Crossroads

Wine bar and gallery set to open in Wellington

(L-R) Kyla, Gloria and Karl Schmed are nearly ready to reveal Wellington newest cultural hotspot.

Gloria grew up in Brooklyn in the ’50s. She came of age at the crossroads of the civil rights struggle in America. She was among thousands of young people her age at North Carolina A&T University to protest segregation, joining a sit-in at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro. There were other protests and other fights. But by 1969, Gloria grew disillusioned that change would ever come for African-Americans.

She packed her bags and headed to Europe with her young daughter, Shakura. While in Zurich, she met a young lithographer named Karl Schmed. A romance blossomed. It blooms still. Forty-five years later.

Currently Karl, Gloria and their younger daughter, Kyla, are set to open the County’s first wine bar and gallery. Located on Main Street in Wellington next to Wellington Home Hardware, the Stache will open during the day as an art gallery, displaying both original works and limited edition prints. In the evening, the Stache will be transformed into an intimate nightclub, featuring local and visiting musicians in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.

The journey to Wellington has taken many turns.

Karl, Gloria and Shakura moved to Toronto in 1971. He found work as a lithographer—crafting fine prints for commercial and artistic customers. Trained by masters of this craft, his skills were highly sought after in Toronto. Gloria worked as a program designer at the Toronto Continuing Board of Education.

They raised two girls, Shakura and Kyla. It became clear that Shakura was a gifted singer. She backed performers including Patti Labelle and Rita McNeil before venturing out on her own as Shakura S’aida. Shakura is now an accomplished and celebrated blues singer. Last year, she was nominated for a Juno award for best blues album. Until recently, Gloria managed her daughter’s career.

Karl and Gloria began to contemplate how they would spend their retirement years. They bought a RV and headed out to discover North America close up—looking for a warm place to spend the winter. Chicago. Mount Rushmore. Oregon. Nevada. Arizona. New Mexico. Alabama. Nothing felt quite right.

The longer they spent on the road, the more they longed to be back in Canada. Gloria remembered coming to the County with her dad to fish, more than two decades ago.

“We knew the area well,” said Gloria. “We liked it.”

They had friends in Kingston. They decided they would like to buy a small farm in the County. Karl would renovate the barn for his gallery. They would have some chickens and perhaps a dog. But they had trouble finding the right place.

Their agent, Sharon Armitage, mentioned that she was considering selling her building.

That got Karl’s imagination moving in a different direction. In the spring of 2013, they agreed to purchase the Wellington storefront. They took possession this past spring, and began extensive renovations.

“We thought it would be just a gallery,” said Karl. “But it just grew.”

Kyla was the catalyst for the notion of a wine bar in addition to a gallery. She has had many years of experience in the hospitality industry in Toronto.

Karl and Gloria have put a great deal of time and energy into the look of their place—fussing over every detail. The building’s façade has been transformed with mix of earthy wood siding and aluminum cladding.

“Karl and I have always had a strong sense of design,” explained Gloria.

Karl adds, “we wanted a look that was current, but also fit this rural context. We were really impressed by Glen Crawford at Ball Machine who supplied the metal cladding. He asked great questions and suggested some great improvements on our design.

“We didn’t want a hipster look, but we did want it to look clean and cool,” said Karl, “combining both the modern and traditional.”

Now that the heavy construction work is done, Karl, Gloria and Kyla are completing the finishing touches themselves. Karl won’t say when the Stache will open. “Soonish” is all he will commit to—lifting a description relied upon heavily by another recent hospitality addition to Wellington.

Shakura S’aida is set to perform at the Stache in December.

Karl and Gloria’s life story is about to take another turn.