This week, we’re going to speak with Trevor Streng. He’s the co-host of an upcoming event called Canine Carnival. It’s going to be this coming Saturday at Highwire, and it’s benefiting the Border Collie Rescue Effort. We’ll have all the details for you on today’s episode!

Today is October 30th, my name is Tom Heath and you’re listening to “Life Along the Streetcar”.

Each and every Sunday our focus is on Social, Cultural and Economic impacts in Tucson’s Urban Core and we shed light on hidden gems everyone should know about. From A Mountain to the U of A and all stops in between. You get the inside track- right here on 99.1 FM, streaming on DowntownRadio.org- we’re also available on your iPhone or Android using our very own Downtown Radio app. Reach us by email [email protected] — interact with us on Facebook at LifeAlongTheStreetcar and follow us on Twitter @StreetcarLife

Our intro music is by Ryanhood and we exit with music from Kat Stevens, “I Love My Dog.”

Transcript (Unedited)

Good morning. It’s a beautiful Sunday in the old Pueblo. You’re listening to K T DT Tucson. Thank you for spending part of your brunch hour with us on your downtown Tucson community sponsored rock and roll radio station.

This week, we’re going to speak with Trevor Streng. He’s the co-host of an upcoming event called Canine Carnival. It’s going to be this coming Saturday at Highwire, and it’s benefiting the Border Collie Rescue Effort. We’ll have all the details in just a moment.

Today is October 30, 2022. My name is Tom Heath and you are listening to life along the streetcar. Each and every Sunday, our focus is on social, cultural, and economic impacts in Tucson’s urban core, and we shed light on hidden gems everyone should know about, from a mountain to the University of Arizona and all stops in between. You get the inside track right here on 99.1 FM and always streaming on downtownradio.org. You can also listen on your smartphone, iPhone, Android, all that good stuff by getting our very

own Downtown Radio Tucson app. You want to reach us on the show, our email address is [email protected]. You can find us on Instagram and Facebook. Our podcast is out there on Spotify, itunes, all good kinds of places like that. And past episodes, info on the show and details on our recently released book about the urban core are all available on our website. Lifelongthustreecar.org. Well, it is the end of October, which means Halloween. I don’t know if you saw the youngsters out on Congress getting some candy. We had goblins and superheroes and all kinds of fantastic creatures going from store to store to pick up a little bit of the candy as part of the Downtown Tucson’s Halloween special. And don’t worry if you missed it. Fourth Avenue is doing one today. So from 1230 to about 03:00, you can head to the Fourth Avenue merchants and get your candy fixed in case you missed yesterday or in case you got the desire for more candy on top of yesterday. And of course, next week

is the All Souls procession, dia Delosuertos, happening near the MSA annex. We’ll have details for all of that on our website I’m sorry, on our Facebook page. Check that out. We’ll post that. That’s going to be afternoon, evening, and then on the fifth, also next weekend, a little bit earlier in the day, is the feature of our show today, the Canine Carnival, which is, as I understand it, the first of what will be multiple pet friendly and pet focused fundraising events at High Wire. The hosts of this are Trevor String, he’s a loan officer here in town, and Tracy Castell is a real estate agent. They got together both dog lovers, and came up with this event as a fundraiser. And this one supports the Border Collie rescue efforts. Had a chance to sit out Trevor a little bit earlier in the week to find out about all the cool things happening at the canine carnival.

All right. Trevor String with the canine carnival.

Canine carnival. So I’m expecting to see dogs on trapeze and dogs dressed as clowns. Is that what this thing is all about?

Not quite. That Tom. I’d love to have it. The reason why we kind of have it that name was the event is going to be held at High Wire downtown. So that little alliteration would make the event nice and appetizing for dogs and people.

Oh, okay. So it’s at the high wire. So there is some circus elements to this canine carnival.

Yeah, we’re hopefully to have some little dog friendly things for the dogs to do, such as some pup cups will have an area for them to do some photos. And I know there’s some other little games and stuff that we’ll have to want to get everything away quite yet.

No, you got to keep some secrets there for people to want to come down. But let’s talk about the origins of this. So you and a partner of yours cofounded this event and it’s to raise money for a specific cause, correct?

Yeah. So working collaborating here with Tracy from the Blue Agave group. Keller Williams for the Arizona Border Collie rescue. He works in actually sorry, not works, but he is on I want to say he’s a chair in the group. So we’re looking at finding a local dog friendly organization that we could do a little activities for, make a little bit of money, get some awareness for. And so that’s where something that we’ve talked about being that both Tracy and I have a passion and love for dogs. So that’s kind of where it kind of started from.

And so the group itself, the Border Collie Rescue Group, it sounds like probably what it is, but what are some of the funds? Like, if you’re raising money for this organization, what do they do with that money?

Depending on there’s all lots of different organizations need money. The big thing about with the border collar rescue is the dog themselves. The rescue dogs need a lot of time one on one to get rehab. So not necessarily do we need the money isn’t going to just go for food or anything like that. It’s actually going to be helping to pay for trainers to get it so that we can give the necessary time needed to get those dogs back. Rehab. I don’t know the exact hours, but just how the dogs are and just the dog that the rescue does take that severely do need a lot of time to get rehabilitated and rehomed. So that’s what this process was kind of for.

So what are they being rescued from? I know, like, we had the greyhound rescue, they were being saved from the racing circuit, but what are the Border Collie? What’s endangering them?

Well, I mean, it’s a lot of people that have the dogs and then learn that it’s not quite the fit that they serve for them. I have a few different types of dogs, and they all have different sleep patterns and levels, levels, excitement. And a lot of these board colleagues have a lot of excitement. So, you know, if they aren’t given an opportunity or aren’t trained early, they can have some problems or they can develop some issues that, like said, take a lot of time. A lot of dogs that do get and need to be treated, there’s a lot of underlying issues that we don’t know.

Okay, so a lot of dogs might go through this, but it sounds like border collies might have a little bit more of a challenge in going from one family to another.

And I wouldn’t say maybe it’s not just only $40. A lot of them I have to follow up more. Tracy would be more of the expert, probably more of the actual trainers themselves. Unfortunately, I don’t have the numbers here for you.

That’s okay. We invited Tracy in the call, but he was traveling, so we’ll catch up with him at a different date to go into some of those details. But since he’s not on the call, let’s talk about him. The understanding I have is he got involved as kind of a foster parent, and he was horrible at that. Is that an accurate statement?

Yeah, that’s what I have in detail. I know. Like I said, it’s one of those things where some people trip into it and you think, hey, I can just do foster here for a few weeks, which turn into a month, and then which can turn into adding a member to your family.

So by being terrible, I don’t mean that he was bad with a dog. He didn’t understand that when you foster a dog, you give them back. And how many does he have now? I don’t I think it’s like eight or nine.

Yeah, like you said, he has quite the wolf pack with him for sure.

So if he comes home and he’s like, hey, I’m fostering another dog, and they just add one to the house, I think he’s, like, at some kind of legal limit or something, but clearly a passion of his. You mentioned he’s in real estate. I know you’re in the mortgage side of things, and I understand that’s how you guys got connected, but you mentioned you have three dogs, so that’s also a theme. Didn’t you have some fosters that didn’t quite make it out of your house?

Yeah, my wife and I were foster failures. We’re involved with a group for quite a while, fostering, and then we ended up whether it was cats and dogs, and then we ended up getting this dog named named Connor, who, long story short, was thrown out of a car as a puppy, had some serious throat issues, needed multiple surgeries, and it just came one of those things where we spent a lot of time. And my wife and I just fell in love with a guy when we were like, I think he’s found the right home. We don’t want him to go through anymore.

Well, the canine carnival. So this is happening right around the corner. It’s November 5. It’s at high wire, and I think you told me it’s from 03:00 P.m. To 06:00 p.m.. Yeah, 03:00 P.m. To.

06:00 p.m.. You said the high wire has both outdoor seating and indoor. So we’re hoping that there’ll be some nice weather and then people will be able to have there will be some adult friendly beverages. Hiring does serve food. There’ll be some treats and stuff for the dog. So, like I said, it’ll be a nice little time, we’re hoping.

And part of why we wanted to talk to you about this was because even though this is a really cool event coming up on the fifth, you and Tracy have talked about doing other events in the future. So this isn’t like an isolated thing. It’s kind of the start of something.

Yeah. No, the plan is to try to do them quarterly. However, as you kind of know, in Tucson, sometimes the temperature in the summers can stay above 100 degrees for quite some time. So we may not be able to do it as frequent as we like. But the goal would be to do another one in February, potentially another one in May. The goal would be to find another local group, local rescue that would need some attention, would love a little bit of publicity, and, of course, some money and donations that we could get to them. So, yeah, the goal would be to have this as an article event and then build some a little bit of buzz so that in the future, we can continue to kind of give back to these communities and groups that do so much.

Well, I really appreciate that. It takes a lot of time to get something like this launched. I know you’re probably somewhat nervous and excited about this first event here coming up on the fifth, and I might have to edit this out if I’m saying something out of turn here, but I understand that you’ve got some, like, this really cool giveaway that you’re doing or raffle prize.

Yeah. So we’ll go ahead and thanks, Tom, for breaking the seeker. But yeah, we’ll do raffle prize, though. There is a cool dog house that will be given away to a lucky person who joins, or I guess it’ll be a lucky dog will get that dog house. And then there will be a few other things. Once again, Tom, I feel like I’m going to give away everything, so I want to make it so that people can come and not get all the information on this.

All right, well, we’ll keep a few things in reserve. Well, we’ll be back to that interview with Trevor String. He’s keeping things kind of close to the vest. So he’s getting us to he’s teasing us, I think is what they call that, to get us to show up to the Canine Carnival at High Wire on Saturday, November 5. We’ll be back to the second half of the interview in a moment, but first I want to remind you that you’re listening to life along the Streetcar in Downtown Radio 99 One FM and [email protected].

Greetings and salutations, downtown radio listeners, paleo Dave, your unfrozen caveman DJ, here to spread the good word about the Scrambled Sunrise Rock Mix, happening every weekday morning from seven to 09:00 A.m. Right here on Downtown radio from the earliest days of Psych punk and new wave to 80s college rock, 90s alternative and the ongoing wave of 21st century indie rock. It’s all right here on the Scrambled Sunrise. So tune in via 99.1 FM if you’re in the greater downtown area or streaming worldwide via downtownradio.org.

We’re back to finish up the second half of our interview with the Trevor String He and the other cofounder, the Canine Carnival Tracy Castell, have an event coming up here on Saturday at High Wire to the Canine Carnival on the 5 November. And let’s jump back into the second half of that interview with Trevor Streg. But the goal is to show up to support and I have a dog and I love my dog, but I also am a little nervous about bringing him out because I don’t really go to events with other dogs because I’m kind of getting used to that with him. So I’m not bringing my dog, but I’m going to go in support and I think it’s fine for me to do that. But if you have a dog and you’re comfortable bringing in that setting, this is a good environment for them to come out, right?

Yeah, this would be a perfect environment for someone who has a dog that is good with people, who will be good with friends and a little bit of noise as well, because we are expecting some people to put track traffic there. They’ll be vendors selling some different dog friendly items. And it could be something, too, where maybe you’re not comfortable quite yet taking your dog. So it would be good just to see how others interact and how other dogs interact with this event because it may be something where it could be something that your dog is ready for and maybe it’s just not you’re not quite not quite ready. Or conversely, maybe you’re seeing things and just know that, hey, my dog isn’t a good fit for something like this.

Okay, yeah, that’s good. I’ll do some reconnaissance and see how Archie would fare there. The future events that you’re thinking about, are they all going to be at High Wire or they’re going to be in different parts of the town?

The plan right now to keep them at High Wire. High Wire the space, install friendly nick and the team do a lot of events for our community, and I really like this space, so it’d be nice to kind of get something where people kind of know every few months that there’s going to be something going downtown at that spot.

Okay, very good. I know Nick has been on the show on a couple of occasions. And I like what they’re doing there with not just expanding the bar. But they’ve done a really good job of making it a sustainable place with kind of an eye towards how to change some of these places in downtown into a little bit more nature friendly establishments of bringing some dogs in there seems perfect. Trevor, I got to ask you this question, and I’m a journalist, so I got a probe a little bit because I always like to get the scoop like I did with that doghouse thing. And if you don’t answer, I understand. But there is rumors that Connor, who you spoke of earlier, is the star of a new book that is coming out that you and your wife are putting together. Is this true? And will there be a version of it available at the carnival?

Yes, it is. I was hoping to kind of maybe do a release of it. Hopefully we’ll have preliminary copies kind of ready for release there. But yeah, it’s a book that my rights written. Collaborated with a friend of ours, Emily Geotritis. She’s a 21 year old autistic girl, so she’s done the illustrations, and it’s pretty much the story. Earlier, I told you of the kind of the foster failure of us getting Connor and then him becoming a part of our home.

What’s the name of this book?

If you book, connor finds a home.

Connor finds a home. And it’s designed to be sort of I’ve seen a version of it, so I’m kind of cheating here. But it’s designed to be a family friendly book. It’s really a coloring book, right? It’s an opportunity for people to so it’s not a super indepth literature reading material, but it is a very wonderful story. I have actually previewed it when you weren’t looking. I read it on your desk, and I think it’s a fabulous story. Your wife does a great job. The illustrator does a fabulous job. And I’m hoping some versions are available for the canine carnival. Another reason to get out there.

Yeah, for sure. Like I said, hopefully we can get that book kind of done here, at least a version or two before the end of the year. It will be a coloring book that we’ll hope to have available and then a colored version that Emily will be working on here in the next few weeks. But, yeah, excited to get this out to the public, something that I’ve thought of and wanted to do since a kid. So it’s been kind of a nice thing to be working on the past few months.

Well, it’s the canine carnival. It’s going to be on November 5 from three to 6th. It’s at the Highwire Lounge in downtown Tucson. You can find all that address and stuff probably through the HighWire’s website. But where can people stay in touch with you for the Canine Carnival updates the Connor Finds a Home updates the future events? Do you have a website? Do people follow you on Instagram? How do people keep track of all these things you’re doing?

Well, you can keep track of it. I do have an instagram. My handle or hashtag is string with numbers. S-T-R-E-N-G with W-I-T-H numbers. N-U-M-B-E-R-S. Also take a look online and Google my Trevor at Novahomans. That is a way to get in. Contact me and email me, and then I can follow up with you on different questions on the carnival. And then besides that, you can always check us out at the mortgage guidance group at Nova Home Loans.

Well, I guess the first book is Connor Finds a Home. So I’m guessing the sequel is Trevor finances connor’s home. Is that the next book that’s coming out?

That’s a good one. I might put that one in the back burner, but I like that, Tom.

Well, I hope people do. Check out Strang with numbers on Instagram. We’ll link to that from our Facebook page. You’ve got some cool stuff that really does sort of blend the mortgage and dog world together. Love this concept of the canine carnival. I love doing it downtown, excited to see how this turnout is. And I really want to see who walks away with some of these cool prizes. And I think for me mostly, I just want to really get a copy of one of these books before anybody else does, so I can get you to sign it and be all special.

I appreciate that. Address for high wires, 30 south arizona avenue. Downtown arizona. If you know where Johnny Gibson’s Market is, it’s right behind there. Once again, if you have any questions, feel free to look me up online or email me. Trevor [email protected].

Okay, we’ll get that out there. And if you have not been downtown before, there is plenty of parking available. There are mostly in the garages. On the weekends, the meters are free, but you might want to scout out. There’s a couple of close garages near there. So do keep that in mind. But November 5, kick off the post holiday festivities at Highwire with your best friend and a bunch of people and their best friends.

Awesome. Thank you, Tom. Appreciate it.

Thank you, Trevor. We’ll talk to you soon. That’s the fifth. It’s a busy season. We’ve got all kinds of events happening. Film festivals are wrapping up. We’ve got film festivals happening, getting ready for the holidays. We’re going to have a show later on. Talking about? The Parade of Lights is back. The Downtown Tucson Partnerships. Efforts for the holidays are underway. Things happen on Fourth Avenue. Day of the Dead coming up on Saturday. All kinds of stuff to do, but do not forget about the canine carnival. Bring your best friend out there and support the border collie rescue effort. My name is Tom Heath. You’re listening to life along the streetcar on downtown Radio 99. One FM and streaming on downtownradio.org.

You’re listening to Ktdt, Tucson, Arizona 99, one FM downtown radio. I’m Brother Mark, host of a show called Radio Club Crawl that airs every Tuesday at 03:00 P.m.. We try to focus on most of the bands that are coming through Tucson, and we give you a tasty taste of their music. You want to check out what’s happening around Tucson? Check out Radio Club crawl. Tuesdays, 03:00 P.m. Right here on Ktdt. Tucson, Arizona. 99.1 FM. Downtown radio.

Thank you very much. Enjoy your evening. Bye bye. I say this a lot, but I’m so impressed with all the DJs on downtown radio. So many great shows that are just put together with love and they’ve got knowledge and they just want to share that with the world. And Brother Mock, he’s doing a lot for the station. He’s got a few different shows. And this one, we just put an advertisement out for Radio Club Crawl. It’s fantastic. You get to listen to all the bands that are coming up at clubs throughout the week, does it every week, and you can kind of listen if you hear about somebody you like and they’ll tell you where to go find him. But he does multiple shows throughout the week, many, many hours supporting downtown radio. So if you appreciate Brother Mock as I do, maybe head over to our website downtownradio.org, check out the schedules and find out when he is on and send him a little thank you note. Maybe while you’re there, hit that little donate button and put a dollar or two in the coffer

so that we can keep this all volunteer effort. Rolling, rolling, rolling. Well, I want to thank Trevor String here for being on our episode. Here number 223, as we are now into our 6th year of talking to cool people in the downtown urban core. Huge shout out to Herb Stratford. He was on the show a couple of weeks ago. We talked about Film Fest Tucson and happened to be fortunate enough to also after that, get a tour of the Tiatro Carmen. He’s part of that restoration process. And he took us in a group that I had won a silent auction from the Presidium museum auction, and we had Herb there, archeologist Homer Theo, who’s done quite a bit here in Tucson. The history of that place, the history of the family, what’s coming, it’s all really exciting stuff, so be on the lookout for that. But just wanted a huge shout out to Herb for his time on that Sunday morning next week. Man really fun show next week. This is Master Thievery. Woman ochre is a painting that disappeared from the University’s

Museum of Art over 30 years ago. It was recently found in the home of a deceased couple just hanging on their wall. It’s been restored. And back to the university. We get to talk to Olivia Miller about that whole process and also dig deeper into the University of Arizona Museum of Art there. And the museum itself has a wonderful history. So this is going to be a fun show. It’s going to be next Sunday, of course, at 11:00 a.m.. If you have topics for us, something we should be talking about, something that’s a hidden gem, let us know. [email protected] is our email address and best way, as I always say, is Facebook and Instagram. Tag us in something that you think we should learn more about.

It’s hard to believe moving into our 6th year that we just haven’t even run out of topics. My interviews, as soon as I talk to someone about what got them motivated to do what they’re doing, next thing you know, it leads me to another story. Anyway, I appreciate everyone’s time in making the show special to me by sharing your time. We had Trevor Streng on talking about the canine carnival today. That’s coming up this Saturday, the fifth. Details on Instagram and we’ll have them on our Facebook page. And in honor of that, we’re going to leave you with little music by Yusuf Islam, who I think at the time of the recording was Kat Stevens. This is a song from the 60s. It’s called I Love my dog. Have a great week and tune next Sunday for more life along the streetcar.