Podcast: On The Road With The N.B. Electric Summer Social Tour
Jason Gallant and Mylène Theriault have dream jobs for those of us who have felt cooped up during the pandemic. They’re travelling the province in an Audi e-tron from Audi Moncton promoting small businesses and organizations as part of Love for Local New Brunswick’s “Electric Summer Social Tour.”
Huddle is a media partner for the tour that has Jason and Mylène travelling to 104 communities in 104 days. That doesn’t mean I get to go along for the ride, but it does mean I can connect with them on the road and live vicariously through their adventures. On the latest Huddle “Home Office” podcast, I chat with them at the end of a day in northern New Brunswick.
They had just spent one day in Dalhousie and one day in Eel River Crossing, both experiences typical of the welcoming and vibrant communities they’ve visited in their more than 35 days on the road so far.
“Every day is my new favourite day,” says Mylène, an interior designer and photographer from Caraquet, who had already been travelling and promoting the province as a passion in her spare time.
“Even though we go to big cities like Moncton, we go to smaller places like Dalhousie and I can’t get over how the people are so nice. Anywhere you go in New Brunswick there is so much to do and so many awesome people to talk to.”
Jason is from Moncton and has been running Hub City Foodies, which promotes breweries, restaurants, and small shops. He’s been doing this for free because of his love for Moncton and New Brunswick, which deepened last summer on a family tour of the province in an RV. Jason echoed Mylène’s enthusiasm about Dalhousie.
“We were welcomed by the mayor … and the vice-president and president of the Bon Ami festival meeting us as we came into the city and they had an entire day planned out,” says Jason. “We were on a boat; we went to Heron Island; we were throwing axes; we were eating delicious food and meeting amazing people.”
The next day, they were in Eel River Crossing. just south of Dalhousie. Mylène was so impressed by the number of businesses that had been around for decades in the community.
“We went to a hardware store that’s been in business for 44 years,” she says. “That’s crazy. I’m just out of business school and we all know the first five years in business is the hardest…more than 40 years? Props.”
Jason and Mylène have visited so many great businesses over the past month and are reluctant to single out one or two because they don’t want to leave anyone out.
But Jason has a fondness for ice cream, which Mylène teases him about, and he has a nice memory of visiting the Dari-Delite in Grand Falls.
“I get almost emotional thinking about it,” says Jason. “During Covid, everything kind of fell apart for the owner. She couldn’t hire anybody, so she’s been working there seven days a week. She was thinking to herself in the morning, ‘I wish someone would come and help promote me. So we show up and she was blown away. She was so happy we featured her. We showed the video we put together for her and she was almost in tears. I’m like, ‘this is what it’s all about.'”
Hopefully, she’s feeling a renewed sense of optimism as we enter the green phase of recovery. Mylène is certainly excited that things are opening up as they head toward Caraquet for National Acadian Day on August 15.
“I’m from Caraquet and we’re going to celebrate the 15th of August in my city,” she says. “There’s the Tintamarre that’s going on since we’re in green mode. So it’s going to be a big one. Everyone is going to be really happy for that.”
You can hear the full interview on the “Home Office” podcast in the player embedded above. You can also search for “Huddle Home Office” on podcast platforms like Apple or Spotify. I’ll chat with Mylène and Jason again in a few weeks.
In the meantime, follow their adventures on their social media feeds. Jason can be found on the English page on FaceBook, Instagram and TikTok under Love For Local New-Brunswick. Mylène can be found on the French page, L’Amour d’ici Nouveau-Brunswick. Also on Facebook, Instagram and @amourdici on TikTok.