And here’s the Bikecheck tent at Rib Fest today. Those are volunteers who care about their community and staffing the tent!
And here’s the Bikecheck tent at Rib Fest today. Those are volunteers who care about their community and staffing the tent!
The Downtown Kitchener Ribfest & Craft Beer Show is happening this weekend at Victoria Park. The City of Kitchener’s Bikecheck will be there, providing a secure place to park your bicycle, tricycle, or quadcycle. There's great access from many trails and multi-use paths, so cycling to the event is an easy choice to make!
Gotta chowhound in your house?
Restaurants want to give them a pawsitively fantastic time on their patios.
From barkuterie boards to pina dogladas to bone broth beers, more patios are pup-friendly.
Yes, this week's column went to the dogs.
(and yes, my cats want me to look for restaurant catios now)
@ascentale @plactagonic @bikenite A7. I attended the Ontario Bike Summit last year when it was in Waterloo. On a smaller scale I’ve been set up at the University of Waterloo’s Bike Fair last summer and most recently this past Friday, talking with folks about @CyclingGuide. Last month I did the same at the City of Kitchener’s Bike Day event downtown.
For all of these the main thing I look for is good conversations, and I’ve been lucky enough to have a *lot* of those at these events.
Oh, and the newest is a Waterloo Region version of Coffee Outside, where cyclists meet at a park early in the morning for coffee and conversation. For the first one in June there were 5 of us who showed up. For the July edition it looks like there might be a few more.
@ascentale @sam @bikenite A5. There are three that I shop at as they’re all good folks.
Ziggy’s Cycle & Sports I knew about for years, and word of mouth from a knowledgeable friend finally sent me there. Got a nice Cannondale for our youngest at the start of the pandemic.
https://www.ziggyscycle.ca
King Street Cycles I discovered when they opened as it’s on a highly visible corner. Bought many bikes, and accessories, there over the years as our sons grew up.
https://kingstreetcycles.com
Black Arrow Cycles I learned about more recently while sitting on a brewery patio with my son. An old schoolmate of his approached us, and we ended having a wonderful conversation. And the schoolmate worked at Black Arrow! Haven’t bought as much there, but did get my wonderful Ortlieb panniers there, and got a nice multi tool there yesterday.
https://www.blackarrowcycles.ca
#BikeNite A1: Posting from #WaterlooRegion, as I do most weeks.
Yesterday on my way to return "Just Ride" to the library I ran into (not literally) a friend who invited me along to a meeting of "Food Systems Round Table" https://foodsystemroundtablewr.ca/
Learned about a number of other food-related groups in the area, met a bunch of interesting people (and some I knew from other stuff I'm involved in), and got a nice vegan meal out of the deal as well.
A WALK IN SNYDER’S FLATS WITH TENEILE WARREN
Birdsong and the barking of friendly dogs provided the soundtrack for my walk in Snyder’s Flats with artist and activist Teneile Warren. The day was warm, the trail was inviting, and the early buds of spring welcomed us to the space.
“I find it to be a very peaceful place, I think because it’s largely unmaintained,” Warren said. “There’s something very raw about it.”
Warren’s relationship with nature began growing up in Jamaica where they visited their grandfather’s farm, read the changing seasons through the fruit-bearing trees and developed a love for the sound of running water.
They came to Canada in 2011 to complete a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing with a focus on Playwriting at the University of Guelph.
Warren grew up exposed to theatre, attending pantomimes with their mother and discovering play scripts on their grandmother’s shelves. During their undergraduate degree at the University of the West Indies, they became involved with the Dramatic Arts Society and their passion bloomed.
When Warren decided to come to Canada, theatre played an important role in both motivation and funding. They staged a showcase of their work to help earn money for travel and tuition.
“Theatre literally brought me here,” they said.
After completing their MFA, Warren moved to Waterloo Region to establish roots and start a family. They focused on creating connections to support their life and work here.
“I learned that you have to find your community,” they said. “I was very proactive about finding organizations to volunteer with, finding spaces where I could…create some type of community,”
Warren works as an artist and activist. Since 2021, they have held the position of Equity and Inclusion Officer at the Waterloo Region District School Board, a role that has sometimes brought unwanted attention in the form of hateful and intimidating messages and images. These experiences, combined with their work in schools prompted Warren to reflect on the importance of care.
“The care that your queer staff needs right now, or your black staff[…]is very, very different from the care that your white staff needs, or your male staff needs,” Warren said. “We really need to think about [care] differently.”
Part of the reimagining of care and work for Warren involves reflecting on pace and action, which sometimes means putting themselves before the work in order to continue to show up.
“[The activist] community has taught me to know your battles and know when to be out front and when to be in the background,” they said. “We are always working. You’re not always seeing us, but we are always fulfilling our responsibilities.”
For Warren, art is an essential component of the care they need and provide.
“Theatre is my church,” they said. “I can just walk into a theatre and just sit there for hours and just find this sense of peace.”
We continued along the trail loop, passing other people enjoying the day, and stopped to sit on a bench and take in the view. Birds swooped over the water and through the tree branches as I asked Warren about playwriting.
In January of this year, Warren’s full-length play Beyonsea and the Mothers had its world premiere as part of the Green Light Arts season. Warren began working on the piece three years ago and applied a collaborative approach with other members of the artistic team to the playwriting process. They were deeply affected by hearing from audience members about the importance of seeing themselves represented onstage.
“[D]oing [Beyonsea and the Mothers], I realized this is my greatest gift,” Warren said. “This is what I can offer[…]we do our greatest learning through art.”
In addition to being an artist and activist, Warren also claims the title of chef. Since coming to Canada, they have used food to better understand identity and culture.
“I’ve come to understand the way that food has been colonized and how important it is to the story that we tell and how we[…]communicate with each other,” Warren said. “I have a particular reverence for food[…]I think that eating just to be full is boring and unkind to food.”
The trail took us back to the parking lot, and I asked Warren what was next for them.
They serve as the editorial director of Textile Magazine and are excited about new development opportunities for local writers the magazine is supporting. They are also keeping an eye on local political developments and advocating for more art and community spaces in the region.
“What’s next for me is really just pushing the art and activism,” they said. “And I think that’s where the community will see more of me.”
DIY SPACES ARE THE BACKBONE OF THE LOCAL MUSIC SCENE
As the summer continues and live music is back in full force on patios and in bars and concert halls, a quieter, smaller revolution takes place in the homes of a couple of dedicated community members across Waterloo Region.
Traditional venue spaces have become harder to come by—as the cost of living rises, so too does the cost of operating and renting out venues for live cultural events.
The Golden Apple is an unassuming house venue on the east end of Kitchener. Erica Rippon, Nate Fernandez, Kyle White and Jordan Forte spoke about how opening a house venue came naturally to them.
“I think it was mostly us being in bands and having a space already where we practice and for the most part it all set up with a PA,” Forte said.
Carving a venue out from under their home became a natural next step. They had the equipment, and it was a logical decision for them.
“We all go to lots of shows, so we learn really quickly what we like and don’t like about other venues,” Rippon said.
The team revealed that transforming their house into a venue has become an overwhelmingly positive experience. Of the over 40 shows that they put on in 2024, only two of them proved to be less than savory experiences. They remarked that most shows ended up being a net positive.
“[Our friend’s] birthday party here [was a favourite],” Forte said.
“He’s not in a band, so on the poster, it just said his name as ‘Spencer,’[…]and when he got up on stage and people saw who he was, everyone just started chanting for him.”
As they have refined their process, they have also had to cut back on the frequency of programming.
“Trying to do it the way we want it done is running it at a loss. We’re pretty much always at a net zero,” Forte said. “Any sort of money [we make] goes back into the venue immediately. But we just do it for fun, so we don’t expect to make anything off the shows.”
Dave Lacalamita is one of the owners and operators of The Screaming Fox, another unassuming house venue in Kitchener.
“I feel like house shows emerged as a necessity in a way. If I didn’t have to put on a house show, I’d put on fewer house shows. The fact that there aren’t that many venues in town makes it feel necessary,” he said.
Lacalamita also noted the largely monetary reason for opening his house for shows. It’s the only way in this economy to put on small-scale shows without support from grants or city funding.
“They’re always a little stressful because we don’t charge. We’re not trying to make money[…]People are generous if you ask them to be, and you are also generous,” he said.
“Like, if only the artists are making money and everyone can see that, it kind of releases everyone from feeling obligated or coerced into paying, but people still pay,” Lacalamita said.
Like the folks from The Golden Apple, he also has noted that his experience running a venue as a house has in the vast majority been positive.
“I mean, it’s a lot of work. It isn’t nothing to displace people and clean the place up and have people in your space. I don’t know there’s not a lot of negatives, to be honest. It’s one of those things that you dread doing in a sense,” he said.
On the other end of the spectrum, house shows cannot always be accessible for all involved. They are sometimes difficult to find, and because of the venue’s function as a house and not an open business, they can sometimes not be accessible.
“I think most house venue people are doing it out of necessity, and maybe we’d like to do it less often,” he said.
“You have to know where the place is, and how to find out about them, and it’s better, in my opinion, for them to be just open[…]it’d be nice for there to be a venue that’s just a venue,” Lacalamita said.
These houses-turned-venues are a valuable function in any music scene. They encourage community and miraculously work out to make the most fiscal sense for all involved.
#BikeNite A1: Checking in from #WaterlooRegion, Ontario, Canada. Just got home from a nice ride into and back from the City. Spent some time in the park, at the public square, and helped out at #RedRaccoonBikeRescue teaching two young lads how to put a tire on a wheel. Near-perfect day (got a little sunburnt) -- I wouldn't want to be anywhere else today.
WATERLOO REGION RELOCATES GEESE TO KINGSVILLE
The City of Waterloo is working to address the overpopulation of geese in Waterloo Park by relocating them to a new home.
On June 10, 2025, a flock of over 200 Canada geese was transferred from Waterloo Park and released at Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary in Kingsville, Ontario.
Staff from the city and the sanctuary worked together to gather the geese.
“I don’t think anybody would actually believe how smoothly it went. It was single file. These geese kind of just marched onto a trailer,” Robin Milne, Director of Parks, Forestry and Cemetery Services at the City of Waterloo, said.
The trip to their new home took approximately three hours. The city obtained a permit from the Canadian Wildlife Service prior to the relocation.
Milne said the decision to relocate the geese stemmed from a high number of complaints received about bird droppings.
Milne said the issue surrounding bird droppings became a bigger concern after the Waterloo Park shoreline was redeveloped.
“[With] the new shoreline redevelopment, the idea was to draw visitors to the shoreline,” Milne said. “With all the hard surfaces on the shoreline now, the geese droppings just got out of control, to the point where it was like walking through a minefield and we couldn’t stay on top of it.”
To combat the issue, the city rented specialized equipment to clean the concrete on a regular basis. The city also set up coyote decoys throughout the park to deter the geese; however, most of the decoys were stolen within 24 hours of being set up.
“Geese are not a problem specific to Waterloo or Waterloo Park or any urban centre across Southwestern Ontario. Geese can be a nuisance, and, in some areas, they can be managed,” Milne said.
“There’s no natural predators in the park, so the [goose] population just keeps growing and growing,” he said.
Though effective, Milne said the cleanup efforts were time consuming, costly and disruptive to patrons in the park.
When it became clear that the population of geese was beyond the park’s capacity, they engaged with the Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary to find an alternate solution.
The sanctuary has done relocation specifically to geese for several other municipalities in Southwestern Ontario. The sanctuary, which is funded through donations, feeds the geese and offers appropriate shelter and nesting grounds.
Experts at the sanctuary also offered guidance and a plan on how and when to collect geese eggs and relocate the birds.
“In June, many geese can’t fly because they are molting or too young, making it the ideal time for relocation while keeping family groups and mated pairs together,” said a statement from the City of Waterloo.
Since the relocation, the park has approximately 25 geese remaining.
The city plans to continue monitoring the number of geese in the park throughout the summer. If the relocation is successful this year, Milne said the city will re-apply for the Canadian Wildlife Service permit and repeat the relocation initiative next year.
Soft, fluffy, sometimes glooshy. Sweet, but not too sweet. Flavour combinations that can mix sweet, savoury and salty. My latest food column is about a recent crop of Asian bakeries here in Waterloo Region.
#Food #CanadianFood #AsianFood #Bakeries #WaterlooRegion #Mastonom
@ascentale @Kleen @bikenite A6. I have nothing from the past week. But I like seeing photos so I thought I’d share an older one anyway
This is from two years ago, taken on a ride to St. Jacobs, a village a little north of Waterloo, after a storm .
#BikeNite A2: There are bike repair stands across #WaterlooRegion with tools on steel cables and pumps that always have the nozzle cut off.
There's one in St. Jacobs on the trail coming home tonight. If I'd read the second BikeNite question I could have taken a photo. Another time.
I used a public bike repair stand once; the bike is too wobbly on the mount, and the chains on the tools are too short. I'd rather turn my bike upside-down and use the tools in my bag.
#BikeNite A1: Posting from #WaterlooRegion, along the Health Valley / TransCanada trail. Taking a snack break at my favourite spot overlooking the Conestoga River.
It's been a nice day. A little muggy now, and threatening to rain, but I should be able to get home before that if I don't answer too many BikeNite questions now. Still light out! Yay, #Solstice!
Our good friends at @CyclingGuide have exciting news to share. Cycling Guide Foundation is now a Canadian registered charity! What a great next step for the organization and its team! Read the details in their blog post.
#BikeTooter #Cycling #WaterlooRegion
https://cyclingguide.org/2025/06/cycling-guide-foundation-is-now-a-canadian-registered-charity/
Doing a bit of a roll call for #WaterlooRegion #WellingtonCounty folks on Mastodon.
@Taffer Is moving to the area and looking for local folks to follow. Please say hi!
Have it in a pie, as a sauce or in a drink! This week's column is all about rhubarb. The season's off to a later start than usual, but there's plenty of tasty of sweet and tart numminess to be had.
#WaterlooRegion #WellingtonCounty #FoodlandOntario #Restaurants #Food #Mastonom #Rhubarb
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/rhubarb-sweet-sour-tart-lennox-farms-1.7559350