Tell your own tale about Kincardine's downtown

Everyone has a story to tell and Alison Brovener wants to capture them all.

The Toronto writer and radio producer is stationed at the northwest corner of Victoria Park, Kincardine, beside the gate, in her storymobile, welcoming people to be part of "The Tale of A Town Canada."

The project is a nationwide theatre and media initiative aiming to capture the collective community memory of Canada’s main streets, one story at a time. Working through the Toronto company, Fixt Point, "The Tale of a Town" is touring the country in storymobiles (a.k.a travel trailer-turned-mobile recording studio) and visiting small towns and big cities, alike, collecting oral histories through interviews with independent business owners, local heroes, community stakeholders, and neighbourhood residents.

This national venture will culminate in a multi-platform celebration of the country’s main street culture, in commemoration of Canada’s 150th anniversary in 2017.

The local stories will be digitally mapped and added to "The Tale of a Town’s" storyportal (www.theataleofatown.com). They will also become part of a podcast about Kincardine that will be distributed through The Walrus magazine on-line.

Brovener is spending two weeks in Kincardine. The story-gathering began Monday and continues Thursday from 10 a.m. to Noon, and Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The second week she will spend editing all the stories into a podcast which will be available on-line.



Alison Brovener (L) and Mariel Marshall talk to people about downtown Kincardine, beside "The Tale of A Town" storymobile at Victoria Park, Kincardine, Monday morning

Working with Sundown Theatre and the Municipality of Kincardine, the story-gathering will culminate in a community celebration, Saturday, July 18, at the Kincardine Library, where the podcast and story map will be unveiled, along with interactive presentations at 3:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. The dramatic piece is being organized by Mariel Marshall of Sundown Theatre.

Brovener was working with Fixt Point on a similar project in Sudbury at the end of May, and is heading to Picton in Prince Edward County next. There are also other Fixt Point storymobiles travelling around the country, collecting stories, she said.

"The goal," said Brovener, "is to create an interactive map with one-minute vignettes about towns all across Canada, including Kincardine."

By late Monday morning, she had already had some good interviews. "There are a lot of great people and a lot of great stories," she said. "We want to gather living memories, so it's important to collect stories about what's important to the people who live here now as well as what happened in the past.

"My first interview was with Kincardine councillor Maureen Couture - she was terrific! I've also been given the names of the mayor and other members of council, and several prominent people in town to interview."

The focus is on the main street, with people asked what has changed about Queen Street, Kincardine; what is the one thing that they will never forget and why is it unforgettable?

"We're trying to remember and celebrate the downtown core, the hub of the community," said Brovener. "We see many downtowns that are dying; but it's important to preserve them. In some towns, the downtowns are being revitalized and that's exciting."

Brovener worked with Fixt Point last fall when she conducted the "Tale of a Town" project in Mimico and is thrilled to be back in the storymobile capturing more memories this year.



Alison Brovener of "The Tale of a Town" welcomes people to talk about downtown Kincardine while the storymobile is collecting stories this week