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PODCAST

Bridging the Social Distance

A show that aims to give a platform for sharing ideas, perspectives and feelings in the wake of the Global COVID-19 pandemic. Interviews will feature local Guelphites as well as people living elsewhere around the world. bridgingthesocialdistance.substack.com

society & culture

All Episodes

58:07

85 Pacifico "Puss" Valeriote (Village of Riverside Glen)

Bridging the Social Distance ·

2020/08/12

For this episode I interview Pacifico “Puss” Valeriote, a 100 year old resident at The Village of Riverside Glen, born and raised here in Guelph. At 100 years, Pacifico remains a wonderful and charming storyteller - his memory weaves through time, with stories from Alice Street in the Ward, his family’s General Store, and his time in the war, right up to the present where he reflects on the pandemic, and narrates the watching of construction workers in the rain. Pacifico at one point says “I just go

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59:45

84 Ajay Heble (IICSI, IF 2020)

Bridging the Social Distance ·

2020/08/11

For this episode I interview Ajay Heble, founder of the Guelph Jazz Festival, Director of the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation, and artistic director of "IF 2020"IF 2020 was a 24-hour online improvisation festival that aired starting on Friday August 7th, featuring 100+ unique, original performances by over 150 international artists of all disciplines. Today we talk about this festival, and about the role of improvisation in creative practices, social practices, and

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59:51

83 Dustin Seabrook (Still Creates, "Project Isolation")

Bridging the Social Distance ·

2020/08/07

For this episode I interview Dustin Seabrook, also known for his work as "STILL Creates", who is coordinating "Project Isolation". Project Isolation is a video-series that acts as documentation of people’s personal accounts as they navigate their way through the COVID-19 pandemic. There are tons of parallels between my project and Dustin's project, and it makes for a super interesting conversation about the power of creating access, giving people the tools to tell their own story, and how we can use

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58:12

82 Yvonne Boyles (Village of Riverside Glen)

Bridging the Social Distance ·

2020/08/06

For this episode I interview Yvonne Boyles, another new resident at The Village of Riverside Glen. Yvonne, like a lot of the show's recent guests, moved to the village during the pandemic, but not from too far away, just a condo across the road, and before that a whole lifetime spent in Guelph. In fact, Jenny and Yvonne were pretty much neighbours, venturing to a lot of the same places, about fifty years apart. Yvonne shares some moving stories from her past, sharing stories about family life, her

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60:00

81 Mary Haggarty and Katherine Finlay (Java Music...

Bridging the Social Distance ·

2020/08/06

For this episode I interview Mary Haggarty and Katherine Finlay at The Village of Riverside Glen about the "Java Music Club" - one of Riverside Glen's signature programs.About the Java Music Club: “JAVA Music Club is an evidence-based mutual support program that provides a safe environment for residents to discuss a wide range of topics.” The goal of the club is “To build a culture of mutual support in each neighbourhood, and to decrease loneliness and depression in [the] Villages” - which is an

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59:33

80 Geoff Royston (Village of Riverside Glen)

Bridging the Social Distance ·

2020/08/06

For this episode I interview Geoff Royston over at The Village of Riverside Glen. Today Geoff takes us on a trip through his life, his various adventures with airplanes, and his career that spans toolmaking, teaching, and even working on the Avro Arrow. He's a heck of a guy, and at 98 years old there's a lot of wonderful history to share. Tune in! Thanks Geoff!This interview was originally recorded on July 15th 2020 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers

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58:25

79 Justin Nace (Menalon Fresca)

Bridging the Social Distance ·

2020/07/31

For this episode I interview Justin Nace. For the past fifteen years Justin has been working in music, mainly as a front-of-house-audio engineer and tour manager, most recently for bands such as Andy Shauf and Alvvays. When the global pandemic hit, and tours everywhere were cancelled for the foreseeable future, that took Justin off the road along with the rest of the bands, and fresh off a tour, he went into a fourteen day quarantine. Weeks turned into months, and with no end in sight, Justin found

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58:14

78 - Wesley Anderson (Village of Riverside Glen)

Bridging the Social Distance ·

2020/07/29

For this episode I connect with Wesley Anderson at The Village of Riverside Glen. Wes grew up in Jamaica, and worked as a pharmacist before beginning a career as a teacher here in Canada. We talk about his past, and about this pandemic - about the current challenges around navigating school and remote learning, and our shared desire for a vaccine. Wes brings 90 years of life experience and a perspective as someone who worked in both education and medicine, and it was a neat conversation. Thank you

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59:59

77 Heather Luth (Dementia Program Specialist,...

Bridging the Social Distance ·

2020/07/27

This episode explores the topic of supporting people living with dementia, and how we can adapt to the additional challenges presented by this global pandemic. For this conversation I interview Heather Luth, Dementia Program specialist for Schlegel Villages, and Tara Rosenow, who is the Neighbourhood Coordinator for the "Emma Neighbourhood" - the memory care wing of The Village of Riverside Glen. Both of these team members work to implement the "Living in my today" care philosophy, which "supports

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59:10

76 Frances Poirier (Village of Riverside Glen)

Bridging the Social Distance ·

2020/07/25

For this episode I interview Frances Poirier, another new resident at The Village of Riverside Glen. Frances was born and raised in Middleport, went to school in Brantford, and helped out at her family's General Store in Onondaga. Later as she was raising a family, she took over the General Store once more, and she was hard working woman, as the General Store offered a bit of everything - she was the butcher, the grocer, and the gas station attendant. Her store also acted as the post office, and if

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59:43

75 Nikki O'Connor (Gisborne, New Zealand)

Bridging the Social Distance ·

2020/07/24

This interview is the furthest journey yet, taking us all the way to Gisborne New Zealand, where I interview Nikki O'Connor. New Zealand has caught the attention of the world, with a firm, quick response to Covid 19, and now the island of nearly 5 million people is Covid-free, and life has returned to a kind of normal. It's inspiring and hopeful to see a population recovering, and fascinating to get a glimpse of life in New Zealand, as we talk about our respective countries' responses to this global

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58:09

74 June MacMillan (Village of Riverside Glen)

Bridging the Social Distance ·

2020/07/23

For this episode my interview heads to The Village of Riverside Glen, where I speak with a very new resident, June MacMillan. June was a teacher in Mount Forest for ten years before switching modes to parenting and working her family’s dairy farm. She had been living in a retirement facility in Maryhill when the pandemic led to that space closing, and June having to re-locate. It’s a special challenge to move during a pandemic, to a new home with so many new people, and especially when meeting those

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59:34

73 Gabe and Tucker (Holy Crow, Outlaw Country Tattoo)

Bridging the Social Distance ·

2020/07/21

Todays episode travels to Nova Scotia, where I connect with Gabe and Tucker. Gabe and Tucker co-own Outlaw Country Tattoo, an LGBTQ+ friendly tattoo shop, which recently has been able to re-open. They form the band "Holy Crow" which just released a new album called "Gater", that they wrote and recorded during the pandemic. They also live in two different parts of the same house. Today we talk about this album, about the tattoo industry, and about Gabe and Tucker's unique and beautiful decade long

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57:43

72 Sarah Pottier (Chair of the PSW and Supportive...

Bridging the Social Distance ·

2020/07/17

For this episode I return to The Village of Riverside Glen, this time exploring the learning opportunities for Personal Support Work. Supporting our seniors at retirement and Long-Term Care residences through this global pandemic has been an undeniably stressful and intense situation, but one potential positive aspect to that is that it has drawn attention to the roles of PSWs, and the ongoing need for people to pursue this line of work. Today I interview Sarah Pottier, Chair of the PSW and

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57:00

71 Dave Snider

Bridging the Social Distance ·

2020/07/16

For this episode, I interview Dave Snider, a local musician, delivery driver, and recent graduate in Early Childhood education. He's also the host of the CFRU show "Eternal Rhythm" that airs Wednesdays at 8pm. Plus he just released a beautiful new album, the "Dave Snider/Crops Split" out on "OwnSound Recordings". And today we talk about all of these things, about music, about the future of Early Childhood education, and what schooling and childcare may look like as we continue through this pandemic,

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59:23

70 Beth Leach (Village of Riverside Glen)

Bridging the Social Distance ·

2020/07/15

For this episode I return to The Village of Riverside Glen where I interview resident Beth Leach, and I return to China via Beth's stories. Beth has an incredibly interesting past, with complex struggles with citizenship. Beth was born in China, and so was her father, but with her father coming from an English family, and her mother coming from the United States, Beth had constant challenges around where she was allowed to live and work. At age eleven, the war pushed her family out of China, and to

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57:06

69 Heather Culford (loved one of a resident of...

Bridging the Social Distance ·

2020/07/14

I have been spending a lot time hearing from the residents at The Village of Riverside Glen and has been enjoying it so much. Today I get to share from a different perspective, interviewing Heather Culford, a Guelph resident who's mother resides in the Dementia Care Neighbourhood at the retirement centre. This time has been challenging for all of the residents and their loved ones - for months loved ones couldn't visit at all, and now thankfully there are distanced visits possible outside, with

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57:30

68 Tony Ferraro (Village of Riverside Glen)

Bridging the Social Distance ·

2020/07/10

This episode features an absolutely delightful guest, Tony Ferraro, a resident at The Village of Riverside Glen. Tony's stories of old Guelph go straight to the heart - he came to Canada as an Italian immigrant, lived in the ward, and worked and met his wife at Biltmore Hats. He became the most devoted husband, determined she would never want for anything, even traveling to her area of Riverside Glen when they lived in separate parts of the building, to help her with her meals. Since her recent

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58:10

67 Susan McGregor Irwin (Ningbo, China)

Bridging the Social Distance ·

2020/07/09

Today's episode travels all the way to the East coast of China, where I interview Susan McGregor Irwin, a Canadian ex-pat who lives and works in China as a childbirth educator and doula. Susan shares how China is responding to the global pandemic: while there is currently a second wave of Covid, the wide-spread implementation of masks, the literal lock-downs of gated communities, and the tracking of all residents, has lead to China being arguably one of the safer places to be. But the strict safety

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58:52

66 Janet and Larry Hamilton (Village of Riverside Glen)

Bridging the Social Distance ·

2020/07/08

This episode features Janet and Larry Hamilton, a couple residing at the Village of Riverside Glen. Being a couple in close quarters in quarantine is bound to test the patience of anyone, but having been together for 58 years, and with experience sharing small spaces on cruise ships when they've traveled the world, these two have things figured out, and are in good spirits. When the quarantine's over they're looking forward to getting to see their family for closer visits, the return of country

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