Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 11, 2021, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE C2 C 2 MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2021 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COMARTS ● LIFE I ENTERTAINMENT “I feel... honoured just to be asked to share about who I am, what I do and why I do it,” he says. With the support of a Safe at Home grant from the provincial government, Folklorama is set to livestream a free workshop every Friday over the next three months beginning Jan. 15 at 7 p.m. Hosts will share their personal his- tories and different aspects of their culture. Some workshops will coincide with events like Lunar New Year, Black History Month and St. Patrick’s Day. “We came up with a lineup of 11 different presentations that explores a culture from around the world,” says Christian Hidalgo-Mazzei, entertain- ment producer for Folklorama. “It’s social and entertaining and educational and we want to focus on the artists as well. Behind the artist there’s a person that is passionate about the preserva- tion of his or her culture, so we want to know their story.” The full lineup is being released over the next few weeks, but January kicks off with a crash course on voyageur history and entertainment with local storyteller Rob Malo, a.k.a. TiBert le Voyageur. On Jan. 22, Stevenson will share his life’s story of growing up in the North End and overcoming addiction through ceremony. Viewers can expect plenty of musical interludes and to gain a better understanding of powwow songs and traditions. “What I like to do is not only enter- tain, but educate people about who we are, when it comes to song and dance,” he says. “I’ve made a commitment to teach it on to others because it made a difference in my life and it’s an op- portunity to make a difference in their life.” Julie Desrochers will be teaching the art of Métis beading on Jan. 29. Folklorama was offering free beading kits to follow along at home, but due to limited supply they have all already been distributed. Keep an eye on folk- lorama.ca/events for future interactive workshops. While the presentations are free to attend, participants must register at the aforementioned link to gain access to the YouTube livestream. A chat win- dow will be available for viewers to ask questions during the hour-long class. While Folklorama was unable to present its annual cultural festival last summer owing to the coronavirus pandemic, the organization hosted 70 private performances and events in Winnipeggers’ backyards. Hidalgo- Mazzei was blown away by the uptake and hopes the virtual Folklorama At Home programs will be as popular. “Culture doesn’t stop because there’s no festival,” he says. “The preservation of culture and their cultural identity is what they do 365 days a year.” eva.wasney@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @evawasney SUPPLIED Rob Malo, a.k.a. TiBert le Voyageur, will present a Folklorama at Home: The Virtual Experi- ence workshop on voyageur history and entertainment on Jan. 15. Julie Desrochers will lead a Métis beading class on Jan. 29 as part of Folklorama at Home: The Virtual Experience. FOLKLORAMA AT HOME ● FROM C1 Getting outside during the day also means your kids can absorb some much-needed vitamin D, which is good for their bones and stimulates a gland that regulates mood and sleep. Outdoor activity also releases feel-good hormones — endorphins — that can help calm people and relieve anxiety. That’s especially important now since experts believe the pan- demic is contributing to an increase in anxiety and depression among children. Being outside has played a large part in keeping McManus and Cabe- zas’ kids engaged and active during the pandemic. Every winter since Nate was three, McManus has built a quinzee in the front yard with his kids. This year, Nate took on the family tradition. “As soon as the snow fell, Nate was gung-ho. Once there was enough snow, he was shovelling like a mad- man, pulling his brother outside for shifts,” Cabezas says. McManus says Nate was the head foreman, determining everything from how large it should be to mea- suring the doorway. It took about five days to make and Nate put in about eight hours of work. Winter exploration is engrained in McManus — his dad was in the mili- tary where he taught winter warfare in Churchill. He says his dad passed down winter survival knowledge to him and his brother and taught them how to prepare for every condition. “My dad was the officer in charge of winter exercises and if anything went wrong, it was on him. He was in charge of all safety planning,” he says. “My parents were very outdoorsy people. When I was a kid, we’d go on 15-kilometre ski adven- tures every weekend and explore Manitoba.” McManus wants to pass the same winter wisdom down to his two sons. “My dad always taught us what to do if we were cold, how to warm up, and basically take care of ourselves,” he says. “Now that I’m a dad and responsible, I realize that it is and always was a balance between teach- ing them, letting them try and mak- ing sure they’re OK — giving them a chance to solve the problem on their own first.” The three of them even spent one night in the quinzee. “Nate and Kellan loved it,” McMa- nus says. “Both of them had issues in the middle of the night but after some wriggling and rustling, they fixed them in the cold, black dark.” What’s the next adventure for the McManus kids? “We haven’t done lean-to shelters but it’s coming. For now, we’re camp- ing in the safety of our front yard,” McManus says. “The next step is going to a winter camping spot in Sandilands and spending a night or two around a campfire and sleeping there and doing it for real. Maybe next year. It’s a totally different experience.” Even though things may not look the same, creating these experiences for kids helps to build long-lasting memories. “My dad often tags along when I go on adventures with the boys,” McMa- nus says. “Nate told me that when he has kids, he’ll bring me along when they do fun stuff together.” This might be a winter unlike any other. But as long as we can get out- side, play and give our kids an outlet, we’ll make it through and create new memories. Hopefully our kids will remember this winter for all the fun things like home skating rinks, rosy cheeks, snow forts and homemade quinzees. sabrinacarnevale@gmail.com CARNEVALE ● FROM C1 JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Brendan McManus and Marcela Cabezas work on their quinzee with sons Nate (right) and Kellan. Every winter since Nate was three, the family has built a snow shelter in their front yard. Finger-lickin’ good news for your fireplace Kentucky Fried Chicken-scented log the perfect drool-inducing gift W HAT with being a crusad-ing newspaper columnist, I am used to the constant ups and downs of doing journalism for a living. On the upside, I was 10 shades of excited late last year when my city editor emailed me a news release along with the following comment: “This has your name all over it!” The opening paragraph of the news breathlessly declared: “Forget chestnuts roasting over an open fire, because KFC’s famous fried chicken- scented 11 Herbs & Spices Firelog is coming to Canada.” It contained this inspiring quote from Samantha Redman, chief market- ing officer, KFC Canada: “Canada’s winter season and fireplaces go together like an iconic KFC bucket of chicken and gravy. It’s the comfort of a warm fire and the delicious aroma of our world-famous fried chicken that makes the KFC 11 Herbs & Spices Firelog a truly hearth-warming and hunger-inducing experience for all.” Yes, for the first time, Canadians would be able to get their greasy hands on a firelog that would leave their homes — along with everything and everyone in it — emitting the mouth- watering aroma of Colonel Sanders’ legendary fried chicken. On the downside, however, my dreams of spending the holidays under a cloud of fried-chicken-scented goodness were initially dashed when pandemic restrictions on the sale of non-essential items prevented me from buying one of these fragrant firelogs. I felt the same way a few years ago when my city editor sent me a news release boasting that KFC was introducing a fizzy bath bomb shaped like a finger-lickin’ chicken drumstick to ensure you emerge from the tub smelling like the colonel’s signature bucket of goodness. Tragically, KFC’s “Chicken Smelling Bath Powder” was only available in Japan. This past Christmas morning, how- ever, I discovered a miracle under our tree — a festive holiday bag, inside of which, covered in cling wrap, was one of KFC’s limited-edition $19.99 fried- chicken-scented firelogs. It turns out my wife, She Who Must Not Be Named, had been wandering through a Canadian Tire store on her lunch hour shortly before the tighter shopping restrictions were imposed when, suddenly and without warning, her nostrils were assailed by a strong, spicy aroma. “I looked around and there on the shelf was a stack of KFC firelogs!” she said as I hugged the aromatic gift close to my rapidly beating heart. “I was laughing to myself and proudly went off to the cashier. The cashier looked at it and we both started laughing, think- ing this log was hilarious. “So I went back to work and by the time I got in my car to drive home, it reeked of KFC. I couldn’t wait to get home and take the log out of my car. I hid it in the garage until Christmas morning.” My wife’s reaction underscores the fact that innovative products like the KFC-scented firelog tend to divide readers along gender lines as follows: Typical male reaction (weeping tears of joy): “Thank you, honey, now my ugly Christmas sweater and all of our furniture smells just like a bucket of greasy fried chicken!” Typical female reaction: “Blarghhh! I think I’m going to be sick!” As you would expect, I wanted to throw the KFC log in the fireplace as soon as I unwrapped it, but my wife made me agree to one condition — I could only burn it outside in our back- yard firepit. That night, I had a hard time sleep- ing because, instead of visions of sugar plums, my head was aflame with ex- citement over the prospect of lighting up my fried-chicken firelog on Boxing Day. My wife had a hard time nodding off, too, but for an entirely different reason. Around 2 a.m., she lurched out of bed, saying: “I can’t (bad word) sleep because all I can smell is fried chicken!” Which is when, grumbling all the way, she marched over to our Christ- mas tree, scooped up the firelog, then stomped down the hallway, where she opened the back door and unceremoni- ously dropped my favourite gift on the back steps. Not long after waking up on Boxing Day, I raced out back, tossed the KFC log in our fire pit along with some bunched up newspapers, then set it ablaze before parking myself on a patio chair with a celebratory glass of fine Canadian whisky. As I basked in the subtle scent of fried meat wafting from the back yard blaze, my wife came out to see if she was still offended by the aroma. “I’m glad you’re happy, dear,” she sniffed, “but that is really disgusting.” The truth is, what with being outside in the frosty air, I could barely smell a thing, but I wasn’t about to admit that to my wife. Because, as far as I was concerned, there was something special in the air — call it the magic of Christmas, with a delicious hint of grease. doug.speirs@freepress.mb.ca DOUG SPEIRS IN THE DOUG HOUSE SUPPLIED Doug Speirs burned the KFC firelog in the backyard firepit on Boxing Day. C_02_Jan-11-21_FP_01.indd C2 2021-01-10 5:35 PM ;