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Hedley Times, People, Uncategorized

Rod Moncrieff, Making His Mark In Hedley

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Rod Moncrieff with his 1929 Plymouth.

When Rod Moncrieff stopped in Hedley for coffee 27 years ago, it was the low rumble of his Harley Davidson and the red beard extending well down his chest that people noticed. Doug Smith, then a local resident, saw him looking at a large two story building with a ‘for sale’ sign at the corner of Scott & Haynes streets. Scrutinizing the beard and powerful bike, he said, “you’ll fit in fine here.” There was still at least a whiff of the town’s earlier gold mining atmosphere, and Rod was captivated. He bought the building, a combination of home, shop and storage facility. When he displayed a biker gang flag, people wondered what to expect from this new neighbour. Since then Rod has put his stamp on the property and is well accepted in the community. He was subsequently joined by Valerie and her daughter Alison.

Over the years, Rod has assembled an eclectic assortment of items, inside and out. Until he gave Linda and me a tour last week, I thought he was just one more hoarder of worthless junk, a man with both feet mired in the past. Pointing to a number of items lying together on the ground he said, “there’s a car in there.” Then, “Most of what you see is for sale. This morning I sold a car part.” Picking up a miniature pitcher, he said, “I bought this for fifty dollars from Mike Orlowski. It came out of the Similkameen Hotel which burned down in 1916.”

I had long been curious about the elderly dishevelled Plymouth standing close to the building, seemingly abandoned. A sedan, it still exudes character and personality that is unmatched in current vehicles.

I knew his building had once been an automotive garage operated by Gerald Burr. When I mentioned this Rod said, “At one time it was actually a Plymouth dealership. The town was a bustling centre then, with a much greater population.” He considered for a moment, then said, “the first Plymouth was produced in 1928 to compete with Ford’s low cost Model A. It was introduced to the public at Madison Square Garden with aviator Amelia Earhart at the wheel. She and her plane disappeared in 1937 while flying across the Pacific Ocean.”

Rod’s building at one time was a Plymouth dealership.

Rod’s Plymouth came out in 1929. There were several other models, including a stylish coupe with a rumble seat. “My car was owned by a man living in Hedley,” Rod explained. “I bought it because of the dealership having been here. It’s a 4 cylinder, with 45 horsepower. The motor won’t start but I can turn it over with a hand crank. A guy offered me $4,000 for it just this morning. If he gets serious I’ll sell it.”

Rod probably could restore the car if he chose to. He’s familiar with machinery and knows how to weld. At one time he worked for a company that built trucks using sheet metal. Later he owned “Patches”, a backyard motorcycle shop in O.K. Falls. “I got to know a lot of Hell’s Angels,” he said. “I fixed plenty of Harley’s for them.” This conjured up another memory. “My cousin married a member of the Grim Reapers in Alberta. Some years ago he was involved in a shooting and is on parole for life. He’s changed his ways and is now a Seventh Day Adventist minister.

Placing a hand on the Plymouth, he said, “this car was driven from Saskatoon to Keremeos. Two years ago I talked with the driver’s son. He told me he has three boxes of parts and will drop them off when he comes to Hedley again.”

Rod’s 74 years have been interspersed with a number of adventures, some he might prefer to forget. A barefoot water skiing episode went wrong, leaving him with a crushed vertebrae. While in the navy he was trained in weapons and demolitions. Later, working with explosives at a gold mine near Yellowknife a defective blasting cap fired and he lost part of his face. He spent 4 months in the hospital undergoing surgeries to his face and hand.

Rod’s face was nicely restored and his beard has shrunk

At this time he seems done with adventures. He sold the Harley to pay taxes, the flag has been taken down, his face was nicely restored, and the beard has shrunk. He’s devoted to Valerie and speaks with admiration of Alison’s accomplishments. Like the aging Plymouth, Rod’s life has taken on an aura of character.

Hedley Times, Uncategorized

Hedley BC Winter 2020

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In the foreground, that’s our car, under the snow.

When the snow started falling last week, it just wouldn’t stop. Definitely the biggest snowfall Linda & I have experienced here. There were a lot of sore muscles from the continuous shovelling, and even the snowplows had difficulty contending with the volume. A semi slid off the highway & struck a concrete barrier. Its fuel tanks were ruptured and diesel spilled on the highway. A crew specializing in hazardous cleanup was on the scene for a couple of days and traffic was limited to one lane.

Although the snow has stopped falling, the mercury continues to go well below freezing at night, and daytime temperatures tend to hover around 0 Celsius, or slightly above. We’ve still got plenty of snow, and increasingly we’re hearing people say, “Enough is enough. I’m waiting for warmer weather.” So far, mother nature seems in no hurry to release the grip of winter.

Our neighbourhood.

“Roundabout” at the Cenotaph.

People, Uncategorized

The Curse Of International Child Abductions

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Liam & Mia

The e-mail from Trudy Beyak of Abbotsford five months ago almost stopped the beating of my heart. “Please pray for Mia and Liam, my two precious grandchildren,” she wrote. “They have been abducted from Abbotsford and are being held captive in the Middle East by their father. They have lived in Abbotsford with my daughter Shelley since Liam was 4 months. This is the only home these 2 beautiful children know.”

The International Child Abduction Guidebook states, “Every year, hundreds of Canadian children are wrongfully taken from Canada, or held in another country by abducting parents.” The U.S. State Department views parental abductions as a disturbing and growing issue. It estimates that annually approximately 1,000 children are abducted or wrongfully retained from the U.S.

Often the seeds of an abduction are sown quite innocently when a young woman is traveling or working abroad. A retired member of a Canadian embassy in Africa said, “We received numerous requests for help from women whose children had been abducted. We could do little for them. Canadian women are overly trusting in these situations. They have no understanding of how heartbreaking the future may be.”

Shelley Beyak was teaching English in Egypt and visited Beirut for a few days. In a bar, she was approached by Wissam. He was smart, well educated and persuasive. Trudy feels he targeted Shelley and charmed her. He told her he planned to emigrate to Canada. The romance blossomed and they were married in 2007. They had 2 children, Mia and Liam, and moved to Canada in 2010.

The marriage began to unravel and Wissam returned to Lebanon for about 18 months. He sent her a “Claim and Inmate” document, demanding she return to Lebanon and obey her husband. She declined, understanding that in Lebanon she would lose control of her life and her children.

Wissam returned to Canada and began a series of litigations against her. This drained her finances and when he applied to a judge for permission to obtain passports for the children, she had no further funds to hire a lawyer. In court, Wissam said “I have a home here and a job. I want my kids to grow up here. I plan to stay in Canada.”

Concerned he would remove the children to Lebanon, Shelley objected. In an interview with the Abbotsford News, she said, “I explained my concern and begged the judge not to grant the application. The judge raked me over the coals and granted Wissam permission to apply for passports and take the children abroad.”

It seems some judges have little comprehension of how prevalent child abduction has become. An American mother asked a judge not to allow her Lebanese husband to take their 3 children out of country. The 2 younger children said, “We’re scared daddy is going to take us to Lebanon, and we’ll never come back.”

Her pleas were dismissed and her children were abducted to Lebanon. When the U.S. Consulate did a welfare check on them recently, their Lebanese grandfather said the 2 girls, ages 13 and 14, were nearly old enough to be married. This opinion is indicative of the disturbing circumstances that may engulf abducted children.

Retrieving children from Lebanon is particularly difficult because the government has not signed the Hague Convention. Also, Lebanon doesn’t recognize parental kidnapping as a crime. Wissam has not permitted Canada’s Global Affairs to talk with the children.

Now, belatedly, the courts have stripped him of all parental rights and there is an international warrant for his arrest. The warrant can be executed only if he leaves Lebanon.

Some may fault Shelley and other women for exposing themselves to this risk. But they were young, at an age when we tend to be optimistic and trusting. The possibility her children will be abducted to a foreign country isn’t likely to occur to a woman when she is in love.

Shelley has already spent about $40,000 in legal fees and expects further costs of at least $150,000. A gofundme account (https://www.gofundme.com/5ejxr68) has been opened on her behalf.  If she is to ever see Mia and Liam again, she really does need us to contribute. A brief note to the Prime Minister may also help. It might be as simple as “please bring Mia and Liam back to Canada from Lebanon.”

Check out youtube, Please Bring Mia & Liam Home. Let’s help Shelley get her children back.

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Hedley Times, Inspiration, People, Uncategorized

Ken Knutson, A Surprising Life

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Ken Knutson, holding one of his birdhouses for sale in the Hedley Museum Gift Shop

Until last week I knew little about Ken Knutson except that he is a retired mail carrier and his colourful birdhouses sell almost as quickly as gourmet hot dogs at a country fair. His mild, steady temperament seemed to suggest little need for change or excitement. I assumed this might have been the pace at which he had lived his entire life. My recent conversation with Ken helped me understand that assumptions are often a path to inaccurate conclusions.

I suppose Ken’s life might have followed a fairly uneventful trajectory if he had not read The Other Side Of The Mountain, biography of Jill Kinmont. She was an exceptionally gifted skier, preparing for the 1956 Olympics. “When her neck was broken, her life changed, but she didn’t let this defeat her. She said if you believe, you can do almost anything. I had failed grades 1 and 2 due to an undiagnosed learning disability. The book broadened my understanding of what was possible for me.”

Thinking this ex-Postie lived within the confines of a fairly constricted comfort zone, my perception of him was profoundly challenged when he said, “I’ve run in 18 marathons, several in major U.S. cities. Often I trained on a mile long hill, running it up to 5 times.”

I was further surprised when he mentioned a fascination with airplanes. “I’ve always been interested in airplanes. I learned to fly and bought a 1946 two seater Ercoup, a very safe plane. The plexiglass canopy was made to slide down so I could fly it open. It was like a sports car.”

Another adventure led to the purchase of a 1973 Volkswagen Westphalia. “I wanted to see Mt Rushmore, Custer’s battlefield, and the Badlands of North Dakota. I’m interested in history you can touch.”

His passion for history prompted a visit to the Vatican. “They have the most incredible art work in the world,” he said. In Buckingham Palace he was astonished by the age of the structure and the ostentatious display of wealth. He has been in the homes of painters Pascal and Matisse, both in Paris. In the Louvre he viewed the Mona Lisa.

Now in retirement, Ken’s zest for adventure continues unabated. “I still plan to go to the Mesa Verde in Colorado. I very much want to see the ancient cliff dwellings there,” he said. “I would also like to retrace the wagon trail from St. Louis, Missouri to Portland, Oregon. In places, the ruts are still visible.” Another interest may be beyond his reach. “I always wanted to cycle across Canada, but I don’t know if my body would take it now. I still dream of doing it.”

Ken’s wandering to places that intrigue him almost came to an abrupt end in August, 2017. He experienced a momentous life shift. “I had been feeling slow for about a week,” he recalled. “Walking to the Cenotaph ceremony that day, I huffed and puffed and my arm didn’t feel right. That night my arm felt numb and I got a ride to the Princeton Hospital. The doctor told me I should have come yesterday. They stabilized me and sent me to Kelowna. There they put in a stint. They don’t put you under for that.”

Looking back at the heart attack, he said “It was my Coke addiction that did me in. I’ve switched my diet. I eat more protein and vegetables, fewer processed foods and carbohydrates.” He conceded there are frustrations. “I love Dad’s oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Now I only eat them occasionally.”

His recovery program requires physical activity. I’ve seen him repeatedly walk up Hospital Hill in Hedley, up to 7 ascents. It’s a test of stamina and will. “Initially I could walk only 10 minutes. Now I can walk one and a half hours easily. I’ve been surprised at the body’s capacity to recover.”

He is probably best known locally for his birdhouses. “The one depicting an outhouse is most popular. Everyone has been in an outhouse somewhere. Sometimes the birdhouses are a mission.” Last week he completed his 900th birdhouse. “I didn’t have children,” he said. “They are my legacy.” An assortment of configurations are available at the Hedley Museum.

Now 67, Ken can look back at the years of his life with justifiable pride. A learning disability, 2 failed grades, and a heart attack haven’t deterred him. He has always found new adventures on the other side of the mountain.

My Story, Uncategorized

Dad’s Upward Path (Part 3 of 3)

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IMG (2)

As my maturity increased, I realized that underlying Dad’s physical attributes and strong will, there was a deep compassion for people in need.  One evening he picked up his large, very heavy tool box.  I asked him what he was going to do.

 

“John can’t figure out how to replace the clutch on his car,” he said.  “I‘ve done that before. We’ll get the job done in no time.”  Dad hardly knew John, but after that they became close friends.

I came to understand that Dad always put relationships ahead of personal gain.  When he was asked to bid on a large job, he invited his friend Henry to join him.  The contractors told Dad they wanted him to do the work, but Henry’s equipment was too old and he was not welcome. Dad knew Henry would be discouraged if he was left out, so he turned down what would have been his biggest contract ever.

Dad and I worked closely in the bulldozing and trucking business until I was 24.  Although I had enormous respect for him, I did not have the maturity to listen to his words about how to live.  Understanding this, he didn’t attempt to persuade me. In time, it was his example of complete integrity, as much as his courage and skills, that persuaded me to adopt much of his value system. When he lost a valiant battle against cancer at age 95, I said to a friend, “more than anyone else, Dad’s example impacted my life and shaped it. If I ever become half the man he was, I will consider my life to have been a success.” Without realizing it at the time, I had begun to walk on the path Dad walked on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leadership, Uncategorized

Great By Choice – The 20 Mile March

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Cannington Dog Sled Races
Cannington Dog Sled Races

This is the third in a series of posts based on Great by Choice.  Although the book is aimed primarily at the business community, I consider it extraordinarily helpful for leadership in any realm.  I am finding that the 20 Mile March concept is also useful for maintaining a sense of balance in my personal life.  It is a reminder to not become either complacent or overly aggressive in pursuing life objectives.  
 
As noted in the two previous posts, the authors, Jim Collins and Morton T Hansen, compared a number of highly successful companies with less successful companies in the same industry.  Their purpose was to discover what distinguished the top performers from the others.  They refer to the successful companies as 10Xers because they out performed their industry by at least ten times.
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The authors again help us understand the importance of their findings by comparing the strategies of two South Pole explorers, Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott.  Just as he had been meticulous in planning and preparing for his expedition, Amundsen held rigorously to his strategy and schedule once he was on the trail.  He had determined beforehand that he would be wise to travel 20 miles each day, in good conditions and in adverse conditions.  Undoubtedly he and his men were tempted to hunker down in their tents on cold days when the frigid wind blew in their faces.  And almost certainly, they were equally tempted to keep going longer when the weather favoured them.  By exercising discipline, Amundsen was able to conserve the strength of his men and the dogs.
 
Scott, however, did not embrace the 20 Mile March concept.  He pushed himself and his men hard on the good days, then took days off when the weather harassed them.  By pushing too hard, he exhausted himself and his men.  Then, waiting in his tents for favourable weather, he fell behind and eventually lost the race to the South Pole.  On the return journey, he ran out of food. He and his men died of starvation only 10 miles from their next food cache.
 
Collins and Hansen point out the similarities in strategy between Amundsen and Stryker’s CEO John Brown.  When Brown assumed the helm at Stryker, now a leading medical technology company, he set a benchmark to drive consistent performance.  He engrained the 20 Mile March concept (“the walk” as he termed it) into the culture of the company.  If a division fell behind, he would insert himself into it, working almost non-stop, to “help” the division get back on track.  The authors suggest that “you get the impression you don’t want to need John Brown’s help.  He does not tolerate excuses.” 
 
In spite of pressure from Wall Street to grow the company rapidly, Stryker had a self-imposed constraint never to go too far, never to grow too fast in a single year.  John Brown understood that if you want to achieve consistent performance, you need both parts of the 20 Mile March.  A hurdle you have to jump over and a ceiling you will not rise above.
 
The company Collins and Hansen used as a comparison to Stryker, did not employ the 20 Mile March concept.  Its CEO was an aggressive risk taker and for a time it grew with amazing speed, much more rapidly than Stryker.  When adverse circumstances confronted both companies, however, Stryker continued to prosper but the comparison company, like Robert Scott did not survive.
 
Whether in business, community leadership, or in our personal lives, the 20 Mile March concept can enable us to achieve more consistent success.