Meet the People in our Neighbourhood
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Abraham Zebian, August 24th, 2020 |
Olwynn Hughes - First of all, congratulations on becoming mayor! First question, just for people that don't know, what's your name?
Abraham Zebian - Abraham Zebian
OH - When were you born?
AZ - 1979.
OH - How did Avondale come on to your radar?
AZ - Well, naturally living here my whole life, it's always been a favorite spot of mine, when you're driving through, it’s just calming. It has that feel to it and when you get down here to Newport Landing, and you get to the wharf and the lighthouse, it’s a favorite of my kids, so we're down here almost every weekend. They roam and they play and we throw rocks into the Avon (river) there, and it's just a nice place.
OH - Have you always been active in the community?
AZ - Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, whole life.
OH - Well, like did your family influence your interest in politics?
AZ - We have no politicians in my family or immediate family. When my father arrived here in Canada, he immigrated in 1969, so immediately coming to Canada he fell in love with the community. He always instilled in us to give back to your community because it gives to you. He was a business owner and we were supported by people supporting our shop. So always give back, this message was his teaching, do everything you can within your community and every chance you have to help or volunteer, that should be your main focus and we've stuck to that principle ever since.
OH - What are your hopes for the future of this area?
AZ - I wish to see this as an area of thriving tourist attraction. A place where when people say Atlantic Canada they mention West Hants Regional. You kind of come down the corridor through Avondale, which would be a main connector coming through, because honestly people don't realize what amazing sites, attractions, shops, and farms we have here. We were just talking about it outside, meeting with Kathy from my Recreation Department, of what's here and the people. It's about us letting it be known to the world that we are here and this is what there is here. And I'd love to see that as part of our future, just a bustling artsy scene, tourists, and a fantastic place to live, work, and visit.… you know, people from all over just coming and sharing and doing that and just growing. The more we can create the more we can grow, the more our children want to live and work and play here and then they contribute as they get older and they just keep feeding off and off and off.
OH - What do you think this area has to offer?
AZ - Recreational wise or prosperity and economics?
OH - Anything.
AZ - Honestly we can touch on every aspect of life. Me, I focus on the quality of life. You can make a fantastic living at anything that you love doing. So if you want to be an entrepreneur our area offers that chance, actually offers even a better chance than most areas because we have that type of atmosphere here. If you want to live and travel out we are strategically located. I call it a donut hole, through the donut like it's minutes away to either the city core for the city center of HRM or the valley. We're just strategically positioned in every aspect that we need to take that opportunity in the world and thrive on that.
OH - So what do you think attracts people here, like young families?
AZ - Yeah, I speak to a lot of young families on a daily basis, either through my business or the municipality, they love the atmosphere. I know a young guy, he just moved right up the road from here. They moved in because they fell in love with the community. They met a few people. They took a drive down. They’d been looking for about three or four years. They literally, like I said, the second you drive into Avondale you get that sense of, it's like a shroud coming over you, and you just you fall in love immediately here and it's intoxicating, so it brings people.
OH - What about your childhood did you love about this place?
AZ - With my childhood? There was a lot, like I said growing up I have a lot of memories here, just driving through this area here. It's just a nice family picnic area. You can sit, you can play, you can have memories of your dad or your mom tickling you and playing horse. I'm just out here right now playing with my kids. We're playing wrestling, you know, and my daughter's under the play structure there (playing) rock ice cream. So, you know, it's just the little things. You go down, you play on the mud, you jump in a little boat, you throw some rocks, you skip some rocks. It's the simple things in life, you know, it's just the natural things, that's what you create your memories from and it's literally, it's all right here.
OH - What has changed since you were a child?
AZ - In regards to?
OH - The area, the environment, the people?
AZ - The people are fantastic as the years go by the people get better and better and better, the history stays here. So with the older generation you seem to have that history being passed down from old to young and it seems to be instilled in people. I love that aspect about this area.
Environment wise, my God. I was just talking to Tacha over here now, you look at the measuring stick that she's doing now that shows you the (1 in ) 20-year event, (1 in ) 50 year event and the (height of the) Saxby Gale from 1869. It's amazing how much the environment is changing and the water levels. Just seeing where it was to where it is today and where it will be 30 and 40 years from now, it's Interesting, but at the same point you realize that this is real and we have to pay attention because in the future it's going to look different and if we don't take advantage now and be progressive and look for solutions we may be in trouble later on, but so far so good.
OH - What do you think we can learn from the history of this place?
AZ - Well, you learn where you came from, you learn where things started and the meaning of what is here. Again with the older generation, they'll tell you where the lighthouse came from or what this looked like back in back in 1970, for example, or the history of the Avon. Knowing the decisions that were made previous to where we are today. It can shape your thinking of the processes before and the processes now and what the process should be in the future.
OH - Final question, what do you love about Avondale?
AZ - Like I said, I love the people. I love the aura of the area. I love the natural infrastructure. The mature greenery. It's the atmosphere and everything related to it. One of my favorite TV shows growing up was Cheers and they say the Cheers bar is like any other bar. Well, no. No, it wasn't like any other, it was the atmosphere the second you walked in, you had Norm and you had Cliff and you had these people, like you have here. You have Tacha, Devin, Dawson. The unique people that make you want to come back. You have the pier, you have the lighthouse, you have the museum here. It's these things that make you realize this is a community. People are tight here and actually care about each other, but it's the atmosphere, that's number one hands down.
Abraham Zebian - Abraham Zebian
OH - When were you born?
AZ - 1979.
OH - How did Avondale come on to your radar?
AZ - Well, naturally living here my whole life, it's always been a favorite spot of mine, when you're driving through, it’s just calming. It has that feel to it and when you get down here to Newport Landing, and you get to the wharf and the lighthouse, it’s a favorite of my kids, so we're down here almost every weekend. They roam and they play and we throw rocks into the Avon (river) there, and it's just a nice place.
OH - Have you always been active in the community?
AZ - Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, whole life.
OH - Well, like did your family influence your interest in politics?
AZ - We have no politicians in my family or immediate family. When my father arrived here in Canada, he immigrated in 1969, so immediately coming to Canada he fell in love with the community. He always instilled in us to give back to your community because it gives to you. He was a business owner and we were supported by people supporting our shop. So always give back, this message was his teaching, do everything you can within your community and every chance you have to help or volunteer, that should be your main focus and we've stuck to that principle ever since.
OH - What are your hopes for the future of this area?
AZ - I wish to see this as an area of thriving tourist attraction. A place where when people say Atlantic Canada they mention West Hants Regional. You kind of come down the corridor through Avondale, which would be a main connector coming through, because honestly people don't realize what amazing sites, attractions, shops, and farms we have here. We were just talking about it outside, meeting with Kathy from my Recreation Department, of what's here and the people. It's about us letting it be known to the world that we are here and this is what there is here. And I'd love to see that as part of our future, just a bustling artsy scene, tourists, and a fantastic place to live, work, and visit.… you know, people from all over just coming and sharing and doing that and just growing. The more we can create the more we can grow, the more our children want to live and work and play here and then they contribute as they get older and they just keep feeding off and off and off.
OH - What do you think this area has to offer?
AZ - Recreational wise or prosperity and economics?
OH - Anything.
AZ - Honestly we can touch on every aspect of life. Me, I focus on the quality of life. You can make a fantastic living at anything that you love doing. So if you want to be an entrepreneur our area offers that chance, actually offers even a better chance than most areas because we have that type of atmosphere here. If you want to live and travel out we are strategically located. I call it a donut hole, through the donut like it's minutes away to either the city core for the city center of HRM or the valley. We're just strategically positioned in every aspect that we need to take that opportunity in the world and thrive on that.
OH - So what do you think attracts people here, like young families?
AZ - Yeah, I speak to a lot of young families on a daily basis, either through my business or the municipality, they love the atmosphere. I know a young guy, he just moved right up the road from here. They moved in because they fell in love with the community. They met a few people. They took a drive down. They’d been looking for about three or four years. They literally, like I said, the second you drive into Avondale you get that sense of, it's like a shroud coming over you, and you just you fall in love immediately here and it's intoxicating, so it brings people.
OH - What about your childhood did you love about this place?
AZ - With my childhood? There was a lot, like I said growing up I have a lot of memories here, just driving through this area here. It's just a nice family picnic area. You can sit, you can play, you can have memories of your dad or your mom tickling you and playing horse. I'm just out here right now playing with my kids. We're playing wrestling, you know, and my daughter's under the play structure there (playing) rock ice cream. So, you know, it's just the little things. You go down, you play on the mud, you jump in a little boat, you throw some rocks, you skip some rocks. It's the simple things in life, you know, it's just the natural things, that's what you create your memories from and it's literally, it's all right here.
OH - What has changed since you were a child?
AZ - In regards to?
OH - The area, the environment, the people?
AZ - The people are fantastic as the years go by the people get better and better and better, the history stays here. So with the older generation you seem to have that history being passed down from old to young and it seems to be instilled in people. I love that aspect about this area.
Environment wise, my God. I was just talking to Tacha over here now, you look at the measuring stick that she's doing now that shows you the (1 in ) 20-year event, (1 in ) 50 year event and the (height of the) Saxby Gale from 1869. It's amazing how much the environment is changing and the water levels. Just seeing where it was to where it is today and where it will be 30 and 40 years from now, it's Interesting, but at the same point you realize that this is real and we have to pay attention because in the future it's going to look different and if we don't take advantage now and be progressive and look for solutions we may be in trouble later on, but so far so good.
OH - What do you think we can learn from the history of this place?
AZ - Well, you learn where you came from, you learn where things started and the meaning of what is here. Again with the older generation, they'll tell you where the lighthouse came from or what this looked like back in back in 1970, for example, or the history of the Avon. Knowing the decisions that were made previous to where we are today. It can shape your thinking of the processes before and the processes now and what the process should be in the future.
OH - Final question, what do you love about Avondale?
AZ - Like I said, I love the people. I love the aura of the area. I love the natural infrastructure. The mature greenery. It's the atmosphere and everything related to it. One of my favorite TV shows growing up was Cheers and they say the Cheers bar is like any other bar. Well, no. No, it wasn't like any other, it was the atmosphere the second you walked in, you had Norm and you had Cliff and you had these people, like you have here. You have Tacha, Devin, Dawson. The unique people that make you want to come back. You have the pier, you have the lighthouse, you have the museum here. It's these things that make you realize this is a community. People are tight here and actually care about each other, but it's the atmosphere, that's number one hands down.