Tuesday's With Dave

 Go Where the Journey Takes You Last Saturday St John's Parish in Burlington held their Mistletoe Market and A Hero's Journey: Beyond Little Norway and Olympia Sports Camp was there. Saturday morning at the market was yet another lesson of what can happen on any journey.  The hero's journey has goals but never expectations of what others will do. It's our journey. This book has transformed my mindset to be thankful for whoever you meet and whatever happens, rather than wasting energy on worrying about who doesn't show up.  That mindset allowed me to have a great day and sold more books than I thought I might. It wasn't the number of books sold that made my day, it was those people who represented my journey that I sold to. Interesting that not one book was sold to anyone who had any connection to the camp. And it wasn't my salesmanship! It was the journey of the land and the people of Olympia Sports Camp. I sold to a former colleague from my days at Bishop ...

 The Power, and Importance, of Community  Two weeks ago a golf tournament was held for the Kelly Dunham Memorial Foundation and the Hamilton basketball community that Kelly impacted with her involvement with Mohawk College, McMaster, and Transway basketball made the event a huge event. With Kelly being an Olympia Sports Camp legend, many camp alumni, most of whom had  deep friendships with Kelly,  were in attendance. I was unable to be there so I  donated as a Tee Box sponsor and donated three copies of A Hero's Journey: Beyond Little Norway and Olympia Sports Camp for the prize table. One of the Olympia alumni that was at a the tournament was Megan Reid. Megan is a hero in her own right as she has given of her skills and knowledge in coaching at the high school, college and professional levels, and is now the head coach of the University of Guelph Gryphons. Megan also impacted hundreds of campers and coaches in her years of coaching at Olympia and acted as a ...

 The writing of my two books Can't Miss: The Kevin Pangos Story and A Hero's Journey: Beyond Little Norway and Olympia Sports Camp  encouraged me to start my own company, that I am calling Can't Miss Publishing. If you have a vehicle to help others and show respect for those who have come before us, you do it. That's what heroes do and we are all heroes in our own journey. I know Kelly Dunham would have done it. In Kelly's honour I am doing it. When Kelly Dunham passed away on May 24 2020 her husband Doug and few others started the Kelly Dunham Memorial Foundation. In looking on the website the mission is simple, and direct. Check out their website at kellydunhamfoundation.ca Our Mission To continue Kelly’s legacy of kindness, inspiration, and generosity.  Helping organizations with the assistance they need with a focus on women, sport and community.  Our Vision To provide support by enabling those in our community to better themselves and achieve what they BELIEV...

One theme throughout A Hero's Journey: Beyond Little Norway and Olympia Sports Camp is the great many people who we meet on our journey who enrich our lives and our experiences. In the Hero's Journey, these people are called allies. When you coach any week at a camp like Olympia Sports Camp, there may be as many as 40 coaches, 110 staff, and 300 campers who potentially can add so much to the experience. As a coach, the fellow coaches are key to sharing knowledge and passion for sport and helping the younger generation find their path. Their humanity, their humour, their mutual respect and their passion make session, meals, coach's activities, bonfires, or pick up games so much fun. I remember Paul getting a few coaches and counsellors to join in golf competitions on the field after lunch one day. The people make Olympia. People like Paul Brousseau. I had the great fortune to coach with Paul for  the last several years of week 9. A fantastic athlete in his playing days, Pau...

With the Kelly Dunham Memorial Foundation Golf Tournament coming up next Friday at the Flamborough Hills Golf Club I felt it necessary to show support to the memory of Kelly and the massive sense of loss so many people feel, especially her husband Doug and her children Ally and Mitch, as well as Marnie and the whole Buchanan family Joy and I will be in Ottawa and unable to attend the tournament but my company Can't Miss Publishing will be sponsoring a hole and there will be three copies of A Hero's Journey: Beyond Little Norway and Olympia Sports Camp on the prize table. I also decided to re-publish a blog entry from April 12, 2021 that captures one of the most poignant interviews from the book writing process. I hope in the re-reading people who love and miss Kelly can find solace. I wish great success for the tournament. Check out kellydunhamfoundation.ca The Olympia family-no air quotes needed   With last Saturday being National Siblings day, the internet was filled with pi...

 Thanks for the support, looking to the future Thanksgiving gives us an opportunity to enjoy the love and support of those around us. We all need allies on our journey and its great when family is a foundational level of commitment and shared passion for each other's journey. This Thanksgiving we were lucky enough to host four pillars of encouragement. As we watch and enjoy their journeys, they admire and respect ours. Joy and I were blessed with two amazing children in Nicole and Daniel. They have done great things but more importantly have become adults that any society, and especially their parents, can be proud of. Nicole is a teacher and Daniel is in teachers college and heading into the profession as well. Five years ago Nicole married Bryan Mayes, a young man whose quick wit and intelligent perspective has enhanced our love, and our lives. Joy and I also cherish the relationship with Daniel's girlfriend Rachel Niecke, a beautiful young woman whose empathy makes her a nat...

 Tuesdays with Dave will occasionally consist of an article I will have written for an online news service called local-news.ca.  In rI'm excited to start a journey of writing stories about people who have followed the stages of the Hero's Journey and whose stories are an inspirational extension of the lessons learned in A Hero's Journey: Beyond Little Norway and Olympia Sports Camp.  Let me introduce you to Jason Riley. By the societal scorecard Jason can be seen as a hero as he played CFL football for more than a decade after winning a National football championship at UBC, but as with any true heroic story, the person that Jason has become along his journey is far more important than the personal accolades. His journey is captured in his new book Taming Mad Do g. It's a great read. Here's my story. You can also read the story online at local-news,ca Copies of  A Hero's Journey: Beyond Little Norway and Olympia Sports Camp  are available at The Different Drum...