Tuesday's With Dave

We knew them when   I sometimes liken the hero’s journey to a video game. Now, my video game career peaked with Pac Man but I understand that you learn a game, you like a game, you master a game, and then the game moves you up a level. Same skills and techniques, just everything faster and therefore more challenging. Some people just like winning and stay at the low level. Maybe they get frustrated and stop. Others are challenged by the game and want to master it even though the demands are greater, and everything moves faster and faster. Loving such challenges make you grow in your skill, and in your experience.    Kevin Pangos was maybe the best high school basketball player in Ontario, but he believed in himself and wanted more. He was the youngest player to ever play for the Senior Men’s national team at 16 but he wanted more. He went on to an All-American career at Gonzaga, four-time all-conference player and player of the year in his senior year. But he wanted more....

 The Land and the People Olympia Sports Camp is located on the land that once was the  traditional territories of the Anishinaabeg, specifically the Chippewa, Ojibwa and Potawatomi peoples. It became part of the European settlement process and became a  fur trading post. Gordon Hill, owner of nearby Limberlost Lodge, a well-known Muskoka resort at the time, purchased the land in 1921, to be used for cross-country skiing and horseback riding.  Hill named the area Interlaken, as it was an idyllic spot between two lakes called Fatty Lake (now Oxbow) and Long Lake (now Dotty).   The Royal Norwegian Air Force bought the land in 1941 as a training and recreation base during WWll. They called the land Vesle Skaugum, in honour of Crown Prince Olaf, whose residence just outside of Oslo went by the same name. The Norwegians sold the land in 1945 to the Toronto Kiwanis Boys and Girls Club, who ran a camp for underprivileged children until they sold the land in 1979 and it ...

The Olympia family-no air quotes needed   With last Saturday being National Siblings day, the internet was filled with pictures of brothers and sisters. I saw lots of pictures of people I know from Olympia and a thought hit me: you don’t have to be blood siblings to be family, and Olympia is an example of that.  The culture of the hero’s journey is about encouragement and helping others achieve while we ourselves achieve. That makes for a familial atmosphere that creates deep bonds, bonds that can last for decades. Just think of how many people that you met at Olympia that you consider family. The term is used loosely in many ways as a buzz word for togetherness, but no air quotes are needed when talking about the Olympia family.   Another aspect of National Siblings day when thinking about the people at camp Olympia is the great opportunity for siblings to work together at camp. The list of siblings at camp is long and a pretty cool aspect of life at camp. ...

  The Heart of An Olympian   Society’s scorecard measures success by ego-driven and reactionary factors like money and power, possessions and achievements, and recognition from outside sources. These factors in life are important but they scratch the surface of what true success really means.    In A Hero’s Journey: From Little Norway to Olympia Sports Camp the misconception of such societal success is exposed as the hero sees success not as individual accomplishments but rather the impact our lives have on others. This quote captures the concept very well and reminds me of of an everyday hero of week 5.   Meet  Danielle Arsenault . Hers is a journey of caring and inclusion. Danielle is from a small town in rural Quebec. Starting at age 12, her club team went to the KC Jones camp in New York State for a couple of years. Legendary coach Richie Spears suggested that they try another camp that is in Ontario. He had coached at Olympia and loved it.  ...