A particular hobby has been occupying historians for hundreds of years, including long-time Yukoner and history enthusiast Jan Ogilvy. The pastime she shares with thousands of people around the world is unraveling the truth about Richard III, former King of England, now dead some 535 years.
Many took up drinking as a hobby during the pandemic, but for the amateur mixologist, it’s all about quality over quaffing. Lise Farynowski has been interested in the art of cocktails for more than a decade. Craft cocktails typically refer to drinks that include fresh ingredients, homemade syrups and small batch spirits (no margarita mix!). …
For Erica Mah, after roughly 10 years of dabbling with a traditional Chinese instrument called the guzheng, she’s now playing it for Whitehorse audiences.
These feet were made for walking. It’s not just a song; it’s the basis for a lot of Jeddie Russell’s work at WalkOn Foot Care, Whitehorse’s new foot care clinic located in the log skyscraper.
If Pinterest is to be believed, we might be raising children who expect a real live unicorn to come to their next birthday party. Do they even know how much a live unicorn costs? Imagine the hours it will take to source one. Parents of the world, let’s collectively admit to ourselves that children’s birthday …
If you love the gentle pop-pop-popping of a jar lid, you might just be a home canner. For Michelle Christensen-Toews, it’s one of the many satisfying things about preserving food. “You only hear it as you’re clearing up. You’re washing the dishes and you start to hear the popping and you know that things are …
So much winter, so little time. With Yukon’s abundance of winter recreation options, how do you choose your sport?
Expect the unexpected. This is good advice for both performers and audience at a typical improv event. Mind you, “typical” is a misnomer for a genre defined by having a unique performance every time. If you’ve ever had a yen to create one-of-a-kind, hilarious scenes, get yourself to the Guild Hall every Tuesday at 8 …
This is the second year that Northern Vision Development has challenged Whitehorse restaurants to make the best burger. This year six restaurants took the bait — The Gold Pan Saloon, the High Country Inn, The Cut Off, Earls, the Steele Street Restaurant and Lounge (which is the Westmark) and the Klondike Rib and Salmon. Six …
A small assembly of structures along Mountainview Drive has been quietly housing 45,000 young salmon each year for the past 25 or so years. The McIntyre Creek Salmon Incubation Facility is located midway between Range Road and Porter Creek. Now an educational facility under Yukon College, it was previously operated by Department of Fisheries and …
Mentioning Yvonne Emson’s name can trigger a response like my neighbour’s: “Oh, she saved my life! My husband’s, too.” Physiotherapists are not in the business of saving lives, but for people with severe or chronic pain, getting the right treatment can feel like rebirth. After nearly 40 years practicing physiotherapy in the north, Emson is …
Just when you think Yukon Pride is all about the party, the world reminds you that it’s not. Though the cheery posters and advertisements for 24+ Hours of Funky Gaylight promise a party not to be missed, they were created months before the shooting at an LGBT nightclub in Orlando reiterated there are still many …
Love, Honour, and Equality Under the Midnight Sun Read More »
Having reached a certain age, I’m grateful for the younger, hipper people in my life who update me up on popular culture. My friend Katie is such a person. She told me about Groupons, longboards, and Snapchat. Long before the last federal election, she explained to me what cage fighting was. She expands my slang …
In less than a year, Erin Loxam has found her way to the heart of the Yukon — through its stomach. While still a cheechako, she has visited more local restaurants than any sourdough, and has done us the good service of writing about her dining experiences on her blog All Yukon Eat. When she moved …
In this day and age, are we really still making new year’s resolutions? I’d have thought that resolutions fell out of fashion around the same time the “My Year of” books started coming out, those mega-resolutions that people launched their writing careers with. You know – My Year of Abstinence, My Big Fat Vegan Year, …
Experienced readers know that words make a world within a story come alive. However, for early readers, sometimes they need the world around them to help the words on the page come alive. The Family Literacy Centre at the Canada Games Centre has just the ticket: Reader’s Theatre, an interactive tool for learning to read. …
There’s at least one person for whom the drought in California has a silver lining. Luigi Zanasi is hoping for some magic to come out of his garage this year, thanks to the intense wine grapes he believes the California drought has produced. An economist by profession, and an enthusiastic gardener, Zanasi has been making …
If you have a passion for history and fighting to the death — without the death — there’s a new activity in the Yukon that is just right for you. Medieval combat is a martial art based on historically accurate medieval equipment and rules. You can get a taste of it at Yukon’s first medieval …
With Father’s Day here, I’d love to get the special dads in my life some shiny trinkets as a token of my admiration. Not fishing lures, not a Leatherman, certainly not an iPhone, but something more sentimental — like jewellery. The problem is that most of the men I know don’t wear jewellery. Men who …
Breaking news in the world of virtual lifestyling: the real world simulation game, The Sims 4, now has basements. Virtual people worldwide can now get their damn virtual stuff out of the virtual hallway closet into a virtual two-level underground storage space. Electronic art has caught up to real life and it’s time basements got …
In the dark days of winter, we could all stand to sing a page from the Swedish songbook; in particular, the tradition of Sankta Lucia, a celebration of light meant to ward off the evil spirits of darkness. Saint Lucy’s Day, or the Feast of Saint Lucy, is celebrated on December 13. This was the …
As Halloween draws near, let’s honour the many victims of Halloween. First, there are the 139 victims of Michael Myers, the villain of 10 Halloween movies, including sequels and remakes. Rest in peace, screen people, and especially you Jamie Lee Curtis, aka Laurie Strode; you were there from the beginning. There are also the long-suffering …
Some say that dogs of a certain age can’t learn new tricks. Sue Starr can’t speak for the dogs, but as a community organizer, adult educator, and driving force behind the new Heart of Riverdale community centre, lifelong learning is both a joy and a necessity. Take technology, for example. As technology becomes an unavoidable …
An allowance is one of the joys of childhood. Free money! Every week! Until I’m 18! For parents questioning the wisdom of shelling out, don’t despair. The giving of allowance is a time-honoured practice that can result in an appreciation of money, financial literacy, and a degree of independence and responsibility. First, the matter of …
High school is possibly the five longest years of your life. You spend the first year coming to grips with the fact that everyone has to shower after gym class, then you spend the next four years waiting for the experience to be over. The low point comes at the end of Grade 10 when …
If you don’t like hot dogs, here’s an Internet trend you want to avoid: “hot dogs or legs.” People take photos of their bent legs from the knee to mid-thigh in a manner that looks like a couple of hot dogs looking out over the landscape, usually a beach scene where oily, bare, hot dog-like …
Listen, guys, I know you don’t like to talk about your feelings, but have we told you how much we love you? Twenty-five years after When Harry met Sally, people around the Internet are still asking whether or not “cross-sex friendships” are possible. The topic can be tiresome; let’s assume we can, and move on …
One might think that winning six Olympic medals in two sports speaks for itself. Not for Clara Hughes, who believes there’s still so much more to talk about. The only Olympian to win multiple medals at both summer and winter Olympics, Hughes is now traversing the country to talk not about her accomplishments, but about …
There’s no such thing as getting away from it all. Not when it comes to computer technology. Leslie Leong’s latest exhibit, Insidious, reiterates this in beautiful, if at times unsettling, ways. Known for her use of computer circuit boards in jewellery, Leong offers a broader, more provocative look at the pervasive nature of technology in her …
The wedding industry has all kinds of advice for soonly weds. But we know the folks who brought fascinators to the royal wedding are not to be trusted. Instead, take advice from the homeys, the dudes — the married guys in my office. With one co-worker to be married this spring, I quizzed the others …
Bikes, art, and recycling are regarded by some as the holy trinity of resilient communities. What more could one hope for? Snow sculptures? Heaven. Giant owls hanging from trees? Rapture. To bear witness, head to the gallery-in-a-store at Cadence Cycle to see Grind, an assemblage of bike-inspired and bike-recycled art. Ken Anderson, local artist, master …
Somewhere in Riverdale, not far from downtown, but maybe a bit farther from the Canada Games Centre and the airport, lives a merry band of housemates – four adults and two children. What makes them merry? At this time of year, nothing more than layering up their clothing, putting on their ski goggles, and hopping …
Making donations to charities in lieu of giving gifts has become common practice for many people. Large organizations such as Oxfam and UNICEF have seasonal campaigns where you can “buy” gifts such as goats, books, and bicycles for communities in developing countries in the name of a loved one. The community will receive a goat, …
We’ve all experienced stress, but when is it considered toxic? For infants and young children, when it happens often enough that it starts to change the way their brains develop, then it is toxic. Dr. Nicole Letourneau will tell us more about this topic at the seminar TEDx Whitehorse on Nov. 23. Then on Nov. …
Regular readers might know me as a generally cranky person, not likely to give out candy freely at any time of year. Today, I will not prove you wrong. The percentage of adults that enjoy Halloween is roughly equivalent to that of co-workers who enjoy staff meetings; there’s the one eager person who likes to …
In honour of National Family Week, let’s unpack a controversial issue: stick-figure family stickers. If it sounds like I just invented a poor tongue twister, you can’t be blamed. There are relatively few in the Yukon. As with many trends, Whitehorse is late (see also: bubble tea). I’m referring to the white stick figure decals …
With the start of the school year, my neighbourhood bus stop is abuzz with talk of who has Mrs. So-and-So and what kind of teacher Mr. Such-and-Such is. In a town where politicians aren’t even called by their last names, teachers are in a unique category. Partly revered, partly depersonalized; teachers just aren’t like regular …
Class and Confidence: An ode to teachers that inspire Read More »
Cobbler Jim Belshaw believes in walking a mile in someone else’s shoes. In fact, he’s made a mission of getting feet around the world into other people’s shoes. Belshaw owns a shoe repair and retail store called Roy’s Shoes, based in Kelowna, British Columbia. As one can imagine, cobblers are no longer found on every …
Soles 4 Souls: Kelowna cobbler collects shoes for people in need around the world Read More »
Stuff’s got to be old to make it worthwhile for Tara Hale to hit the pavement bright and early every weekend. Hale and her sister Sandy Schmidt have a standing Saturday morning garage sale date from May to August — no friends, no kids, go light and go fast. They’re particular about what they’re looking …
It’s always the same. The temperature rises above 20°C and suddenly we’re all screaming for ice cream. What is it about summer that makes us think the best thing to refresh us is a big lick of a thick, mucous-forming substance that sometimes makes our heads hurt and inevitably leaves us more dehydrated? Even I, …
Art, nature, and religion come together in Rosemary Scanlon’s exhibit, Animal Icons. The show opens July 11 at the Rah Rah Gallery and features several new watercolours as well as pieces exhibited at Northern Scene in Ottawa this spring and the 2012 show, Sleep of Reason, at the Yukon Arts Centre. Scanlon’s work is characterized …
Happy birthday, America. We love you, we really do. In honour of your special day, a bunch of us got together and started talking about what we really like about you. I know you’re still a little sensitive about Gitmo, and all that trouble with Wall Street, but everyone’s practically forgotten that. Turns out all …
I’ve been lucky in pot and unlucky in pot. There was the memorable Women’s Day potluck of 1995 where all 12 dishes contained chickpeas with a sprinkling of Ani di Franco. There was also a vegan potluck wedding that resulted in a traffic spike at the McDonald’s drive-through later that night. However, sometimes serendipity results …
Potlucks: The art and science of the communal buffet Read More »
Mountain biker Ryan Leech is the first to concede he’s had a great life so far. A professional rider his entire adult life, his career now combines cycling with teaching yoga and inspiring adults and kids to find their own life path. Whitehorse will have the opportunity to meet Leech on May 26. He’ll be …
Spring has come late to the Yukon, but that plaintive query that heralds the arrival of a new season still rings out loud and clear: “Where in God’s name are all the single men?” Gone are the days of the old adage “The odds are good, but the goods are odd,” where a pioneering single …
There’s yin and yang. There’s darkness and light. And then, there’s softball and bingo. This unique marriage of opposites originated approximately 25 years ago when Softball Yukon was looking for fundraising ideas and struck upon bingo over the radio. “We started looking at it, trying to understand how it works and designing it,” George Arcand, …
After 20 years, the M.A.D. program can now boast it has outlasted even Cats. How fitting that the Music, Arts and Drama 11/12 class will be performing the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical — the second-longest running show on Broadway — over the next two weekends at the Wood Street Centre. Cats tells the story of …
Sharon Shorty is delighted to bring her funny bone to Ottawa for Northern Scene at the end of this month. The old woman, no doubt, is too. “It is an absolute honour to be going to our capital alongside so many talented people from across the North,” she says. Shorty is an actor, storyteller and …
One conversation can change everything. Now, thanks to the services of American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter Amanda Smith, the gulf of silence between members of the deaf community and the hearing community is being spanned, one interaction at a time. Smith has been working as the Yukon government’s first full time, registered sign language interpreter …
You’re about to hear the most convincing argument that coffee, dessert, booze and shopping are good for human health. Thanks to Fair Aid Society (FA), for one evening, you can eat, drink and buy useful items at its annual fundraiser in Whitehorse while directly supporting health care in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This …
You may be alarmed to hear that Leslie Leong’s own plasma is taking top billing in her multi-media exhibit Blood-Letting: a Rite of Purification. Don’t worry, her blood is just the stand-in for her soul. Leong’s show is now hanging at Gallery 22, in downtown Whitehorse. The exhibition, which has previously toured Yellowknife and several …
The Yukon Archives has just turned 40 and its greatest hits are available for a limited time only. The exhibit “Archival Gold: Favourites from the Vault” is only on display until January 26 in the Hougen Heritage Gallery on Main Street in Whitehorse. The exhibition is an overview of the best of the Archives, which …
Who is this TED, and why does he talk so much? You’ll soon find out because TED’s local counterpart TEDx is coming to the Yukon Arts Centre as an all-day event January 5th. TED began as an acronym for Technology, Education, and Design and originated as a one-time conference in 1984 to bring together ideas …
Among the reasons I know I’ve turned into my mother: the cookies. Yes, I am the middle-aged mother who bakes only sugarless, oatmeal-raisin cookies. This may be the reason I’m simultaneously fascinated with, and grateful for, the Christmas cookie mania that overtakes many friends and colleagues this time of year. I have heard of mythical …
If common wisdom is to be believed, the indicator of a healthy family is one that sits down together for dinner every day. Ho hum. Eating dinner is fine, but if we’re going to hang our family reputations on the type of quality time we spend together, let’s aim for more than spaghetti at six. …
Just how much Purdy’s chocolate can one town buy? And furthermore, how many high school bands can it support? These and other questions spawned the birth of the All-City Band, which will be performing “Music for a Winter’s Eve” December 10 and 11 at the Yukon Arts Centre. The All-City Band draws membership from students …
For some Yukoners, there are only two seasons: summer and choir. The four choirs of the Whitehorse Community Choir (WCC) reconvened in September, and, for the better part of three months, members have been rehearsing for this year’s Christmas concert entitled “Let it Snow.” You can hear the 120 dedicated members of the WCC at …
The walrus, the Fu Manchu, the Dali — so many moustaches, so little time. For one month of the year, known as Movember, men around the world have the opportunity to wear their hearts on their upper lips in the name of prostate cancer and men’s health issues. Conceived in Australia, where “mo” refers to …
Twelve sumptuous films about mountains, snow, skiing and other adventures come to Whitehorse this weekend in the form of the Banff Mountain Film Festival – the top films chosen from the original 60 shown over nine days in Banff last fall. The thread that ties these films together is the personal stories that lead people …
Copper Moon Gallery’s latest show Wood Grain and Metal Form is a refreshing and personal look at the recent work of two new Yukon artists. Candice Ball is a prolific creator of jewellery and small works in metal. A jeweller by training, she appreciates the metal techniques that originated centuries ago, which are still used …
Then portrait artist Sophie Fuldauer found herself without her sketchbook last fall, she merely turned on her iPhone. Not to make a call, but to draw. The result is a series of wonderfully inky and playful portraits of people unknowingly going about their day at Baked coffee shop. She typically draws people’s faces unobtrusively, without …
To view Ilgvars Steins’ work is to take a journey into a parallel universe. His exhibition at Arts Underground ranges from whimsy to tragedy, through fantastical compositions of line and colour. Realism to Surrealism provides not only a glimpse into Steins’ extraordinary mind, but also a curious alternative view of the world as we know …
Georgi Pearson’s job keeps her up at night. Fortunately, she loves what she does so much that a bit of lost sleep seems a reasonable occupational hazard. Pearson is a prolific seamstress, who is participating in three craft fairs in the lead-up to Christmas. She’s been working steadily these past few months in preparation for …
There’s nothing like doing crafts with your kids to celebrate major public holidays. There’s nothing like browsing the vast number of craft blogs on the internet to dampen your Christmas spirit. I was searching for some easy, but sophisticated crafts to do with kids over the winter holiday. Besides learning that you can make a …
Crafters looking to branch out from macramé and macaroni have a chance to do so at this week’s craft swap in Whitehorse. This event, which will be held on Friday, is an opportunity for crafters to bring in their leftover and unused craft materials and trade them with other crafters. Organizer Jen Meurer explains how …
Ihey say moving house is one of life’s most stressful experiences. For Lara Melnik, throw in the extra pressure of an exhibition deadline and the generally frenetic pace of summer in the Yukon, and you end up with a colourful celebration of chaos. Pandemonium…the art of change is showing at the Chocolate Claim for the …
How can a mother of three small children with a busy job in the health care field create balance in her life? Open a home-based business, of course. Katie Sikkes has been operating Barty’s Parties out of her home for the past year. Her small company has available for rent approximately 60 cake pans, which …
We all like to commune with others over a hot beverage, right? For Ben Yu Schott, his love of coffee is so great, he decided to make it a business. In the spring of this year, he became a retailer for mid- to high-range espresso machines and grinders for home use. His approach to business …
Welcome to the annual celebration of low impulse control known as Halloween. Children can anticipate the sheer volume and variety of candy tha t is bound their way. For adults, Halloween presents a more complex decision-making task. That is, which candy to purchase for the Halloween night giveaway. For some, buying candy is merely a …
What? Another lunch? For the love of Pete, if I have to make another ham and cheese sandwich, I’m going to start home-schooling. With the start of the school year comes the dreaded chore of preparing school lunches. Where lunch once held the dubious honour of Second-Most Important Meal of the Day, school has diminished …
A man once had a dream. He had a vision of a secure, environmentally-controlled building with reading rooms and plenty of white gloves. If this doesn’t sound like just the thing for a gritty pioneering place like the Yukon in the 1970s, you need to pick up a copy of For the Record: Yukon Archives …
Evie Allen’s current show at the Chocolate Claim, Summer Bluescapes, is an ideal companion to the robust anticipation that accompanies the onset of summer in the Yukon. Allen’s paintings employ simple, bold lines and colours, mainly on the theme of water scenes and water-based activities. The works have a delightful movement and buoyancy of their …
