- [Stephfond] Tonight on "WPBS Weekly: Inside The Stories," halotherapy or salt therapy is a different healing modality that could be your remedy for stress or other physical ailments.

And discover a restaurant in Ottawa, bringing European dishes laced with joy.

Also, make your own joy with this fish and chips recipe unlike any other.

All of this and more coming up right now on "WPBS Weekly: Inside The Stories."

(motivational music) - [Narrator] "WPBS Weekly: Inside The Stories" is brought to you by the Daisy Marquis Jones Foundation and the Watertown Oswego's Small Business Development Center, a free resource offering confidential business advice for starting or expanding a small business.

- Good Tuesday evening, everyone.

I'm Stephfond Brunson.

Welcome to another edition of "WPBS Weekly: Inside The Stories."

Winter will be here in a matter of weeks.

For some, seasonal effective disorder will creep in.

Tonight, we share different healing modalities that can counter the winter blues.

One of them is halotherapy.

And really, it's a remedy available to anyone anytime of year.

Our Joleene DesRosiers has more on this breakthrough therapy.

- [Instructor] Find a comfortable position for floating.

Relax your body and clear your mind.

Enjoy.

- [Joleene] Floating in a pot of water may not be the first thought that comes to mind when one thinks of a way to relax.

How does doing this take away stress or pain or anxiety?

Well, add 1500 pounds of salt, warm the water, and pump in soothing music in a serene setting, and you've got a form of holistic healing unlike any other.

(calm music) - The magic is really in the water.

It is healing.

Certainly getting that stress off the body, getting the gravity off the body, getting the inflammation out of the body, the pain out of the body.

The magnesium, 1500 pounds of magnesium just soaking into the body, giving you that infusion.

It's certainly gonna help you sleep.

It's going to help you with your stress management, not to mention the mental and emotional benefits just being in the tank, just spending the time, just having the quiet, the peace.

- [Joleene] Tammy Wilkinson would know.

She suffers with lupus, an autoimmune disease that occurs when the body's immune system attacks its own tissues and organs.

After trying halotherapy with her fiance, Terry LeRoi, the couple realized the benefits were too good not to share.

And so they embarked on a journey to build and construct a $2 million facility that could offer healing modalities to treat the likes of anxiety, depression, relief from body pain, muscle tension, breathing issues, and more.

- It's funny because when you start construction projects, there's always the idea of it, and then there's the realization of the cost.

And when you start to build something like this, well, it takes on a life of its own.

- [Joleene] And that it did.

From salt tanks to infrared saunas, to an oxygen bar, to cryotherapy, the Aqua Spa in the city of Oswego is not your average spa.

Not yet, anyway.

For regulars like city of Oswego mayor, Billy Barlow, the oxygen bar is his cup of tea, or coffee minus the caffeine.

- Really wakes you up without having to have a cup of coffee.

You just have a lot more oxygen pumping through your mind and your body, and after you do it for about 10, 15 minutes, you just feel more awake and more alert and aware of your surroundings and have a little bit more energy.

(upbeat jazz music) - I'm just getting more oxygen, getting into the body on a cellular level.

We get about 23% from the air that we breathe.

And so we offer this therapy, which offers 95% pure medical grade oxygen with some natural botanical extracts.

- One of the common themes, especially in the COVID world, the pandemic world, is there's just constant pervasive anxiety.

People come in and they want to unwind, relax, and rejuvenate, and I love the idea, I keep using this word intention, but when you come to a place like this and you intend on carving out a piece of time for yourself, that's the first step.

- [Joleene] That's what Kimberly and Patrick do.

Carve out time.

They regularly do the salt floats as one, and say, it's a game changer.

- Really lends to a bonding experience with your partner.

My husband and I float together and it has just brought us emotionally closer.

The first time we held hands for a little while and just relaxed there together.

- We looked at one another and we realized that we were onto something that this was going to be an experience for us all the time now.

You can travel and go places or buy things that are material, but something that this is is something that we have together and we look forward to as a couple together.

- [Joleene] If you're not ready to float in salt, try breathing it in.

Those that do say the benefits are substantial.

- We have a gentleman who comes in right now who is using it for post-COVID recovery on his lungs.

And he's finding really good results with that.

- I have Crohn's disease.

So a lot of these, just the relaxation and getting the stress out of my body helped so much just try to deal with some of those physical difficulties that I suffer from my illness.

And I love the salt room because it's nice and relaxing.

And you just feel fresh from breathing in the Himalayan salt, and it actually kind of tastes good in your mouth a little bit, but it helps with breathing issues, so if you suffer from any sort of allergies or COPD, but it's just so relaxing in there and the ambient light from the salt, it just kind of puts you in a better mood.

- To come in here and put your mind to the idea that you're going to give yourself the love and the attention that you need to try to heal yourself, it sets something in motion.

And for some people, this could be a beginning step to a path of wellness.

For other folks, maybe it's just a supplement to something that they're already doing for a healthy lifestyle.

- [Instructor] This now concludes your flotation session in the evolution float pod.

We hope you've enjoyed your float session and look forward to seeing you again soon in the near future.

- [Joleene] For "WPBS Weekly: Inside The Stories," I'm Joleene DesRosiers.

- As always, consult with your physician to discuss healing options.

Now down the road to Ottawa, where a different local business also caters to the needs of the community.

Absinthe, a bistro in Ottawa, offers gourmet European fare and cocktails that brings joy to hearts, minds, and bellies.

- So the birth of Absinthe was 2002, I think?

2003?

And I was working at Urban Bistro, happily where Allium is now.

And then the space where Holland Cafe was came up.

It's on the corner of Spencer and Holland.

And I spoke to the landlord and there's a lot of interest from a lot of other people, but he and I just got along super well, and he put a lot of faith in me.

So Carmen Turner is his name.

He gave me the lease to the place and really pretty much gave me all the equipment in the place.

I was really lucky.

I've been really lucky with landlords that way, actually both my current landlord and Carmen Turner, 'cause if there hadn't been Carmen Turner, there wouldn't have been Absinthe.

So we were there for a few years and just outgrew the place, and then now we're here.

My brother is my partner.

Very, very, very silent partner.

And we had both been to Europe recently, not together, but we'd both done the grand tour as it were.

We wanted something that was sort of evocative of that.

Restaurants then we're really different in Ottawa.

They've changed a lot, I think, for the better.

But there wasn't really this kind of bistro back then.

So my brother were just about to hit the button.

We had to come up with something.

It was very last minute, like eleventh hour, what about Absinthe?

And I was down at city hall and we were punching in Absinthe.

And I remember at the time thinking, I really hope I spelled that right.

I'm not an artist, I'm a craftsman.

And the menu is based on tradition with our own creative flair.

I used to let, when I had cooks, we used to let the cooks have as much creative input as they wanted within certain confines.

But it's loosely based on tradition.

And we buy, outsource everything, as close as possible.

As close as possible.

And the caveat being, winter, we can't buy certain things, but you know.

So it's local, traditional, creative, contemporary, Canadian cuisine.

It's obviously been tough and it's been tough for everyone.

I mean, it's been the big democratic sweep in restaurants and the hospitality and the arts that we talked earlier.

It's like everybody's been impacted pretty much the same.

From everybody that I talked to, we're down 80, 75, 80% and we're climbing out now.

I think one of the saddest thing is, we, like everybody, we went down to two employees from 25 and we're now at four and we're bringing two new people on this week, so we'll be at six.

So it's little steps.

So it's been tough.

I've got the most expensive clubhouse ever here, 'cause some days you come and you don't do any business, but you're here, but I'm grateful for what I do have.

I think everybody's optimistic now, not necessarily just about the vaccine, but about the vaccine, spring, being able to be outside.

I think you're gonna see a lot of pop-up things happen in parking lots and on sidewalks and all.

And like that rather than being actually inside somebody's commerce.

I think we'd like to take it outside.

I know my staff would.

My staff like the outdoors now all of a sudden.

All four of us.

Six soon.

But we'll be doing stuff, some business in the patio, on the parking lot.

And we have a patio up front and I hope other restaurants and stores will do the same.

I hope that they take advantage of the sidewalk and doing guerrilla marketing and stuff like that, and really shaking it up a bit.

You can find us at Absinthe Cafe at 1208 Wellington Street West in Hintonburg, lovely downtown Hintonburg.

And you can find us online at absinthecafe.ca.

(upbeat music) - If that made you hungry, we've got more food to tease you with.

This next segment is called "A is for Apple," a program from Gusto TV.

The concept?

To take an ingredient that starts with a specific letter and make it work in a dish.

Tonight's challenge is the letter V. The ingredient?

Vinegar.

(upbeat music) - This is malt vinegar.

(upbeat music) Whoo, it has a high pucker factor, but it is absolutely perfect for fish and chips.

(upbeat music) Now I'm gonna do a little bit of a twist on the classic pub fare, and really, what fish and chips is complete without the spuds?

And I like to use russet potatoes because they're just gonna get super nice and crispy.

(happy guitar music) Now check out this cool tool.

It's called a spiralizer.

(happy guitar music) And what I'm gonna do is wrap my fish with these potato strings.

They're gonna get crispy in the oil.

It's gonna be really cool.

But first, I'm gonna soak these in the malt vinegar.

And basically they're just gonna suck up all that vinegar and lose a little bit of starch.

(happy guitar music) And I really like to use halibut when I'm making make fish and chips because it's kind of dense and rich and buttery, but if you can't get halibut, no worries.

You can always use haddock or really whatever big white fish you can get your hands on.

(happy guitar music) And I'm just gonna use a little bit of flour on my spuds to help it get extra crispy.

Perfect.

I'm almost ready to wrap my fish, but first, just needs a little seasoning.

Lemon zest.

It just adds a really nice, bright citrus to the deep fried fish.

All right.

I'm just getting a nice couple strings of potatoes and as evenly and neatly as possible, I'm gonna wrap it around my halibut.

My own little twist.

Fish and chips in the palm of your hand.

And that malt vinegar is gonna be tasted in every bite.

(upbeat music) My fish are nice and tucked in in their potato sleeping bags, and they're ready for the oil.

(oil sizzles) Oh, yes.

(oil sizzles) This is not just fish and chips, my friend.

This is fish in chips.

(upbeat music) I can't wait to eat these.

(upbeat music) I choose this one.

Oh my gosh, crunchy.

You can hear it.

So crispy.

Little hit of malt vinegar.

Fish and chips, Lauren style.

Delicious.

(upbeat music) - If fall outings are on your radar, it's not too late to visit one of the beautiful lighthouses along the seaway.

Tonight, we feature old Sodus Bay.

A historic beacon of light nearly destroyed during the Civil War.

Rebuilt in 1870, this lighthouse is now open to the public as a maritime museum and library.

Take a look.

(calm music) - [Joseph] From the time of the first settlers in 1792, Sodus Bay was considered an ideal harbor for exporting farm products and other commodities.

Sodus Bay prospered, and became known for its lumber, grain, and coal trade, commercial fishing, ice industry, and shipbuilding.

The first lighthouse on Sodus Bay was established in 1825.

The original lighthouse was a round tower rising 40 feet.

The existing lighthouse replaced it in 1871 when the need for extensive repairs was recognized.

The tower was fitted with a fourth order Fresnel lens.

The stone for the construction of the new lighthouse was transported across Lake Ontario from Kingston, Ontario.

During the 76 years, the old and new lighthouses were in service from 1825 to 1901.

15 keepers were responsible for the care and operation of the light.

- Our very first keeper here, his name was Ishmael Hill and he was a veteran of the war of 1812, and was appointed to this position.

He was subsequently removed from the position for reason of insanity.

However, some of the people who had signed the complaint against him, it's questionable as to what the motives were.

One of the people signing the complaint was Bennet Fitzhugh who became our second lighthouse keeper here.

- [Joseph] Silt and sand deposited on the shoreline at Sodus Bay over the years gradually created a large sandy section of land pushing the old Sodus Point Lighthouse back nearly a mile from the harbor.

As a result, other lights were needed to mark the entrance to the harbor.

A permanent beacon called the Sodus Outer Light was installed in 1870 and later replaced by this 45-foot tower installed in 1938 at the end of an 800-foot concrete pier.

After improvements were made to the pier light, the lighthouse board determined that this beacon was sufficient and decommissioned the shore light in 1901.

The Fresnel lens was removed and placed in the pier light.

The keeper's residence was used from 1901 to 1953 to house personnel maintaining the pier light.

(calm music) - The great advantage for this building was that the residence was attached to the tower.

Once this was decommissioned, the poor keeper now had to go about a mile away to tend to the lights in the middle of the night.

(thunder rumbling) The poor keeper who had to trudge every two to three hours through the night to tend to the lanterns had to go through all sorts of weather.

- [Joseph] The light on the pier was fully automated in the late 1940s, so a keeper was no longer needed.

The last keeper was Edwin Ward who retired in 1953.

In 1984, the US Coast Guard turned the lighthouse and its buildings over to the town of Sodus Point.

Today, the old Sodus Lighthouse is maintained by the Sodus Bay Historical Society.

Here, visitors can climb to the top of the lighthouse.

(calm music) The Fresnel lens was installed in the tower in 1988.

This is not the original lens, but one used in the lighthouse on the pier.

The museum holds sailing, shipping, and lighthouse artifacts, lighthouse artwork, and photography chronicling the history of Sodus Bay, maritime library, and gift shop.

During the summer months, the protected and scenic harbor of Sodus Point is a magnet for vacationers and seasonal residents.

(upbeat music) - Finally tonight, we feature a regional musician who hails from Oswego, New York.

He is Terry LeRoi and he fronts the neo-Victorian shock rock band called Granny 4 Barrel.

Here they are with "Art of Deception."

(rock music) ♪ Beware wolves in sheep's clothing ♪ ♪ Shallow truth for the weak and lonely ♪ ♪ Build a fortress, count the sheep ♪ ♪ Money, power is all deceit ♪ ♪ Deal makers breakin' your trust ♪ ♪ Ashes to ashes, dust to dust ♪ ♪ Turn around and see just who you trust ♪ ♪ Hear the sound, they're stalking their prey ♪ ♪ Beware the ravenous wolves among us ♪ ♪ Infiltrators lying in wait ♪ ♪ Beware the ravenous wolves among us ♪ ♪ Breeding in numbers surrounding the brave ♪ ♪ Stir the flock with confusion ♪ ♪ Camouflaged these shades of illusion ♪ ♪ Build a fortress, count the sheep ♪ ♪ Money, power is all deceit ♪ ♪ Deal makers breakin' your trust ♪ ♪ Ashes to ashes, dust to dust ♪ ♪ Turn around and see just who you trust ♪ ♪ Hear the sound, they're stalking their prey ♪ ♪ Beware the ravenous wolves among us ♪ ♪ Infiltrators lying in wait ♪ ♪ Beware the ravenous wolves among us ♪ ♪ Breeding in numbers surrounding the brave ♪ (rock instrumental music) ♪ Turn around and see just who you trust ♪ ♪ Hear the sound, they're stalking their prey ♪ ♪ Beware the ravenous wolves among us ♪ ♪ Infiltrators lying in wait ♪ ♪ Beware the ravenous wolves among us ♪ ♪ Breeding in numbers surrounding the brave ♪ ♪ Beware the ravenous wolves among us ♪ ♪ Breeding in numbers surrounding the brave ♪ - That does it for us this Tuesday evening.

Join us next week for a fresh look inside the stories.

Ticks are no joke this year.

We'll share with you what to watch out for this fall on both sides of the border, and more natural remedies to share as we move into the winter months.

We'll introduce you to Chinese medicine and all of its benefits.

We'll have all these stories and more next week.

Meantime, if you have a story idea you'd like to see us explore, or you're a poet or a musician that would like to be featured, email us at wpbsweekly@wpbstv.org.

Until then, good night, everyone.

- [Narrator] "WPBS Weekly: Inside The Stories" is brought to you by the Daisy Marquis Jones Foundation, dedicated to improving the wellbeing of communities by helping disadvantaged children and families.

Online at dmjf.org.

The Watertown Oswego Small Business Development Center, a free resource offering confidential business advice for those interested in starting or expanding their small business.

Serving Jefferson, Lewis, and Oswego counties since 1986.

Online at watertown.nyspdc.org.

♪ Hear the sound, they're stalking their prey ♪ ♪ Beware the ravenous wolves among us ♪ ♪ Infiltrators lying in wait ♪ (cheerful music)