Made In Windsor was a great store.

It had character, and it had things that were made by people in the Windsor area.

Christine Rideout-Arkell outdid herself. She brought together more makers of things than anyone else I’ve seen in this city.

Her business model has now transformed, and most people are still thirsting for their locally-constructed goods.

Made In Windsor now exists as the Made In Windsor Open Air Crafters Market, which is nearby one of the busiest intersections (we’ve now learned from experience) in the city. The event runs from noon until 5pm every Sunday afternoon. The neighbourhood activity is incredible! People are walking around all afternoon.

There are crafters with jewelry, greeting cards, t-shirts, pottery, books, local CDs, hats, gloves, art, and everything else you can imagine that two hands can make. There’s a crafting area for kids’ activities, soon to be live musicians playing, and it’s all set next to The House (the old Nisbet Inn) at 131 Elliott Street West. There’s loads of shade from the tall trees in the yard next to the lot, and almost always a steady breeze moving through the area.

The newest development at last week’s Open Air Market was the young artist, April Fawler, doing caricatures of vendors and patrons. She was incredible! Her pieces are only $5, and she has them finished in less than 10 minutes. Above is my family’s portraits grouped together. AWESOME. She made me look young.

Shane Potvin’s new SPOTVIN (ON WINDSOR) line of apparel and bags is available in the lot, selling tons of shirts in the first two weeks of the market. And the other vendors I spoke to were all pleased with their first or second outings, with new faces appearing each week with an eagerness for their stuff.

If you want to do something on a Sunday…something perfect for the family, and across the street from ENDLESS PARKING (and steps away from free street parking that runs for blocks), get you and your closest to the corner of Elliott Street West and Pelissier Street.

It’s the growing gem in downtown, and it’s full of good people and conversation…

For anyone wanting to get a booth (which I will be doing soon with silkscreened goods) the prices are remarkably low for vendors. I won’t even put the price here, because she’s offering incentives to vendors who sign up early, and for longer durations. So they’ll be even lower than I could possibly quote here. Christine can be reached at madeinwindsor@gmail.com for any inquiries…which has been happening a lot due in part to all of the press she garnered by making this branding transition with a little help from The House collective.

Here’s where the Open Air Market has been discussed/covered/mentioned

CBC Radio One interview with Rino Bortolin (Early August) – Sara Elliott (The Bridge)

Windsor Star – August 5th – Dave Hall

Windsor Star – August 11th – Ted Whipp

Windsor Star – August 12th – Dalson Chen

Windsorite.ca – August 12th – Owen Wolter

AM 800 – Arts Listings with Laura Gould

A Channel TV – 11pm newscast (mid August) – Kelly Roche interviewing Shane Potvin

AM 800 – Rino on Economic Development Commission show – August 17th

With any luck…there’s more to come!

Thanks to Mark Bradley, and the Made In Windsor Facebook page for the photo used in this post!

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To speak about this newest project, it becomes too long-winded.

I’m starting a new business called TOM (Taking On Media). This would be fairly uneventful if it wasn’t being thrown together with three other business partners in one of the most beloved locations in Windsor…131 Elliott Street…the old Nisbet Inn. The collective space will be known as The House.

In one building, we plan to run a cultural hub in downtown Windsor. The House, set to open September 1, 2010, in the former Nisbet Inn, is a creative collective that will encompass several new businesses. This creative and entrepreneurial development will allow people to access a wealth of expertise in one spot. While running as a cafe and hyper-local food retail space (Rino’s Kitchen by Rino Bortolin) it will also house a catering company (Black Kettle Catering – Rino Bortolin), a graphic design studio (SPOTVIN – Shane Potvin), a new apparel store which will feature “ON WINDSOR” t-shirts (SPOTVIN – Shane Potvin), a web services and online strategy development company (Accent Media – Toby Leftly), and a promotions and social media hotspot (Taking On Media – me). We’ll be collaborating with each other and outside influences to create new events and experiences within The House and elsewhere in the region.

There’s lots of stuff like this in Toronto…but housed in huge steel and glass buildings. We’re going to have a more condensed version of it in a charming 1920s-era house in the downtown. We’ll be working within the house, independently from one another, designing, promoting, cooking, coding, etc…but we will be surrounded by creative people that work HARD. And we’ll be able to poke our head around a corner to get advice, a quote, or an idea from someone we trust…as a friend, in business, and as a creative.

One of the best opportunities we’ll have will be creating new events with each other and the creative community…from more of a consulting standpoint. Yes, we’ll dream up events and execute them all over Windsor AND DETROIT, but we look excitedly toward partnering with people looking to get ideas off of the ground that they’ve been waiting to unleash for one reason or another.

The first project that The House is helping to launch is Christine Rideout-Arkell’s “Made in Windsor” Open Air Crafters Market, expanding in the parking lot beside 131 Elliott Street each Sunday afternoon starting mid-August. Imagine the Downtown Farmers’ Market, except with fresh arts and crafts made by Windsorites instead of vegetables. Made In Windsor has been a success in their Ottawa Street storefront, and has sought the help of The House to re-imagine how her business works. Made In Windsor is closing its doors on Ottawa Street in August. The House, which will oversee the promotion and offer space for Rideout-Arkell to host reading activities when The House opens officially in September. When it does officially open, Made In Windsor Market-goers will be able to sample the wares of Rino’s Kitchen, and make an entire afternoon in the downtown seem like a neighbourhood garden party.

Over 30 vendors are expected to fill the lot, with many more on hold to get a space in the new open-air art market. With the adjustment of expenses for Rideout-Arkell, the Made In Windsor brand will flourish, as the vendor booths are going to generate profit for her right off the bat. And local vendors only need to spend $30 to grasp one of these booths for the entire Sunday afternoon crowd, poised to purchase far more than their weekly buy-in. It’s a win-win-win for Made In Windsor, who will see her vendors surrounded by eager shoppers and families, while keeping it’s costs extraordinarily lower than its previous incarnation.

This space can allow you and your ideas to take flight…or, it can simply offer the most relaxing backyard garden to sit in while sipping organic, fair trade coffee. We hope for all our creative folks to have access to each other in a comfortable setting…every day. New faces and people to bounce ideas off of every single day. We plan on having our favourite newspapers, magazines, zines, etc available for reading also, in the hopes that you get as inspired as we do by learning about the other incredible things happening in the world.

Won’t you visit us?

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He introduced himself. He knew Matthew. Great guy.

Over the years, especially with me being at Phog Lounge so often, we crossed paths at literary and other cultural events. It was always great to see him, because no matter how much time had passed, he remembered me…from somewhere.

A little while ago, he reemerged. I bumped into him and found out that he was writing poetry. I didn’t know HE was also a writer…at all. I thought he was friends with a writer. But he had published his first book of poetry! It’s called “Something Burned Along the Southern Border”.

I had the opportunity to hear his poetry, and buy his new book at one of the Juice Poetry Nights at Phog. It was exquisite. It was funny. It made me use my dictionary-app on my iPhone to understand what he just said. I think the word was semaphore. I was proud of our Windsor talent. I showed my appreciation by buying a book.

There’s one poem, about the day he was in a pool, watching his wife tech their young son how to hit a baseball off of a tee. She was a lefty. This left Bob bewildered. He had been married to this woman for years, and this crucial personality-piece was only now being uncovered. It’s genuine. It’s funny. And it’s sweet.

Fast forward beyond the other times I’ve heard him read at Juice Poetry Nights…

Tonight, I received an e-mail from local artist (brilliant) Stephen Gibb.
It read, “Did you know Robert Stewart from Windsor is heading to Toronto tomorrow because he’s nominated for “best new poetry book” in Canada or something like that?…”

No, I didn’t know that. And this is HUGE news! He has indeed been shortlisted!
The award is known as the Lampert Award. This is from the website, telling you what exactly it is…”The Gerald Lampert Memorial Award is given in the memory of Gerald Lampert, an arts administrator who organized authors’ tours and took a particular interest in the work of new writers.The award recognizes the best first book of poetry published by a Canadian in the preceding year. The Award carries a prize of $1,000 and is sponsored by the League of Canadian Poets. It is presented each year at the League’s Annual General Meeting in May or June, with the shortlist announced in April.”

I wanted to leave you a pile of links that have interviews done with literary magazines and a link to his own blog…so here they are, so you can find out more about Bob, a Windsorite we should all be proud of. Good luck Bob!! And thanks to Stephen Gibb for the head’s up.

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Friends of mine (members of the band Michou) …and boosters of Windsor, Phog, Kid Cardigan, and more…are doing something fun this month.

Throughout the month they are having a series of promos and interactions planned that involve lots of balloons. The first chunk of this project is to place balloons in high-traffic areas with the phrase, “It’s Nice To Michou” written on each of them. So far, all of the balloons are bright yellow. They’re meant to be found by their fans, scavenger-hunt-style, just for fun.

Fans are encouraged to photograph or videotape the balloons, wherever they find them, and upload their links to Michou’s Facebook page – HERE.

I love this kind of interaction/promotion by artists simply because they are creating something else, something new to engage their loving fans. I’d like to see more of it from bands that can make it work. Granted…Gwar likely can’t do a June Balloon promo, but certain acts can leverage creativity to remind fans of their projects.

Check out these videos of them explaining June Balloons and installing a couple of them in the downtown Windsor area.

This first video is crazy.

THEN watch the Eavesdropping (balloon-heavy) video!

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Kelly Ouellette owns Slice of Style with her mom. And it used to be at Erie and Parent.

Now it’s downtown, in the old Peter K. Ryan antiques store. And they’re not alone. They’re with Pina and Adriano of Windsor Eats!

I shot a quick video while I was there, and thought I’d share it with you, because they’ve done some AMAZING work within the space to make it warm and welcoming. Good people, working hard, deserve other good people to give them a whirl. If you have a gift to give, to a woman specifically, this place might have something right for you. Check ‘em out. They just opened today!

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What I didn’t mention was the extraordinary experience we had when I begged the ladies to let me go to Bob’s Classic Kicks. Not only do they have ridiculously gorgeous throwback and vintage shoes, they have a blog with all of their stock listed (as it comes in)! I didn’t even know where it was, but when we drove by it I quickly made my case to the girls. They gave me the okay, so I turned around and found a spot.

When we approached the building, we noticed people standing out front. They were…standing.

We all looked in the side windows of the place when we noticed something that stopped us. Immediately. We weren’t going in. We were clearly not welcome. We couldn’t even get a look at all the shoes if we did go inside.

But the owner, I assume, appeared out of nowhere. “Come on in! You wanna come in? Come on!” He reminded me of how I chase down potential customers and regulars that pass by Phog. I always see unknowing people milling out front, looking at the show posters, wondering what’s inside. He clearly saw the same thing, and wanted us to go in, regardless of what was going on inside.

The following video shows what was happening inside.

I’m very happy we chose to go in, and not just because I scored a killer grey and navy pair of Air Force Ones.

For those of you wondering what the charm is about Detroit. This is part of it.

You can plan on buying shoes on a Sunday afternoon and walk in on an impromptu rap video being shot…and the DJ behind the turntables, that you never see in this video (off to the far left) has a fro-hawk that is BRIGHT RED. So slick.

Incredible.

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I can’t take credit for having my ear to the ground. I have a TON of great new friends and acquaintances that keep me informed about things I care about. They come into Phog and tell me, or they post things on Facebook and Twitter that I see and learn from.

One area of this city that I have limited knowledge of (ironically) is the University of Windsor and St. Clair College campus activities. No idea. Almost zero. I know SOME stuff at the U of W, because I’ve been asked to speak to a few classes in the last 18 months, and I co-hosted a show on CJAM (U of W’s campus radio station). St. Clair College…it might as well be on the moon. I know absolutely NOTHING about what they’re doing…aside from the MediaPlex. And the only reason I know that is because Veronique Mandal was one of my earliest contacts and mentors in media when I was in school for journalism.

The thing is, I SHOULD know. My antenna is up. I care about the student population and what they think about Windsor. So why isn’t anything being caught in my collective net with regard to post secondary students?

This fact is appalling. If there is a “nut graph” in this whole piece, it’s that Windsor’s post secondary institutions have done an awful job at communicating with (influencing) the community around them. They are insular, self-aware, myopic institutions that COULD make this city a sought-after location.

I’d like to use the Humanities Research Group as an example. Diana Lind of Next American City Magazine was a speaker as part of the HRG program in 2009. There was a speaking engagement one evening, followed by a luncheon where you could attend and pick the speaker’s mind. Amazing. Such a great opportunity. I attended, but only because I saw something one day before the talk. I posted it on Twitter and Facebook, where I learned that Chris Edwards from the DWBIA saw the first mention of it. He was super-excited. He attended, as he is a HUGE fan of Next American City Magazine. But why didn’t he know earlier? Why didn’t several local blogs that deal with civic matters know about this in time to promote the HELL out of it to people who CARE?

As someone who receives press releases ( I subscribed to their e-mails) from the University of Windsor, looking at the last six I’ve gotten, they’re all just messages telling news outlets that “UWindsor has informed academics for commentary in April” which means that if The Windsor Star needs a quote about Earth Day, they have JUST the person. Or they’re telling newspapers what their gifted researchers have uncovered. The last event notice I got was on March 23rd for a VERY intriguing event described in the release as, “A Multidisciplinary International Conference in Music Therapy and Supportive Cancer Care. To bring together experts in oncology treatment, research and education to learn about and discuss how music advances and supports quality care for cancer survivors and their caregivers.”

The invite came on the 23rd. The event ran from the 26th to the 28th. How is this supposed to be outreach to the community at large? I saw/heard NOTHING about this until I got this release. And I know how busy most of my friends and acquaintances are…so this is NOWHERE NEAR enough lead-time to attend this event. And I think it’s safe to say that I deal with a LOT of musicians.

I’m obviously not doing my job (I guess) if the University of Windsor School of Music didn’t think that this posting should have been at Phog, Milk, and other music venues in the city. What chemical am I not giving off (are WE not giving off) to suggest that we want to be INVOLVED?

But this is par for the course. I shudder at the thought of how many events I’ve missed in my last ten years of Windsor life. It’s not just sad, but frustrating to think about how this information/opportunity is being held close to the chest, like a poker hand. Why?! Why is there a line drawn somewhere around Cameron Avenue keeping everything west of that line completely secret until press is needed?

I know I’m not the only person in Windsor who feels as though Windsor, at times, doesn’t even have a university or college. The communities I’m most engaged in (business, arts, music, design, journalism, and promotions) scratch their heads wondering where the students in these fields are…it’s as if they don’t exist. When I’ve been lucky enough to address these students, I tell them, “We’re not supposed to be looking for YOU! You should be looking for US! We can tell you some stuff you might like to know! Where the hell ARE YOU?! We want to connect.”

If students don’t take the initiative, as it’s clear the institution and majority of professors are not taking the initiative (online or offline…geez, get a Facebook group maybe to start), students might as well take online courses from the basements of their homes in whatever city they’re from. They’re getting the same connection to the greater Windsor community in their basement in Ajax as they are on the self-contained, shut-off University of Windsor campus. Don’t even get me started about how disconnected they are from Detroit! Oh, the opportunity! Oh, the potential!

Am I crazy? Does something NEED TO HAPPEN in order to GIVE students a reason to remember Windsor for something more than keg parties in the west end or the taste of Tim Horton’s coffee in the CAW Student Centre (U of W) or Windsor Crossing outlet mall and Griff’s Tavern (St. Clair College)?

Where does this initiative need to come from? Do businesses and community groups need to go and fetch these students to get them involved in our city? Is getting them to care the only way to stop the brain drain of departing students?

This flurry of disdain comes from my ongoing experience of noticing the almost complete disconnection from the University of Windsor, St. Clair College, their students, their professionals, and the rest of the city (the people I know ) from my perspective. Maybe I’m the odd duck. I doubt it, but it may be a possibility….so if that IS the case, tell me how YOU connect to these institutions, who initiated, and how I can do better.

How can we all do better?

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I think I can do more.

And I think you can do more too.

Listen to the audio clip, and offer me some advice, or maybe just some suggestions according to my request in the audio clip.

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However, it was seen as passe, because the Star has done a lot of stories about this restaurant…and for good reason.

Here’s my piece on it. If anyone else out there would like to publish this, online or offline, let me know

“If you grill them, they will come.”

This had to be what went through the heads of Jay and Gino.

A leap of faith had to enter into it somewhere.

How else could they have married cows and cars?

They used to own a posh Italian eatery on Erie Street. Now, within the same walls, they own a trendy and cozy burger Mecca.

Eight years ago, Noi was a huge success in its own right prior to the financial woes of Windsor/Detroit. Transformed into Motor Burger in November of 2009, the feel, food, and future of 888 Erie Street East has been irrevocably changed.

Thinking about it in hindsight, I don’t know how they had the gumption or belief in their abilities to go from a stereotyped Italian restaurant on Erie Street to an affordable, automobile-themed, burger-based leap-of-faith.

I’m genuinely amazed. And I’m not the only one.

The National Film Board of Canada recently produced an online series called GDP. It looked at the financial woes being weathered by all kinds of folks around Canada. Gino Gesuale and Jay Souilliere’s story became a serial feature on the site as an example of a business forced to think way out of the box to be sustainable in their community.

The pair did a refurbishing of the space to accommodate for some flat screen TVs and cut-outs of cows and cars. Chalk drawings of old vehicles adorn the west wall, and beautiful burgers made of beef, pork, shrimp, lamb, turkey, and tuna decorate tabletops. A veggie burger makes the list to round out the category.

Keeping with the theme, their drinks are called lubricants, which include massively decadent milkshakes that come in the tall metal malt-shop cup. Personally, I “supercharge” the nachos every time I visit, which doubles the portion, and I regularly ask for a spoon to finish the sauces that pool at the bottom of the bowl.

One of the stand-out features, aside from the multitude of burger options, is the camaraderie. Every single time I’ve gone to Motor Burger it’s a who’s-who of local musicians, artists, writers, filmmakers, entrepreneurs, and local business supporters. I have yet to go in without recognizing 20% of the clientele.

This kind of customer-base early on in their new incarnation spoke volumes about the hunger for something new in Windsor. The taste for “extraordinary” has accelerated.

Opening a automotive-themed burger joint on a street praised for Italian fine dining, with economic-recession-friendly prices, deserves the attention and full support from a city that prides itself as the Motor City of Canada.

With a green option for the vegetarians, every stomach in the city should pull over at Motor Burger and fill their tank on burgers, salads, milkshakes, and entrepreneurial drive.

They built it.
It’s time for us to dine.

Their website, with complete menu, is at http://www.motorburger.ca/

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