Jacqueline Duttenhoffer lives just outside of the boundaries of McCauley in the Alberta Avenue area. Jacqueline is a long-time volunteer with the McCauley Community League. She is the President of Heart of the City Festival Society and says, “It’s the most rewarding volunteer job.”

Jacqueline got involved with Heart of the City when she was working at a restaurant called The Local Omnivore. James Jarvis, former Heart of the City board member who died in 2023, was working at VUE Weekly at the time, so he was always bringing in clients to eat. “If you know James, then you know that he was one of the hardest people to say no to, and so that is how it began.”

Jacqueline describes her first role with Heart of the City as “Stage Assistant.” 

“I was working with [former board member] Gautam Karnik and he was the kindest person ever. I was nervous because I had to walk up to people backstage, and then there was sound, and then there was the main stage and that is where I had to work all day! Gautam made it the funnest job.” 

The highlight of Heart of the City for Jacqueline this year “was doing the Round Dance in the rain. It was awesome because it just started pouring and Spirit Within (Alicia Cardinal) came on stage, and no one was there because of the pouring rain.”  

Jacqueline had done research on Spirit Within and she was so impressed with her story she was compelled to go watch. “I ran over and I grabbed her hands and then three other people came and then Gautam Karnik came and it was like magic. It wasn’t cold and the rain didn’t bother me.”

As for art, Jacqueline was a chef for 18 years. “I didn’t just make food to sustain, I made food to evoke emotion, you know really putting love into it. I made food that people reacted to. That’s art.”

Jacqueline also loves beading, Métis art, dot art, and making collages. “I really like to create something out of nothing if I had to sum it all up,” she says.

“Well, that is what we do with Heart of the City,” she adds. “We are a volunteer-run society. We don’t have any money. We have to go after funding and build the festival every year.” Jacqueline wishes to thank Heart of the City’s major sponsors: McCauley Community League, Edmonton Arts Council, the City of Edmonton’s Revitalization fund, and Boyle McCauley News.

Jacqueline and her family have found home and community here in the inner city. She first lived on 124th Street and 111th Avenue. “I was a young mom and just being able to walk out of my apartment and walk down and have all of the stuff [going on] made me fall in love with the inner city. Then I found Heart of the City. Then I got to meet everyone in McCauley and see all the beautiful stuff that community members just do to support each other out of the goodness of their hearts, something we have been moving around looking for our whole lives.”

Corine Demas lives in McCauley where she is the President of the McCauley Community League and a board member with Heart of the City.