About five years ago Rick and Linda Walker bought a window with a shelf init, a stove and a fridge and some opportunity. What they purchased was atiny cafe, tucked in between halls 1 and 2 at 80 Bradford St. What they’vedone is transformed this tiny cafe into a culinary heart of a buildingthat’s full…

There are so many life-altering experiences that impact on how we become who we are. One of the “biggies” is when kids have babies. This isn’t a new phenomen but the encouragement and support that young people get today when a baby is on the way is so much healthier from the closetted, punishing shame…

In the scheme of things, some would say that Brian Andrews’ life basket is less than full. Employment and health problems have challenged Brian’s family and it wasn’t until Brian was diagnosed with stage 4 brain cancer that things began to change. Sounds weird, doesn’t it? At the time of Brian’s diagnosis, his family was…

I emerged into adulthood in the late 60’s, fuelled by the teachings of Gloria Steinem and Letty Cottin Pogrebin, and stirred by my own reality that my brain had a place in the world and my children had the right to two participating parents, if both were around. Fortunately, I found a partner who shared…

Linda Nixon is a constant reminder to me that our careers are like branches of a tree… they don’t just go in one direction; one area of work leads to another. I first met Linda when she worked in the health care system. And we re-connected later when she and her husband owned Self Service…

For the past few weeks I’ve been on vacation. Vacation for me is transporting myself to a remote part of the Georgian Bay, a long boat ride away from stores, newspapers, the “buying” complex, technology, and the daily responsibilities of city life. A funny thing happens when you’re in a place where “making do” with…

Awhile back I wrote about one of my theories of relativity. Here’s another. I spent Christmas of 1996 in Geneva, Switzerland. My husband was the technical producer on TSN’s production of the World Junior Hockey tournament which kicked off Boxing Day 1996 in several arenas in Geneva. Most of the media people who were working…

Grant Lloyd is a cabinet maker. In 1994 he set up a little woodworking shop in his garage. His band saw, jig saw, router, and hand tools turned out pine shadow boxes, bookshelves, little benches. He nailed by hand, and counter-sunk nails and screws to a professional finish. Grant’s work was labour intensive, his products…

We flip the dial to ER and watch… we watch the fiction captured on film by actors and actresses playing out a script. Life and death issues, blended with hospital romance, and the daily routine of life in the suburbs. There’s a movement afoot on television these days. It’s probably got some fancy name, or…

I know this column is supposed to focus on people and places in the Barrie area, and mostly I try to stay with the topic. But the Vannaraths and the Sonethasacks came into my mind this week and I think I want to tell their story. It was 1980. Our first child was two. We…