part of my secret to avoiding a regular job.

I like the challenge of solving new problems and helping people and I enjoy the complexity of repair work. The challenge of designing a new instrument and bringing it all the way to completion and, even to stage performance, is very exhilarating. Restoring someone’s family heirloom violin is also deeply satisfying.

Q: What qualities do you have that make you good at this kind of work?

A: I am very meticulous and have high quality standards. This is a good thing because my customers tend to have high expectations. The required attention to fine detail is not for everybody.

Q: Who have you crafted guitars for? Anyone Famous?

A: Calum Graham is getting a lot of attention and he has a Shifflett ’Flamenco Negra’ (rosewood Flamenco Guitar) I built for him, and George Canyon has a stunning French Polished African Blackwood Classical Guitar of mine. Jim Peace has two custom built Shifflett steel string guitars that I am quite proud of. I have been doing repair work for Ian Tyson for many years, and as well, a lot of repair work for all those sidemen who play with the pros.

Q: Are you commissioned to make instruments? Or do you make your own creations and sell them independently?

A: I almost always work to order, though once in a long while I sneak in a project that I just want to do. In fact I generally don’t do any work for anyone that I don’t want to.

Q: Do you play your instruments? Do you have a spouse or kids who play?

A: Now and then my wife Fay and I enjoy playing a little at our friend Donna’s pub (Gitter’s Pub). My kids are very talented but a little shy.

Q: How many guitars can you make in a year? Enough to make a good living doing this?

A: I make between one and five a year depending on how much repair work there is to do. I would say it’s a steady modest living, but a good life? Oh yes, I think so!

Photo by Neville Palmer. Shifflett built his workshop measuring only 24 x 32 and 25 feet high but has good climate control, is in the side yard of his house in High River. He enjoy his 20 foot daily commute to work.

Locally, he needs no introduction. Mention just his first name in these parts and automatically people know you’re referring to the 20-year-old, bright-eyed, frosted-tipped, wunderkind guitarist, Calum Graham.

Nationally, he has broken ground already, sharing studios with Raine Maida of Our Lady Peace, Chantal Kreviazuk (the Chantal Kreviazuk) and – not too shabby either – the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. As he naturally branches into international territory, all that is familiar might be about ­to change.

He can play the guitar like few can on the planet. That’s not an overstatement. Of fans, now-legendary guitarist Don Ross counts himself one; a substantial endorsement considering Ross was Graham’s initial inspiration for learning to finger pick on the guitar.

“It blew my mind that one guitar could make so much sound,” said Graham.

With the admiration of such a big name artist and spades of recent accolades (such as, 2011 Song for Canada contest grand prize winner), there seems only room to grow for the newly budded artist in an understory of musical fame.

But putting it that way is too simple. Too nutshell. For one, it implies destiny. No self-respecting artist in the burgeoning part of his career wants to talk about something that negates tangible measures of hard work. It’s the teleological analogy of an acorn containing all the makings of an oak tree, though not necessarily destined to become one. For Graham, it’s a necessary denial at this stage.

“I think the terrifying parts help keep me in check,” Graham explains about the recent up-shoot in his musical career. An example: it dawned on him one day he was using the same master and mixer for recording his album that Led Zeppelin used. “It’s crazy,” he said, “just the momentum itself.”

Prior to breaking into the limelight, Graham was well tended to; nourished and supported by community, both that of High River and of fellow musicians. He can’t talk about his early guitar years without making two parental footnotes: recalling evenings as he sat at his father’s feet and listened to him strum chords, and crediting his artistic flair to his mother, who paints… with her feet.

Graham knew the guitar would take him far. “I wanted to see the world with a purpose,” he said. “It was always my incentive to play.” From his dad’s few chords, he quickly learned every song by Don Ross. (Tellingly, when Ross first heard Graham, he told the young guitarist: “That’s your ticket.”) And that ticket seems good. His time is now split between home in High River and recording studios in Los Angeles.

If you’ve heard Graham play the guitar, it’s likely you’ve only heard him play the guitar. Whereas – up to now – his guitar did enough singing for the both of them, this new studio album, with the working title, Indivisibility, will feature the artist’s lyrics and voice too. In this sense, the title takes on new meaning, implying his voice and the guitar’s are one and the same.

As he grows, Graham is still searching for that elusive idea of voice, like Zeppelin’s, he said, “you know it’s them.” And he is in good hands. He has a voice coach, Brian Farrell, and manager Neil McGonigle, who, incidentally, also managed Jann Arden. It was McGonigle who had just the right guy in mind in LA, and that guy turned out to be producer CJ Vanston whose tutelage produced Tina Turner and N’Sync.

Graham says that Vanston, acquainted with both the old, “dinosaur” way of music-making and today’s “ready, fire, aim” hyper-marketing method, wants to buck the modern convention of depriving the artist inside the celebrity. While there are plans for an iPhone app to accompany the release of Indivisible, Vanston and Graham both seek to preserve the album as a whole piece of art.

“What usually happens is artists go through a model – like the Britney Spears and Katy Perry stuff. And it works. It sells. But he’s all about the music,” said Graham about Vanston. “Let people come to us.”  

Back home in Alberta, equally passionate artists are chipping in, in one case, literally. Local luthier, Chuck Shifflett, is handcrafting Graham a guitar – a “monster,” Graham calls it – with a harp engrained into its woodwork; a truly unique bit of craftsmanship matched only by the young artist who will play it.

It’s obvious the beginning part is over. No longer bogged down by the torment artists face to get noticed or find their voice, Graham is bursting with ideas of new markets and major artists with which to grow alongside.

“I’m just going to go for it – not letting fear hold me back,”he said, reaffirming the total dedication to a living. “Years down the road I just want to be making music on a bigger scale.”

To wax philosophically one last time, an acorn’s end result might not be a tree. It could just as well be a guitar or dust or, who knows, a star. Graham gets this. It’s what drives him.

***

Graham was the 2011 Song for Canada contest grand prize winner; one of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics’ top artists of Alberta; and winner of the Canadian Youth Talent Competition. The previous winner of that competition was Micheal Bublé.

Watch a Video of CALUM

About getting the shot by Neville Palmer

By Peter Worden

Martin (right) works with students during a workshop. Photo by Neville Palmer

Martin Reinhard cups a few handfuls of damp coke, pushing a pile around the edge of a small flame. The forge feeds voraciously on vented air and is soon ablaze, rising to a near-instant 4,000˚F.

“Beats any acetylene torch,” he announces. Seconds later a steel rod inside the heat is orange-hot, or in blacksmith language, warm. “We never say hot.” He strikes it. When it starts to cool (though, still warm enough to sear third-degree burns), Martin continues with the natural rhythm of a blacksmith, musically tinging the hammer twice against the anvil face in-between each heavier metallic clang of the rod. Clang. Ting, ting. Clang. Ting, ting. “Heat it and hammer it, heat it and hammer it, tempering it,” he says, and places the rod back in the fire for a second heat.

Photo by Neville Palmer

While his storefront is located on Nanton’s Main Street, Martin’s workshop is located in a non-descript back-alley entranceway off Hwy 2. For all its modesty, it’s the only one of its kind in the province and there are three (maybe) like it in Canada. Likewise, Martin himself is equally modest and rare. He’s a master blacksmith of which fewer and fewer remain (none in Canada, to his knowledge). He’s a sculptor of art in which “each piece is one of one.” He’s an inventor of a wall-mounted kindling-splitter called Mr. Quicksplit. And he’s a chemist or – chemistry’s medieval precursor – an alchemist, possessing knowledge of elements’ properties with an ability to meld them into wrought iron – something stronger and just as historically significant as gold.

“Material gets 10-times stronger after it’s been forged,” he says. The rod he’s forging now begins to take shape with a twisted loop at one end and a hook at the other. “I make my own tools,” Martin continues, explaining how he petitioned the Government of Alberta once in a letter to advocate at least 14 different trades that could benefit from a day in his shop. “I can work with no electricity,” he says, “you show me a trade that can do that.”

There was a time when a town couldn’t survive without a blacksmith. But today, a one-man shop working with the four elements, fire, water, earth and air, is quaint, parochial. If ‘humans’ – traditionally held as the fifth element – are shapers and tinkerers, then Janet Rose, Martin’s partner at their Willowcreek Forge storefront is the sixth, tirelessly promoting Martin and blacksmithing in general.

“Martin has no apprentice,” she says, explaining that when the blacksmithing world loses Martin, a lifetime of master blacksmithing experience will be lost with him.

What does it say about a generation with no understanding of wrought iron? Either Janet or Martin will tell you, it says something about the world’s “Wal-Mart mentality” and explains in a nutshell how society popularly defines value. Martin knows first-hand the hard balance between blacksmith-as-artist and blacksmith-as-knickknack-maker.

“It’s tomorrow’s antiques, my stuff,” he says. “The stuff that comes from China …” he says, trailing off to insinuate the obvious. “This,” showing a previously forged work, “is like having an original oil painting.”

One measure of a blacksmith’s work is how many times it has been placed in the fire or “heats” it took. Like this, Martin has undergone several heats. He grew up in Lucerne, Switzerland, the son of a long line of hard-working oven builders. He passed his master blacksmith exam, which requires six types of welding know-how. “It’s not multiple choice, believe me,” he says. In 1976, he moved to Alberta, welding in the oil patch, doing stainless steel work at the Calgary airport, helping restore the Banff Springs Hotel, and more recently, from his shop in Nanton, forging gates for luxury homes in Canmore and Bearspaw and other works, which like everything in blacksmithing: “You have to start from scratch. Nothing will be identical.”

With all the tools, knowledge, shop space and patience (his blacksmith course is open to anyone) all Martin needs is to find an apprentice. The job isn’t perfect, “Oh you get burned,” he says. But there’s a need for more and more of it, and importantly, money to be made.

“I got a call this morning,” he says. “Well-spoken man. Wants a window basket made by a real blacksmith; like what you would see in England,” his steely blue eyes, gunmetal in the reflection of the anvil as he continues to work. “I’m the guy for you.”

Photo by Neville Palmer

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Members of the Hellion Rebellion All Star Team (left to right) Mickey Fickey, Lucy Flawless, Chrissy Cruizzer, Rollerover Jean. (back) Brazilian Whacks, Twitch Blade, Lockjaw Lyla. Team members not in the image: Slap Chop, Trailer Park Tracy, Suzie Smoke Show, Mamasita Muerte, Mama Ro, Scarla Maim and Sexy Rexxy.

By day she may be your check-out girl at Safeway, an honour student in the faculty of business or a physiotherapist at your neighbourhood clinic. In the evenings she laces up her roller skates, dons a superhero getup, goes by a badass name, and takes her place in a rowdy roller derby pack.

By Pat Fream

Photo by Neville Palmer

Walk into any arena on a scheduled roller derby night and you feel like you’ve peeled back a curtain and crossed over to another planet. Esoteric-ville: where racy rambunctious women on roller skates are the main attraction. Outside this place these women may have little in common, but in here, once they’ve slipped into their alter-egos, a distinct set of qualities unite them.

Feisty spirit and gutsy attitude are a given. Tattoos and fishnet stocking are optional. “Roller Derby is back, and it’s spreading like wildfire,” says Sherri Higgins, an Okotoks Herbal Magic consultant. Higgins, AKA Crissy Cruizzer, has just wrapped up her fourth season of roller derby, playing the position of jammer (point scorer) for Calgary’s top team, the Thrash’n Lassies. She is also on an all-star team of Calgary’s best rollergirls called the Hellion Rebellion. It’s tough to sum up the untamed pulse that is the hum of this culture, but Higgins names what it is for her. “I’m attracted to the athleticism, the competition and the showboating, but most of all, I like the sisterhood.”

From the stands one gets the sense the real appeal has something to do with power. These women are at the mercy of no one. This is their sport – their world – they own it. “I’ve always played sports, but I was always one who would pass the ball to someone else to be great,” says Higgins. “In roller derby I’ve come to see that I can be great – I can be a superhero.” Higgins amasses points for her team by “finding the light” which basically means zipping through openings along the track – made available by her blocking and bulldozing teammates. “There’s a lot more skill and strategy than you can tell when you’re watching from the sidelines,” says Higgins.

“You have to be fit, fast and have good stamina.”

In the stands you get the beer drinking boisterous fans on one side, and families who are slightly more subdued, but equally enthralled, on the other. Everyone present is obviously having a good time. “It’s a great place to go to people watch,” says Higgins, eyes twinkling. Still many people have no idea that roller derby is in the throes of a great revival in cities and towns across the country.

The entertainment sport, at its peak during the 1960s, fell off the grid for a few decades but is now back on track and rapidly gaining momentum, thanks to zealous women, and fuelled by media attention, such as the 2009 movie, Whip it. Today there are at least eight active roller derby leagues in Alberta, and though the foothills doesn’t have its own league – plenty of its own have jumped on board in Calgary. Michelle Roddy, a customs and exports manager in High River skated into the world of roller derby after overhearing coworkers discuss a weekend event involving beer, roller skates and cupcakes. “I had to know what it was all about, so I went to watch. After my first game I was hooked!” said Roddy, adding,

“I absolutely love the energy, atmosphere and environment. The ladies that play are a phenomenal group.” Roddy’s current schedule doesn’t allow her the time commitment required to be a team member, so instead she’s a roller derby referee and can be spotted at games calling penalties and ensuring the bouts run smoothly. “It gets rough at times! During the first bout I reffed, one of the rookie girls snapped her ankle and later had to have surgery,” said Roddy, adding that for the most part the regulated gear that includes helmets, wrist guards, knee pads, elbow pads and mouth guards, keep severe injuries at a minimum. “More often than not, it’s a whole lot of bumps and victory bruises!”

In Alberta, roller derby is played on a flat-track, usually in an arena during the months when hockey is not in season. To join, you have to be able to skate a certain number of laps; be confident on your skates, and sport some serious sass. “If you pass certain benchmarks you make it into the ‘fresh meat’ pool,” Higgins explains. “You skate with fresh meat for three months and then you either get drafted onto a team or pulled up if a team needs an extra.” Roller derby is not for everyone, but some know instantly – they are meant to answer the call. Wanted: Fresh Meat. Guts and grit an asset. Sissies need not apply.

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The Rules of the Game

Bouts are played in two – 30 minute halves, divided into jams that can last up to two minutes each. Each team sends out five skaters: a pivot, three blockers and a jammer for each session. The pivot and the blockers must skate together in a pack. The jammer skater is the point scorer – she skates through the pack and gains points for the team by passing opposing players. Pack skaters strive to assister their jammer in getting through, and to stop the opposing jammers. They do this using hip checks, shoulder checks and positional body blocking. Actions that land a skater in the penalty box include throwing elbows, tripping, and hits to the back or above the shoulders

Roller Roots

The Calgary Roller Derby Association (CRDA) was founded in 2006 by a small group of women with nothing more than vintage roller skates, a photocopy of the rules and a whole lot of tenacity. The group swept broken glass off a parking lot, drew themselves a track using sidewalk chalk, and tirelessly practiced skating. Five years later, the league has grown to more than 60 members and has just wrapped up its fourth season. Roller Recruitment The CRDA is always looking to recruit new members (and a place to play and practise all year). Currently the team practices at West Hillhurst Community Centre and plays at the Triwood Arena in Brentwood. Tryouts are held early each spring, and successful newbies earn a place on the ‘Fresh Meat’ squad. The main requirements are that you are over 18 and adept on roller skates.

Think Roller Derby is for you? Check out the Foothills Roller Derby on Facebook or  The Calgary Roller Derby Association (CRDA).

Photo by Neville Palmer at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel

Contrary to public opinion, Mike Holmes never believed he was destined to become a contractor, let alone a Canadian icon in the construction industry, but from the age of six, and by virtue of his father’s influence, he was constantly fixing or building something. Never at a loss for words or ideas, this natural born leader has always aspired to make the world a better place – beyond building homes that won’t burn, mould or rot. Now at 48, his drive to educate millions of people – all at once – is stronger than ever, and he has new goals on the horizon. But when his work is finished, don’t be surprised if Holmes disappears from the public eye – seeking seclusion on an island in hopes of regaining some well-deserved privacy.

By Mary Savage

Photos by Neville Palmer
Read more here about the photoshoot by Neville.

After spending an afternoon with Canada’s most trusted contractor it became apparent that Mike Holmes is even more personable than his “non-scripted” television demeanor depicts. Behind the piercing blue eyes and diamond-studded ears, the self-proclaimed workaholic is starting to realize the importance of enjoying life by stealing pockets of time amidst his breakneck schedule, his vision for change never sleeps.

“For whatever reason, we don’t think outside the box: we know it’s wrong, but we don’t change our approach to building better homes. It’s not about changing the minimum building codes, it’s about changing how we look at things,” says Holmes. “Things won’t change until we know better – by learning from our mistakes.”

He appears to be a knight in shining armour to the thousands of families he personally helps to ‘make it right’ when renovations go wrong, it’s no wonder he has a global following. “We’ve got to stop doing things because that’s the way we’ve always done them. We haven’t changed the minimum building codes for 30-odd years and they’re not working,” remarks Holmes. “Two of the fastest growing businesses are home inspections and mould abatement.” Because according to Holmes, every single house has mould – the question is how much.

“Imagine living in a house that won’t mould or burn, it won’t fall down or blow down. Imagine building a community that operates as ‘net-zero’, meaning it actually produces more electricity than it uses,” Holmes adds.

When Holmes forayed into the Wind Walk project, a sustainable community slated for development south of Okotoks, his vision of the Holmes Community was to build houses that would last for centuries (costing about 15 per cent more than the going rate). Three years later, the project sits before the provincial government awaiting its decision, and Holmes has no intention of giving up.

“Eventually, it will move forward because I’m not giving up, it’s the right thing do to. I picked Alberta because it’s progressive with respect to the environment,” explains Holmes. “It’s about doing the right thing, in the right place, at the right time.”

Holmes explains that the project’s greatest challenge has to do with water. “We want the water and sewer to be 100 per cent contained within the community. The water source comes from the aquifer: we’ll use it and clean it and return it to the aquifer. Everything in life is about that cycle: how can we move, how can we grow, how can we continue – for our kids and their future.”

As for other communities like Wind Walk, there’s one slated for Haiti. It’s being built near Port au Prince to house children who were left orphaned by the earthquake. His team has been down there several times and he will go down in November to begin the project.

And when it comes the next generation, Holmes has met with the prime minister on several occasions to talk about ‘green’ initiatives. “We’re all thinking green, we’re all talking green, but who’s teaching it?  How do we move from the level we’re at now, building minimum code that’s literally not working, to designing differently?” he asks. Holmes Communities will hire local apprentices and teach them how to build these houses. It creates a brand new certification and will change the industry overnight.”

When it comes to building a better house, Holmes combines history with technology and a bit of common sense. “When you think about how we built years ago, we had canopies over our windows and they were positioned at perfect degrees. In the summer, it shaded us from the solar passive and kept the house cool, but in the winter, it still allowed the sunshine to heat the environment,” he says. “Why did we stop using canopies? Was it cheaper or did we just become stupid?”

His forward thinking, backed by his drive for action, has landed him in a league of his own where he is both respected and disliked. Regardless, Holmes has already made a tremendous difference and he attributes many of his traits – like them or not – to his father.

“My Dad was a real unique person and, among other things, he taught me respect and to think for myself,” Holmes says. “I grew up in a tough neighborhood and maybe that’s what made me strong. I was a wimpy kid and got beat up a lot. I was about 14 when I finally stood up for myself and realized I was strong enough to fight back.”

For the past five years, Holmes has been working on Mighty Mike a cartoon character to be launched in 2012. “It’s a version of me as a kid. It follows Mighty Mike’s activity with a crew of kids around him. It’s going to help teach kids integrity, kindness, respect, having a passion for what they do and, of course, how to become a contractor,” Holmes explains. “He’s going to be an icon for the next generation.”

Looking at Holmes’s bucket list, there appears to be a lot of checkmarks. “In the last 10 years, everything was planned, with one exception: the accident was going from Holmes Homes to Holmes Communities!” With four companies, a bi-monthly magazine and four books under the Holmes Group, he’s on a roll.

“I planned every book ahead of time and I’ve still got two more to go. The fifth one is about the environment and how we need to understand the changes that are necessary. The sixth book is called, Men are Easy, because I have always been drawn to write a book about love, life and sex,” he says with a grin.

“When I read the book, Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus, I was 30 and newly divorced. Afterwards, I said to myself, ‘It’s that easy?’ Then I called my ex-wife and apologized – for everything.”

Holmes looks at life as one continuous learning curve, turning mistakes into lessons and moving forward. “To me, there’s never a mistake in life. Everything is a lesson and that’s how we learn. I’ve never regretted anything that has helped me understand life better and helped me get to where I am today.”

Holmes admits he thought Wind Walk would have been better received, but like most things in life, he sees it as a learning opportunity. “There’s nothing negative about this project – we spent over a million dollars planning and testing it,” he says. “No matter what happens, after the first community has been built, I’ll have changed the industry.”

In a rare moment, when Holmes is not working, you’ll find him on his boat or travelling across the country on his new three-wheel motorcycle. “I calculate my time by what’s important to me. It’s important to finish what I’ve started and I speculate I’ve got about five years to go, but I doubt it will ever stop,” he adds. The next bucket list will take him to 60 and according to Holmes, it’s anybody’s guess what happens after that.

“I always said I’m going to buy an island and disappear and I’m probably going to do that, but then again, maybe I’ll build an underground house.”

Wind Walk at a Glance

For the 1,000 – 1,200 Wind Walk residents, their community would be a compact, walkable neighborhood featuring Green™ and sustainable building solutions that include Holmes Homes, Holmes Approved Homes and high performance infrastructure. The concept, introduced in spring 2008, proposes development of a 145-acre parcel of land, located south of Highway 7 and the Cornerstone area, just outside the Okotoks city limits. The current plan promotes a mixed-used land plan:

• 457 single and multi-family homes
• 33 per cent of the land is comprised of open green spaces, allocating ten acres to public park use
• a full-sized soccer pitch
• over 80 plots designated for a community garden and farmers’ markets
• 7.5 acres for a school
• approximately 80,000 sq.ft. of retail space

The plan also includes technological integration to offer:

• district wide heating and electrical generation plan to be the first net-exporting energy subdivision in North America
• improved automation and home energy management
• renewable energy systems such as solar on every rooftop
• an integrated water management system retaining storm water on-site to pre-development rates and conservation standards
• improved broadband speed and capacity through fibre optic infrastructure
• full compost, recycle and waste management plan during and after construction
• district wide battery back-up storage to eliminate risk of power outages, surges and interruptions

Photo by Neville Palmer, Okotoks, Alberta

Look up and all around and you’ll find the Zman’s work everywhere. From the caricatures on ceiling tiles in the Twin Cities Bar in Longview, and on business windows all over Calgary during Stampede, in carvings, on walls, and even in his self published books.

By Sandra Wiebe

Around here, most people know Matts for his murals, most recently, East Longview Hall, the colourful depictions of the ranching lifestyle can be seen for miles. Matts also loves to sketch, draw, carve, chainsaw or otherwise, turning anything into a work of art.

“I just can’t stand white walls,” he told me as we sipped coffee together one afternoon. He was wearing the same well-worn cowboy hat he had on the first time I met him. In fact, I’ve never seen him without it. Along with his gentle persona, that is as much a part of his distinct character as is his bushy, walrus moustache.

Born in Edmonton, Matts always felt a calling to the cowboy lifestyle and moved from place to place all along the Cowboy Trail, including Sundre and Priddis, and for the past 10 years, Longview. He spoke of moving again, going south – 30 kilometers south that is. “I think I have one more move left in me, but this area is home.”

At 57 years old, he has held over 46 jobs to which his good friend remarked: You’re either the most interesting person in the world, or the most unstable individual I’ve ever seen.

“What makes me happiest is doing, it’s a fire that needs fuel.” Matts has a real passion for learning. One of those past jobs was being a physical education teacher, where he said, “The biggest job is to instill the love of learning.”

Matts’s love of learning is evident in his latest creative venture, a western historical novel (set in the Pekisko area), with the details based on facts of the era in which the story is set. While preparing a sample for the East Longview Hall, he found the project to be a history lesson. “I had depicted cowboys doing strictly ranch work in my original draft and the history of the east Longview area, as I learned, included more farming activities. There is a strong distinction, yet strong ties between the cattlemen and the farming community of east Longview.”

Another of Matts’s art projects, fueled by his creative mind, is turning a seven-foot plaster Greek urn into a lingerie wearing, big busted trashy bar maid – complete with a moving arm acting as a lever to dispense beer. Everything Matts touches becomes a one-of, a unique piece. But don’t go looking for Matts’s work in any art gallery. “What makes be happy is doing something – seeing something, creating it, then selling it.”

A one- of-a-kind himself, Matts won’t refer to himself as an artist, “My whole life is a hobby – I just get paid for some of the things I do.”

Photo by Neville Palmer, Longview

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Matts started his ‘bucket list’ in the early ‘60s, with one rule: when checking off one thing, another must be added! “It’s so you always have 100 things to do, so you are never done, never content,” he said. “I’m happy but I never want to be content.”

Done are:

• Owned a ’53 GMC pick up.
• Participated in a rodeo with wild horse racing and as a steer wrestler.
• Wrote a book.

To do:

• Learn to type (with more than two fingers).
• Learn to speak Spanish.
• Learn to play the bagpipes.
• Ride around the world on horseback, visiting every horse culture. No highways.
• See one of his 62 money-making ideas come to fruition.

Where to view the Zman’s work in the area:

East Longview Hall (completed October 2010).

Boot Hill Gallery, Okotoks.

Ceiling of Twin Cities Hotel bar, Longview.

Coming soon: River Roadhouse, Factory Outlet Trailers, Calgary business windows for Stampede.

GETTING  THE SHOT

By Peter Worden

Photo by Neville Palmer

Baseball culture in Alberta is changing dramatically. For a long time Alberta fielded no top prospects, no first-rounders, no Chris Reitsmas and no Jim Hendersons. All of a sudden six Alberta players are on the junior national team, and 18 year-old Jordan Procyshen is one.

At his first tryout five years ago, coaches made an instinctual and fateful decision to move Procyshen from his position at shortstop to back-catcher. “They already knew,” he said, recounting the story like it was magic; as if his coaches were clairvoyant, seeing something he didn’t or couldn’t. “That’s how good they are.”

Procyshen (sounds like “precision”) has been a catcher ever since.

In high school he was called up to college-level games. He spent last summer travelling the globe with the Canadian junior national team. The week before this interview, he was training in St. Petersburg, Florida and before that in Orlando (for the second time) practicing against the Blue Jays spring squad with the likes of pros Aaron Hill and John McDonald (who even played a little).

“You don’t think you could be in high school playing against major league players,” said Procyshen. This summer he’ll play in the Dominican Republic, Cuba, North Carolina, Columbia and, if all goes to plan, championships in Seoul. Come fall, he’s off to Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colorado on a near-full scholarship as a catcher. So when it comes to his coaches’ day one decision, he’s understandably humbled and appreciative.

The Dawgs are a two-part program: an increasingly well-respected academy of young up-and-comers, and perhaps better known (at least locally), the Western Major Baseball League summer collegiate team. By dint of experience on both, Procyshen is the club’s proud – if unintentional – ambassador.

Last summer, the collegiate team needed a catcher and Procyshen fit the bill. July 16, a night game, with the lights shining down, he went to bat in front of 2,200 local fans.

“The atmosphere was completely different than the 30 parents we had at high school games,” he said, laughing.

But if there ever was the ideal place for a young Alberta player to get a semi-pro start, Okotoks is it. Head coach David Robb said fans there respect the team and, it would seem they are happy enough simply having one.

“Here, even if the opposition hits a homerun fans clap because they just like to see the homerun,” he said

During a series in Lethbridge last summer, fans harped mercilessly on both teams, shouting at the coaches in the dugout and riling players on the field. Teams like Lethbridge and Medicine Hat are minor league affiliated and their professional background, Robb believes, lends itself to ragging on the players.

“They expect the players to be good,” he said. “They’re getting paid for it. So it’s a ‘I paid my money,’ sort of thing.’”

By comparison, the most angst-ridden experience for a Dawg at home field is when the announcer calls for a “beer batter” – a gimmick whereby if a batter strikes out, beer at stadium kiosks goes on sale for half-price. No player wants the undue pressure. The team interacts with fans between innings, playing Are you smarter than a Dawg and letting kids run the bases after the game.

In Grade 11, playing with a bunch of college guys, Procyshen flourished in the forgiving home field atmosphere, took the audacious out-of-town fans in stride and benefited from the team’s jock-like camaraderie. Older teammates imparted wisdom like, if a pitch hits a batter, calmly walk up to the mound because in college, players may take it personally and charge the pitcher. Over the rest of the season, he batted a formidable .300.

I met Procyshen in the video conference room of the Duvernay Fieldhouse, a $2-million indoor complex dominated by a full-size turf infield adjacent the Dawgs’ Seaman Stadium. Above a row of lockers is plastered a life-size photo of an impromptu Dawg-pile on the pitcher’s mound – the first of back-to-back-to-back championships.

Photo by Neville Palmer

“Basically, the town loved us,” said assistant head coach Brett Thomas, explaining how the team came to Okotoks in 2007, and won the first three summer seasons which spurred and solidified the reputation of its year-round academy. Today the place has six batting cages, movable mounds, a clubhouse, a workout area with flat screen TVs and the latest software for video analysis. “It’s pretty well the best in the country,” says Thomas, one of six full-time coaches when most programs can barely support two. Outside, giant shovels are busy carving out two new fields.

Twenty Dawgs players attend Holy Trinity Academy in Okotoks, six of whom moved from out of province – one from Florida – specifically to attend the academy. From its first pack of Dawgs graduates, a telling 11 have gone somewhere to play college ball.

Raised in a southeast Calgary suburb, Procyshen explains how and why he moved to Okotoks himself. He grew up a Blue Jays fan, and the year he was born (1993) was the same year the Jays won back-to-back World Series. Asked how it feels knowing he might realistically play for his dream team one day, he responded with the same pragmatic and humble approach his coaches have imbued in him since the day he came in a shortstop and left a catcher:

“It comes down to a lot of factors. One team just has to decide that they want you.”

****

Some history: In 2005, a bitter falling out with Calgary Vipers team over the use of Foothills Stadium in Calgary meant the Dawgs had to suspend their 2006 season. They moved to Okotoks and resumed in 2007 at the brand-spanking-new $8-million Seaman Stadium funded by Don and Doc Seaman. It was the first season for the academy and the Dawgs won the championship. They won again in 2008 and again in 2009. Almost instantly they became the top-drawing collegiate baseball team in Canada averaging 2,000 fans per game.

Click here to get the Dawgs’ schedule and get out to a game!

Link to read the photographer’s blog about getting the shot.

Photos by Neville Palmer

Grilled Caesar Salad

Print: Grilled Caesar Salad

Ingredients:
3 romaine lettuce hearts cut in half – keep stem ends attached
12 slices of bacon diced and cooked until crispy (save drippings)
4 slices of thick whole wheat bread
½ cup Parmesan cheese grated into large flakes
Caesar salad dressing (recipe follows)

Method:
Heat bacon drippings in large fry pan until liquid again.
Slice bread into 1” cubes and toss with bacon drippings in the fry pan to coat.
Set aside to cool.
Meanwhile, make the salad dressing and set aside.
5 minutes before serving, place romaine halves on a medium hot grill for 15 to 30 seconds or until lightly charred and slightly wilted around the edges. This works best on a charcoal grill with lots of smoke to flavour the lettuce.
Remove the romaine and brush each half with dressing, croutons, bacon bits and grated Parmesan.
Finish with freshly ground salt and pepper to taste.

Caesar Salad Dressing

(from 2CleverCooks cookbook – people friendly food )

Ingredients:
⅓ cup Highwood Crossing cold pressed canola oil
⅓ cup olive oil
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp anchovy paste
1 tbsp finely ground flax seed
1 tbsp Dijon mustard

Method:
Put all ingredients in the blender and blend for a few minutes until they are fully emulsified. The flax, garlic and Dijon help to keep the oil and lemon from separating. Makes about 1 cup.

Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

(strange I know! But oh so yummy – just try it)

Print cookie recipe

Ingredients:
10 strips thick cut bacon
brown sugar for sprinkling
2 ¼ cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup butter, softened
¾ cup white sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
12 oz semi-sweet chocolate morsels

Method – Candied bacon:
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Lay bacon on a parchment covered baking sheet so slices are not overlapping.
Sprinkle about 2 teaspoons of brown sugar evenly on each strip of bacon.
Bake for 12 minutes, remove from oven, flip bacon and drag it through the syrupy liquid that collects on the baking sheet.
Put the bacon back in the oven for another 12-15 minutes until it is fully cooked and very dark (mahogany) in colour.
Remove the strips from the sheet and cool on a wire rack. After they have cooled, chop them or food process into tiny pieces.

Method – Cookies:
Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.
Beat butter, both sugars and vanilla in a large bowl.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating well.
Gradually beat in flour mixture.
Stir in morsels and bacon pieces.
Spoon dough (about a tablespoon per cookie) onto an ungreased baking sheet and bake at 375°F for 9 to 11 minutes.
*At Stirr! we tend to go a little under 9 minutes so they come out just underdone, these taste even better when cooked on a disposable baking sheet – right on the grill!