Tuesday's With Dave

 I'm of the opinion that the summer of 2023 was a huge summer in the journey of Olympia Sports Camp. After two plus years of Covid affecting everything about the camp, 2023 was going to be, and turned out to be, a great summer of growth and slaying dragons. Our book A Hero's Journey: beyond Little Norway and Olympia Sports Camp has a lot of amazing stories of overcoming obstacles on the journey, but the summer of 2023 could be a chapter unto itself.  But, as always, Olympia is a people who. The word 'reunion' has been bandied about throughout this 50th summer of camp and no better reunion than one set up by Olympia veteran Krista Scobie with her dad, John Scobie and longtime friend and Olympia founder Dave Grace. Two Olympia legends. Two basketball legends. Both men have given so much of their heart and soul to developing the next generations. John is considered one of the greats in the Ottawa region for what he has done at virtually every level. It meant a lot to Dave ...

 Ever since I started writing A Hero's Journey: Beyond Little Norway and Olympia Sports Camp I have become acutely aware that there are indeed everyday heroes among us, if we take notice. A lot of time the heroic nature is based on decisions made on the path, or after it is a complete change in path. Case in point: Bryan Nichol Bryan stopped by my place the other day and he shared a journey he is heading on with his young family. It's a story that shows family values, healthy lifestyle, guts to take on a new venture when the comfort of the present is very... comfortable... So I wanted to share a bit of his story. Bryan graduated from MM Robinson High School in Burlington and went on to have a great basketball career at the University of Waterloo. He has worked for the Region of Peel for 18 years, a nice steady job with a great pension. I had the good fortune to coach Bryan on a local club basketball team for a few years. He was a consummate teammate and leader who made our tea...

 This blog entry has two invitations: Joy and I drove over 5,000 kilometres to her family cottage in Miramichi New Brunswick  and a side trip to Nova Scotia to do the Cabot Trail and to look up some relatives in North Sydney, where  my grandfather was born and where my great, great  grandfather opened a Funeral Home that still operates to this day. It was an awesome trip where we once again we saw the immense beauty that is this country Canada. Here's invitation number 1: The trip was made even more poignant as we finished  listening to the audiobook version of   A Hero's Journey: Beyond Little Norway and Olympia Sports Camp. If you've never listened to an audiobook I recommend you try it out. The miles go by as you  dive into the emotion and journey of the book. The book is 23 hours long, and can carry you much farther than a playlist or a podcast that may or not fit your mood. For us, listening to the stories of all the great people I had the privile...