From the ground up with Brenda Cheveldayoff

In this episode I speak with Brenda Cheveldayoff. Brenda is a busy woman to say the least. She is a full-time grain farmer in Blaine Lake Saskatchewan with a passion for sharing an under told story of the Russian Doukhobors in Canada. If you’ve never heard of the Doukhobors in Canada, you’re not alone. Brenda is working hard to change that and by way of an extremely short history lesson from the doukhobordugouthouse.com , in 1899, Russian Doukhobors fled their homeland and settled in the Blaine Lake area of Saskatchewan, Canada. They adapted to the harshness of their environment by digging into the North Saskatchewan River ravine, where they built a dugout house, in the style of houses in the Caucus. The Caucus is an area spanning eastern Europe and Western Asia mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. Brenda has meticulously restored that original dug out house to preserve and share Doukhobor culture and history. It has since, become an award-winning tourism destination where guests can explore the house, learn about the history of the Doukhobors in Canada from actors in period costumes and even sample some traditionally inspired cuisine. There is so much more to the Doukhobor story that we weren’t able to touch on in this episode. Please visit Brenda’s website www.doukhobordugouthouse.com to learn more. Better yet, take a drive to Blain Lake Saskatchewan to experience Brenda’s passion and hard work firsthand. Brenda is a long time Firecircle member. If you or someone you know is serious about turning your passion into a business but don’t know where to begin, come visit us at thefirecircle.ca/memberships to see how our proven tools, resources and mentorship can get you there.