Trevor Crawford of FALCN Media conceived and created CCRA Community Memories, a short film
celebrating Centennial. Fran Keeler, one of Centennial’s first homeowners was included in the film.
By Janice Bennink
Throughout CCRA’s 75th anniversary in 2024, Centennial News shared bits and pieces of the community history that shaped us. But what is the importance of marking local milestones?
Perhaps celebrating a milestone reminds us that we are part of something larger. Anniversaries allow us the time to reflect on the past, appreciate where we are today and collectively consider what’s to come.
Centennial resident Trevor Crawford, Content Strategist at FALCN Media, recognizes the importance of documenting these reflections. For CCRA’s anniversary, Trevor saw the possibility of contributing something valuable to the community where he has lived for 10 years. He approached CCRA with the idea of creating a 75th anniversary video that would capture the memories of Centennial residents and share them in their own words.
Trevor believes that preserving today’s stories is important for the future, and tries to impress that on his clients. In the same way, he wanted to bring Centennial’s stories to life in a memorable and inspiring way.
He feels that “these stories and milestones may eventually be forgotten. I wanted to get them out in a way that is archival, something that can be added to the community record…something that the community has to mark the 75th year, and can refer back to at the 100th, and the 200th”.
So Trevor began interviewing Centennial residents who went on camera with personal stories and cherished memories. Over 2024, he created CCRA Community Memories, a 25 minute video of conversations about how our neighbourhood’s challenges were met with resilience, how a sense of belonging has shaped generations, and about our hopes for the future.
In the video, long-time residents like the inimitable Fran Keeler share memories of early years here, and Charlane Braithwaite recalls her mother Rella as she began her journey researching Black history for her son. We meet Julie McCraney, on the joys of leading local Girl Guides, and youth volunteers at West Rouge Soccer Club sharing their enjoyment coaching children. CCRA’s strong role within Centennial was discussed with several past-presidents including Eva Nichols, Gay Cowbourne and Jennifer McKelvie, as well as current president Kathy Rowe.
The video is a labour of community love, and it can be seen in the passion of over a dozen interviewees. Their enthusiasm was matched by Trevor’s, who says of his role as interviewer and videographer: “I had a blast. We truly do live in a very unique and special part of Scarborough”.
“Having a community association that values peoples’ ideas and contributions, and brings people together with a common voice to make the neighbourhood even better, is the best gift we can give each other”.
Shot both in studio and locations around Centennial, viewers feel real affection for familiar scenes of our parks and waterfront as backdrops for heartfelt interviews. If you have forgotten why you love this neighbourhood, Community Memories will remind and reconnect you with so many reasons to celebrate the past 75 years here, and look forward to the next.
