Life
Cleve Sandy
By Andrew Leyenhorst
“ is a discovery , you know ? It can be doom and gloom and ‘ fail this and that ’ and ‘ woe is me ,’ or you can embrace it and say ,‘ What can I learn today ?’” Cleve Sandy , hailing from East York , ON and owner of Sandy Audio Visual ( SAV ) in Toronto , is a man that very much understands the virtue in harnessing one ’ s own power to inspire both themselves and those around them .
“ Everybody has a talent . It ’ s just a matter of you understanding it and learning about them ,” Sandy says . Possessing a multitude of talents of his own , his original inspiration was his father , Dr . Cleve P . Sandy , a visionary who even now at the age of 85 continues to lead by example as the proprietor of South Caribbean Media in his native Trinidad and Tobago .“ He ’ s a healthy dude . He ’ s stronger than you and me !” Sandy says of his father .
Growing up in the ‘ 70s , Cleve and his brother Colin Sandy ( who owns and operates a separate SAV team in Laurel , MD ) were consistently immersed in their father ’ s collection of analog technology ranging from film cameras and slide projectors to tape machines , learning everything he could teach them about AV .
Musically inclined , Sandy blossomed as the house drummer at Toronto East Church , before forming his own gospel group , Excel , in 1988 . He also played percussion in the concert and stage bands in junior high and high school . Though drumming was his musical passion , before he ever picked up the sticks , Dr . Sandy and Cleve ’ s mother , Eileen Sandy , were of the belief that their son should learn the piano .“ I had to endure six years of the Royal Conservatory , man … before I could get to what I wanted to do . I want to play drums !” he amusingly recounts .
Sandy would frequently see concerts at the Ontario Place Forum ( since demolished and replaced by the Budweiser Stage amphitheatre ) for only the price of park admission .“ I ’ m not only there for the live performance , I ’ m also there for the technological performance ,” he explains . He recalls thinking ,“ Okay , let me see how the speakers are hung , the type of speakers they ’ re using , the backline … I ’ m looking up in the air at how things are rigged and how things are flown and thought ,‘ Whoa , I love this stuff .’” A multi-faceted love , as beyond performing and observing , he has also handled concerts from a promotional standpoint .
Sandy was also a talented athlete at East York Collegiate , proficient in nearly every sport , from hockey and football to his greater passions , soccer and track and field ; the latter of which earned him a recruitment in the ninth grade to train with the University of Toronto ’ s elite Track program with a shot at representing Canada at the Olympics . Having also played with the Wexford Soccer Club in Scarborough , Sandy remains a soccer superfan , keeping tabs on the sport all around the world .
After graduating from East York Collegiate , Sandy entered into Seneca College ’ s registered nursing program before realizing it was not his calling , but now amidst the pandemic finds himself reminiscing about that experience . “ Right now during COVID , I wonder how many people are thinking , if they had some experience like that , do they go back to it ? Do they pursue that avenue if they don ’ t see any food on the table ?” While he elected not to complete the registered nursing program , Sandy did spend a handful of years working in the pharmacy department at St . Michael ’ s Hospital .
Eventually , Sandy chose to decisively pursue his love for the audiovisual and production that was instilled in him by his father , and he attended Toronto ’ s Harris Institute , where he graduated with honours and set his sights on a new goal . “ I knew I wanted to do my own business . Growing up with my dad , he was always in the business so I said , ‘ I want to learn as much as I can , meet as many people as I can so I can make do for myself ,’ because one thing we need to learn how to do is to be a provider .”
With support from his brother Colin , Sandy Audio Visual began to come to life , and eventually fruition , as the company recently celebrated its 25 th anniversary under Sandy ’ s leadership and is now a cornerstone for high-quality video streaming productions as well as traditional AV services . SAV also offers a post-secondary scholarship through Kingsway College in Durham , ON .
Sandy now resides in Oshawa with his wife of 24 years , Maridette , and his daughter Cayla . The location , however , does not change the fact that he is an East York man . Amidst the pandemic , he and Maridette have begun operating Rio Claro Fine Foods and Rio Claro Creamery , offering authentic homemade Caribbean cuisine with accents of the Philippines , and homemade ice cream , respectively . While the family has been required to step away from their love of hosting highly-regarded parties complete with live music , they have been enjoying taking advantage of this time to meaningfully reconnect .
“ If you ask me what I ’ m most proud of , I ’ m proud that I ’ ve survived all this time . And I ’ ve been able to help put food on people ’ s tables . I ’ m still here , and I ’ m here as a Black person , as a Black business owner . There ’ s more pressure , more challenges as somebody like myself , whether it ’ s overt or covert little microaggressions , the way you ’ re treated . When you look around , there ’ s very few people who look like me who are in a position of ownership and authority ,” he explains .
Cleve Sandy has embraced life ’ s challenges and turned them into inspiration . Perhaps it ’ s not only his father ’ s name he inherited , but the qualities of someone we can all learn something from .
Andrew Leyenhorst is the Assistant Editor of Professional Lighting & Production .
PHOTO : SOLOMON SAMUEL
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Spring 2021 | 35