The Stranger Among Us

Emily Foster, Jordan Romania, and I are huddled close in Lawrence at the UofO. On the phone is Kevin Tuerff, writer of Channel of Peace, and main character of Come From Away. Come From Away is a musical documenting the kindness of Canadian town Gander, a small town of around 10,000 that took in 7,000 people when their flights were redirected during 9/11. “The food is what amazed me the most” he says “it was almost biblical, they managed to feed all 7,000 of us with fish and a few loaves of bread.” As he continues, the comparison seems to fade as he remembers the quality of the food there.“We were set up on a college campus (the College of the North Atlantic, Gander campus) that had a commercial cooking course, and they had students lined up making food. This food was delicious too. We had just taken a trip around Europe and the food was better in Gander!"I can almost hear the twinkle in his eye as he continues, opening the floodgates of his memory. "I remember they had these stuffed chickens that were to die for. I remember being shocked-where could anyone have gotten 250 stuffed chickens? Years later I asked that question during a reunion and a woman came up to me afterward. ‘Im Elizabeth Moss,’ she said, 'I bought all the chickens!’"He laughs, and for a moment, the surrounding situation seems to melt away. What happened in Gander was so human the extenuating circumstances can almost be forgotten, but they are not. In fact, they shouldn’t be, according to Tuerff. "What is important to remember about the Gander situation is that it represents to full spectrum of human emotion,” he says. Although it all began with a tragedy, it ends on a positive note. “I think Gander is important because it inspires us to care about the stranger among us.” Although we aren’t strangers anymore, Tuerff’s story has certainly inspired me.

Caden Bohn #uonyc2017