1. Share one specific personal or professional accomplishment that you believe qualifies you to represent Airdrie residents.
2010
I came up with an idea to begin a co-rec outdoor ice hockey tournament to support minor hockey in Kalispell MT. At that time, I was importing beer from Montana into Alberta, and I was encouraged by those i knew in Montana to “go for it”.
Gregg McRitchie was our goalie, and we put together a team from Airdrie to take on the Whitefish A & B teams and a team of veterans from Lethbridge. In year one – Gregg and Lori helped establish the most successful minor hockey fundraiser in Montana, the Craft Brewers Cup with the Calgary Flames Alumni.
The Craft Brewers Cup has entered its 15th year. Without the help from the McRitchies, Lanny McDonald and several players from Airdrie – the tournament would have had to be cancelled. It takes a team to nurture an event to success. A few years back – the outdoor rink needed a Zamboni – we generated enough funds to purchase a Zamboni from the Chicago Black Hawks that cut the ice for the 2010 and 2013 Stanley Cup wins… since then, concrete was poured by volunteers, and a new ice plant was installed. This is the epitome of a community rink. I see a lot of synergies between my friends in Airdrie and Montana.
Post Covid
I decided that we all needed a breather as soon as the Covid restrictions for outdoor events were removed. I spoke with patrons at Old Town Pizza, and they agreed something needed to be done. Within 2 hours I spearheaded a weekend concert series at Nose Creek Park. The Food For Thought event took 3 weeks to coordinate – and many members of council, our mayor and city administration helped make it happen. Lori and the Calgary Food Bank came to the occasion and if it were not for countless volunteers from Volunteer Airdrie, businesses like One Stop Rentals which donated and installed the fencing, the musicians, and families that attended the free concerts, this event would have not been a success.
Ukraine War
On Feb 28th, 2022, at the beginning of the Russia – Ukraine war, I co-founded a beer collaboration fundraiser with Yuri Zastavny of Pravda Brewing Theatre of Lviv Ukraine.
One of the first collaboration beers, Putin Huylo, was brewed at Halfhitch Brewing of Cochrane, Garrison Brewing of Halifax, Lakefront Brewery of Wisconsin, Belly Hop brewing of Red Deer and Big Rock Brewery of Calgary. We mashed in at the same time using zoom – this beer collaboration soon spread throughout the world. Yuri broadcast from his brewery in Ukraine – each brewery shared a Zoom feed – the hops were added the same time in Lviv as in Halifax and Milwaukee and Cochrane. Within 6 months – 800 breweries brewed a batch of beer to support the refugees and families displaced by the war in Ukraine.
If it were not for the participation of suppliers, brewery employees, retailers and beer lovers around the world, this project would have flickered and gone out. By August 2022, an estimated $10 million USD was donated to the World Central Kitchen, Doctors without Borders and local charities helping place the refugees into housing. It was my idea – I was in the right place at the right time. I was the distributor of Lviv’s Pravda Beer Theatre brewery in Alberta leading into covid. At that time, Albertan’s were hooked on local brews – and not really following or interested in the Ukraine Craft Brewing community. Things swung around immediately on February 24, 2022.
Of all of the projects that I took part in, this project remains the most important of my life. Via WhatsApp, email, and social media, the brewing community came together. I spoke with hundreds of passionate brewers around the world. People ask how this came together in under 3 days. My Niece was dating Mike, who’s family is from Ukraine. As soon as the war began – it was clear that family members in Ukraine were under direct fire.
I immediately reached out to Yuri to make sure that he and his family were ok. I could hear missiles overhead. I suggested that we “open source” Pravda’s recipes and labels – I immediately built a website, and on Monday the 28th – I had emailed my contacts within the industry. Within an hour, Russ from one of North America’s largest breweries, Lakefront Brewery of Milwaukee called me and said “we were in the boardroom contemplating what we could do to support Ukraine, and your email arrived just as we left the meeting”. “Yuri recently brewed a collaboration with us … what can we do together to get the ball rolling? “.
Within 24 hours, Russ and his team emailed us a new label “Putin is a Dick” and asked us to upload this label onto our website. We then made sure the label was compliant throughout Canada & USA. I needed help, and Will from Willoid Graphic Design of Nelson came to the table. He and I worked together to create templates for all of Pravda Beer labels so that the only thing a brewery needed to do was download the file, insert it’s logo, label the cans and sell the beer in the taproom.
A home brewers guild in Pennsylvania approached us and asked us if we could post the small batch home brew recipe to share with other home brewers. The answer was yes. They filled 40 bottles, and donated $500 USD.
2. What are your top three priorities and why?
My top priority today is to continue to attract researchers to explore the benefits of regional rail, access to health care, affordable housing and alternative fuels. Integrated.Travel will share research that is benchmarking healthcare access throughout North America by the close of 2025.
Knowledge is king. I am energized as research director for the non-profit. As of today, September 26, I am coordinating research with over 60 graduates from ASU, University of Niagara Falls, Montclair University, Utah Valley University, and Capella University. We hope to release a preliminary paper on Airdrie health services shortly and have released several studies on Alberta since 2024.
In the past two years, the non-profit integrated.travel has completed more studies on passenger rail than any other research group in Canada. Many of the studies are shared via research gate and are being cited by researchers from around the world. I encourage your readers to visit integrated.travel where some of the studies have been posted.