Season two of The Open House kicks off with Sarah and Chris of Event Horizon Hobbies, the Midland game store built on a simple idea: everyone is a nerd about something.

Their first store, in Toronto, closed. They moved back to Penetang and spent years at Waypoint, the banks and a property management company. Then a backyard barbecue during COVID turned into a plan to try again. This time they studied why so many hobby shops close within a few years and built the opposite: a store that has to be "first dateable," aisles that get nerdier the deeper you go, and staff trained to cheerlead whatever you're into, even if they've never heard of it.

We get into:

- Building a third space

- A corporate team building night where everyone tried to take out their boss

- How to start D&D when you have no idea what you're doing

- The tavern-style D&D room coming to the store

- Raising three boys in a toy store

- Why they'll never sell video games

Plus a summer catch-up: Ben's trip to Portugal with a two-year-old, a 56K finish line, and almost $1,800 raised for Campfire Circle. And some news of our own: we've moved into a shared office at Route 93 in downtown Midland.

D&D drop-in is Thursdays at 6:30. Find Event Horizon Hobbies at eventhorizonhobbies.com

Know someone who should be on the show? Send us their name.

Chapters

00:00 Intro

00:32 Season two kickoff and summer catch-up

03:08 Meet Sarah and Chris from Event Horizon Hobbies

04:56 "We should be doing more": filtering the noise as a business owner

10:08 Penetang, Toronto, and their first store

15:34 COVID, a backyard barbecue, and starting again

17:33 Why so many hobby shops fail

20:35 Training staff to cheerlead your choices

24:15 Building a third place

29:10 Is it first dateable? How the store is laid out

34:39 Events, birthday parties and corporate team building

37:39 D&D for complete beginners

49:48 Thursday drop-ins and a tavern-themed D&D room

51:25 Growing up in a game store

56:09 The bunker question: one game for the apocalypse

58:07 Why they'll never sell video games

1:01:48 "So you are a gamer": sharing games with your kids

1:04:45 Keeping competition friendly

1:08:12 The real win in business

1:10:37 Our new office at Route 93

Season one comes to a close. Thirty episodes in, and roughly 44 percent of podcasts never make it past three, so Ben and Richard take a minute to sit with that.

No guest this time. Just the two of them looking back at the year: what they took from every person who sat down with them, why this town keeps surprising them, and how a show they figured might reach ten episodes turned into a weekly habit they both look forward to.

Along the way, Richard's wife Emily joining his mortgage business, the case for getting people on record while you still can, a couple of business ideas that got away from them, Ben's pitch for why YouTube is a sleeping giant, and the $1,000 this show helped raise for Campfire Circle.

There is some talk of death. There is some talk of hockey. There is a 100 mile race Ben finally says out loud.

Season two starts in September. Send us the names of people who should be on it.

FROZEN TIX: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/midlandculturalcentre/2232657

Ben's Pain For A Good Cause:

https://support.campfirecircle.org/diy/bens-pain-for-a-good-cause

This week on The Open House Podcast, we're joined by the incredible Lori-Ann "Clants" Clancy, founder of the Georgian Bay Musical Theatre Company and a beloved educator who spent decades inspiring students across our community. From growing up in Oshawa and finding her way to Midland through a chance encounter at a teacher recruitment fair, to building one of the region's most successful community theatre organizations, Lori-Ann's story is full of passion, perseverance, and purpose.

We talk about her teaching career, coaching basketball, the power of making young people feel seen and heard, and how a simple conversation inside the Midland Cultural Centre eventually led to the creation of GBMTC. Lori-Ann also shares behind-the-scenes stories from launching the company, surviving the challenges of community theatre, and bringing productions like Frozen to life.

Along the way, we dive into favourite musicals, the magic of live performance, small-town community building, and why the relationships you create often matter more than the show itself.

Whether you're a theatre lover, educator, parent, volunteer, or someone looking for a reminder of what happens when passionate people invest in their community, this is an episode you won't want to miss.