It was in January 2017 that I first interacted with Aleks Gusev. I was recently retired, in Guatemala studying Spanish and hiking volcanoes. While online and planning to come home I stumbled, somehow, onto an advertisement for the WCA Canoe symposium. I emailed Aleks and begged him to let me enrol late at the ‘early bird’ price. I was newly retired and without a lot of cash. He responded with a ‘sure why not’, and the rest is history. I went to the symposium, discovered the WCA and signed up to be a member, joined two 2-week trips that summer, and within the year I actually was on the Board! Alek’s welcome and generosity has led me to organizing many WCA trips since, and somewhere along the way I wrote a few articles for Nastawgan.
I grew up in Markham on a horse farm in the 1960s and spent a lot of time running around in the bush. Years later, I earned a BSc in Biology in Virginia, did a Masters in Geology at Queens, in Kingston, and then somehow found myself in the Outdoor and Experiential Ed. program at the Teachers College at Queens. There I first discovered canoeing, first paddled parts of the Rideau Canal, volunteered at a canoe conference held at the same teachers college, and afterward went through the internship program with the Canadian Outward Bound School at Black Sturgeon Lake near Thunder Bay. I wasn’t much of canoeist in those days, but I was hooked.
Over the years, while working as a science teacher for the Toronto District School Board, I took many kids on outdoor adventure trips. Some of them involved canoeing. Somewhere in there I acquired my first canoe at a yard sale, and I paddled the Grand River often because it was so easy to access on my own. I also ended up north for a few longer trips, mostly with MHO (Missinaibi Headwaters Outfitters). It was then that I began to think I’d do more backcountry tripping when I retired. Little did I know that canoeing would take over my life after teaching.
But why take on the job of editing Nastawgan? Sure, there is that thing about ‘paying it back’, or being told that maybe I am the best guy for the job (or the only guy who has the TIME to do the job). The fact is that I do love words, I do love stories of adventure, and I also inherited an innate ability to spot spelling errors and awkward sentences from my editor mother. What do I intend to bring to this position? Most of all I want to see Nastawgan continue to tell the great stories of our members as they embrace what it means to be a canoeist – exploring rivers, lakes, trails, wherever they may be. I don’t have plans to change much, but hope to continue the excellent product we’ve all become used to while Aleks was at the helm. I encourage all our readers, if you have a story or idea to share, no matter how short or long, to contact me and let’s see if we can bring it to our pages.