Town & Country

December 2017

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4 WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, SATURDAY DECEMBER 2, 2017 N O R T H E R N M A N I T O B A - T H O M P S O N RESIDENTIAL, COMMERCIAL, INDUSTRIAL & FURNACE REPAIRS BOX 1743 332 MORRISH RD THE PAS, MB 204-623-2388 204-620-0522 TREVSELECTRIC@LIVE.CA The Northern Frontier, Reborn... Northern Manitoba is currently in a time of great change; great changes bring great opportunities, and the City of Thompson invites you to join us at the forefront of a renewed and empowered future in the north. From a region-wide market and unique professional opportunities to seemingly endless forests and lakes, Thompson offers a distinct lifestyle for everyone, from the avid outdoorsman getting away from it all, to the entrepeneur breaking new ground in a vital and accessible economic hub. 15 Moak Crescent Thompson, MB R8N 2B8 (204)-307-0222 thompson2020.ca tgibson@norwestmfg.com 226 Mystery Lake Road Thompson, Manitoba R8N 1S6 (204)-677-7910 thompson.ca Thompson Hosts: • Year-round recreational opportunities • Vast Boreal landscape offers fishing, hunting, hiking, paddling, and much more • A committed community of volunteers and community organizers • A region-wide service and retail market with boundless business opportunities • Professional opportunities unavailable anywhere else Artistic Entrepreneur TURNS SCRAP INTO TREASURES BY DAVID SQUARE You may be skeptical of a guy who says he keeps a helicopter engine in his scrap pile, but Donald "Shorty" Glenn is not the type to spin a yarn. H is business, Shorty's Upcycling Studio in Thompson, provides a unique service in the community. Glenn collects scraps and material that would normally end up in a landfill and repurposes it to create function- al, artistic pieces, such as wine holders and ladder shelves. "Thompson is a trove of unwanted materials because it is cheaper to throw out scrap rather than truck it to Winnipeg for recycling," says the former auto mechanic, who grew up on a farm where nothing was wasted. "My father taught me how to fix anything, from a tractor to a house," he says, adding he's an old hand at using ingenuity and bits and pieces to do the repairs. Glenn's career as a mechanic ended abruptly when he con- tracted a rare autoimmune disease that caused his skin to be- come unbearably itchy when subjected to pressure and contact. "Scratching induces itchy areas to become open sores … the chances of getting the disease are one in five million, so I kind of won a lottery," he jests. However, at the time of the disease's onset, his life was no laughing matter. His wife was pregnant with the couple's third child, the medication Glenn was taking for his illness was making him depressed and he was without a job. "We were tapped out financially," he says, adding that he could no longer work a regular 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedule. At this dire time, Glenn was helped by the Entrepreneurs with Disabilities Program and the ELEVATE program through Com- munity Futures North Central Developments. As a 2017 Community Futures Just Watch Me! video con- test winner in the Startup Entrepreneur category, he received a modest sum of money as well as advice from experts on how to market his products. "Anyone out there with a disability thinking of starting their own business — always remember you define your disability, it does not define you," he says. One recent commission, for a law firm, was a collaboration with a local furniture store to create a large conference table, using two-inch-thick oak planks for the top and Douglas fir beams for the legs. A company logo inlaid in the middle of the table was made out of stainless steel. Other innovative works include a dining table constructed of barn doors, entranceway tables made from whiskey barrels and a half-moon studio prop for local photographer Jessica Cormier. Some of his metal pieces are whim- sical sculptures composed of gears, bolts and other bits of steel he welds together. "I have yet to decide how I will upcycle my helicop- ter turbine," he says. Skilled Volunteers Needed! Apply at WinnipegHarvest.org or Call 204-982-3663 • Order Fillers • Reception/ • Call Centre • Team Leads "Thompson is a trove of unwanted materials because it is cheaper to throw out scrap rather than truck it to Winnipeg for recycling." Donald "Shorty" Glenn (left) explores scrap material for inspiration to create some of his upcycled works (above). Photos courtesy of Shorty's Upcycling Studio

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