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Impressed with the exceptional sound clarity of his har- monica, I asked Lafreniere how long he's been honing his craft. "About 15 years," he said. "At � rst I had no clue how to use it, but I managed to teach myself. I'm still learning new things about the harmonica." Lafreniere told me he recently moved from Sarnia to Water- loo. "I'd been playing harmonica on the streets for 15 years and � gured I'd go someplace else and try a new city," said the 53-year-old, dressed in a bulky black sweater, blue jeans and sneakers. He played me a country song he wrote himself as passersby threw change in his white cardboard box. "I basically make up my own tunes," he said. "I played guitar for some 20-odd years and grew up on rock and roll." I told Lafreniere how the first record I ever bought was Shaun Cas- sidy's � rst solo album with the tracks � at's Rock'n'Roll, Be My Baby, and Da Doo Ron Ron. "My � rst album was Nazareth," he said with a laugh. I asked Lafreniere if he had any plans for the summer. "With the weather warming up, I'll likely be here on King Street most days playing harmonica, and if I can get a guitar, maybe I'll play both," he said, breaking into another tune, this one slow and bluesy. "Overall, people are respectful and show interest and approval in what I'm doing, but you will get the odd unkind comment. I don't let it stop me from playing, though." Lafreniere paused for thought, then continued. "People walking by who have rude things to say or complain, I � gure they're having a hard time or a rough day, so I try not to judge." I was impressed by Lafreniere's accommodating outlook, given how few people likely give him the same bene� t of the doubt. After spending some time with Lafreniere, I re� ected on the many street people I've come to know in uptown Waterloo over the years, like Anatole Rybas, a fixture in uptown known for his "I need $1" sign (sometimes "I need $2"), and the late Rob Michalofsky, an unobtrusive panhandler who died six years ago this past week at the age of 56. My chat with Lafreniere was a reminder that panhandlers and street people deserve consideration and respect from those of us who are more fortunate. The quality of a person's character is not determined by wealth, and I'd rather share a curb with a street person than share a fancy meal with someone who looks down their nose at panhandlers. ••• Marshall Ward is a freelance writer and artist. Email is welcome at marshall_ward@hotmail.com. MARSHALL WARD MARSHALL ARTS Kitchener's old courthouse at 200 Frederick Street will become the new headquarters for the Central Division of Waterloo Regional Police. � e $6.4 million price tag is the deal of the year. Sometimes, deals give you more than you bargain for. With the two acres of prime real estate comes the controversial orange sculpture, sitting prominently on the front lawn. What shall be done with it? For years, for me, it was the worm, the infected intestine, the most perfect piece of Public Art to be plopped at the entrance gates of the region's land� ll. Then, after a dozen years of work on the region's public art committee, I discovered facts about the sculpture which promoted a sober second look. The "worm" has a name -- "Apo- ria." Its sculptor was Ed Zelenak, born in 1940 and in south-western Ontar- io. Zelenak's studies took him to the Ontario College of Art, Toronto and Dallas, Texas. From 1979-88, Zelenak was assis- tant rofessor of sculpture at Univer- sity of Western Ontario. In 1976, he became a member of the Royal Cana- dian Academy of Arts. Examples of Zelenak's work can be found at the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, Musee Cantonal des Beaux Arts, Lausanne, Switzerland, Czech Museum of Fine Arts, Chicago Atheneum and the Ukrainian Muse- um, New York. Aporia, this twisted orange fibre- glass sculpture came to the courthouse site in 1980 as a gift from the province. Was it meant to lighten up the 1977, three-storey windowless concrete building -- a mid-century modern example of the brutalist style? To date, no artist's statement appears available. Perhaps, upon receiving the commission, the sculptor had the de� nition of Aporia in mind -- "a doubt, real or professed, about what to do or say." Kind of suits the business of a courthouse. Its symbolism could be said to be a match for the future police headquarters as well. Certainly Aporia is a much dis- cussed landmark. Here it has rested for almost 40 years. Let's capitalize on Aporia's landmark qualities. Let's cel- ebrate Aporia and keep her in place. Jean Haalboom Kitchener When you see a full page ad in the newspaper o� ering what appears to be an incredible price for a television, the bottom of the page has hundreds of words in such small print, only a person with a micro- scope could read it. However, it usually contains "prices might change without noti� cation." In other words, the ad is not worth the paper it is written on. I could not � nd a newspaper that would print this letter, since they were well paid for the ad. Hopefully, the Chronicle will. Lloyd Mundy Waterloo Neighbourhoods thrive without the red tape You've heard me say it before -- when it comes to the day-to-day lives of our citizens, municipal government is the most impactful, perhaps even the most impor- tant level of government. It also leads me to believe, philosophically, that the most important person in the governmental parachute is not the prime minister, the premier, any mayor or councillor. It's you. Rather, in this parental, teacherly mind of mine, public policy and government is about your children. And their children. Which is why policy initiatives like a neigh- bourhood -- strengthening a community's core elements -- make an enormous amount of sense to me. The City of Kitchener is currently imple- menting their � rst-ever #lovemyhood program to encourage Kitchener's citizens to take a lead role in choosing, developing and implement- ing change initiatives in their own neighbour- hoods. � e aim is simple: strengthening indi- vidual neighbourhoods will lead to a stronger and healthier city. Full disclosure -- my company was the lead consultant for the public engagement phase of this project, in which the city drew input from more than 5,000 citizens, in the most inclusive public engagement exercise in our region's history. In my mind, it is the best piece of community develop- ment public policy that I've ever seen. � e key to success for Kitchener's Neighbourhood Strat- egy is held in one clearly articulated and fundamental goal: they will actively reduce municipal barriers -- the dreaded red tape -- by busting up the procedures and processes that city halls love to layer on to every single activity in a municipality. � is radical shift in thought and action is a well-needed response to an eye-opening message from the community -- people choose not to engage with city hall, even for the simplest things, because of the real and per- ceived barriers to getting things done. This isn't a new concept. Government is perceived as gargantuan, myopic and pain- fully slow-moving for a reason. Anyone who has tried to host a street party knows what I'm talking about. You can't do this, this, or that. Fill out this ridiculous form. You must do this, that, and � ve other things. And you better be quiet while you do it. Anyone who has dealt with traffic engi- neers knows what I'm talking about. Big bud- gets. Big rules and regulations. Big construc- tion. Big con� ict. � e City of Waterloo is expected to release their own Neighbourhood Strategy sometime in 2017. My hope is that it includes a big and bold "red tape busting" pillar, designed to empower citizens to lead in their Waterloo neighbourhoods. ••• Karen Scian is the co-founder of the Talent Business Solutions, an educator and a recovering city councillor. She is also chair of the Waterloo Public Library Board. You can email her at beinscian@gmail.com or follow her on Twitter @karenscian. BEIN' SCIAN KAREN SCIAN Keep Aporia in its place No judgement from this street musician Letter policy Letters may be submitted by email to editorial@water- loochronicle.ca, and include the author's full name, place of resi- dence and contact information. Advertisers should spell out the � ne print