From mobsters to moving to the Mountain, Tale of a Town wants your story
Notorious gangster Johnny "Pops" Papilia was probably hoping his legacy wouldn't include stories about the kind of VHS he was trying to rent on James Street North over two decades ago.
But that's the beauty of asking Hamiltonians to tell their city's story in their own words – you hear things you just couldn't anywhere else.
That's what Tale of a Town's organizers are hoping for as the national oral history project sets up shop in Hamilton this week before an exhibition at Supercrawl.
"There's nothing like the power of the human voice," said Alison Broverman, one of the project's producers. "It just does something that's so hard to capture in any other form."
The premise of the project is simple – the producers ask people to come to their "storymobile" trailer (which is essentially a recording booth on wheels) and tell them something about the area they're parked in. For the Hamilton part of the project, they're planning stops on James Street North, Beasley Park and Concession Street.
Those recordings are then added to the project's online "story portal," turned into art installations and molded into a podcast that's distributed by The Walrus magazine.
'I've actually had people cry'
Roz Mugford has been capturing those stories, and has already heard incredibly moving tales about the rise and fall of Hamilton's industrial core. "I've heard a lot of sadness there. I've actually had people cry," she said.
But she's also been privy to exuberant stories about Hamilton's "cultural renaissance," told through the eyes of people like Mixed Media shop owner Dave Kuruc.
"To see him light up when he tells the story of people coming back downtown … it gives me goose bumps," Mugford said.
But it will be hard to top former city councillor Ron Corsini's story about Papilia, who waltzed into the video rental store he owned many years ago. You can listen to his story in the audio player above.
"As soon as I saw him, I knew who he was," Corsini said. "It was Johnny Pops, who was later gunned down here in Hamilton."
'I didn't charge him late charges'
The cashier who was working at the time was frazzled because Papilia wouldn't give his name, yet still wanted to rent a movie. Strangely enough, infamous mobsters aren't always terribly forthcoming about their personal information.
"I just said 'give him the movie. I know who he is. Just give him the movie," Corsini said.
And what did he want to rent, you ask? "It was Scarface. He wanted Scarface." Corsini said. Only in Hamilton, indeed.
"He took the movie and kept it for a week – but I wouldn't charge him late charges or anything like that."
Tale of a Town was created by a Hamilton native, Lisa Marie DiLiberto, and has now toured nine provinces. The interactive Hamilton portion of the project will be on display at Supercrawl at 294 James North from Sept. 11 to 13.
Here's a look at where the storymobile will be this week if you want to participate:
- Wednesday Sept. 2, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. at Concession & 23rd / 3 p.m. – 6 p.m. at The Lister Block
- Thursday Sept. 3, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. at Concession & 23rd
- Friday Sept. 4, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. at Concession & 23rd / 4 p.m. – 7 p.m. at James North & Barton Street
- Saturday Sept. 5, 8:30 a.m. – 11 a.m. at The Mountain Farmer's Market / 1 p.m. – 4 p.m. at Beasley Skate Park