1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:10,080 Hey there and thank you for joining me for another episode of YQG in Bloom. 2 00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:16,520 I'm your host Tracy Martens and today we are on location at Wolfhead Distillery in Essex 3 00:00:16,520 --> 00:00:17,960 County, Ontario. 4 00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:18,960 I think it's Amherstburg. 5 00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:20,480 It sure is. 6 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:27,380 And this is a local staple that has been here since 2016 and they have a fabulous selection 7 00:00:27,380 --> 00:00:34,960 and I have with me today Danielle Moldovan and she is the Director of Marketing and Business 8 00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:37,280 Development here at Wolfhead. 9 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:38,440 Thank you for joining me. 10 00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:39,440 Thank you. 11 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:45,440 I also have with me and I have to read this Courtney Stearns who is the Breavement Program 12 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:47,480 Manager at Julian's House. 13 00:00:47,480 --> 00:00:48,480 That's right. 14 00:00:48,480 --> 00:00:50,480 It's so nice to see you. 15 00:00:50,480 --> 00:00:57,480 Now we're here today to talk about a really exciting event that we have coming up June 16 00:00:57,480 --> 00:01:00,400 1st in LaSalle. 17 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:02,920 Did you want to tell us what we're going to be doing? 18 00:01:02,920 --> 00:01:03,920 Yeah. 19 00:01:03,920 --> 00:01:07,600 So this is the first like really big event for Wolfhead outside of our facility. 20 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:12,360 It's called Strawberrylicious and it's to celebrate the launch of our strawberry gin. 21 00:01:12,360 --> 00:01:19,760 Which is right here and fabulous and I don't like gin so it's really good. 22 00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:23,160 I converted Tracy. 23 00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:29,040 So the event is a food and drink fest right before Strawberry Festival so the gin is in 24 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:33,400 celebration of the LaSalle Strawberry Fest and it's going to be an event where guests 25 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:38,360 can come and try different drinks and food trucks, they get socialized. 26 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:42,760 We've got some fun stations where they can try different cocktails, where they can make 27 00:01:42,760 --> 00:01:48,920 their own little gin and all the food that's going to be incorporated will have an element 28 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:49,920 of strawberry. 29 00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:51,960 So we're really celebrating the strawberry. 30 00:01:51,960 --> 00:01:55,880 That's nice and it's all local vendors, all local food. 31 00:01:55,880 --> 00:02:01,360 Now the strawberry gin, is this going to be full time here or is it just a special? 32 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:07,680 No, this is just a special edition so we will have it out for probably the summer, June 33 00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:14,040 and July and as always if our Wolfhead fans really ask for it then I can maybe ask the 34 00:02:14,040 --> 00:02:18,680 distiller to make another batch but for now it's a special release. 35 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:21,200 How many different spirits does Wolfhead have? 36 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:22,620 Yes, we have ten. 37 00:02:22,620 --> 00:02:29,440 So back in 2016 when we opened we started with six and so that was a vodka, grapefruit 38 00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:34,240 vodka, banana caramel vodka and then we had our regular whiskey, our coffee whiskey which 39 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:39,400 is our best seller, apple caramel whiskey and since then we've added a cinnamon whiskey, 40 00:02:39,400 --> 00:02:46,240 we have our regular gin, we have a Cosmo which is our ready to drink and now we're adding 41 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:47,900 this beautiful strawberry gin. 42 00:02:47,900 --> 00:02:51,360 And then you also have that fabulous one over. 43 00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:54,360 Oh I forgot the cream liqueur. 44 00:02:54,360 --> 00:02:59,760 Yes, the whiskey cream liqueur which is beyond amazing. 45 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:05,160 Yes, so that one we still have a couple bottles available so that one is like a limited release 46 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:10,000 as well which comes and goes so that one's a vanilla almond biscotti and then we also 47 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:16,180 have special releases that we put out in whiskeys so we'll put a hundred percent rye whiskeys 48 00:03:16,180 --> 00:03:22,720 or a hundred percent yeah rye and so when Wolfhead opened back in 2016 our distiller 49 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:27,280 at the time put aside a hundred barrels and he did different recipes for each so the distiller 50 00:03:27,280 --> 00:03:32,080 today will take three of those barrels and do a blend and that is our our lemon dude 51 00:03:32,080 --> 00:03:37,040 release we call it a pot still whiskey so we usually do about two of those every year 52 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:41,680 and every year it's it's either a sixth year or a seven year it'll be an eight year so 53 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:43,960 that's what we've been up to. 54 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:51,320 And the strawberrylicious event which is going to be held at the LaSalle event centre is 55 00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:56,120 on June 1st there's two different times 12 to 5 and then when is the second one? 56 00:03:56,120 --> 00:03:57,600 And then 6 to 11. 57 00:03:57,600 --> 00:04:00,360 6 to 11 and how are the ticket sales going for that? 58 00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:04,000 You know what they're going really good so we started selling about a month ago so we're 59 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:06,160 about 50 percent sold out right now. 60 00:04:06,160 --> 00:04:07,240 That's excellent. 61 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:13,240 Each session we're hoping to sell out at 700 guests so then we've got our our wonderful 62 00:04:13,240 --> 00:04:17,600 volunteers so it should be a really good time we you know we wanted to give everybody an 63 00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:23,200 opportunity to attend so those who don't like to drive at night can come during the day 64 00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:26,920 there's a lot going on that weekend in Windsor so you can bop around. 65 00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:32,640 Yeah it's going to be a lot of fun because I know you have Little Foot Foods and Bill 66 00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:37,800 from Cheers and Chill Windsor and I should know that because he's been on my podcast 67 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:46,920 he's going to be doing a cocktail station and then you also have we have oven 360 so 68 00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:51,560 they are going to be doing amazing pizzas and they've also added a Nutella strawberry 69 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:57,040 pizza and then we have Sammy's BBQ so they were here at Wolfhead back in March for our 70 00:04:57,040 --> 00:05:01,180 chili fest they were one of the top three winners so they're going to be there doing 71 00:05:01,180 --> 00:05:07,840 some smoked meats and then we have three dog poutinerie so they're going to be on board 72 00:05:07,840 --> 00:05:10,440 as well and there'll be some surprise desserts. 73 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:17,440 Oh that would be nice and I know you have beverages other than our gin. 74 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:22,600 Yeah yeah so we'll have a regular what we call a regular festival menu so we'll have 75 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:28,600 our our hard root beer we'll have electric lemonade so you won't just have to enjoy strawberry 76 00:05:28,600 --> 00:05:33,760 gin but we're also making a special strawberry vodka that will be at the event only and then 77 00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:37,360 back here at Wolfhead for the month of June. 78 00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:38,760 Okay I didn't know about that one. 79 00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:39,760 Yeah that was a surprise. 80 00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:40,760 A good surprise. 81 00:05:40,760 --> 00:05:44,360 That's a good surprise. 82 00:05:44,360 --> 00:05:48,720 And then we have Walkerville Brewery who's doing a strawberry lime cider for the event 83 00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:53,520 and then we've made a strawberry wine so they'll be everything is to celebrate the strawberry. 84 00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:54,520 You guys are doing a strawberry wine? 85 00:05:54,520 --> 00:05:55,520 We are we are yes. 86 00:05:55,520 --> 00:06:00,680 Oh my goodness okay I'm glad I'm not driving that day. 87 00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:04,160 Now are there going to be bottles to sell there as well? 88 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:08,560 Yeah so technically we're not allowed to sell outside so right now when you buy your ticket 89 00:06:08,560 --> 00:06:12,040 you are able to purchase a bottle that you can pick up at the end of the night and bring 90 00:06:12,040 --> 00:06:13,040 home with you. 91 00:06:13,040 --> 00:06:17,200 In fact that that was my next question what comes along with the tickets? 92 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:22,040 Yeah so the afternoon session is 20 and the evening session is 25 and what you get with 93 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:28,840 that is you get a visit to our sampling station so we have Fever Tree and Grant Morris who's 94 00:06:28,840 --> 00:06:30,840 does mortgages. 95 00:06:30,840 --> 00:06:35,520 He is sponsoring that station so you'll be able to go you'll be able to try the gin with 96 00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:36,640 different Fever Tree. 97 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:40,280 So Fever Tree is like a tonic and a sparkling and then if you love it you can go to the 98 00:06:40,280 --> 00:06:46,480 bar and order a drink and then we have so we did a special menu just with the strawberry 99 00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:47,480 gin. 100 00:06:47,480 --> 00:06:53,200 So we've got a gin smash we have mojitos and mules and then during the cocktail demo 101 00:06:53,200 --> 00:06:57,920 he'll be making those and also sharing the recipes we'll have walk away recipes and then 102 00:06:57,920 --> 00:07:02,320 so if you love that one you can try it at the bar and then we'll have we'll have regular 103 00:07:02,320 --> 00:07:04,560 beer and wine available as well. 104 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:10,040 Excellent and also is there oh I actually forgot Tracy you get more than that with your 105 00:07:10,040 --> 00:07:11,040 ticket. 106 00:07:11,040 --> 00:07:15,520 I was going to say you told me more than this. 107 00:07:15,520 --> 00:07:19,760 So actually a portion of the ticket is going to be benefiting Julie and House so that's 108 00:07:19,760 --> 00:07:25,400 amazing and then each guest is going to get a voucher for a tour and tasting here at Wolfhead 109 00:07:25,400 --> 00:07:31,040 that you can use up until the end of November so that has a $20 value and you get a complimentary 110 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:36,400 drink so you're actually getting about 30 to $35 value for your your ticket. 111 00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:43,040 Well actually more than that because you're coming here as well I mean it's amazing and 112 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:49,600 like you said we're also doing proceeds towards Julian's House which is wonderful. 113 00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:56,660 We are trying to raise a minimum of $5,000 to Julian's House and can you let us know 114 00:07:56,660 --> 00:07:58,320 what Julian's House is. 115 00:07:58,320 --> 00:08:00,200 Absolutely I'd be happy to. 116 00:08:00,200 --> 00:08:05,840 So Julian's House is a local charity and it's in place to help people through grief and 117 00:08:05,840 --> 00:08:08,740 bereavement after losing a loved one. 118 00:08:08,740 --> 00:08:15,240 We are brought up with the idea that grief should be done behind closed doors and essentially 119 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:22,000 Julian's House is trying to change that narrative and so we're based in a peer-to-peer support 120 00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:28,060 rather than clinical so it's not that we offer counseling or therapy but through our volunteers 121 00:08:28,060 --> 00:08:34,600 that come and support us they also help other newly bereaved individuals with their own 122 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:39,220 grief experience so just recognizing that maybe you've had an experience and the way 123 00:08:39,220 --> 00:08:44,560 you got through that grief experience there might be some insight in that for me or somebody 124 00:08:44,560 --> 00:08:50,300 else and so we do that through our support groups we have one-on-one companions where 125 00:08:50,300 --> 00:08:55,440 we would match a guest and a companion then we also have restorative activities because 126 00:08:55,440 --> 00:08:59,920 it's great to talk through the grief but some people need to do through the grief as well 127 00:08:59,920 --> 00:09:05,760 so we've got monthly walks that we do we could be a meditation class a gentle movement 128 00:09:05,760 --> 00:09:13,240 class journaling the sky's the limit essentially we're trying all sorts of new things to help 129 00:09:13,240 --> 00:09:15,200 people work through their grief. 130 00:09:15,200 --> 00:09:16,780 And that's for all ages. 131 00:09:16,780 --> 00:09:24,380 So right now our programming is in place for adult support only we are still new I like 132 00:09:24,380 --> 00:09:30,880 to say that we are small and mighty and just growing from here essentially so one day down 133 00:09:30,880 --> 00:09:34,640 the road we do hope to include child and youth programming as well. 134 00:09:34,640 --> 00:09:35,640 That's wonderful. 135 00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:36,640 Yeah. 136 00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:42,840 I mean I feel that it is something that is needed and it is seriously lacking everywhere 137 00:09:42,840 --> 00:09:43,840 like you said. 138 00:09:43,840 --> 00:09:44,840 Absolutely. 139 00:09:44,840 --> 00:09:47,600 Okay you cry you got through the funeral you're good to go. 140 00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:51,760 Yeah we're led to believe that you should be through the grief experience in the five 141 00:09:51,760 --> 00:09:56,240 to eight business days that a job might allow you to take after the loss of a loved one 142 00:09:56,240 --> 00:09:59,520 and that couldn't be further from the truth of course. 143 00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:01,800 No that is true. 144 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:10,000 Now tell me a little bit more about Wolfhead because I just discovered this place last 145 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:11,760 year and I love it. 146 00:10:11,760 --> 00:10:19,360 I know you guys do a ton of events here throughout the year and you're always incorporating the 147 00:10:19,360 --> 00:10:20,360 community. 148 00:10:20,360 --> 00:10:26,680 Yeah we I mean we really do love to give back we get a lot of support from the Windsor Essex 149 00:10:26,680 --> 00:10:32,040 community who come and visit our establishment so it's important for us to get back as well. 150 00:10:32,040 --> 00:10:37,760 So we support a number of golf tournaments and charitable requests and then we try and 151 00:10:37,760 --> 00:10:44,760 pick one or two bigger things that we can focus on throughout the year and so I mean 152 00:10:44,760 --> 00:10:50,040 when Wolfhead started back in 2016 like they had no idea the owners what this place was 153 00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:56,680 going to become and when when Tom and Sue decided to open it it was really the result 154 00:10:56,680 --> 00:11:00,240 of happy accident I guess you could say. 155 00:11:00,240 --> 00:11:06,080 Tom owned the facility has a pilot making business and he was going to do third party 156 00:11:06,080 --> 00:11:11,000 bottling for another distillery and something fell through and he said why don't I just 157 00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:12,000 do my own. 158 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:16,940 So he did some research and found out that there there wasn't a lot of craft distilling 159 00:11:16,940 --> 00:11:22,760 happening in Ontario so he brought in the best equipment that money could buy and he 160 00:11:22,760 --> 00:11:25,560 had the vision to put this restaurant. 161 00:11:25,560 --> 00:11:30,520 He got his friend Larry Gerard on board who's the executive chef so he's one of the partners 162 00:11:30,520 --> 00:11:34,000 and if I wish I could show you pictures of what this place looked like before this restaurant 163 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:38,600 because I go to Tom I said I would never have had that vision to bump out walls and do what 164 00:11:38,600 --> 00:11:45,240 he did so they started with the indoor restaurant and now we have our patio we built a stage 165 00:11:45,240 --> 00:11:50,920 last year so that we can do entertainment in the summer on weekends and then we started 166 00:11:50,920 --> 00:11:54,440 to do events in the parking lot so parking lot party. 167 00:11:54,440 --> 00:12:00,840 And then you've had chili fest here yeah and you've had a lot of a lot of things and then 168 00:12:00,840 --> 00:12:08,480 we also have the your little store here which has wonderful things and is all of your products 169 00:12:08,480 --> 00:12:09,800 in LCBO? 170 00:12:09,800 --> 00:12:17,520 No so I would say 60% of them are so the only products you can't find are our regular whiskey 171 00:12:17,520 --> 00:12:22,280 our apple caramel whiskey and like any of like the special releases that come out or 172 00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:28,560 not in the LCBO and so we just you know as they come out we decide if we want to put 173 00:12:28,560 --> 00:12:34,160 them in some of them we'd like to keep as exclusive to the stillery we've learned that 174 00:12:34,160 --> 00:12:38,560 restaurants and bars some like it when there's a product that they can't find at the LCBO 175 00:12:38,560 --> 00:12:44,880 it's a good attraction for their guests but we're really fortunate so you know we're in 176 00:12:44,880 --> 00:12:50,080 the LCBO in Ontario we're in the duty-free at Pearson Airport at the Detroit Tunnel and 177 00:12:50,080 --> 00:12:56,560 now we're starting to expand into Taiwan we had some products in Michigan just after 178 00:12:56,560 --> 00:13:01,920 pandemic so we're hopefully trying to ramp that up and still offer some great cocktails 179 00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:04,000 and food to our local fans. 180 00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:11,880 Well that's the thing is you guys are expanding all over the place but yet the quality is 181 00:13:11,880 --> 00:13:17,960 still amazing the feel is wonderful like you'd never know that you guys were expanding so 182 00:13:17,960 --> 00:13:18,960 much. 183 00:13:18,960 --> 00:13:21,120 Yeah it's you know like the home feeling. 184 00:13:21,120 --> 00:13:27,400 Right exactly that's all the behind the scenes right so you know they say the spirits business 185 00:13:27,400 --> 00:13:33,160 is a really sexy business to be in but it's a grind it's a lot of a lot of work and you 186 00:13:33,160 --> 00:13:36,200 know you think oh I have my product in the LCBO and you think it's gonna be in every 187 00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:41,320 store but you have to work to get those in the locations and then you know you go and 188 00:13:41,320 --> 00:13:45,200 you do festivals and you do markets and it's all about people trying your product when 189 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:53,240 it's something that you can consume so that's a lot of fun and then the retail shop itself 190 00:13:53,240 --> 00:13:57,640 we sell our bottles and then we do a lot of gifting we do corporate baskets so there's 191 00:13:57,640 --> 00:13:59,920 a lot of little facets to Wolfhead. 192 00:13:59,920 --> 00:14:06,240 And they have wonderful hoodies sweatshirts t-shirts and samplings so if there's something 193 00:14:06,240 --> 00:14:12,440 that you're not sure about and I like you have those little tiny sampler packs which 194 00:14:12,440 --> 00:14:17,520 are great with the little mixers with them there's just a lot of really good stuff. 195 00:14:17,520 --> 00:14:22,740 Now you had said you guys were doing a strawberry wine are you guys thinking of going into wine 196 00:14:22,740 --> 00:14:24,120 or is this just one thing? 197 00:14:24,120 --> 00:14:25,960 No this is just for the event. 198 00:14:25,960 --> 00:14:26,960 For the event? 199 00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:30,200 Yeah just to celebrate everything strawberry. 200 00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:33,120 I think that's a great idea why not? 201 00:14:33,120 --> 00:14:34,120 You guys could do everything. 202 00:14:34,120 --> 00:14:38,920 The only thing we don't make is rum or tequila. 203 00:14:38,920 --> 00:14:41,600 Oh yes never say never. 204 00:14:41,600 --> 00:14:45,240 I have to come up with something fancy for tequila because technically you're not allowed 205 00:14:45,240 --> 00:14:49,400 to make it unless you're in Mexico. 206 00:14:49,400 --> 00:14:50,840 I did not know that. 207 00:14:50,840 --> 00:14:56,800 Yeah same with bourbon bourbon comes from Kentucky so that's another product that. 208 00:14:56,800 --> 00:14:59,360 I volunteer going to Mexico. 209 00:14:59,360 --> 00:15:02,800 There we go you can do that. 210 00:15:02,800 --> 00:15:08,160 Now I love this idea I'm so excited for the Strawberrylicious Festival. 211 00:15:08,160 --> 00:15:09,160 Thank you. 212 00:15:09,160 --> 00:15:15,920 And again that is going to be June 1st at the La Salle Event Center and make sure you 213 00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:21,920 get your tickets either online I would probably do it online because who knows if it's going 214 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:22,920 to be. 215 00:15:22,920 --> 00:15:28,080 Yeah we're not sure if we're going to be able to allow walk-ins so I would say purchase 216 00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:29,080 early. 217 00:15:29,080 --> 00:15:33,440 I know everybody likes to wait until the week of but I would say don't be that person. 218 00:15:33,440 --> 00:15:39,400 No don't be because everybody has been dying to get it and especially now that you guys 219 00:15:39,400 --> 00:15:47,280 know that there's going to be a strawberry wine and the strawberry lime cider from Walkerville. 220 00:15:47,280 --> 00:15:52,120 There's a lot of new things to try out so I want to thank you so much for being here 221 00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:53,120 today. 222 00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:54,120 Appreciate you. 223 00:15:54,120 --> 00:16:00,560 I really do appreciate it and I am going to do a part two right now because just meeting 224 00:16:00,560 --> 00:16:06,700 Courtney here is I want to learn more about Julian's house and I really want everybody 225 00:16:06,700 --> 00:16:12,800 in the county to know more about it so that maybe we can help so that you guys can grow 226 00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:14,280 and be amazing. 227 00:16:14,280 --> 00:16:19,440 Yeah yeah because I had no idea about Julian's house until you're not alone. 228 00:16:19,440 --> 00:16:21,360 Yeah how did it get started. 229 00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:27,440 So while it's interesting in that you know you mentioned wolf heads history goes back 230 00:16:27,440 --> 00:16:29,160 to 2016. 231 00:16:29,160 --> 00:16:32,680 Coincidentally so does Julian's house. 232 00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:37,680 The concept sort of started coming together in 2016. 233 00:16:37,680 --> 00:16:44,600 There's something to that right and so essentially we had two local bereavement specialists Colleen 234 00:16:44,600 --> 00:16:52,360 Campo and Christine McMillan who envisioned bringing something like Julian's house to Windsor. 235 00:16:52,360 --> 00:16:58,680 Having a space dedicated to grief and bereavement for folks to come and just seek out that comfort 236 00:16:58,680 --> 00:17:08,560 in others of like minds like hearts and the Godette family lost their son Julian and they 237 00:17:08,560 --> 00:17:12,760 went to CMHA where Christine and Colleen were working at the time. 238 00:17:12,760 --> 00:17:19,440 With a lot of their bereavement support through CMHA and their wonderful programming and just 239 00:17:19,440 --> 00:17:26,080 from there you know brainstorming and long story short the Godette said we want to help 240 00:17:26,080 --> 00:17:27,700 support this mission. 241 00:17:27,700 --> 00:17:33,000 They had a property that was going to be their retirement plan and they said we're going 242 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:39,240 to work a little bit longer we want to donate this space to the cause and so that's how 243 00:17:39,240 --> 00:17:45,680 Julian's house became Julian's house named after their son that they lost tragically 244 00:17:45,680 --> 00:17:52,120 and you know from 2016 there was a lot of legal issues that they needed to address a 245 00:17:52,120 --> 00:17:58,600 lot of permits to acquire all that sort of zoning issues for the house itself because 246 00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:04,700 it was a home it was their family home and now we're turning it into a charity that helps 247 00:18:04,700 --> 00:18:08,300 the community and so working around all of that. 248 00:18:08,300 --> 00:18:13,120 In the meantime we know that grief doesn't wait for a building and so we have been operating 249 00:18:13,120 --> 00:18:17,640 in and around the community our unofficial motto has been doing the best with what we've 250 00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:23,320 got we know we've got an amazing community Wolfhead is a great example of that in supporting 251 00:18:23,320 --> 00:18:29,400 us by allowing us to be the beneficiary of some of these funds that are coming in through 252 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:34,480 strawberrylicious and so we know that we're just going to get out there and we're going 253 00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:42,680 to start and essentially using fundraising dollars to help turn what was once Julian's 254 00:18:42,680 --> 00:18:48,440 home into Julian's house where we can welcome individuals from the community to come and 255 00:18:48,440 --> 00:18:55,820 do whether it's a grief support group maybe a restorative restful yoga class we're going 256 00:18:55,820 --> 00:19:01,080 to have a gardening club out there lots of different things even right down to just a 257 00:19:01,080 --> 00:19:05,940 coffee hour maybe you're on your way to work and you're thinking I just don't know today's 258 00:19:05,940 --> 00:19:10,520 a heavy day I don't know if I if I'm ready to get into work yet I'm going to take a quick 259 00:19:10,520 --> 00:19:15,920 detour over to Julian's house stop in for coffee maybe sit with one of the volunteers 260 00:19:15,920 --> 00:19:23,100 that we'll have on hand there just fill my cup both literally and and you know figuratively 261 00:19:23,100 --> 00:19:28,080 and then be able to carry on my way to get to where I need to go next. 262 00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:36,040 Yeah because I mean it really is so important yeah for everybody whether people realize 263 00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:44,280 it or not like I mean yeah it's okay. 264 00:19:44,280 --> 00:19:49,160 Okay I'm going to keep the tears in there because I'm still dealing with grief it's 265 00:19:49,160 --> 00:19:53,300 been a year and a half and like you said it just it comes and waves and it'll hit you 266 00:19:53,300 --> 00:19:55,360 when you least expect it. 267 00:19:55,360 --> 00:19:57,120 Absolutely you can't plan for it. 268 00:19:57,120 --> 00:20:02,600 No people don't understand that until they're going through it. 269 00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:11,440 And sometimes you don't even realize how important that person was to you until they're not there 270 00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:17,940 anymore and yeah I think a place like this is fabulous and do you are you guys lucky 271 00:20:17,940 --> 00:20:24,340 enough to have other businesses that are doing fundraisers for you throughout this summertime? 272 00:20:24,340 --> 00:20:31,120 So we have a we do have third-party fundraisers that are happening it could be guests of Julian's 273 00:20:31,120 --> 00:20:36,160 house we had a really terrific family that put on a pasta fundraiser that went really 274 00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:42,320 well we have golf tournaments coming up Laura what else do we have going on? 275 00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:47,080 See this is where Laura should be on the mic. 276 00:20:47,080 --> 00:20:54,120 Okay I'm going to pause here for a second as I said this is part two of my Wolfhead 277 00:20:54,120 --> 00:21:01,140 Distillery Julian's house podcast and I'm going to say goodbye to Danielle and I'm going 278 00:21:01,140 --> 00:21:08,600 to bring somebody else on from Julian's house to give us some more details on their fundraising 279 00:21:08,600 --> 00:21:13,680 and different things that we can do to help them out and I want to thank you again Danielle 280 00:21:13,680 --> 00:21:22,640 I really appreciate it and make sure you get online instagram wolfheaddistillery.com and 281 00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:28,160 get your tickets for the Strawberry Delicious Festival and you will also be supporting Julian's 282 00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:29,160 house. 283 00:21:29,160 --> 00:21:33,560 Yeah very good so drink wolfhead.com Tracy we're going to send them drink wolfhead.com 284 00:21:33,560 --> 00:21:35,840 drink wolfhead.com and the strawberry gin. 285 00:21:35,840 --> 00:21:38,960 There you go yes Tracy gets a good little sample today. 286 00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:39,960 Yeah. 287 00:21:39,960 --> 00:21:41,360 All right thank you so much. 288 00:21:41,360 --> 00:21:42,360 Thank you. 289 00:21:42,360 --> 00:21:47,480 All righty now I have Laura Kay who is the. 290 00:21:47,480 --> 00:21:49,280 Executive director for Julian's house. 291 00:21:49,280 --> 00:21:55,360 Julian's house and she's going to give us a little idea of what exactly the community 292 00:21:55,360 --> 00:21:57,400 has been doing for you guys. 293 00:21:57,400 --> 00:22:02,800 So the community has been really supportive for the last couple of years since Courtney 294 00:22:02,800 --> 00:22:11,280 and I started two years ago we've done so many things with fundraisers and we received 295 00:22:11,280 --> 00:22:15,440 a trillion grant to open the doors at Julian's house. 296 00:22:15,440 --> 00:22:24,840 So the community especially the construction community so from FBM building materials Rosati 297 00:22:24,840 --> 00:22:33,020 group your plumber many many trades have really helped launch us forward and we just opened 298 00:22:33,020 --> 00:22:36,360 the doors last week at Julian's house. 299 00:22:36,360 --> 00:22:37,360 That's wonderful. 300 00:22:37,360 --> 00:22:38,360 It is. 301 00:22:38,360 --> 00:22:42,200 Oh I had no idea now where is Julian's house located. 302 00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:46,440 So we're located on baseline road which is just south of the airport. 303 00:22:46,440 --> 00:22:53,800 So it's a residential neighborhood which Courtney was mentioning that it's Julian's family home 304 00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:58,200 but it's a perfect location we're going to be close to the new hospital that's being 305 00:22:58,200 --> 00:23:03,320 built we're close to Walker Road we're close to the airport so it's really convenient for 306 00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:06,720 people to to get to and from Julian's house. 307 00:23:06,720 --> 00:23:10,400 And there's going to be activities that are going to be held there. 308 00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:15,760 Absolutely so we'll run support groups in the evenings and some during the day but most 309 00:23:15,760 --> 00:23:21,480 people's schedule would prefer the evenings and then on some evenings and weekends we 310 00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:28,460 will have restorative activities as Courtney had mentioned we have a space for yoga classes 311 00:23:28,460 --> 00:23:34,760 and art classes and demonstrations and educational components as well. 312 00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:40,320 Can there be a stop in like if you just feel the need that I'm just struggling today. 313 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:46,440 Yeah we're not there right now but that is yes when we get the house open so right now 314 00:23:46,440 --> 00:23:53,680 we've opened the Nick Dyer Clubhouse portion we're doing our construction in three phases. 315 00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:59,720 So the first phase is just opened and we're moving our programming over there currently 316 00:23:59,720 --> 00:24:05,120 and then our next phase is to open up the house and when we do that then it will be 317 00:24:05,120 --> 00:24:11,880 a drop in center for coffee time and like Courtney was saying sometimes people's grief 318 00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:16,500 is so strong that they're on their way to work or you know they they have something 319 00:24:16,500 --> 00:24:21,280 they need to do but they really just need you know somebody around them that understands 320 00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:22,280 what they're going through. 321 00:24:22,280 --> 00:24:24,280 Yeah that five extra minutes. 322 00:24:24,280 --> 00:24:25,280 Yeah it does. 323 00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:26,920 Help handle the grief wave. 324 00:24:26,920 --> 00:24:27,920 Yeah. 325 00:24:27,920 --> 00:24:28,920 Yeah. 326 00:24:28,920 --> 00:24:29,920 They hit you. 327 00:24:29,920 --> 00:24:30,920 They sure do. 328 00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:31,920 Yeah. 329 00:24:31,920 --> 00:24:37,320 Even if it's like 10 years down the road or you sit there it's like oh it's the anniversary 330 00:24:37,320 --> 00:24:39,760 and I didn't even realize it. 331 00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:45,080 So we're in a we're trying to run an educational campaign right now so we're trying to educate 332 00:24:45,080 --> 00:24:47,520 people about talking about grief. 333 00:24:47,520 --> 00:24:53,540 So we have a campaign going on right now called Share Their Name and we want people to talk 334 00:24:53,540 --> 00:24:55,000 about their loved ones. 335 00:24:55,000 --> 00:24:57,240 We want them to share this story. 336 00:24:57,240 --> 00:25:01,880 So you had mentioned earlier that you had lost your grandmother who was very close to 337 00:25:01,880 --> 00:25:05,840 you so would you mind me asking what your mother your grandmother's name was? 338 00:25:05,840 --> 00:25:06,840 Louise. 339 00:25:06,840 --> 00:25:07,840 Louise. 340 00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:12,800 So we and seeing you got a smile on your face as soon as you said her name and that's exactly 341 00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:20,120 what we're trying to communicate out in the public is that it's it's a gift when somebody 342 00:25:20,120 --> 00:25:21,900 asks you about the loved one. 343 00:25:21,900 --> 00:25:24,600 We want that to be normalized right Courtney? 344 00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:25,600 Absolutely. 345 00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:29,760 We aren't going to people haven't forgotten that they've lost a loved one. 346 00:25:29,760 --> 00:25:35,320 We won't be reminding them you know by saying their name by asking them you know wouldn't 347 00:25:35,320 --> 00:25:38,760 Louise have loved to be here to see this happening right? 348 00:25:38,760 --> 00:25:44,480 It's you are allowing that person to talk about their lost loved one in a world where 349 00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:48,680 we're otherwise meant to feel like we have to stop talking about them. 350 00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:53,360 Sometimes talking about them helps make it more palatable. 351 00:25:53,360 --> 00:25:54,360 Absolutely. 352 00:25:54,360 --> 00:25:57,680 It actually always helps to make it a little bit more palatable. 353 00:25:57,680 --> 00:25:58,680 Oh yeah. 354 00:25:58,680 --> 00:25:59,680 Yeah. 355 00:25:59,680 --> 00:26:06,120 Yeah like she would be completely blown away I was doing anything like this but she would 356 00:26:06,120 --> 00:26:07,120 loved it. 357 00:26:07,120 --> 00:26:08,120 I'm sure. 358 00:26:08,120 --> 00:26:12,960 Okay so how can the community support you guys? 359 00:26:12,960 --> 00:26:17,120 Well they can attend strawberryalicious event with wolfhead. 360 00:26:17,120 --> 00:26:22,240 That's a great event to support us it helps us tremendously. 361 00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:25,280 They can also purchase a wristband. 362 00:26:25,280 --> 00:26:29,700 Courtney has one on right here they're five dollars and the proceeds are 100% going to 363 00:26:29,700 --> 00:26:34,320 Julian's house they're five dollars and available on our website and we also have a lawn sign 364 00:26:34,320 --> 00:26:41,040 campaign so you could purchase a lawn sign in memory of Louise and put it right on your 365 00:26:41,040 --> 00:26:45,320 front lawn and that is another way that you can help support our cause. 366 00:26:45,320 --> 00:26:46,920 That's a really good idea. 367 00:26:46,920 --> 00:26:52,800 The idea is that we're putting it front and center on their line on their lawn rather. 368 00:26:52,800 --> 00:26:57,960 We would love to see when they're just covered in these signs helping to change that narrative 369 00:26:57,960 --> 00:27:00,640 of continue to share their names. 370 00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:01,640 That is a great idea. 371 00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:04,400 And so we're shouting it from our front lawns. 372 00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:08,680 Now are you guys going to have the bracelets at strawberryalicious for purchase? 373 00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:09,680 We sure are. 374 00:27:09,680 --> 00:27:10,680 Okay excellent. 375 00:27:10,680 --> 00:27:14,960 Yeah we'll have them at the event and hopefully we'll sell a lot of them because it really 376 00:27:14,960 --> 00:27:18,400 is nice to and it's a good little fidget tool don't you think? 377 00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:19,400 Oh yeah absolutely. 378 00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:22,600 You know if you're if you're going through your grief journey and you're going through 379 00:27:22,600 --> 00:27:27,840 those emotions it's nice to be able to you know hold on to it and kind of ground yourself 380 00:27:27,840 --> 00:27:32,560 for a moment of where you might be feeling that grief wave coming on right? 381 00:27:32,560 --> 00:27:33,560 Yeah. 382 00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:34,560 Yep. 383 00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:36,360 And those can be purchased through our website. 384 00:27:36,360 --> 00:27:37,360 I was just. 385 00:27:37,360 --> 00:27:41,600 Also for the lawn signs or the bracelets if you're not able to get out to strawberryalicious 386 00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:47,320 they can be purchased at julienshouse.ca there will be a link to take you right into our 387 00:27:47,320 --> 00:27:50,200 shop and you can purchase those there. 388 00:27:50,200 --> 00:27:55,200 And so we're having open houses every Friday in May from one to four and so you can come 389 00:27:55,200 --> 00:28:01,000 on out and pick up a lawn sign or a bracelet or both and check out what we've got going 390 00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:02,340 on out there. 391 00:28:02,340 --> 00:28:03,340 That's great. 392 00:28:03,340 --> 00:28:04,340 I love this. 393 00:28:04,340 --> 00:28:08,080 And are you guys also on Instagram on social media as well? 394 00:28:08,080 --> 00:28:14,460 So you can find Julian's house on social media and again make sure you get to the Strawberryalicious 395 00:28:14,460 --> 00:28:20,040 Festival and we're going to try and raise at least five thousand dollars if not more 396 00:28:20,040 --> 00:28:26,520 to help you guys out and keep in touch and make sure to let us know if you have any fundraisers 397 00:28:26,520 --> 00:28:30,760 coming up and we will make sure to have it out there. 398 00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:36,280 Absolutely and another way to support us you know people might not have the funds to donate 399 00:28:36,280 --> 00:28:40,640 and we can certainly appreciate that the economy is doing some crazy things. 400 00:28:40,640 --> 00:28:42,740 There are so many other ways to support us. 401 00:28:42,740 --> 00:28:45,400 We have multiple opportunities for volunteers. 402 00:28:45,400 --> 00:28:50,800 Yeah I was just going to say that volunteers you guys must be in need of volunteers as 403 00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:51,800 well. 404 00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:57,840 Absolutely so anything from help with our support groups we have these are all done 405 00:28:57,840 --> 00:29:02,720 by volunteers so people who have that lived experience recognizing that speaking with 406 00:29:02,720 --> 00:29:08,800 somebody else who has that can help newer bereaved individuals through their loss but 407 00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:14,520 it could maybe that's not your you know what you're all about and so you could be volunteering 408 00:29:14,520 --> 00:29:16,760 to help events like Strawberryalicious. 409 00:29:16,760 --> 00:29:24,080 We have a number of volunteers helping that day from setup to ticket sales to tokens everything 410 00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:25,080 in between. 411 00:29:25,080 --> 00:29:28,040 There's so many so many opportunities. 412 00:29:28,040 --> 00:29:30,440 And parking lot volunteers we need some of those. 413 00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:32,360 We do for sure. 414 00:29:32,360 --> 00:29:38,560 And if you can't do any of that I mean like I know a lot of people are busy and a lot 415 00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:41,200 of people don't have a lot of money share. 416 00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:42,200 Make sure to share. 417 00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:47,920 I always say sharing on social media is a great way to support and it's free. 418 00:29:47,920 --> 00:29:48,920 Yeah. 419 00:29:48,920 --> 00:29:54,160 But get the word out there because we have valuable tools here like Julian's house for 420 00:29:54,160 --> 00:30:00,840 people that are going through grief and they need our help and they need our support whether 421 00:30:00,840 --> 00:30:07,560 it be sharing it or like you said volunteers donations and I really want to thank both 422 00:30:07,560 --> 00:30:11,440 of you for being here and sharing with me about Julian's house. 423 00:30:11,440 --> 00:30:14,680 Thank you and thank you for sharing your grandmother with us. 424 00:30:14,680 --> 00:30:16,600 Yes thank you. 425 00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:22,960 And again I'm at Wolfhead Distillery here and we are talking to them from Julian's house 426 00:30:22,960 --> 00:30:28,820 and make sure you get online get the tickets for Strawberrylicious Festival that is coming 427 00:30:28,820 --> 00:30:34,400 up June 1st at the LaSalle Event Center before the tickets are gone. 428 00:30:34,400 --> 00:30:36,520 They're almost 50 percent gone now. 429 00:30:36,520 --> 00:30:40,400 My name is Tracy Martens and thank you so much for joining me for another episode of 430 00:30:40,400 --> 00:31:03,280 YQG In Bloom.