The Evening Meeting
Contact:
Liv Ahlnäs
- Registration for this event is now closed.
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30 Apr. 2026 |
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 Belleville
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From Rotarian John Smale:
Join us for a casual evening of conversation and Rotarian fellowship with Zubin Gillespie and Kim Fedore. They will talk about the positivity of investment and participation in the downtown and how they see a bright future.Following is a snapshot of my friends that I culled from a article in Watershed Magazine on the opening of the Blue Violin (formerly O’Connors Jewellers) - just one of their projects in downtown.
Kim and Zubin met as musicians and became business partners and globetrotting antique dealers – and eventually a couple looking for a building to save. They fell in love with the Belleville location as well as the area, and they injected that love and artistic mojo into a number projects on historic Front St at a time when Belleville is losing historic buildings at an alarming rate.
As a young boy, Zubin was already building things and working with his hands. His construction and restoration journey began at fifteen by cleaning brick in Vancouver’s Gastown district. He attended art school and shortly after built his first home of timber and stone. After he completed a restoration project for the historic town of Barkerville, music beckoned and he joined a gypsy jazz band; however, he also had the wanderlust. As Zubin explains, “After a career in music, I began travelling to Asia in 1991 and did not stop until 2011. I went to Southeast Asia for silk, India, China and Mongolia for furniture and architecture, and Afghanistan and Central Asia for antique carpets and textiles.”
Kim was a smart, active child who loved academia. She was born in Calgary into a family immersed in their community. She later moved to Dallas, eventually living in seven cities as a graphic designer, writer and antique collector who was especially fond of textiles and rugs. She too has made many treks to India, China and Berlin. Kim explains, “Our background as antique dealers is the cornerstone of developing the style of interior design that you see in Blue Violin and our other renovations.”