Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - February 16, 2014, Winnipeg, Manitoba winnipegfreepress. com OUR WINNIPEG THIS CITY . OUR WEEKLY LOOK AT THE PULSE OF THE CITY A8 SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2014 LIVING IN WINNIPEG I T is a simple little bench in one small area of the park, with faded paint and the inscription: " Sit here and rest awhile in this green space." The space underneath is well worn from the soles of many feet. It has been there for many years and listened to many voices as people sat on its weathered boards and rested a while. My husband and I donated this bench at my special place in the park. Years ago, as a new immigrant in Winnipeg, I was on my own, with no relatives and few friends. Then I discovered Assiniboine Park. I loved exploring every part of it: the Conservatory, with its changing exotic plant displays, the large Formal Garden; the English Garden, with plants and flowers, some of which I remembered from my homeland. I developed a great admiration for the staff who were responsible for developing such creative displays. I found myself going back to one area near the Formal Gardens on every visit to the park. On summer weekends, with my portable radio, book or magazine, I would relax the afternoon away. In the fall, I loved to hear the crunch of fallen leaves and watch the squirrels collect their winter nuts. I had seen many benches around the park, but only a few near my special place, so I decided to donate one. My bench would invite others to " Sit here and rest awhile in this green space." A few minutes after the bench was installed, a couple leisurely walking by stopped, introduced themselves and admired the bench. With a smile, the man said to his wife, " When I die, I would like you to get a bench just like this one, near this location, in my memory." He looked healthy to me, so I laughingly said, " Don't wait until you die, do it now, so that you can enjoy it while you are living." They both smiled, and after a nice chit- chat, said their goodbyes and continued their walk. I sat on the bench, pleased with our conversation. Many benches began to appear along the path with memorials to well- loved people and pets. The everexpanding Realtors Citizens Walk of Fame sculptures have now neared my bench. The nearest one is dedicated to Carl Ridd. This past summer, as I read some of the inscriptions on the many benches, I saw one that invited people to " Sit here and rest awhile." It included the name of the man I had met here when my bench was installed. I was stunned. He had passed away, and here was his bench. They had told me, a stranger, about his impending death, and donated a similar bench with a similar inscription in his memory. I am thankful I might have inspired him to donate a bench to the park, yet sad I had not realized his truth. I have seen many people sitting on that bench and wondered about their lives and their reactions to the inscription. I know a father and son who lived far away from each other and watched them reconnect on that bench. I especially remember the two young men resting after exercising, the old man who walked with the aid of two canes, who sat and rested a while and the four men, one with a bicycle, relaxing and talking about cars. My favourite place in Winnipeg is that little bench in the park, with its invitation to " Sit here and rest awhile in this green space." Joyce immigrated to Winnipeg from Jamaica in 1966 and has lived in Winnipeg since then. She was an instructor in the biological technology program at Red River College until retiring. Her Bubs the Bumblebee children's nature stories use colour photographs of bumblebees and other insects to introduce children to nature. By Joyce Graham Fogwill The BENCH in the park It's so much more than a place to sit N OBODY can tell you why the little strip mall at 2090 Corydon Ave. is called Tuxedo Junction. There are no crossroads, no train and no petticoats. But it's fun heading out there on a destination drive, because the small shops are funky and quite exclusive. Take For Eyes Optical Boutique, for example. You can get eyeglass frames with prescriptions so wild and exclusive, they're worldwide conversation pieces. If you want to talk gemstones, you can spend a bundle. The most expensive glasses sold in the shop to date were " diamond- adorned and went for $ 5,000," says store manager Kim Rosner, who posed for me on the red and black love seat ( from SoHo, the trendy Manhattan neighbourhood) with two giant hands forming the back. For Eyes frames range from Lady Gaga- style hot pink cat's eyes to heavy navy blue and orange glasses for men that look like they belong on a yacht off the coast of Antigua. Customer Kish Kapoor breezes in and tries those babies right on. First, he takes off his For Eyes industrial black glasses, with green dots that look like computer language. " When I was away, people were talking about me, wondering which movie star I was," he laughs. " I get gazillions of compliments. I buy all my glasses here and don't even look at the price. I travel all over the world and people always ask me, ' Where did you get those glasses?' " Kapoor really appreciates the help from Rosner and the gang. " They help me choose my frames here, because I can't see to choose for myself. Kim looks at me and tells me honestly how they look." Says Rosner, " It's very personal here, like being with your doctor or your tailor. People tell staff all kinds of things about their lifestyles as they choose their frames." The office is a partnership of five optometrists - Bruce Rosner, Steven Malo, Stephen Mintz, Elisa Fiorentino and Alissa Boroditsky - plus manager/ buyer/ optician Kim Rosner, who came on board the business reluctantly. She was a fine arts grad, just helping out while a staffer was away on maternity leave. " That was 18 years ago. I love working here." " People come back here every two years and we know their tastes," says Rosner. " Sometimes people request a certain staff member. Often other customers gather round to help. It's like a party in here." Rosner says Canadians are extremely fashionable with their eyewear. " When I go to New York and look at people on the street and what they're wearing, I realize Canada is way ahead of the U. S.," she says. LOLA BOUTIQUE: A few doors over at LoLa Boutique, co- owner Lauren Thiessen takes yours truly on a tour that ranges from the sophisticated but playful metal work of Michael Aram to novelties that will cause a stir, such as diamond clip- over bra straps that will hold up even the most generous of bosoms. Ask about the Hillberg & Berk items former Dragons' Den star W. Brett Wilson chose for a partnership deal. Then there's the scandalous No. 2 Poo- Pourri, for people who are too shy to use the bathroom around others. " Take it in your purse to a party." The motto? " Spray before you use the loo and nobody will ever have a clue." Prices range from $ 4 to $ 316. Thiessen and her aunt, Lorraine Penman, dreamed up the business when they were hanging out at the lake. " We wanted a fun and unique store, with appeal for everyone. We go to the Toronto gift shows, but we also go online and order a lot from here," says Thiessen. " The best part is, I love the customers. We get a lot of regulars." The store might be sophisticated, but LoLa Boutique is anything but snooty. Brides who don't want stuffy registry items for their weddings run to LoLa Boutique, and Lauren follows them around with a little pad of paper, taking notes. Their boutique's page is at http:// wfp. to/ TjS. BOUTIQUE LA FEMME: Perhaps we could call this store Liquidation, because it always has those big L- signs up filling the windows. Ivan Master laughs, " I know, I know! People call me the Gypsy because I'm always moving. We were at Academy, and at Grant Park, and now we're here until the end of March. If we can't find a larger space by then, we'll rent here for longer." Master and his 82- year- old mom, Rita, run the place , and they know their customers very well. Mom is never quitting. " My mother is not a woman who likes to go for coffee," Ivan says. " She likes to get up and go and be part of this business." Do they ever fight? " Oh, constantly. I say, ' That'll never sell' and it's the first thing to go, and vice versa," he laughs. They know their customers so well they go out buying for them,. " We do it all the time. See these things from Simon Chang? I have a customer who loves Simon Chang's clothes." So it only makes sense to call her. Sometimes they send out packages of clothes to faithful customers who have moved out of province. " They just mail back the things they don't want." Luxury- sized ladies know they are in friendly territory at Boutique la Femme. " There was Pennington's and Addition Elle, but we were the first independently- owned store for larger sizes in Winnipeg. We were called Le Grand Femme in 1986. That was just two years after we moved here from England." When they got into a larger space they added regular sizes as well. " Now our clothes run from Size 4 to Size 22. Our customers are about 35 to 65 years old. We sell moderatelypriced, exclusive brands for them." Where do they travel to buy? " We go to Montreal and London - any excuse to go home. We have family there." Price- wise, Master says, " We'll sell a pair of leggings for $ 30 and clothing up to $ 300." The store is full of funky casual wear, classics and some off- beat things. " We buy brands from Turkey, the Far East - along with Canadian designers." TUXEDO VILLAGE FAMILY RESTAURANT: People come from all across the city to try the Village Burger - two beef patties and chile, with every topping you can imagine. The burger is very tall and hard to get in your mouth. " Mostly guys order it," says Gio Ignatios, a part of the family that owns this popular Greek restaurant. Asked for other favourites, he says, " Definitely the Athenian Chicken, which is stuffed with mushrooms, peppers and olives and has a mushroom sauce, and next, people love our chicken pita." Just above the sound of Greek music you can hear chopping from the kitchen. The staff are busy doing fresh prep for dinner. " After a while, when the restaurant fills up, we don't need the music to cover the chopping because it's noisy with people talking." The family involved in the business includes George Papaioannou, his wife, Vicky, and son, Tom. " I am George's stepson," Ignatios says, just as more customers pour through the door looking for a table. We take a picture beside the wall the family created themselves, with Greek gods and goddesses on top. " I think that's Aphrodite and two Apollos," he grins. Most patrons are from the neighborhood - Tuxedo, Charleswood, River Heights, Linden Woods, but some people come from as far away as Garden City. It's 5: 30 p. m. at this point and the restaurant, done up in warm colours and a touch of Grecian Blue, is filling up fast. " Eefare- ees- toh," ( thank you) I say in my best Greek. Nobody hears me. Another happy, noisy night is in full swing at Tuxedo Village. Maureen Scurfield is a happy short- burst shopper, totally satisfied by funky shops and good food. By Maureen Scurfield Tiny but TRENDY Tuxedo Junction a smart, stylish little spot FROM LEFT: Kim Rosner of For Eyes Optical Boutique, Lauren Thiessen of LoLa Boutique, Ivan Master of Boutique La Femme and Gio Ignatios of Tuxedo Village Family Restaurant are among the faces you will see when shopping at Tuxedo Junction. M ORE than 70 officers handled many hundreds of tasks, including interviewing at least 150 possible witnesses. Hundreds of items seized, some requiring complex lab analysis and forensic testing. Between 13,000 and 15,000 pages of police disclosure alone. All this for a single homicide case. This is a RCMP major crime unit corporal's estimate regarding workload in the Chad Davis homicide case, offered in testimony this week at a fascinating Winnipeg murder trial. Davis, 22, mysteriously vanished in February 2006 only to be found brutally killed, his body found stuffed inside a plastic barrel 168 days later. Having scrutinized the trial over the past few weeks, it's been impossible for me not to marvel at the amount of work investigators and prosecutors did on the Davis file - work that appeared to have continued into earlier this year, well over five years after arrests were made and the trial was about to begin. Whether that effort will amount to convictions or acquittals remains to be seen. That's ultimately up to the jury. But after learning of the quantity of work that went into this lone case, it got me thinking. It confirms to me something I have long believed, but realize is not a view shared by everyone. That being: When it comes to serious violent crimes, Manitoba's police don't discriminate. They will stop at nothing to try to find answers. And sometimes, those answers won't come, despite their best efforts. In Saturday's Free Press , colleagues Mary Agnes Welch and Wendy Sawatzky produced a fascinating report mapping out 58 unresolved cases of missing and murdered aboriginal women in Manitoba, dating back to 1961 through to 2013. The data was based on Ottawa researcher's Maryanne Pearce's inquiry into vulnerable women and Canada's justice system. Let's assume each of these cases involves an equivalent workload as cited in the Davis case. That would mean more than 750,000 pages of disclosure were theoretically generated. The number of witnesses to be interviewed would be around 8,700 - a staggering amount. If each file involved 400 police tasks to be parcelled out to investigators, that's 23,200 of them. That figure doesn't factor in things like complexity and consultation with outside actors ( like the Medical Examiner's Office or a laboratory). Consider the amount of work. It's massive. This doesn't include what else is being done on other unresolved homicides from the last five decades, those of the victimized women, men and children who don't fall into the " missing and murdered" category. Victims like Irene Pearson, a real estate agent who was found murdered in a Tyndall Park home on Nov. 16, 1979. On the anniversary of her death 28 years later, in November 2007, Winnipeg " cold- case" investigators were clearly still very invested in finding her killer. They came forward then to share publicly their hopes DNA evidence could move things forward. Naturally, it goes without saying families and friends of homicide victims likely care more about the outcome than the process, which, to them, must be beyond frustrating to experience. They're privy to very little information from police, given the nature and seriousness of the work. The smallest slip- up in terms of details let loose into the public sphere can tank years of painstaking work. So the cops stay mute. That silence is hard for grieving families and the public to swallow, no doubt. But it's a necessary thing. Learning little from police can sometimes lead people to conclude their loved one got lost in the mix, that their case doesn't merit attention. Sometimes stinging criticism is hurled: The police are racist, some are unafraid to say. They're ignoring cases because of who the victims were when they were living, say others. But the Davis case has again showed, at least to me, how baseless these attacks are. Davis was a city cocaine dealer with a sometimes- violent temper and " tons" of enemies, court has heard. And to the police, prosecutors and other justice system agents working his case, who he was didn't matter one damn bit. james. turner@ freepress. mb. ca By James Turner Frankly, they do GIVE A DAMN Contrary to criticism, cops don't discount victims RCMP / MANITOBA JUSTICE More than 70 police officers were involved in the investigation into the murder of 22- year- old Chad Davis. Two men are currently on trial for the killing. PHOTOS BY MAUREEN SCURFIELD / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS SUBMITTED PHOTO Joyce Graham Fogwill PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS A plaque on the bench invites passersby to rest. ;