pop-up storefront - HUNSTVILLE!
Huntsville's downtown doesn't need too much community spirit renovation. In the summer, it's a happening place with tourists and locals cruising the main street strip. We stayed in Huntsville for three weeks - did a series of interviews storymobile, listened to all those interviews, brought in our awesome FIXT POINT team and then created stellar scenes to perform in our pop up storefront at Nuit Blanche North! The whole town got on board in the story creation - from the mayor to the rotary club to the business improvement association, along with story contributors both young and very old. To meet all of these lovely locals, check out our daily BLOG!
After our first two weeks in Huntsville, we had to close up our storymobile to rehearse our show. But, each day, we found a note, or an old book or a newspaper clipping attached to the door. How to include them all? There are clearly still many more stories to tell in this growing town. And if you've got one - call our storyline at 1-855-CAN TALE.
Nuit Blanche North truly rocked the block - The energy that night in Huntsville was contagious. Our performance was ridiculous and amazing, with a line up at the door before each show. A group of local talents performed alongside our team, including the Janis Joplin of the North - Tina Turley, and the best friend of a local hero who had now passed, whose story we told in one of our scenes.
The Tale of a Town - Huntsville
It was here in Huntsville we first realized how ripe old hotels are with memories. Mix locals and travellers with alcohol over many years, and some unforgettable things are sure to happen. Here, it was The Tale of The Empire Hotel - a big old hotel on a downtown corner, once an elegant meeting place, turned seedy, then sold and renovated room by room while remaining a low income housing option downtown, and then suddenly taken by fire. Now it's just an empty with a whole lot of dreams.
Check out this trailer created in Huntsville about our Tale of a Town tour to get a sense of the vibe.
And here it is, our podcast, for The Walrus, that will bring you a little closer to the spirit of the fantastic Huntsvillians we met.
A Walk Down Main Street - Huntsville Edition.
Back when we were in Little Current, a group of people spotted our storymobile and pitched us to come to Killarney… so, to Killarney we went! It was a long road into town off of highway 69, but finally we arrived in this small and splendid little town, population 500.
In Little Current, we stayed at the legendary Anchor Inn, one of those old hotels we've heard so much about, but this one was renovated and truly rockin'! In their community room, we sat in on the live broadcast of The Cruiser’s Net with Roy who keeps the boats on the other side of water street afloat. Outside, we met the father daughter team - owner and editor of The Manitoulin Expositor who convinced us to join the Let It Be campaign -a civic initiative to keep the Little Current Post Office downtown!
The day began with a delightful interview a la Dana Morningstar. Dana is the chair of media arts at Fanshaw college and a Londoner through and through. She told us tales about that market parrot swearing at her when she was a kid at the market, and stopping off at The Bay downtown on way to work to get a squirt of perfume in the early days of her career. After the interview, Dana treated us to a tour of the INCREDIBLE Fanshawe College media facilities. Wow. Those students are spoiled, as they should be. And very lucky to have what they need to get their waves flowing and their bytes dining. Things have changed a bit since Charles graduated from their Music Industry Arts Program, but the tour still led him on a sound scape down memory lane (just go with the metaphors people – I’m trying to keep it interesting…)
