SOUNDS OF HOME at Harbourfront CentreSOUNDS OF HOME at Harbourfront Centre Welcome to Harbourfront...

SOUNDS OF HOME

at Harbourfront Centre

Welcome to Harbourfront Centre!

The greetings heard by all upon entering this place of arts and culture

As SOUNDS OF HOME echoed throughout, it was a pleasure.

There was Here in the 6ix: Multiculturalism Day, a declaration.

So too Our Home On Native Land acknowledging in our population

The creativity of our Indigenous Communities and those new to this nation.

The days were filled with crafts, games, music and at a glance,

There were activities like mini pong, lacrosse, workshops and dance

Where volunteers supported at every chance.

And the celebrations continued for all to see

Prairies to Pacific, Shield to Shore, Northern Passages, and all agree

These festivals showcased our rich history from Sea to Sea.

By Pauline Beverley

VOL 9 | ISSUE 10 – Summer 2017

harbourfrontcentre.com | 416 952 3625 2

Thank you & Contents

Contents

Celebrate Canada Pg 3 Our Home On Native Land Pg 4 Across the Country in Three Festivals: Prairies to Pacific Pg 5 Shield to Shore Northern Passages Pg 6 Remembering Canada Centennial

Festival Highlights Pg 7 Here in the 6ix: Multiculturalism Day Pg 8 Forest of Reading and the Festival of Trees Pg 9 HarbourKIDS: Circus Pg10 Barbados on the Water

Pg 11 Syrian Refugees Visit Tips and Credits Pg 12 How to Deal With Angry Patrons

Credits

Mark Your Calendar! Pg 13 Upcoming Events

A huge thank you from the Volunteer Department

It has been a very busy summer season and the Hot and Spicy Food Festival this weekend marks the end of the summer season. On behalf of Harbourfront Centre, I would like to thank each and everyone of you for giving up your weekends to give your time and lend a helping hand at our festivals and events. We value and appreciate your contribution, your tireless efforts to help make this summer season a resounding success. TTC disruptions, inclement weather and long commutes did not deter your enthusiasm. Your happy smiles as you check in with us each weekend say it all, that you are enjoying what you do and that is sufficient reward for us. A huge thank you to all of you and enjoy the rest of the summer! Genevieve Peng

Volunteer Coordinator

Here in the 6ix

Syrian Refugeees’ Visit

Forest of Reading


Celebrate Canada 150

Our Home On Native Land By Kevin Catalig

I’d be surprised if this year’s festival on July 1st wasn’t the most crowded one that Harbourfront Centre has seen. As always, our crowds were diverse. However, although we encounter that diversity every day and sometimes celebrate it as a Canadian value, this time we focused on the artistry of our Indigenous community in Ontario. Visitors took the opportunity to play lacrosse, which originated with the First Nations, learn a bit of the Anishnaabe language, make Métis crafts, write messages about what they love about Toronto, and enjoy the music and dance of multiple cultures, Indigenous and otherwise, including the lively footwork in the Red River Jig, the deep electronic sounds of Sarathy Korwar, and the tension and excitement from the complex rhythms performed by TDot Batu and Meegwetch. I hope this festival at Harbourfront Centre encouraged us to think about the meaning of what it means to be Canadian and how we can acknowledge the history of the country we celebrate, in all of its successes and shortcomings, from the 150 years since Confederation to the thousands of years before.

Celebrations at Harbourfront Centre (and other attractions such as the giant duck!) drew huge numbers to the waterfront in the evening. Volunteer Paula Kelly was there:

“Canada Day drew a large crowd to Harbourfront Centre with most visitors staying to watch the fireworks over

the lake. The show started with a lot of colour then moved on to red hearts. There was a large round of ap-

plause and cheers as the night sky was lit up with a series of red and white explosions at the end.”

Celebrating with a good game of lacrosse I love Toronto because ...

CAPTION

It’s a giant rubber duck!

Florence and Stacey in the crafts tent

TDot Batu entertains the crowd

“Where is the duck?” was the number one question from visitors.


Across the Country in Three Festivals

Prairies to Pacific By Sean McCluskey

The Fretless (www.thefretless.com), 2017 JUNO award winner for Album of the Year, use the instruments of a classical string quartet to play music that “melds the worlds of Celtic, folk, and chamber music into an amazing and unique sound they like to call ‘rad trad.’” They first got together in Vancouver; individual members hail from Calgary, Saskatoon, Vancouver and Los Angeles. On Sunday they held a workshop where members of the public were invited to bring their own instruments and help create a new improvised piece. Each member of the quartet worked with one or two “students” on a part, and at the end they all took to the stage to perform the final composition. All participants were obviously having a lot of fun and were rewarded by an enthusiastic response from the audience. I met up with two very new volunteers working as greeters on their first shift. Brother and sister Kevin and Katherine are high school students working for their 40 community hours. Why did they choose Harbourfront Centre? Katherine said it was partly due to a recommendation from their sister who volunteered here a couple of years ago. Kevin added that they were familiar with the activities as they have been coming here for Canada Day for a number of years. So far, Kevin has been finding the experience “pretty cool” and Katherine says the people she meets have been very nice.

The Fretless and workshop participants in performance

Sunday workshop with The Fretless

Katherine & Kevin

Kevin gets some tips from Angie


Across the Country in Three Festivals

Shield to Shore By Kevin Catalig

From July 14-16, Harbourfront Centre celebrated the culture and music of Eastern Canada in the Shield to Shore festival. It seemed quiet compared to Can-ada Day: not nearly as bustling, and it was easier to spot volunteers in every direction in their blue reflec-tive vests. At the same time, the festival was loud with instruments like banjos, guitars, and fiddles that, when played in this less dense crowd, filled Harbourfront Centre with a folksy flavour. One volunteer, Vicky, noted that denser crowds did form whenever bands started playing at the Stage in the Round. I was fortunate to experience The Once

and their folk indie cover of “Can’t Help Falling in Love”, as well as the dreamy rehearsals of Lisa LeBlanc. I’ve realized that live music is certainly an enthralling experience that is very different from listening to recorded music, and I wish I could have stayed for the actual concert (and for karaoke). Aside from music, we also had a bit of the fishing culture of the Atlantic in the form of charming lobster crafts as well as an entertaining talk and oyster shucking demonstration. Though I didn’t get to eat one, I must admit that eating a live animal has never been more enticing.

Northern Passages By Christine Dang

From July 21-23, we embarked on an arctic-bound adventure where the sounds of throat singers, folk musicians, and storytellers could be heard during Northern Passages.

Nathalie at crafts CAPTION

Team Leader Lidia with Anne and CAPTION

Oyster shucking demonstration Nova Scotia’s Anna Ludlow

Le Vent du Nord on the Concert Stage


Canada’s Centennial

Volunteers Remember Canada’s Centennial By Sean McCluskey

The 150th Anniversary of Canada’s Confederation was cause for much celebration. Some of us who were around 50 years ago remember the 100th in 1967 and what a huge milestone that was. There were personal and civic Centennial Projects, and of course the World’s Fair in Montreal, Expo 67, with its ambitious theme of Man and His World. “It is considered to be the most successful World's Fair of the 20th century with the most attendees to that date and 62 nations participating.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expo_67

My family’s centennial project was to see as much of Canada as possible. We got as far west as Banff in 1966 but only as far as Montreal the following year as we spent several days at the Expo. (I especially remember the nine-screen 360 º film at the Bell Pavilion.) Some other volunteers shared their memories with me:

Garth spent a lot of time at Expo 67, as his mom, an Assistant CBC Producer, was stationed there. Among the images that immediately come to mind are the automated monorail People Mover, and the hostesses with the pill-box hats. He also recalled the Centennial Medallions given to all students. His own, regrettably, has been lost in the years since. Bobsie got a good view of the fair from the air; helicopter rides were available from one of the parking lots. She also recalled that many of her friends worked at the Expo over the summer. If you were fluently bilingual it was considered a plum job.

From Emily: “Several friends and I were at Expo 67 (staying in a small trailer) during the week of French President Charles de Gaulle's visit to Canada. We were on the fair grounds at the time of his (in)famous "Vive le Québec libre" speech so we didn't hear it at the time of delivery. But we sure heard a lot about it later.”

Yes, Emily, they were interesting times. www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/1967-centennial-celebrations-emc

Guess who? At Fort Garry in Winnipeg

Emily (r) and friends

Outside the Canadian Pavilion Emily’s Expo Passport

The People Mover


Festival Highlights

Here in the 6ix: Multiculturalism Day By Bianca Hossain

At each weekend festival we can expect to see activities like miniPONG and crafts in the HarbourKIDS tent. On June 27, however, I found a unique activity in celebration of Multiculturalism Day – a day bringing together Canada’s colourful neighbourhoods, cuisine, arts and music right on Harbourfront Centre’s grounds. Three Beck taxis were parked in the Bays, each with an ipad installed in the backseat. One didn’t get to take a ride around the site, but thanks to our partnership with student film makers from Ryerson School of Image Arts, patrons did get to experience the journey of multiple taxi drivers around Toronto and discover their varied backgrounds through eight short videos playing on the ipad.

I got a chance to watch these amazing stories with Nikki, a volunteer at the venue. We were both fascinated by the man who had escaped a coup in Ghana, a student who had left his home country to become a dancer, and a son who left political turmoil in Ethiopia. As we watched the drivers tell their troubled past , one volunteer, Joel, said their current life is far from sad. Though a hard and modest job, as one driver states, it allows him the freedom and flexibility he needs to be a dad to his small kids. This mosaic of videos represented the great Canadian lifestyle we all are a part of: diverse, peaceful and filled with opportunity. On Multiculturalism Day, we came to celebrate just that.

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“Here in the 6ix”: What does it mean? www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/we-the-6-why-the-name-drake-gave-us-is-here-to-stay/article25421112

Nikki and Romina at Taxi stories

Bhangra Dance Workshop

Having fun at the crafts

Indigenous Crafts: Mini-Moccasins


Festival Highlights

Forest of Reading and the Festival of Trees By Scott Uminga & Kevin Catalig

When I volunteered at the Festival of Trees from May 16-18, I overheard several visitors comparing it to popular music festivals like Coachella and Woodstock, with authors and illustrators being cheered for instead of musicians. In terms of the energy that filled Harbourfront Centre I find it a good comparison.

I was stationed outside where I could see the awards ceremonies on the Concert Stage. Fans by the stage had a chance to briefly interact with their favourite authors who gave insight into their writing process and motivation for young writers.

The crowd quieted down when the authors spoke. One author named Kyo Maclear narrated her venture into writing. She stated that she started her writing career late but she found a door and opened it which led to her new imagination. She described books as akin to spells that could open doors to new worlds. As someone who considers himself a young reader, I found their perspective and wisdom in writing inspiring. It made me imagine what I might do if I were to write my own book one day. So I'm sure the passionate younger readers were even more inspired to author their own futures and cultivate their dreams.

Awards on the Concert Stage

Browsing for books

Robin and Emily brave the weather

Anne welcomes visitors to the Awards Ceremony CAPTION

There are a lot of young readers!


Festival Highlights

HarbourKIDS:Circus By Scott Uminga & Kevin Catalig

From May 20 - 22 the whole site was filled with interactive activities and fantastical buskers roaming around for HarbourKIDS: Circus. It was refreshing seeing families and kids come together for the first major festival at Harbourfront Centre after a long winter. It was also great to see familiar faces and find out how they’ve been doing, and to meet new volunteers and show them the ropes. This year’s activities ranged from a tranquility room with stone-shaped zen garden pillows for toddlers to relax, to giant spinning cloth hammocks that made kids and even adults feel dizzy with excitement from flying through the air (like I did). The great thing about circuses is that they’re always eye-opening and out of the ordinary, especially to people who’ve never seen skills and performances like these, making it a great way to introduce kids and families to new interests like performances, circuses, the arts, design and exercise. For those interested, acrobats and operators were also happy to give out information about where people can find out more or even participate throughout the year to relive those moments (or even discover untapped acrobatic potential). Victoria Day in particular was really busy and bustling, but full of activity and positivity that made for a great start to the new volunteering season.

Caption

Jackeye Majid

CAPTION C

Fly Lili

Volunteers help the kids make hats—and model them too!


Festival Highlights

Barbados on the Water By Sean McCluskey

Enthusiastic crowds were eager to enjoy a beautiful day by the lake on Sunday after an overcast Saturday. It was a good day to catch some rousing R&B influenced gospel singing by Pasquin and the steel pan virtuosity of Earl La Pierre, one of Toronto’s premier steel panists.

On Saturday I met with Haruka, a volunteer in her last year of high school. Haruka completed her required 40 hours last year at Harbourfront Centre; she is back because she enjoys it, noting how Harbourfront Centre reflects the diversity of the city. She told me: I was able to teach kids from different parts of the GTA to make kites while learning more about the incredible culture of Barbados. As a person who is shy and hesitant to talk to others, volunteering at Harbourfront Centre has made me gain confidence and make new friends. I would like to donate more of my time to Harbourfront Centre as it offers an amazing opportunity to meet and interact with many people, and make a difference in my community. We appreciate Haruka’s dedication and friendly enthusiasm, and hope to meet up with other dedicated students over the summer.

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Pasquin

Earl La Pierre

Barbados music and fashion filled the site

Haruka helping at arts & crafts


Harbourfront Centre Reaches Out

Syrian Refugees’ Visit By Lynn Allen

On Saturday July 15, Harbourfront Centre and Rexdale Women’s Centre co-hosted fifty Syrian refugees at Harbourfront Centre to introduce them to the arts and cultural scene of Toronto. This project was originated by our own Larry Lewis and Karen Sinotte at a Volunteer Connect meeting. Genevieve proposed hosting the Syrian group at one of the summer festivals and Karen identified Rexdale Women’s Centre for the project. If you would like to know more about what was involved in getting this pilot project off the ground please visit www.volunteerrefugeeoutreach.org. If you would like to help out with refugee settlement, visit www.rexdalewomen.org.

The initiative was developed because research (George Brown College, U of T) found that refugees settle more successfully and quickly when exposed to the arts and cultural activities of their new homes in conjunction with more traditional assistance in the basics of life (jobs, shelter, etc).

Phyllis Couzin, Chairperson of Volunteers Connect, and Laura McLeod, Director of Cultural Engagement gave the welcoming address. Fatima Filippi, Executive Director of Rexdale Women’s Centre said that this pilot project showed the refugee families that Toronto really cares about them. They get to know

the city in a different way and have some happy experiences after so many difficult years.

The Syrian visitors p r e s e n t e d Genevieve with a tray of cookies they

had made as a thank you. They also presented Harbourfront Centre with a plaque commemorating the project.

After the greetings and light refreshments, the families were divided into five groups for a site tour. Next, they participated in a variety of activities. Everyone had a wonderful time. The weather was great. Everyone’s spirits were soaring and all the faces that I saw were full of big, beautiful smiles!

I had originally intended to interview some of the children but as I wandered around I saw them having

so much fun that I didn’t want to interrupt their a c t i v i t i e s . I watched a group of girls making postcards and lobster puppets at the HarbourKIDS tent. The only

problem they had was deciding if they would send their postcards to someone at home or keep them as souvenirs!

A group of boys lined up at the paddleboats and enthusiastically organized themselves into groups of four as they waited to get in the boats. Some were laughing so hard they could barely talk. It was wonderful to watch!

Adults strolled the boardwalk. Some listened to music and storytellers at the Boulevard Tent and the Stage in the Round.

The visit ended with another light refreshment reception, then our new friends boarded the buses to head back home.

Larry and Karen hope that other organizations in the Volunteers Connect group will follow their Pilot Project lead and sponsor another cultural event in the near future.

Thank you to everyone who put so much effort and

time into this wonderful event. Well done!

Paddleboat fun!

Crafting postcards & lobsters

Larry, Genevieve & Hana


Tips and Credits

How to Deal With Angry Patrons Courtesy of Harbourfront Centre’s HEARTBITS

When dealing with angry patrons, there are several things that can be done to defuse the anger and bring the situation to a more neutral and positive place. For example, remaining objective, asking strategic questions, repeating the concern to ensure understanding, offering an apology and attempting to find a solution. As words have power and play a big role in communication, it is also important to choose your words carefully. Following are four sentences that are best avoided and alternate options to be used instead.

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The E-Newsletter Team: Sean McCluskey (Coordinator/Layout Designer), Genevieve Peng (Advisor/Editor), Lynn Allen (Writer), Pauline Beverley (Writer), Kevin Catalig (Writer), Susan Goldenberg (Editor),

Scott Uminga (Writer), Christine Dang (Layout Designer)

Photos courtesy of: Tom Bilenkey, Tom Pauncz & Majid Zeinali


Mark Your Calendar!

2017 Volunteer Meeting/Event Schedule

IFOA Presentation & Training

Saturday, September 16

Training: IFOA Team Leaders & Video Camera

Operators

Location: Brigantine Room

Volunteer Year End Party

Saturday, December 2

Location: Lakeside Terrace

TAIWANfest: Kanpai, Japan! August 25-27

Hot & Spicy Food Festival September 1-4

Veg Food Fest September 8-10

Chef Roger Mooking

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