Grande Prairie City Councilor Kevin O'Toole (left) and Kiesha Mastrodimos (middle) present Better Than Fred's Owner John Kriska (right) with the 2020 Inclusive Community Award. Photo Credit: Kiesha Mastrodimos

By Shane Clausing

Community Inclusion

2020 Inclusive Community Award handed out to local restauranteur

Dec 4, 2020 | 4:40 PM

Better Than Fred’s Owner John Kriska has been presented with the 2020 Inclusive Community Award.

The Inclusive Community Award is given as part of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which falls on December 3. The award has been presented in Grande Prairie since 2017, and is meant to recognize members of the community who go out of their way to make the community more accessible to anyone and everyone.

One day, Kriska noticed that one of his regular customers, Keisha Mastrodimos, who uses a wheelchair couldn’t access the upper level seating and bar area.

Mastrodimos tells EverythingGP that one of the main reasons she began going to Fred’s was because of the fact that there were pool tables on the main levle which were accessible.

However the only low-top dining tables located on the lower level were over by the stage. far away from most everything else.

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While there was no wheelchair ramp at Fred’s, Mastrodimos said that it wasn’t a big deal.

“I’m used to it. I’m used to places not being wheelchair accessible and I don’t blame people for that. I never go out of my way to be like ‘it needs to be wheelchair accessible’. That’s their decision and I accept that.”

While Mastrodimos was content with the layout as it was, Kriska took notice and decided to do something about the situation.

“One day I was looking around and I was like, ‘my gosh, there’s only one lower table around the stage that’s out of nowhere that she could actually sit in’,” explained Kriska. “So, then I had another girl who came in named Emma and she was also in a wheelchair.”

“I just thought to myself, ‘you know what, we need better access for this. We have the front door entrance, but it’s not as good’. So, I just phoned Lee’s Sheet Metal, they came down, measured it up, it didn’t cost a lot and I just put it into place.”

“I didn’t think of it as anything but a nice thing to do because I appreciated them coming in and wanted to make them feel more welcome and more accessible to the building.”

For Kriska, what was something that was just supposed to be a little addition to the bar turned into a very pleasant surprise for Mastrodimos.

“I was absolutely floored,” said Mastrodimos. “I didn’t ask him to do it. He went above and beyond. He didn’t tell me he was doing it and he just did it on his own. Just so I could be a part of everything and everyone.”

That led to some unsought attention for Kriska on social media.

“Keisha was so pleased that she did a huge Facebook post that went viral,” said Kriska. “I’m a guy that isn’t much into the limelight. It’s a good feeling.”

Mastrodimos says the decision to install a ramp will make everyone feel welcome and more willing to go out.

With that, Mastrodimos nominated Kriska for the 2020 Inclusive Community Award and presented it to him this week, along with Grande Prairie City Councilor Kevin O’Toole.