YORK — What was expected to be a workshop about storytelling, tale weaving and keeping an audience engaged turned out to be just some old guy telling people that at one time, there was an Arby’s on University Avenue.
And it closed. Twice, in fact.
“Remember that [Arby’s] was here. And that it closed. And then reopened, and closed again.”
Chip Matheson, story teller
“I mean, he’s not wrong,” said Tom Flemming, a community member who joined this session. “It’s technically a story. Not really a good one, but, it’s a story.”
As tale teller Chip Matheson says, “It’s important to remember that [Arby’s] was here. And that it closed. And then reopened, and closed again. Will it reopen again? Well, if it did, it’d be a great third chapter, wouldn’t it?”
Other participants had a more favourable view of the event.
Violet Mooney, a frequent participant in storytelling experiences, said “It wasn’t a traditional fable, or epic, or a community tale. It was an anecdote about a franchise that tried — and failed — twice, no less — to shatter expectations of the Island’s insistence to reject the new.”
Matheson noted that his experience with Arby’s has led to him self-publishing a history of the fast-food restaurant in Charlottetown.
Titled Curly Fries and Adventure Meals: How Arby’s in Charlottetown defined a Generation, the pamphlet was available at the back of the community hall, and at time of publication, had sold three copies.
The Islander 