There's Family, then there's Olympia Family 

Sunday was a beautiful day to drive to Stratford for what turned out to be another Mini-Olympia reunion. We had family there as my cousins Mike, Pete, and Velma Hansford came to support and reconnect. A big part of the early part of my journey was spent in Stratford with the Hansford family. To have them come out sure means a lot. Added to the beauty of the day was Dave and Jacquie West driving  down from Mildmay, near Walkerton, to hit the sites in downtown Stratford and stop in for a book event. Dave and I coached together in the 90's and to count him among my friends means a lot. Dave told Jacquie earlier in the week that all he wanted for his birthday was to go to Stratford for Chris' book event, grab some fish and chips, and hit the Scottish shop in beautiful downtown Stratford. Now that is what I call an ally.

The Olympia aspect of the event was when three Olympia legends walked in; Brian McMahon, Rob Simmons, and Matt Akler. Where did they walk in? To a beautiful cafe called Bowl Bar that is owned by former Olympia coach's kid, and babysitter to Nicole and Daniel, Kim Hurley. Seeing Kim and Krista Hurley, and their kids was awesome. It was also great to reconnect with long-time Olympia coach Dave Hurley and his wife Diane, both of whom have influenced hundreds on their journeys.


 It was the arrival of Rob, Matt and Brian that showed yet another phenomenal aspect of this journey we are calling the Tour Of Olympia. Seeing these three great friends together, who in many ways had their paths directed by their years at Olympia a long time ago, was awesome. You gotta check out A Hero's Journey: Beyond Little Norway and Olympia Sports Camp to read the heart-rending story of a group of Olympia alumni who  have used the NCAA tournament to get together for over 30 years. I was thrilled to be in their presence as I had written about these three Olympians, knew a lot about their stories, but never had met Matt and Brian. Ironic that in interviewing Rob and Kevin O'Reilly in the motel unit three years ago I got to know these two great leaders.

Within minutes it was like we'd known each other for years. and we revelled in Olympia stories and Olympia values. It felt that all we were missing was the coach's lounge and a euchre table. All three talked about the possibility of going up for the reunion weekend in May, maybe in part because of the fun they had reminiscing.  I hope we have a sequel.

That reunion is set for May 19-22. Here is the link for information.

https://olympiasportscamp.com/alumni-reunion-2023/



One last thought on a great afternoon. As stated Kim Hurley, and her sister Krista, used to babysit  for us at Olympia. It was so great to see them after so many years. My cousin Mike coached Kim in baseball and he didn't know we knew the Hurleys until he read it in the book! 

It's amazing to see the person that our former babysitter has become. Kim is the owner of Bowl Bar, among other health-food related entities in Stratford. The Bowl Bar isn't just another eatery along Ontario street in Stratford. Sorry, Dave, they don't serve fish and chips.

Kim has a philosophy of life that is evidenced in how the place is run and has echoes to life in Interlaken. Her belief is that life gets so fast that a lot of time we eat what is quick and available and often feel lousy afterward. A more holistic approach is needed as we need to think of nourishing our souls while we nourish the body. The soul is key to happiness. The hero's journey would call that coherence.

The food is outstanding. I highly recommend if you're ever going through the main street of Stratford, make a stop at Bowl Bar. Check out their website to get an idea of this inspiring place to eat. It's not a meal, its a journey. It's bowlbar.ca

Next stop on the Tour of Olympia is coming up May 16 in Toronto. Hopefully a lot of Olympians in the Toronto area can make it out. All this is leading up to Olympia's 50th Anniversary Reunion weekend May 19-22. The book will be a part of the weekend celebration and for that I am humbled and excited.




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