I never have met Ally Dunham ( yet)

 I admire Ally Dunham. Here's a compliment;  She's like her mom.

You'll have to read the book ( at least page 155-159) to get the whole story but the words that Ally wrote after her mother Kelly's  death took us all on a journey of understanding and love for the woman we lost but also showed  the beauty and strength of her daughter. Ally's journey continues despite the trauma of losing her mother, a mentor to hundreds and a deep, deep friend to so many.


To see what Ally wrote on Facebook last week makes the journey I am on feel very worth it. I hope that people enjoy and learn about themselves through reading A Hero's Journey: Beyond Little Norway and Olympia Sports Camp, but it really hit home when Ally got her copy of the book and read the beautiful journey of her mom and her aunt Marnie. And then felt the need to let me know what the story meant to her. The impact of the two most important influences on her young life is obvious as is her maturity and her strength.

Ally, the Olympia Book Tour described below gives me a new goal. I would be honoured to meet you at one of the events. ( Maybe you could even  host one at Brock )  Bring your book and I'll write something about  one of the most inspiring people I ever met and someone you  seem to take after in many ways.


OFFICIAL BOOK LAUNCH

The book will be officially launched at the place where the story of the book took place. 

Date: Sunday Oct 9

Time: 2-4pm

Location: The Rec Hall


THE TOUR OF OLYMPIA

Plans are underway to bring A Hero's Journey: Beyond Little Norway and Olympia Sports Camp to Olympians far and wide. Books will be available for sale. Cash, credit and debit accepted.The potential of mini-Olympia reunions would be awesome! I'm looking forward to this part of the journey as Olympians will be helping make this happen. What better example of the Olympia way. It takes a village, a community of heroes. Much more information will be coming in future editions of TWD. If you would like to host an event in your town email me at coachdools71@gmail.com.

If you can't wait for the TOUR OF OLYMPIA you can order the book at the following link:

https://books.friesenpress.com/store/title/119734000114201182


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
 Karl Svoboda began his rugby career at Belleville's Centennial Secondary School and the Belleville Bulldogs club team. When he started with the Bulldogs at 16 he was the club's youngest player. When he retired from the game he was the club's oldest, and probably most accomplished. Karl had success in rugby the world over. He won three OUA championships with the University of Toronto Blues and he first made Canada's national team in 1985. He ended up being team captain of the national team for years and played in the first three Rugby World Cups in 1987, 1991, and 1995. He also played senior rugby for the Ajax Wanderers and attended the prestigious Oxford University in England at the dawn of professional rugby in 1996. I gleaned this information from research because for a decade or more of sharing week 5 coaching duties and sitting around campfires this understated superstar would rather play guitar and talk about fishing or that day's bike ride or swim than boast
Read more
Image
In the summer of 2019,  Blaine Scatcherd  was introducing himself at the opening meeting of week 5 and told the assembly of coaches that he worked as a counsellor at Olympia for 4 ¾ years. People who knew the story, including Dave Grace, roared with laughter at the self-effacing honesty Blaine showed when recounting an incident that may have been the worst in his career, yet a defining moment that changed him forever and made him a better teacher and coach, and a better person.    Blaine Scatcherd is from Ottawa, where he was coached in football at Glebe Collegiate Institute by Olympia coach Skip Riddell. He went on to play football at Acadia University and played professionally in France for 2 years before embarking on his teaching profession.   “Skip recommended to me in grade 11 that I work at Olympia as it was a great place for an athlete and would-be coach, so I applied to Olympia with Skip’s reference. I went down to Toronto for a group interview and thought I aced it. I didn’t g
Read more
Image
They say that a picture tells a thousand words. How about two pictures? In the writing of A Hero's Journey: Beyond Little Norway and Olympia Sports Camp I got to interview a lot of people dedicated to Olympia and to the vision of Dave Grace. Out of this process I learned three things about the 50- year journey of the staff of Olympia: 1- Olympia inspires young people 2- Staff inspire others to do the same 3- Staff move on in their lives, carrying Olympia with them, while others replace  Staff like Randy Kipfer and Kevin O'Reilly This picture of Harlem Globetrotter Curly Neal with some amazing counsellors can be found in the book at the start of Chapter 6-Allies and Ogres . It captures an Olympia moment shared by good friends and a world-class basketball entertainer, but the insert is the key element of an Olympia journey that spans decades.  There are literally hundreds of stories of staff who have graced the lands of Interlaken. Every story is unique, every story is echoed th
Read more