Just The Beginning – by Andrew Macklin

Craig Cardiff plays the Station Coffee House in Brantford Photo courtesy of Paul Smith/Photohouse Studios.

When we began working on The Advocate six months ago, I knew that we were creating a publication that could become a vehicle for positive and productive discussion in a community that needed it. That was our intention from the moment we began assembling our faculty of writers, and that continues to be our intention now.

There was also a second component to the discussion that we also wanted to add, and that was to both create and sponsor events that would help move things forward. Bring people to Brantford who could add to the dialogue of positivity, and sponsor events that were doing the same.

On November 3rd, we took our first step in providing events for our community by presenting Craig Cardiff at the Brantford Station Gallery. Cardiff has strong family ties to Brantford, and he has written songs about memories that he has of Brant. Craig has performed in Brantford several times before, but this appearance gave him the opportunity to promote his newest album, Floods and Fires. For more about Craig, check out an excerpt of Bethany Schultz’s interview with him on page 11.

I was overwhelmed when I walked in to a packed house at the Brantford Station Gallery. I had expected to see many friends and colleagues that evening, but instead found a room full of people that I had never seen before. They knew of Craig’s music, and they knew about The Advocate, but most of the faces were incredibly unfamiliar. In the spirit of moving forward, this was the crowd I was really hoping for.

The Craig Cardiff show represented the start of something great. It represented the start of living up to our expectations by providing our community with entertaining events that would help create a positive dialogue. It’s a dialogue that talks about Brantford as a place where fun things happen, where good people live, and where cool stories are told. This is the dialogue in our community that The Advocate works to create. 

In 2012, The Advocate plans to support the community in many different forms. We plan to continue to find entertaining events that will reach out to different parts of our community in the hopes of promoting positive and productive discussions in our community. We will look for opportunities to help shine the light on existing events that serve to create a sense of pride about where we live, work, and play. We want to reach out to our community to encourage everyone to tell the stories that have made, and will continue to make, our community a great place to be. 

We are going to do what we can to continue to create the community we want to live in by providing a voice for the stories of Brant. Now it’s your turn…

Over the coming months, we want to hear from you. We want to know what you have to say about how to continue to create a better community for everyone. Bring use your ideas. Share your thoughts with us. Tell us your stories. Advocate for something positive.