Tuesday's With Dave

  If you want to focus on what a leader is, on what a hero is; just look at the journey of one of Canada's greatest heroes, Terry Fox. Or look at the life of Margot Brandreth. Joy and I drove up to beautiful Collingwood on Sunday, and the beauty of the drive coupled with the intensity and emotion of the audiobook we were listening to made the miles just fly by. Truth be told the only bad part of the trip was seeing a sign for the future site of highway 413. The people who want to pave over paradise should meet some of the great people of Collingwoood Ontario. That's who leaders are. Its just not about money. It's about love.  The book we are listening to is called Hope , by Terry Fox and edited  by Barbara Adhiya. It is the reason for this connection to the Hero's Journey. Hope takes you along Terry's journey through the perspective and stories of some of  the people he met along the way. Their stories show the impact one person can have on a nation. People's l...

From Camper to Counsellor to Constable This blog was started on Dec 8 2020 to promote my then soon- to- be published second book A Hero's Journey: Beyond Little Norway and Olympia Sports Camp . It contained excerpts from the book and stories about how the book came about, including how the blog became named Tuesdays With Dave .  Now the blog has branched off to feature Olympia heroes and their journeys. My content is either self-developed or developed through suggestions and connections of Olympia staff. This week's blog is a letter that a former Olympia camper and counsellor felt he needed to share with Greg Rogers and now I have permission to share with the Olympia family. There are hundreds of people who feel they owe a debt of gratitude to Dave Grace and the Olympia experience for what they have done and become since their halcyon days on OxBow Lake. If you or someone you know has a story to share let me know at the mail below. My book captured lots of stori...

 The Journey of an Olympian Madeleine Kelly represented Canada in the 800m at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. How she got there and the role of her dad, her coach, and Olympia Sports Camp makes her journey an example of a level of tenacity and commitment that makes the return all the more rewarding. Maddy first attended Olympia as a camper when she was 12. She loved everything about the place and felt she came into her own, surrounded by like-minded people and positivity that allowed her confidence to flourish. The counsellors motivated her, to the point that she too wanted to be a counsellor some day. She was a camper for two more years and decided that "the best thing ever"would be to try to get hired at camp.  But there was a problem. After her group interview in Etobicoke she was asked if she would come to camp as a sailing instructor. She loved the idea but the problem was that she didn't have any of her lifeguard qualifications in order to do the job. After that inter...

Meet Miggy How many Olympia alumni still have a nickname that originated at camp ? The culture and community of Olympia creates an atmosphere where such things happen. This blog is about journeys. Miggy's is one of the best. I'm glad I got to witness a part of it. Meet Miguel A Grande. A great counsellor, a great coach, a great person who lived with a physical condition that makes his journey more amazing and heroic. When he started working camps through the YMCA and Camp Belwood, Miguel met many people who had worked at camps for 10 years and he always wondered why anyone would spend their entire summers at camp. Then Miguel got to Olympia in 2013 and became Miggy.  Olympia from day 1 did something to Miggy. Everyone brought him into their fun, enthusiastic spirit, which brought his out, and Miggy was hooked. He remembers fondly his first Sunday Jamboree, meeting the legendary Bruce Ransom, and especially meeting the Unit Leaders that inspired him to become one too. Miggy wa...

  Every Tourney has a Journey With the 2025  NCAA basketball tournament in full flight, one has a myriad of storylines to follow. One Shining Moment times 68 teams. There is so much passion from fans across the NCAA that it has created the term March Madness. Fans are committed to their teams, or committed to just watching good basketball. Yet every year there are personal stories that just take your breath away. This story is just one, but a great one for Olympia Sports Camp to be proud of. The story I share is not from this year. The story I share is from ten years ago even though it feels like a moment ago. The story I share involves the favourite NCAA player for a lot of people, especially those who have shared the courts of Olympia Sports Camp with Gonzaga's Kevin Pangos. I spent five years following Kevin's journey while researching for my book  Can't Miss: The Kevin Pangos Story and I got to meet and interview a lot of great people but the excerpt I share here may ...

 Dave Grace makes instagram! This posting, nicely put out by the Olympia staff, and  the picture of Dave at the 50th Anniversary made me want to revisit the life of this man who started with a dream that we all became part of. The following is an excerpt from A Hero's Journey: Beyond Little Norway and Olympia Sports Camp that captures the essence of his journey well. The text is from Chapter 2: Your Commitment to Your Call to Adventure.  Dave had a dream to run his own sports camp, but its his commitment to making that dream a reality that is most impressive. A kid from London, Ontario who loved sports and loved camps combined those two loves and created one of the most successful camps in Canada, all while inspiring thousands.  Look at any list of former campers, counsellors, and coaches and you will see people who have dared to 'Take The Bat Off The Shoulder' in pursuing their goals. They witnessed Dave commit on a daily basis and that inspired them that they too ...