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Stories from the global community
Come along on the journey!
Day 52: Enchanted Trees in Fergus, Ontario, Canada
Destination:
Fergus, Ontario, Canada
Fergus is a historic town in Ontario, Canada, formerly known as "Little Falls". Limestone riverbanks line the Grand River as it flows through the center of town. Fergus is growing fast, like a lot of Ontario towns and cities. In 2001 its population was at 10,000 people, and in 2016 it had more than doubled in size to almost 21,000.
Fergus has a humid continental climate with an average precipitation of 37" of rain and 58" of snow annually. It has cold winters and warm summers. The temperature December to February is typically around 15°F and June to August around 75°F.
Fun Facts:
The first settlers to this area were freed slaves, who formed what was known as the Pierpoint Settlement, named after their leader, Richard Pierpoint, a United Empire Loyalist originally from Bondou, Senegal in Africa. Pierpoint was granted land along with a half dozen other men who fought with the British during the American Revolutionary War. Immigrants from Scotland and Ireland soon also settled in this area.
In 1858 the town was renamed Fergus after Adam Furgusson, a Scottish lawyer and businessman.
Today the Fergus Scottish Festival and Highland Games enjoy tremendous popularity. The Games exemplify all things Scottish with a focus on events, dancing, piping, clans and interactive family fun.
Art Form:
Trees of Enchantment Art Glass Ornaments
At first glance, the glass ornaments look similar to other multi-colored glass ornaments with splashes of color across the globe. On closer glance, the trunks and branches of a tree emerge with the splashes of color as the leaves.
Kitras Art Glass Trees of Enchantment ornaments are like trees in a forest, no two are exactly alike. Each hand blown ornament has a special theme, color and sentiment.
The Kitras family believes that gifts with meaning connect people together, that moments collected build into stories and that those stories create what they call the
"Everyday Beautiful". They truly believe that s
urrounded by beauty, the spirit is uplifted.
* In Stephen's voice: "Glass is intriguing and versatile
. . .
Glass is a natural material. Even the way it mixes, melts, flows, and burns is natural and inspiration in itself. It's volcanic, molten and intense. . ."
"I probably could make dark, moody pieces, but that's not the kind of artist I am. I'm intrigued by the interior and the spiritual. My signature use of glass is in the interior of the piece. First, I started off with just webs, but then they grew into trees."
"The story of what's inside captivates people and excites them, from children to the elderly, rich, poor, common, and genius. It is what allows you to access and perceive the beautiful. . . "
"Color and emotions [inspire my work]. The perfect color mix can evoke strong emotions, [that] connect people with each piece's story. Emotions are complicated; they're response based. They just happen and that can be beautiful and tragic. But it's our stories that bring these emotions together and connect us with each other and hopefully connect people to a certain piece."
"Life is not short of challenges, so I hope to make glass that moves people in a beautiful way. Maybe turn them away from the negative to see the positive that is there waiting to be discovered." *
Each glass ornament is treated with care and nestled in a gift box with its special card attached naming the theme and including inspirational words.
Are you intrigued by the glass-blowing process? The following video is not from the Kitras Art Glass Studio but demonstrates beautifully the many steps to creating multi-level glass orbs.
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| All About Glass Blowing (Introductory Class) |
The Chrysler Museum of Art
The Company: Kitras Art Glass
Kitras Art Glass is a family run company with a strong belief in finding, making and sharing the "Everyday Beautiful".
Their story started in 1988 when husband and wife duo, Stephen and Elke Kitras moved to Fergus. Stephen had just graduated from Sheridan College. He set up a small glass blowing studio and produced every piece himself, shipping from their dining room table.
After a few years of working the craft show markets Kitras Art Glass expanded into the wholesale market in 1994. That same year he began exporting to the United States. By 2001 Kitras had expanded to over 40 employees. A new facility was built to accommodate the increased production demands.
Unfortunately in 1999, Elke Kitras passed away from Leukemia, but her vision of celebrating beauty in all parts of life is still the inspiration behind every art piece Kitras creates.
Kitras is proud to be Canada's largest hot glass studio. Although Stephen is still a part of the company, his children have taken a large role in bringing the company forward into a new stage of business. They are proud to remain a family-run, made-in-Canada company with a focus on bringing beautiful glass and gifts into the marketplace.
"I think it's good to make beautiful things and celebrate beautiful moments. They happen every day, all around us."
- Stephen Kitras
*Excerpts from an interview "The World Through Orange-Colored Glasses: A Conversation with Stephen Kitras"
October 31, 2017 in "The Goods", a blog by Jen Coleman for Uncommon Goods.
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Shopping . . .
Are you ready to explore
what we have in our store?
Having trouble deciding what to give to that special man or fathering figure in your life
for Father's Day?
A Kitras Tree of Enchantment ball is a beautiful sentiment of how special he is.
Top right & then clockwise: Family, Friendship, Kindness, Healing
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Don't forget to stamp your Passport!
Click on the
"stamp" to add to your "passport."
We keep track of your stamps for you!
"Collect" at least 12 different "country" stamps during the third 20 days of our around-the-world trip to
be entered
into the drawing for a $25 gift card.
At the end of our 80-day
Around the World
excursion, all eligible travelers (minimum of 48 country stamps)
will be
entered into a drawing for . . .
a Grand Prize
$100 shopping spree gift card!
Thanks for traveling with us today.
Where to next? Stay tuned!
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In the past several months it's been hard some days to see the "Everyday Beautiful" and the moments that need to be celebrated. Today I hope to be more intentional in pausing to notice the beautiful, uplifting words being said, the colors around us, the smiles shared even if behind masks, and the rays of sunlight falling through branches of trees. May your day also include celebrations of beauty.
We'll prop open our front door this morning when we open at 11:00. Our Brookside store is open today (Thursday) through Sunday. Our current hours are posted below my signature and we look forward to seeing you!
For those of you who cannot or choose not to shop in our Brookside store right now, we thank you for your continued online shopping support.
And I can't say it enough times -
YOU are an important part of what makes World's Window so special! THANK YOU!
World's Window
"Nobody can define you like you."
P.S.
We are glad to be on this around-the-world virtual journey with you and delighted that you are traveling with us. We hope you are learning some new information as we travel along.
If you haven't already done so, invite some friends to come along! There's still room on this journey!
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P.P.S.
We're keeping our trip "log" up to date. If you think you've missed a day or are new to our journey, click
here
to review where we've visited the last 51 days.
CLOSED Monday and Tuesday
OPEN Wed through Sat, 11 am to 5 pm
Sunday, 12 noon to 5 pm
As always we are "sharing the world" through clothing, jewelry, folk art, textiles and hand-selected gifts -
and
buying locally-owned is a gift to your community!
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A gift card is always a perfect gift.
We have 2 options for
World's Window gift cards.
In-store gift cards can also be purchased by calling
us at 816-361-2500.
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