7 people who made a difference in our communities in 2016
by Janet Lees
photography by Kristie & Brenden Woods
People are the cornerstone of our communities in Southern Georgian Bay, and we can lay claim to having some of the best within our midst — people who quietly but persistently champion local causes. On The Bay presents our 10th annual salute to seven of these Grassroots Heroes — extraordinary people from various walks of life, age groups and localities who have gone ‘above and beyond’ to make an impact that will be felt in our communities for years to come. These remarkable individuals are humble about their accomplishments, but their actions and commitment speak for themselves. We should all be proud to call them our neighbours, friends and family members.
Evan Siddall
Pedalling for Parkinson’s
“It’s the gift that keeps on taking.” That’s how actor Michael J. Fox has described his experience with early-onset Parkinson’s Disease. For cyclist Evan Siddall, the “gift” of his own diagnosis has led him to give back to others with the disease.
“It’s a strange kind of gift, but the perspective that I’ve gained on how to enjoy life and what matters in life is something I would not have experienced otherwise,” says Siddall, 51, who was diagnosed in 2014. “I’m a much better person, and much happier. I wouldn’t wish it on anybody, but I wouldn’t want my life to turn out differently.”
That positive outlook led Siddall to co-found the Growling Beaver Brevet, a charity cycling event that benefits the Davis Phinney Foundation and ParkinGo Wellness Society, two organizations that help those with Parkinson’s Disease live fuller, more active lives. Davis Phinney, himself a world-champion cyclist, was diagnosed in his 40s and started his foundation to help people with Parkinson’s “live well today,” while ParkinGo is focused on the role of exercise in slowing the progression of the disorder.
Early-onset Parkinson’s presents differently for everyone, and usually progresses very slowly. For Siddall, it began with a tremor in his left hand when he yawned, followed by dystonia – a type of muscle spasm – in his ankle when he rode. A trip to a neurologist and an MRI confirmed the diagnosis.
“I was kind of ready for it emotionally by that point, and because of the people around me I felt that I could own this thing instead of having it own me,” he recalls. “That was part of the inspiration behind the Growling Beaver for the whole group of people who are involved – we were going to make this something that was good, not something that was bad.”
The Growling Beaver Brevet is not a race, but a “social” ride with three different routes through the scenic Beaver Valley at the height of the fall colour season. The focus is on gravel roads and rail trails; hence the name “Growling Beaver” after the sound a bike’s tires make on gravel. A brevet is typically a 200-kilometre event, but the Growling Beaver version invites cyclists of all levels and abilities to participate. “We wanted to make it accessible, so there’s a 200-kilometre ride that’s super hard, a 100-kilometre ride that’s pretty hard, and a 40-kilometre ride that’s actually not hard, and we do that deliberately because we have people with Parkinson’s disease, as well as people with kids and older folks,” says Siddall. “The Davis Phinney Foundation has a great line that every victory counts, so a 40-kilometre victory is just as good as a 200-kilometre victory.”
In its first year, the Growling Beaver doubled its target by raising $200,000, and this year’s event, held October 1, raised $300,000 and attracted over 200 riders. For Siddall, the ride’s success is just one more reason to feel grateful.
“Through this event that we do and these great friends that are involved in the charity with me, I get to see how cared for I am, and we should all have that light shining into our existence,” he muses. “Most people don’t realize it because we take it for granted, and I’m lucky enough to see it.”
For more information on the event or the charities it supports, go to the-growling-beaver-shop.myshopify.com, davisphinneyfoundation.org or parkingo.org.
Heather & Doug Brown
Ministering with Music
If you are ever in doubt that music has the power to heal, just ask Heather and Doug Brown, who have been playing music at seniors’ centres, hospitals and community fairs in and around Meaford for the past three years.
“We call it our music ministry because we get to minister our music to people and bring back memories,” says Heather. “We’ve seen people we thought couldn’t even hear us mouthing the words and trying to get up and dance. It’s a real blessing and it warms our hearts.”
The Browns Music Time Machine Show features Doug playing guitar while Heather sings, and the duo performs a timeless repertoire that runs the gamut from ’60s folk music to classic country, light rock, gospel and, at this time of year, Christmas songs.
“We have a very intimate show and it attracts a lot of people,” says Heather. “It makes people feel good; it charges them. Sometimes all we have are our memories, and music is a great way to bring back those memories.”
Five times a month, the Browns perform at Meaford Hospital’s Day Away program, which provides a social outing for seniors and those with chronic illness, disability, memory loss or communication challenges. They also entertain at Owen Sound’s Day Away program at Lee Manor, and Markdale’s at Grey Gables. Add to those regular gigs the seniors events, community fairs, benefits, festivals and church performances, and the Browns have a busy schedule that even the most in-demand bands would envy.
“In July we only had one day off; in August we had two days off,” notes Heather. “So far this year we’ve played 187 gigs, and we have another 13 booked in December. We never turn anybody down; if somebody calls and we are available even for a couple of hours, we’ll be there.”
As much as Heather and Doug love to entertain, they also enjoy meeting and interacting with their audiences, from requests to sing-alongs to chatting one-on-one after the show.
“At the end we walk around and thank everyone for being there, and one lady came to me and grabbed my hand and said, ‘you made me cry.’ I said, ‘Oh, no!’ and she said, ‘No, they were happy tears. My husband used to sing that song to me when we used to dance to it.’
“We are blessed to be able to meet all of these wonderful people, and to bring back those memories for them and help them relive a happy time in their lives.”
For more information about The Browns Music Time Machine Show or to book Heather and Doug, go to thebrownsmusic.wix.com/thebrownsmusic. For more about The Day Away Program, go to homecommunitysupport.com/day-away.
Maggie Lowe
Advocating for Animals
There are times when a good cause meets a great fundraising concept, and thanks to Maggie Lowe, the Georgian Triangle Humane Society (GTHS) can boast our region’s most successful ongoing source of funds to help thousands of animals every year find “forever homes.”
Lowe is the driving force behind Treasure Tails, a shop in downtown Collingwood that sells donated goods, from furniture, housewares and décor items to china, glass, books and gently used clothing. The store was Lowe’s brainchild, born out of a yard sale for the GTHS that had leftover items. “The quantity of items that came in was amazing, and I said to the board that we needed a consistent form of money coming in instead of waiting for the next big event,” she recalls. She started Treasure Tails in an unheated warehouse, and when winter arrived she moved the operation to the current storefront location on Hurontario Street. That was six years ago, and today Treasure Tails is responsible for one-third of the funds that keep the GTHS’s state-of-the-art animal shelter going.
“I used to be ecstatic if we hit $2,000 a week gross, and we have been hitting up to $4,000 some weeks,” enthuses Lowe, who manages the store and its 30 other volunteers, as well as sitting on the GTHS board as director of retail operations. “All of the proceeds go to the shelter, so it’s very satisfying.”
Treasure Tails is not a consignment shop – it’s a registered charity selling donated goods – but the calibre of merchandise is on par with many consignment stores. “We demand high quality,” notes Lowe. “We only have 1,800 square feet, so we don’t have room to put junk in the store.” And word has gotten around that there are indeed treasures to be found at Treasure Tails: the store has a loyal following of regulars, from designers and real estate agents to weekenders and full-time residents.
Lowe credits service and friendliness for the venture’s success. “My staff are all trained to be pleasant, to greet people and explain what the store is all about,” she notes, adding she has also developed a rapport with area businesses, many of which donate new items to the store.
As a registered charity, Treasure Tails can give tax receipts for donations, and there is a perk for purchasers, too: customers pay no tax.
A lifelong animal lover, Lowe first got involved with the GTHS 14 years ago when she moved to Southern Georgian Bay full-time and adopted a border collie cross named Toby from the GTHS, which at that time did not yet have an actual animal shelter but was fostering pets in the community until permanent homes could be found.
“I am honoured to have played a role in getting an animal shelter built in our community, and I’m committed to ensuring that it helps as many animals as possible, well into the future,” she says. “The whole society is like family to me. We all love what we do, and helping animals is our passion.”
For more information about Treasure Tails or the GTHS, go to gths.ca or gths.ca/treasure-tails-store.
Ken Thornton
Learning for Life
“I always wanted to be a Mountie so bad I could taste it,” says Ken Thornton as he sits in his living room looking out over downtown Creemore. “I wrote the papers when I was 16, and I got a letter back that because of World War II they had ceased to accept new recruits. So I enlisted in the RCAF and served for five years starting in 1942.”
But those dreams of being a Mountie never died, so when Thornton heard the RCMP was looking for bagpipers, he jumped at the chance. “I told them I didn’t play the pipes, but I would take a course and learn to play if I could be a Mountie. Two years later I marched on Parliament Hill with the RCMP Pipes & Drums.” Even more impressive – Thornton was 85 years old at the time.
Now 98, Thornton was front and centre as the band’s VIP head table guest in November as the first annual Ken Thornton Trophy was awarded to the band member who most demonstrated the traits and character of the man himself. “I’m getting more popular as I get older, only because I’ve survived,” he laughs. “People say I’m an inspiration and ask me what is my secret, and I tell them, you’ve got to want it and you’ve got to drive yourself to get it. I’ve always had to have a goal.”
Besides playing with the RCMP Pipes & Drums, Thornton’s other big goal was to become an author – so at age 70 he sat down and got started writing his first novel. He self-published it, then followed it up with a book of 50 short stories. He’s now working on his second novel, the latest page of which is glowing on his computer screen awaiting his next sentence.
Oh, but that’s not all. He writes a regular column called Coffee With Ken and a puzzle called Spike & Rusty for the Creemore Echo newspaper, helps with community dinners, reads to seniors in Stayner, and taught himself ventriloquism so he could entertain the children at the daycare across the street from his apartment.
While he doesn’t play the pipes much anymore, he still loves music – in addition to the electric organ and the violin, he is now learning to play the harp. “I’m enjoying my life, and I have things yet to do,” he says. “Anyone who tells me they’re too old, I say, ‘Get a life!’”
Caitlin Foisy
Fostering Fitness
As a young mother with another baby on the way, Caitlin Foisy understands that it’s not always easy for families to stay fit and active, so she’s on a personal mission to help parents and kids keep moving.
Foisy, who is head coach with the Georgian Triangle Running Club (GTRC) and also sits on the board of directors and philanthropy committee of the YMCA, formed a partnership between the two organizations to launch a family and youth running program, and put on a family fun run as part of national Health & Fitness Day. She also coordinates the Y’s learn-to-run programs as well as a group to help new moms to return to physical activity after giving birth.
She says growing up in an active family inspired her to stay active throughout her life, and she wants to share that passion for fitness with the next generation.
“By getting young adults and parents engaged in activities like running, they are leading by example and their kids are going to follow because they really need role models to look up to,” says Foisy, who is now getting her own two-year-old son into running (“It’s more like a fast walk,” she laughs).
“We need to be role models for the younger generation to show that you don’t have to be training for a marathon; you can just do a 5k, and it’s great that you’re getting out there and being active.”
The learn-to-run program teaches the mechanics of running as well as nutrition, goal setting, injury prevention and pacing. “Anybody can come out and do it, whether you are an expert runner or if you haven’t run for years or have never run before,” notes Foisy. “We make the program work for everyone, and it’s a really inclusive environment where we focus on fun rather than who is going to be the fastest runner today.”
As head coach with the GTRC, Foisy is also involved in an adult trail running program in Collingwood, an adult endurance group in Wasaga Beach, a race-ready track workout group, and a spring and fall program for children and youth – although she may have to coach from the sidelines this coming spring, as her baby is due in March. In the meantime, she plans to keep running “as long as it’s safe for me, my body and my baby.”
“Collingwood is such a great fit for running and we have so many great resources available to us in our own backyard,” notes Foisy. “Running is such an inexpensive way to get outside and get fit and active. For me, when I’m outside it makes me a happier person, so that’s what I like to share with other people.”
For more information, go to ymcaofsimcoemuskoka.ca or georgiantrianglerunningclub.com
Michael Lisi
Harmonizing Healthcare
For Dr. Michael Lisi, healthcare isn’t just something he provides – it is a passion he instills in as many healthcare providers as possible. Lisi, a general surgeon who has been chief of staff at the Collingwood General & Marine Hospital since 2014, was recently awarded Honour Roll status for the 2016 Minister’s Medal honouring excellence in health quality and safety.
The provincial award recognized Lisi’s leadership in spearheading the first annual Georgian Bay Interprofessional Healthcare Education & Research Day, which brought together the public, healthcare providers, researchers and academics to exchange ideas that enhance quality of care and patient safety. Over 120 attended the event, held at the hospital, with another 100-plus participants livestreaming remotely.
“We were really looking to break out of the silo of working as an independent hospital and working to build partnerships with our community organizations,” explains Lisi. “The research day is about community partners coming together to share and promote healthcare in our community. It’s not just everyday healthcare experience; it’s about innovation, willingness to strive for continuous improvement and patient-centred care.”
Topics presented at the full-day event included the use of robotics in the preparation of hazardous medications, climate change in healthcare and the unique family physician and naturopath collaborative role, as well as current research and standards. Attendees ranged from physicians, nurses, trainees and medical residents to dieticians, chiropractors, naturopaths and spiritual wellness practitioners.
“It was quite unique in that regard,” says Lisi. “Everyone has something to offer and we can all learn from one another. I thought this would be of great benefit for our region, especially as we go into a redevelopment process with the new hospital, having an interprofessional educational stream that would really make us distinct from the other hospitals in Ontario and having a model that would have interprofessional teams learning together, because we potentially all work together.”
Education appears to be a ‘second calling’ for Dr. Lisi; he is also an award-winning teacher, teaching for all six medical schools in Ontario as well as the Rural Ontario Medical Program (ROMP). But whether he’s teaching, performing surgery or planning next year’s “bigger and grander” Interprofessional Healthcare Education & Research Day, in the end, it’s all about the patients.
“I’m always looking to improve and make our healthcare stronger and better, while at the same time keeping that hometown feel, keeping in touch with the individuals that come and see us so that you don’t just feel like a number; you feel like your story matters, because it does.”
For more information, go to cgmh.on.ca or romponline.com
