Updated: September 22
EDITOR’S NOTE: Manitoulin is being transformed with the influx of new residents and business owners who bring with them fresh ideas, experiences and perspectives that are enriching the area. Some individuals and families are still unpacking boxes, having only moved in the past month or two, while others made the move over the last few years and are now comfortably established in their new communities. Here is one of their stories.
by Heather Marshall
Increasingly, people recognize that climate change and environmental degradation pose a potentially existential threat to our collective health and safety and our children’s futures. Relatively few, however, uproot their careers and shift gears from urban to rural living to do something about it. Yet, that’s exactly what Jenn Mezei and Gavin Cond have done, moving to Manitoulin to get their kids off to a good start and to do their small part to address these serious challenges.
Making Manitowaning home wasn’t a huge stretch for Gavin, who was born and raised in Sault Ste Marie. During his childhood he frequently visited his great grandmother, Sissy Sims, at her Island farm on nearby Squirrel Town Road. Knowing that she lived until she was 109 offered assurance that country living offered numerous advantages for anyone seeking a long, healthy life.
Like many young Northerners, Gavin left the region in his late teens to pursue higher education and career opportunities in the south. He attended Wilfred Laurier University in Waterloo, where he studied Kinesiology and Physical Education, graduating with Bachelor of Arts degree. A highlight of his time there was playing football and his team winning the national university championship in 2005. Taking advantage of his dual Canada-US citizenship, as his Mom is originally from the US, Gavin then attended law school at Michigan State University where he earned a law degree and was licenced to practice. He returned to Canada to gain a law degree from Western University in London so he could practice law in this country too. After writing the Ontario bar, Gavin landed his first job with a law firm in Stratford, where he would marry Jenn on New Year’s Eve 2011 and settle down to raise a family. Their daughter Lucy and son Leroy were born in 2015 and 2017.
Jenn’s childhood saw her move around multiple communities in the southern Ontario, as her Dad is an agricultural banker. She and Gavin met at Sir Wilfred Laurier, where she completed a BA in Kinesiology with a minor in Visual Arts. Following her graduation in 2006, Jenn moved to Australia to do teacher’s college at the University of Wollongong, just south of Sydney. Upon her return to Canada, she began teaching while Gavin was finishing up his second law degree. She initially taught English but later moved into visual arts as well as physical education at a Stratford high school.
Among the things the couple had in common was a love of being outdoors, having grown up in families that did a lot of camping when they were kids. This affinity with nature evolved into a keen interest in environmental issues in adulthood, particularly for Jenn.
“I was inspired by people like Autumn Pelletier and other water protectors like Doreen Bernard and Takaya Blainey,” says Jenn. “I painted a mural oof these water protectors at the Stratford Art Gallery. With teaching art and learning about climate change, I did more and more artistic work related to environmental issues.”
That spearheaded Jenn’s participation in an art show in Detroit, fuelled by her interest in the Heidelberg Project, which aims to “change the world through art.” It focuses on improving the lives of people and neighborhoods through art so communities can redevelop and sustain themselves from the inside out. Volunteering with the David Suzuki Foundation on the Butterflyway project accelerated her desire to ensure her own children would be able to enjoy nature during their lives the way she had as a child. Reading about and watching several documentaries on regenerative farming led her to work with a local regenerative farmer in Stratford, enhancing her understanding of soil health and biodiversity. Farming in harmony with nature fights climate change, improves water quality, and protects biodiversity. It’s based on Indigenous wisdom and principles, promoting the growth of food in ways that heal the land from degradation.
Jenn and Gavin’s growing interest in living healthier lives and caring for nature prompted the couple to consider making a dramatic change in their lives. When the pandemic struck and house prices soared, they seized the chance to find a place in the country where they could pursue their new-found passion. They quickly sold their home, even before having a specific place in mind to go to or knowing whether Gavin would be able to continue working as a lawyer remotely. The family ended up renting a house for a year in Stratford while they worked out the details.
When Rainbow Gardens outside Manitowaning went up for sale in the summer of 2021, they pounced on the chance to plant roots literally and figuratively in the area, with plans to grow native plants raised from native seeds at their new business renamed Rainbow Farm North. The family moved up permanently in May 2022 and began digging into their new lives.
“You can do things you never imagined you could,” says Jenn. “It’s a lot of work, for sure, but we have learned so much about horticulture, rewilding, permaculture, and food security. Being able to put rewilding into practice is exciting to me because it’s about letting nature take back things we’ve overworked and learning from Indigenous teachings. There’s a lot we can do to regenerate insect populations and make the soil healthier.”
“We’re also connecting with wonderful people who share our interests,” adds Gavin. “We’re hoping we will be able to learn more about valuable traditional skills like canning and preserving from long-time locals.”
The couple is pleasantly surprised by how good business has been this past summer, their first year of operation, and have a lot of ideas to grow it further in the coming years. Among them, Jenn intends to utilize her teaching experience to offer ‘forest school’ in the future. She has already conducted several ‘medicine walks’ for people interested in experiencing more of the natural world around them. In the meantime, Gavin has been able to maintain his law practice, based in Stratford, working remotely from his new home and making occasional trips south as needed to see clients.
The entire family has settled into Island life, fully embracing its natural beauty and bounty. “When you finish work, we’re minutes from the beach in summer and have the entire outdoors to explore in all seasons,” sums up Gavin. “We’re grateful to be where we are.”
Heather Marshall and her husband worked as journalists and consultants in the National Capital Region for more decades than they care to admit before making their Sandfield cottage their permanent home. A lifelong learner, Heather loves discovering new things and people and relishes the opportunity to write about newcomers to the Manitoulin. If you would like to share your story or know of recent arrivals we should meet, send a message to HAMarshall@proton.me
