It’s a Tuesday afternoon and the commercial kitchen at Mount Royal Collegiate is filled with grade 11 and 12 students preparing a restaurant quality meal under the careful and encouraging eye of Wayne Pilon.

Wayne teaches the commercial cooking program, along with the high school’s food skills and sewing classes (he is also the school's Athletic Director), and today he is dividing up the students into three stations: protein, vegetables, and sauces.

The kitchen has everything students would expect to see in a restaurant kitchen. Stoves and ovens are turned on and ready for use, knives are sharpened, and supplies are stored in large, walk-in freezers.

This is one of Wayne Pilon’s happy places.

Wayne grew up in restaurant kitchens. He loves the controlled chaos and communication of a busy kitchen, and he brings that passion every day to his students.

Wayne is teaching his students more than just the joys and challenges of cooking. He’s instilling them with confidence and showing them the benefits of teamwork and communication; qualities that will reach far beyond the kitchen for these students.

I spoke with Wayne in his classroom over his lunch break before his commercial cooking class got going in the kitchen. Wayne is such a personable guy and a gifted storyteller, and I really loved learning about his commitment to connecting students to Saskatchewan’s natural pantry of ingredients.

Please feel free to leave a 5-star review of YXE Underground if you like what you hear, and don't forget to tell your friends to like and follow YXE Underground on their favourite podcast app.

Listen to YXE Underground wherever you listen to podcasts including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or the YXE Underground website.

Thank you for continuing to support a local, independent podcast here in Saskatoon. I really do appreciate it.

Best of luck to Wayne and his students on the rest of their semester! They prepared a heck of a meal in this episode!

Cheers...Eric

• Host, Producer, Editor: Eric Anderson
• Theme Music: Andrew Dickson
• Website: https://www.yxeunderground.com
• Recorded: On Treaty 6 Territory and the traditional homeland of the Metis

I am very excited to share a conversation with you featuring two wonderful people who you met a few years ago.

Tennille and Lydia Corbett are mother and daughter who wrote a best-selling memoir in 2024 entitled, ‘(Un)Remarkable: How Cancer and Depression Intertwined Our Stories of Grief and Hope.’

Their 2024 episode focused on Tennille’s cancer journey, Lydia’s mental health challenges, and how they worked together to tell their stories in the memoir. It was a really powerful conversation, and I’ve had many listeners ask me how Tennille and Lydia are doing.

So here is a bonus episode of YXE Underground featuring Tenille and Lydia Corbett sharing an update in their lives, and let me tell you, they have been busy!

Tennille has started a pair of businesses. One is called Apothecare which is Canada’s first cancer support registry, and the other is called Early Shift which features women-only pop-up dance parties that end early and are as much fun as you think they would be!

Lydia has been travelling the world and formed a group in the city called Girls Who Like to Do Stuff, which is all about creating a shared community and friendship for women.

We talk about their motivations for starting these endeavors and how their lives have changed since the release of their memoir. Tennille also gives listeners an update on her health.

We met a few Saturdays ago at Jr’s Café on Broadway. The place was busy, as you will hear in our conversation, but we managed to find a table beside the large windows overlooking Broadway Avenue.

I hope you enjoy our conversation and don't forget to follow and listen to YXE Underground wherever you find your favourite podcasts.

Cheers...Eric

• Host, Producer, Editor: Eric Anderson
• Theme Music: Andrew Dickson
• Website: https://www.yxeunderground.com
• Recorded: On Treaty 6 Territory and the traditional homeland of the Metis

I remember being a kid in Swift Current being glued to the television when the Kinsmen Telemiracle fundraiser was on across the province. I would get my parents' permission to call and make a donation to the fundraiser and then wait for hours for my name to slowly crawl across the bottom of the screen. It was such a big deal to see my name on television, even it lasted for just a few seconds and was quickly followed by someone else donating from Moose Jaw, Enfold or Frontier.

Telemiracle is woven into the fabric of our province. For the past 50 years, people have picked up their phones and made a donation that would help someone in medical need purchase a piece of equipment or receive financial support that would help them get the care they need. We did an episode in Season Six highlighting Telemiracle's work and taking listeners behind the scenes to discover the work it takes to run the fundraiser, and it's definitely worth a listen.

Telemiracle turns 50 this weekend and it is pulling out all the stops to mark this milestone. One of the many talented hosts is someone who I have looked up ever since I first saw him on MuchMusic. That would be George Stroumboulopoulos.

I first met George in 2011 at a taping of his CBC Television show, The Hour. It was a quick chat after his show and I was struck by his kindness and how he listened patiently to my questions after taping the show. I remained a fan over the years as he did all the things on television, radio and social media, and it was a thrill to meet him again last October when he spoke at Saskatoon's MemoFest.

In fact, George came to Sherbrooke Community Centre, where I am the Communications Leader, for a tour of our long-term care home. It was an amazing afternoon as he met a host of residents and staff and listened to how our organization has worked hard for decades to provide residents with full and abundant life. George also took a lot of photos with residents, staff and even some of our animals! The picture for this episode is of George sitting by Sherbrooke's Aviary. The birds loved him!

Flash forward a few months, and I reached out to George via Instagram when I saw he was in Saskatoon for Telemiracle. I wished him luck and told him how lucky we were to have him back in the city. He wrote back and said, "you gonna have me on the podcast? Haha." Ahhh...yes!

17 hours later, I met George at his hotel and we sat down for a conversation about how he became involved with Kinsmen Telemiracle and why this provincial fundraiser struck a chord with him. It is always a privilege speaking with George because he is in the moment with you...he listens...and I think that's something all of us could do a better job of these days, myself included!

I hope you enjoy our conversation, and a big thank you to George for taking time out of his insanely busy schedule to speak with me on the podcast. Best of luck on the fundraiser this weekend, George, and safe travels home. Enjoy that diner meal in the desert!

Cheers...Eric

• Host, Producer, Editor: Eric Anderson
• Theme Music: Andrew Dickson
• Website: https://www.yxeunderground.com
• Recorded: On Treaty 6 Territory and the traditional homeland of the Metis