Thank You..Thank you very much

 

At Olympia Sports Camp there are those who come for a week of camp, there are those who come for a week of camp for several years, there are those who aspire to become one of the cool counsellors, there are those who began their Olympia journey very young as a coach’s kid, there are those who grow through the ranks of staff to become senior staff, there are a select few who become full time staff, there are coaches who come to camp year after year, some until their own kids stop coming, while others need their Olympia fix and keep coming.

 

And then there is Danny Russell. Now we are talking originals.

 

To be accurate Danny missed the first three years of Olympia as he was playing senior lacrosse for the Owen Sound North Stars, and they were always in the playoffs leading to the Minto Cup. Truth be told, though, Danny Russell was in on the original discussion of Dave Grace opening a sports camp, sitting around the Phys Ed office, just talking dreams. How original is Danny? Danny taught at North Toronto Collegiate before Dave Grace did.

 

“Dave came over to North Toronto C.I. from Harbord C.I. in the fall of 1974 and we shared an office for five years,” Danny recalls,” he broached the topic of starting a camp and asked if I was interested. Of course I said yes, dependant on my lacrosse playoffs. I retired from lacrosse in 1978 and became a camp regular.”

 

Danny speaks highly of his teaching partner and his impact at North Toronto and knew this leader-before-his-time would be a success at whatever he set his mind to, including running a sports camp.

 

“Dave and I, along with department head Brock Cromwell, coached football and basketball every year, and did track by committee in the spring,” Danny says,” Without a doubt Dave, more a football guy than a basketball guy, revitalized our football and basketball programs, winning three football championships in five years, and those great basketball teams led by Bill Pangos of Olympia fame. It was at North Toronto that Dave really started to use motivational techniques to encourage athletic performance. Far ahead of his time. I find Dave to be one of the great experts on motivation in Canada.”

 

Danny, Dave, and Brock coached North Toronto teams to much success, but Dave had bigger ideas. Danny wanted in on this idea and joined the Olympia coaching staff as soon as he could.

 

Danny spent 1978 and 1979 at the rental camp at Winnebagoe and then joined Dave at the present site, purchased from the Toronto Kiwanis Club, and was there till 2017. Week 8 was his traditional week there is a great story as to how Danny did a second week.

 

“I always went week 8 because that was one of the original weeks at Winnebagoe.  In the early 80’s a coach bailed out of week 2 at the last moment and Dave, in a semi panic, called his single bachelor friend to help him out of the bind. Of course I went. That last minute call  led me to continue to go week 2 for 35 years!. Going week 2 and 8 made for an awesome summer."

 

Knowing I was in the presence of one of the architects of the camp, I knew I was going to get great perspective of Olympia through the years. Coaching at the Winnebagoe site turned out to be much different than the halcyon days at Interlaken.

 

“The morning would start off with a camp run before breakfast and the first session. Al Quance of Oakwood used to lead the entire camp, campers, counsellors, and coaches, in the morning run and fitness. The flow of the day was about the same but included in the coach’s responsibilities was night duty, watching over the campers who were exhausted from a tough day on the courts.  Coaches used to bring basketballs and cones from their respective schools and helped Dave with the hiring of good, dependable students as counsellors,” Danny recalls,” Once we got to the present site two main things changed; no more morning runs and no more night duty. The counsellors were now in charge of the campers.”

 

“I divide the years at Interlaken into two eras and that is based on the coach’s lounge. In the early years there was just the small, cozy room with the fireplace and only coaches and their wives were allowed. It built such a sense of community, having so much fun at the end of a long day, and the wives became such good friends. When the expansion to the main hall took place, the lounge was made much bigger and the senior staff were allowed to socialize with the coaches. I always thought it was great that these great senior staff could join in on whatever the coaches were doing, whether that be a euchre tournament, an awards ceremony, or a music night, making the community larger.”

 

What Danny failed to mention was that he and his vast array of music were central to these music nights for years. Danny was the DJ at a couple of Olympia weddings, adding his trademark humour to the musical entertainment. Mention Danny Russell to those of a certain vintage and the love of everything Elvis would come up.

 

But with anything Olympia, it comes down to the people. Whenever Danny and Bill Pangos, a North Toronto student who was an original counsellor would cross paths at Olympia the tales, and the laughs, would come out. Danny remembers the dedication shown by John Corrente from Chatham, one of the best shooting coaches around, who would help any camper who asked to spend extra time working on the biomechanics of their shot. 

 

“With almost 40 years at Olympia I can probably go into every medium sized city or town in Ontario and have a drink with an Olympia coach I have met. Ross Black, who I always called the winningest albino coach at Olympia, have become deep, deep friends despite his misguided politics. Dennis Quinn from Kingston too. I treasure and their friendships and our chats on sports, politics, and life.”

For Danny Russell's contribution to the fibre of the Olympia family, we quote his favourite. As Elvis said:

" Thank You, Thank you very much"

                                        Week 8 legends John Corrente, Ross Black,

                                        Patrick Russell, and Matt Ruhnke

The link to the blog is TuesdayswithDave.blogspot.com

This blog is about the journey of the writing of the book A Hero's Journey: From Little Norway to Olympia Sports Camp. The blog will contain excerpts from the book and my personal thoughts on what the place and the people that make up Olympia's journey is all about. The title comes from the great book Tuesdays With Morrie, by Mitch Albom. The blog's title is recognizing Dave Grace as Camp Director, but all content is my own.