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Rockin Rhonda & The Blues Band: Here comes Peter. Here comes Dave. Oh listen. Bringing stories, making waves. No missing. Spinning tales in the podcast cave. So much laughs and insights everywhere. Peter and Dave, they're on the mics. Alright, join the ride. It's gonna feel just right.

Dave Graham: Well, hello there. Welcome to the big show. Okay, maybe not that big a show. Welcome to the podcast, and welcome to my co-host, Peter McCully.

Peter McCully: This is The Pulse Community Podcast. We're here to feature people and stories from the mid-Vancouver Island area. And here to do only the glamorous jobs, it's my co-host, Dave Graham.

Dave Graham: It's all about the glamour, my friend. In fact, I'm riding a bit of a high after being part of the opening of Beach Fest and my involvement with this internationally recognized Parksville sand sculpting competition. I was there as senior executive music coordinator.

Peter McCully: So you were the DJ.

Dave Graham: Music coordinator. Okay, yes, I DJ'd. I also provided music for a street dance recently and MC'd the kickoff to a painting race.

Peter McCully: A painting race. Who won?

Dave Graham: Oh, I don't know. They were pretty far away by the time it was over.

Peter McCully: Really?

Dave Graham: Now I'm kidding. It wasn't that kind of a race. It was a race against time.

Peter McCully: And ours is ticking away, Dave. On this edition, we chat with Sylvia Campbell of the North Island Wildlife Recovery Center, celebrating their 40th anniversary of helping wildlife on Vancouver Island.

Sylvia Campbell: So did we have a plan at the beginning? No, but we sure worked on anything that came our way, and we didn't have any training. But we had so much help from other people. We had veterinarians that would help us. We had a fellow in the States that knew all about bears. He taught Robin everything he knew. We had people that came and helped us with the gardens, and it's not that we've done it all ourselves. When we started off with just the two of us, now we have 100 volunteers. That's a lot.

Dave Graham: Professional goaltender Connor LaCouvee of Qualicum Beach has started a hockey school for goalies. We caught up with him to talk all things hockey, and he shared his philosophy on parents supporting children who would like to play.

Connor LaCouvee: The biggest thing is just trying to support them in a positive manner. Your kid will ultimately end up where they should be. Guidance is great, but no amount of pressure or telling your kid is gonna help them. They need to do this on their own. You can support them, you can help guide them, but so many parents, especially now with early specialization in sport, are hyper-focused. They want their kid to be skating 10 hours a week in the summer. This is all just causing burnout. And ultimately, what this does is it puts a huge strain on the relationship between kid and parent, and that's what you don't want to do. You don't wanna destroy your relationship with your kid. That's a hundred times more important than your kid's hockey career.

Peter McCully: Future guests to The Pulse Community Podcast include Dave and Kelly Hutchison of Qualicum Beach. Their first book, "Out Vancouver Island: The Art of the Landscape," contains 20 years worth of nature photography intertwined with stories—the stories behind the photos and stories of the island's history.

Dave Graham: We will also hear from the Oceanside Community Safety Volunteers about an upcoming safety seminar for seniors, in which they will cover scams, safety in the home, coping with hot weather, and crime prevention tips. You know, Peter, I was checking out their website. They also offer advice on how to handle traffic circles.

Peter McCully: Do they now?

Dave Graham: Apparently, not everyone is clear on the concept, and I'm thinking it might be those drivers who are signaling left when turning right to enter the circle. But I'm not here to judge.

Peter McCully: We've got another concert connection contest for you. It's a double pass to Beach Fest Rocks, August 8th through 10th. That's three days of fabulous music, two beach chairs, one cooler, and $50 on a Smile card from Thrifty Foods in Parksville. Enter on our website at thepulsecommunity.ca or on our Facebook page, The Pulse Community. The draw is July 31st.

Dave Graham: We are getting a lot of entries, which is wonderful to see, but still, your odds of winning are considerably better than the lottery. Our "Speak to Us" feature is also getting some good use lately. We are always glad to hear from you, and we're certainly happy to pass along some messages.

Duane Round: Hey, Dave and Peter. It's Duane Round here, president of the Parksville Community Center Society. Just wanting to give you an update on our Parksville Recycling Depot at 1080 Industrial Way in Parksville. We are glad to say that we've extended our agreement with Recycle BC to the end of 2025. So there'll be two recycle events per month till the end of the year, so people can bring their plastic, their styrofoam, and their glass packaging and cardboard and newspaper to 1080 Industrial Way between 10:00 and 3:00 PM on our recycle pop-up days. And we take this product absolutely free. It's free to drop off. So bring your stuff there. Again, we're glad to announce we've renewed our agreement with Recycle BC, so it's good news for the Oceanside area and for the environment.

Patrick Simpson: Hey Dave and Peter. It's Patrick from What's Cooking in Beautiful Qualicum Beach. On behalf of the Qualicum Beach Merchant Society, we want to invite you to enjoy live music around the village every Saturday this summer from 11:30 to 2:30. It's such a wonderful experience strolling our village, enjoying treats, and discovering all our fabulous boutique shops, cafes, and restaurants. And please don't forget about our annual Village Sidewalk Sale happening on Saturday, July the 26th. Whether you're a tourist in your own town or a visiting guest, we can't wait to show off our beautiful Qualicum Beach Village. Thanks, guys. See you soon.

Sandra Poelzer: The 112th annual Coombs Fair will take place at the Coombs Fairground on Saturday, August the 9th, and Sunday, August the 10th, from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. The Coombs Fair is home to the largest poultry show in BC, livestock exhibits, arts and crafts, live music and entertainment, food trucks, vendors, demos, and more. And of course, it is an old-fashioned fair with both junior and adult entries in a multitude of categories, from floral to fiber arts, photography, vegetables, jellies, baked goods, livestock, and much more. Check out our website, coombsfair.com, for a complete list of fair entries and download our 2025 Fair booklet. Fair entries are being accepted online now. The deadline for non-animal fair entries is August the 4th. For more information, check out coombsfair.com. See you at the fair.

Peter McCully: The Coombs Fair is set to mark their 112th year, and that's quite an accomplishment. To reach us, follow the contact link at thepulsecommunity.ca. While you're there, sign up for our newsletter and be among the first to know of upcoming guests and contests.

Ian Lindsay & Associates: Ian Lindsay of Lindsay and Associates has played an active role in the local community since 1979. He has been with RE/MAX Vancouver Island's most advanced real estate business network since 1996, marketing and selling residential, rural, strata, recreational, investment, and project development real estate. Ian has received several awards recognizing his exceptional community commitment locally, as well as awards for outstanding performance and achievement from both RE/MAX International and the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board. You'll find true real estate professionals at ianlindsay.ca.

Windsor Plywood French Creek: The Pulse Community Podcast is brought to you in part by Windsor Plywood in French Creek, specializing in hard-to-source interior and exterior home finishing products, including flooring, doors and moldings, and exterior project materials such as yellow cedar. Windsor Plywood French Creek carries high-quality, responsibly sourced products and are committed to providing outstanding value and personalized one-on-one service to all of our customers: homeowners, do-it-yourselfers, renovators, builders, designers, craftsmen, and contractors. Regardless of the type or size of your project, Windsor can help you bring your vision to life from start to finish. Let Windsor Plywood in French Creek help you with your renovation, new build, or building project. Visit them online or call 752-3122.

Dave Graham: Peter, I have been inspired by all this art at the Beach Festival. I'm thinking of taking up painting.

Peter McCully: Well, that's perfect timing. This weekend is Art in the Park, July 26th and 27th.

Dave Graham: Wait, do I have to create something, or can I just buy things created by people with actual talent?

Peter McCully: Well, you can browse incredible paintings, jewelry, sculptures, photography, and pottery from talented local artists in the beautiful gardens near the tennis courts, and no artistic pressure required.

Dave Graham: Ooh, my melting ice cream elephant sculpture was enough creative output for the year for me. Don't forget the spectacular Circus by the Sea sand sculptures are still amazing visitors daily, plus another fantastic Tim Hortons free summer concert weekend, Friday and Saturday, 6:30 to 8:30 PM, right? Oh, and those daily buskers at the gazebo.

Peter McCully: Exactly. 11:00 in the morning to 1:00 in the afternoon, and then again from 2:00 to 4:00. With world-class art, live music, and community spirit, Parksville Beach Festival has something for everyone.

Dave Graham: Even art-challenged people like me.

Peter McCully: Details at parksvillebeachfest.ca.

Dave Graham: I'm gonna have to go back to see the sand sculptures. Even though I was on site at the competition for three days, I never really did get a good look at the works. Being a DJ—I mean, senior executive music coordinator—is surprisingly demanding, actually. There's not a lot of time to do much of anything but coordinate music.

Peter McCully: Well then, that's a good thing that the sculptures will remain on display until August 17th.

Dave Graham: Hey, let's bring on our first guest. Here's Marilyn.

Marilyn: In the green room is Connor LaCouvee. The Qualicum Beach native has had an impressive career as a professional goaltender and most recently has started teaching the position at his hockey school.

Peter McCully: Welcome to the podcast today, Connor.

Connor LaCouvee: Thanks so much for having me, Peter. Appreciate it.

Peter McCully: It's always nice to catch up with a local guy who's home from Europe.

Connor LaCouvee: Exactly. Nice to be back home. Beautiful weather. Can't complain too much.

Peter McCully: Take us back to the beginning. What drew you to goaltending? Was there a specific moment or perhaps a player that made you fall in love with being between the pipes?

Connor LaCouvee: Not at all, really. I started playing goal just because I really couldn't skate, or I really wasn't a very good forward or defenseman. At one point, I had the opportunity to throw the pads on. Surprisingly, I had a really good game, had a lot of fun doing it, and I was like, "Wow, maybe I could be a goalie."

Peter McCully: Isn't that funny? 'Cause that's why I became a goalie. I wasn't a very good skater. And then I found out on the very first breakaway that you have to be able to skate backwards faster than the guy who's skating forward.

Connor LaCouvee: Yeah, it's true, right?

Peter McCully: Walk us through your junior hockey experience, Connor. What were some of the lessons that you learned early in the formative years that you carry forward to now?

Connor LaCouvee: Junior hockey was a pretty wild ride. I played on four or five teams in a two-year span, getting cut, getting traded, moving around, switching billet homes—all of these things. I think the biggest thing I took away from that was resilience. I think my parents were really good at instilling that in me, and just being able to manage the highs, manage the lows, and keep going forward when things look bleak or when things looked lost. Still being able to put the work in, still being able to stay dedicated and not getting too emotional with it.

Peter McCully: You've had an impressive professional career spanning the American Hockey League, the East Coast Hockey League, and now in Europe. Can you walk us through the journey and what each league taught you about the game?

Connor LaCouvee: I'm going into my eighth year playing professional now, which sounds kind of crazy to say it out loud. I finished up at Minnesota State Mankato in 2015. I signed in Maine—the Maine Mariners of the ECHL. I was there for a couple months, and then I got called up to Laval Rocket, which is the Canadiens' farm team. Played very well in Laval. Got a two-year deal there. It was kind of up and down sometimes with Laval and Maine. After that, I went to Tucson in the American League for one year. I've been playing five years in Europe now. It's gonna be my fifth year going over there. Obviously, at the pro level, it's a job. So it's your career, and you need to treat it like a career. I think going from junior hockey to college to professional hockey, the people that make a career of it are the ones that invest in themselves, invest in their training, invest in their nutrition, their sleep—just like any other career. So I think that level of seriousness and level of dedication just keeps rising as you go up and up in the leagues. And it's cool to see the hard work, the dedication—all these things that guys at higher and higher levels have.

Peter McCully: What's been the most memorable save or a game that stands out in your professional career, and what made it so special?

Connor LaCouvee: The save that I remember the most, I think, is my first year pro. I made an incredible diving save when I was in Laval. We were up 3-2 against the top-ranked team—the first-place team, the Charlotte Checkers—and it was just kind of a crazy lateral play glove save. We were up 3-nothing. They had scored one. They had scored a second one, and this would've tied the game, but I made a huge save. It saved the momentum. We ended up winning that game. It was Laval's first win in a couple nights. It just really solidified my spot on the team. It really gave me a chance to continue playing there. And the crowd roared.

Peter McCully: And the crowd roared. Exactly. I think, you know, Laval's Place Bell, it's a special place. You know, we had 10,000 fans there. It's a good environment.

Peter McCully: How do you handle the mental pressure of being a goaltender in a big league, especially knowing that one mistake can change the outcome of a game or a whole season?

Connor LaCouvee: It's definitely a learned process. A lot of experience has helped me develop that. I think just being in the moment is the most important. If you're in the moment, you're focused on the puck, you're focused on the play, you're not focused on "what ifs," you're not focused on the fans, you're not focused on anything else but the exact moment. And being able to be encompassed in that moment allows you to enter that flow state and allows you just to stay dialed into the things that matter.

Peter McCully: Connor, can you tell us about a particular coach or a mentor who has significantly impacted your career?

Connor LaCouvee: There's been so many. I feel like each year there's been one or two guys that have definitely really helped me out. I think from my college career, I would give a shout-out to Mike Hastings, my head coach for Minnesota State Mankato, who's an incredible coach—just really held us accountable. Really pushed us hard, but also had a love for all the guys on an individual side of things. But as a coach, he was hard on us, very hard on us. We grew a lot. I grew a lot as an individual. Being an everyday guy—that was something that he had really stressed, and that's just putting the work in every day. Not resting on your laurels, not living in the past, but bringing it every single day. Attitude and effort—that was kind of his big thing. You can control your attitude. You can control your effort. You can't control much else, but every day you need to show up with a good attitude and have a good effort. That's all he asked.

Peter McCully: What's one aspect of being a goaltender—playing the position—that people who are watching on television or in the rink might not understand or appreciate?

Connor LaCouvee: I think to some degree it's the mental aspect. It's stressed enough how intense this position is mentally. But going back to an earlier question, not only the stress and the focus, confidence, various mental strategies throughout the game—but I think away from the rink as well, and this is not just goalie-specific, but athlete in general—is just how you manage your downtime. It's kind of a funny statement, but something that I joke about with my friends is that my number one job, my number one responsibility—if my job is stopping the puck—probably the number two responsibility is effectively killing time. After games, after practices, if you go back home and you stress about the practice, you stress about the game, you continue to think about hockey, that really creates this negative feedback loop where you're always thinking, you're always stressed. You're just in this state of constant anxiety, constant frustration. But being able to effectively kill time—whether it's hanging out with friends, reading a book, getting a coffee, going for lunch—just being able to detach yourself from the game. Because if you're not effectively resting, you can never effectively perform. I think that's something that a lot of young athletes struggle with, especially in junior hockey. And then, you know, you're busy in college, but then again in pro hockey—what do I do with my time? It's finding healthy hobbies, hobbies that fulfill you, that sustain you, and not negative ones. When people have negative ones, that's when they kind of go down a dark road. So finding effective, healthy ways to kill time.

Peter McCully: So tell us about your transition from playing professionally to teaching now. What inspired you to start LaCouvee Goaltending School over the past couple years?

Connor LaCouvee: I had just been coaching in the summers here and there, helping out at various camps, doing things like that. I started just doing it, truthfully, for the money. It was a good summertime job. You go out there, you help goalies, you get on the ice, get paid for it. And then as it progressed, I started to enjoy it more and more, and I got some results with the kids, with the goalies. They would come back year after year, and they would be, you know, a little bit taller, a little bit more mature, working harder, going from AA to Triple A, Triple A to junior, and it started to become really rewarding. I started to enjoy it more and more. You know, my dad has always kind of stressed to work for yourself—don't work for someone else if you don't have to. That's kind of what he's told me at a young age. And nothing wrong with working for other people, but I just thought to myself, "Why don't I do my own thing?" I've liked everyone that I've coached for, and I have a lot of respect for them, but at the same time, I'm on my own path, and I wanted to coach. I wanted to teach from my viewpoint, from my experiences, from my wisdom that I've learned. That's where this came from. I started slow, working with a couple goalies one-on-one, semi-private, small group, and then kind of it grew to camps and online, and I continue to enjoy it, continue to build it up, and continue going.

Peter McCully: Tell us about the schools. Where are they? When are they?

Connor LaCouvee: We have five this year. We just finished one in Indiana. We go to Nanaimo, Montreal, Calgary, and then Pitt Meadows, and then back to Slovakia—back to beautiful Slovakia.

Peter McCully: You emphasize in the schools developing goaltending IQ. Could you define what that means for us?

Connor LaCouvee: The pillars of LaCouvee Goaltending—of my company—are technical, tactical, and mental. Those are the three pillars I believe a goalie needs to succeed at a high level. Technical, obviously being the technique of the position—your movement mechanics, your angles, your tracking, various things like that. The tactical component—this is goalie IQ—reading the play, situational awareness, understanding systems, things like that. Mental is then again, you know, your confidence, your focus, how you prepare for games. So goalie IQ, no different than player IQ—how you read the game, how you see the game, how you see plays developing, pattern recognition, understanding that, you know, a player below the goal line is not maybe the most dangerous scoring threat, but it's probably the guy in front of the net. And learning what type of power play setups are against you, how a two-on-one functions, how a three-on-two functions—various components to how the game is actually played. Because at higher and higher levels, you need to recognize patterns. You need to recognize why a player is more likely to make this pass or shoot the puck this way as opposed to that way.

Peter McCully: I was reading the other day that the CHL has drafted a young player by the name of Alexander Harmonov. He's 17 years old. He's seven feet tall, 297 pounds. What do you think of that as a defenseman?

Connor LaCouvee: I wanna see what size of skates he wears. That's crazy. That's—it's cool to see. I wonder—I hope he does well. It's very interesting to see that size in hockey. We'll see.

Peter McCully: If I was a goaltender in your position, I wouldn't wanna see him in front of me. You couldn't see around him.

Connor LaCouvee: Exactly. I mean, hopefully he's boxing guys out and keeping them to the outside so we don't have to look around him, because that's a huge body.

Peter McCully: What advice would you give to parents whose kids want to pursue goaltending seriously?

Connor LaCouvee: Continue to support them, continue to support them through the tough times, through the good times. Not pushing them but supporting them is very key. I work with a lot of goalies who have great parents that are supportive, and I also work with some goalies whose parents are a little bit too involved. It comes from a place of love. It comes from a totally loving place, which I understand. As a parent, you have to realize that ultimately it's on your kid. It's on your son, it's on your daughter to want to play at a higher level and want to work to get to a higher level. If they're 15, 16 years old and you're having to ask them to go on the ice, ask them to go to the gym, ask them to do ball work—stop right there. You're gonna destroy the relationship with your kid. And so the biggest thing is just trying to support them in a positive manner. Your kid will ultimately end up where they should be. Guidance is great, but no amount of pressure or telling your kid is gonna help them. They need to do this on their own. You can support them, you can help guide them, but so many parents, especially now with early specialization in sport, hyper-focused. They want their kid to be skating 10 hours a week in the summer. This is all just causing burnout. And ultimately, what this does is it puts a huge strain on the relationship between kid and parent. And that's what you don't want to do. You don't wanna destroy your relationship with your kid. That's a hundred times more important than your kid's hockey career.

Peter McCully: Some good advice there, Connor. And speaking of advice, if you could go back and give your younger self a piece of advice that you may have picked up along the way in your goaltending journey, what would that be?

Connor LaCouvee: I think it's just being confident in myself. Something that I try and coach my goalies—that believing in yourself and being confident in yourself is arguably the most important aspect to goaltending. Confidence, belief in yourself—this together is free, and it requires no talent. Now, it requires work to believe in yourself and be confident in yourself, but having those two things throughout your career will supersede any sort of technical and tactical training. And not out of arrogance, not out of cockiness, but continuing to foster and develop a belief in yourself that ultimately you can make it to the next level. And this is, for me, the most important thing for young athletes.

Peter McCully: Connor, thanks for your time today. Best of luck with the Goaltending School and best of luck with the season in Slovakia.

Connor LaCouvee: Thanks so much for having me on. I appreciate it.

Dave Graham: Thanks to Connor LaCouvee for being on the podcast. You know, I have a special respect for goalies. I used to be put in goal quite a bit when playing hockey as a kid, not due to any lightning-fast reflexes on my part, rather because I was actually never any good at skating. And that's the reason I was a goalie too. But were you any good at goaltending? Well, I had no equipment, no padding at all. So whenever a puck was sent in my direction, I tended to wanna get out of its way. So no, no, I was not a good goalie.

Peter McCully: I'm guessing you took a few shots to the head then, eh?

Dave Graham: Say what now?

Peter McCully: Let's talk about our kids' offerings—the Skookum Kids stories, including the series about Captain Dave and his first mate, Larry the Lobster, aboard the Mellow Submarine. Their latest episode involves a visit to Beach Fest, some sandcastles, and a treasure hunt.

Dave Graham: In our other series, Peter and his dog, Gracie, and their latest adventure reveal how children can have an impact on their community through acts of kindness and community service. Hear all about it in "Peter and Gracie and Their Food Bank Adventure." The stories about Gracie the Eskimo dog and the Mellow Submarine can be found at SkookumKids.com, also Apple, YouTube, iHeart, Buzzsprout, Spotify, and Amazon.

Fireside Books: There's exciting news for book lovers. Fireside Books in Parksville now has a second location in Port Alberni. The Bookwyrm used books are just $5 each, and be sure to ask about their volume discounts. The Bookwyrm on the corner of Redford and Anderson. Open seven days a week from 10 to 5. Fireside Books at 464 Island Highway East in Parksville is a book dragon's dream come true. Browse their extensive collection weekdays from 9 to 6 and weekends 10 to 5. Both locations make growing your personal library easier than ever. New books, used books, activity books, puzzle books, and much more. Order online at firesidebooks.ca, and your books will be waiting when you arrive. Ask about returning books for book credit. Fireside Books and The Bookwyrm—two locations, one amazing adventure in browsing.

Thrifty Foods Parksville: At Thrifty Foods, we love to help nonprofits, charities, and schools. Our Thrifty Foods Smile Card bulk program allows organizations to immediately save up to 6% on the purchase of Smile Cards in bulk, allowing you to keep more money in your organization's pockets.

Beach Fest: The magic is happening now. Parksville Beach Festival is in full swing with the incredible Circus by the Sea Sand Sculpture Exhibition open daily from 9:30 AM to 8:30 PM. These jaw-dropping masterpieces are absolutely breathtaking. Cast your vote for the People's Choice Award. Enjoy Vancouver Island's best local musicians at the Gazebo daily. Plus, the Tim Hortons free summer concert series kicks off this Friday and Saturday, 6:30 to 8:30 PM at the Parksville Outdoor Theater. Bring a chair, bring a friend, and get ready to groove under the summer sky. Suggested $5 donation supports our community. Parksville Beach Festival—pure summer magic. Visit parksvillebeachfest.ca.

Peter McCully: Thanks to the Parksville Beach Festival for their support of The Pulse Community Podcast. We welcome inquiries about sponsor opportunities as we present stories in a way nobody else does. And by the way, we're always open to story suggestions.

Dave Graham: Oh yeah. Drop us a line, as they used to say. Click on the contact link at thepulsecommunity.ca. Well, it's time for our next guest. You know, I recently had a conversation with a wonderful lady who lives a life of service to others. Here's Marilyn to introduce a remarkable member of our community.

Marilyn: Sylvia Campbell is the co-founder of the North Island Wildlife Recovery Association, along with her husband, Robin. Celebrating its 40th anniversary, the North Island Wildlife Recovery Center helps injured and orphaned wildlife on Vancouver Island and is committed to educating the public on wildlife and environmental issues.

Dave Graham: Welcome to the podcast, Sylvia. It is nice to see you again here at North Island Wildlife Recovery Center, and you've allowed me into your backyard space, and I'm delighted to see you again.

Sylvia Campbell: I was happy that you were coming out, Dave. We'd had some really good times together before, so I'm glad that you're here.

Dave Graham: Let's start at the beginning, shall we? North Island Wildlife Recovery Center. And I suppose for the millionth time, would you relate the story of the genesis?

Sylvia Campbell: It's a good story, though. I don't mind repeating it. But it started back in '83, '84. We went into partnership at the Buckley Bay Grocery Store at Denman Island. And it just happened that our neighbor phoned Robin and said, "We've got a great horned owl that's wrapped up in a barbed wire fence. It had caught a duck and it flew too low, and then wrapped its wing round and round in this barbed wire fence." And it happened to be Christmas Day. I'll never forget that. Robin says, "Yeah, I'll come over, and we'll see what we can do for it." Needless to say, that owl came home with Robin that night. And that was the start of it. We had a retired veterinary friend up in the Courtenay area that looked at that owl. The wing had to be amputated. We kept it in our bedroom balcony for many, many months so it could recuperate. We actually lived right at the store there too, so that was the beginning. And just as important as people like you are to what we did at the beginning, the newspaper came to us and said, "Here, we heard about this owl. Tell us the story." It blossomed from there. People started bringing Robin injured animals right to the store. We even had a deer come one time with three good legs and one flopping in the air. It was an unbelievable story that we did this because we really didn't have any training in doing it. But of course, we had the veterinary friend, we had other people that would help us build some enclosures. So right behind the Buckley Bay store, we built a wildlife recovery center, and we worked. Robin worked two jobs. I worked in the store. I had three kids, and it was something that we never planned. But Robin and I both have a faith, and we know that God directed us in this way. We know it. It was so divine that it was an amazing life that we took on. That was the beginning of that. There's so many other stories, but to get down to it, we got out of that partnership and moved here to the District of Errington. We're really glad that we came here. It's a beautiful place, and we bought eight acres of land here. But we didn't have jobs. We said, "What are we gonna do on this eight acres of land when we were up at Buckley Bay?" Because we had left, we had made it a nonprofit organization at that time, and a lot of the animals that we had went to other rehab centers, so we wanted to start again here in Errington. That's exactly what we did. We wanted to get back into wildlife, but then we didn't have any means of money coming in at all. All our money went to buying this piece of property, right? We had a friend that knew us for many years and knew that we liked animals. We liked children. We liked the disabled, we liked the elderly. That's what both Robin and I were like, and they said, "Would you wanna look after this challenged lady for the weekends?" And we said, "Yeah, sure, we'll do it." We took her on and Christmas came, and she never left. Over the years, we had a group home for the challenged individuals. They lived with us for 30 years, so that's how we were able to take on the Wildlife Recovery Center because they went to a day program in the day, and then we worked here building the center during the day. So I look at those folks and say they're the reason why we were able to do this, and both our daughters care for them. They took over looking after them after we retired. We still see them all the time. How did it all start here? We came onto this property in 1988, and by 1989 we got a phone call from someone who had—again, found a newspaper article about us starting up a wildlife recovery center here on Errington property. He had found a bald eagle on his property. Not only one. He said they're all over the place. They're laying all over the ground. We didn't know what was going on, but basically what happened is that he had a cow euthanized and they in turn became poisoned. And so it was quite a story, actually. It became an international story. We had helicopters flying above and all kinds of stuff like this that it was quite challenging for us. But the good story about that is that there were 29 bald eagles that we were able to pick up, and we were able to release 25 of them. So that's how it started here on this property. People started to hear about us and understand what we were doing and giving us money. We didn't even have an office. We went in that little shed that I showed you, and we started an office in there and figured out how to give out tax receipts and things like that. So it was quite a challenge. At the beginning it was hard because you didn't have that money, that flow coming in, and it was just Robin and I at that time looking after all these animals that were coming in.

Dave Graham: I'm wondering, did you sit down and set goals, or was it a little more organic than that?

Sylvia Campbell: That's a really good question because I don't think we ever sat down and did a plan. And I need to tell you a little bit about Robin. He's a dreamer, he's a visionary. He has passion. When you look around the center, it's not like a normal place. It's beautiful, it's landscaped, it's—every enclosure has something unique about it for that animal. So that's how he works. So did we have a plan at the beginning? No, but we sure worked on anything that came our way. And we didn't have any training, but we had so much help from other people. We had veterinarians that would help us. We had a fellow in the States that knew all about bears. He taught Robin everything he knew. We had people that came and helped us with the gardens, and it's not that we've done it all ourselves. When we started off with just the two of us, now we have 100 volunteers. That's a lot.

Dave Graham: Dare I ask you to point your finger at one element in this magnificent expanse that you're most proud of?

Sylvia Campbell: That new recovery room. I am really proud of that. We worked for many years—maybe 20, 30 years—out of just what we had here on this property, and so we were able to build that new recovery room, and I'm really happy about that because it gives a good place for the animals to go to recover. It's a wonderful place for the caretakers to look after the animals as well. Robin—he is incredibly proud of the bear recovery area. This is something that we took on maybe about 20 years ago, to look after black bears. He has this specialized space where we rehabilitate injured and orphaned bear cubs. There's actually three places. It's a small nursery, there's a grow-out area, and then there's a pre-release area, and each one has an amazing aspect to it just for black bears. And of course, the bear pavilion is something that he is really happy about. He worked hard on that. He's not an architect, but he's a dreamer. He could see it before it was finished. Actually, both of us barely finished school, grade 12, so we don't have any secondary schooling. And actually, Robin is dyslexic. He attributes it to—in the old math book, you used to go to the end of the book and you could get an answer to the question. That's what he's like. He goes to the back of the book and looks at the answer, and then he does the question. He sees that bear pavilion before it's done, and then he just tells people how he would like to have it done. So there's no drawings to make sure this is like that. It's just all in his head, and that's what this whole place has been like. It's just such a dream and a passion that we've both had, and it's worked out.

Dave Graham: What strikes me as the remarkable coalescence, for lack of a better word, of the people and timing and skills and desire and support to make this possible. It's almost as if one element was missing, it wouldn't have worked.

Sylvia Campbell: It's true. It seems like it's really gone on a path of its own, I must say. We worked hard at it, but again, we've always had people that have helped us. It's actually really quite incredible, for sure.

Dave Graham: The remarkable Eagle Flight enclosure—was that another one of Robin's dreams?

Sylvia Campbell: It was one of Robin's accomplishments. Absolutely. That happened because of those 29 bald eagles. We had some other eagles here too that were non-releasable. They were sent to the Guelph veterinary clinic, and he went down there and he saw that they were exercising this bald eagle down the corridor, and he thought, "That's not good enough." So he came home and decided, "I'm gonna build a 120-foot-long enclosure, 40 feet wide, 20 feet high." He had it all in his mind. He had to have the slats going the proper way and softness at the top so that they wouldn't run into the top and hurt themselves. So because of that—29 bald eagles—we knew that we were gonna do eagles. Absolutely. So that was the first thing that we ever built, and it's never been empty since 1990.

Dave Graham: One of the messages you want to make clear is, I suppose, the damage that can be done by people, however well-intentioned, when they try to make animals pets. And where do you want to start on that one?

Sylvia Campbell: It's really quite bizarre, to tell you the truth. I understand that you wanna be close to animals, and you can get a cat and a dog, so you don't have to do it with wildlife. But it has been a problem. One thing that we have here at the center is the public viewing area, so people can come and visit us. That's a little bit different than some other wildlife rehabilitation centers. We do that on purpose so that we can educate people. In some of the enclosures that you'll see are imprinted animals. Imprinting means that they've come in close contact with humans and they have taken on some of those aspects. They depend on humans. The ravens, for instance—there's a couple of 'em out there that have been raised by people, and you can't let them go. They don't know how to feed. They come and peck at people, things like that. Just recently, what we had delivered in our animal enclosure drop-off was a skunk. Now that was something that we had never seen before, and there was no paperwork left. Someone phoned and said, "Did you get the skunk?" He said, "Yes, but where did it come from? What's going on?" And they hung up. It was young. It couldn't be released back out into the wild again. There was just no way that it could be. The Ministry of Environment gave us permission to keep that animal. So we've had it here for quite a while, and it's been trained by our volunteers that we take it out to the public viewing, and people get to see this amazing skunk. But along with that, we tell them this is what happens when you take an animal out of the wild. It lives the rest of its life here. Not that it's not getting good care, but it would be better if it was out in the wild. A guinea pig would make a really good pet, but a hawk won't. We've had a hawk come in because somebody had tethered it to its balcony and was keeping it as a pet. So that type of stuff is unacceptable.

Dave Graham: After decades of school bus tours, have you seen attitudes in children changing towards wildlife?

Sylvia Campbell: Kids are great. Kids are really wonderful, and yes, I think over the years what I've seen is that even in school, they're teaching more about wildlife because you can see it. There are some kids that could care less, but the ones that you see are really into it. It's amazing. It's wonderful to see. What we have noticed, though, is that there's a lot of children who come here and they say, "We wanna do this. We would love to run a wildlife recovery center or be a vet or animal caregiver," and they say, "Can we volunteer here?" But because of the zoonosis, which is diseases of wildlife, which would really affect children more than it would an adult, we can't do that. But what we have done is we started what is called the Green Teams, and they're children between the ages of 12 and 18, and they come and volunteer here, educating the public. We teach them everything that we know—as much as we can—about the animals, and they set up a table and they teach people about wildlife. The really interesting thing is we have someone starting to work for us who was a Green Team member. I am so excited about that because that program, to me, is really setting those kids apart and setting them up for a wonderful future with wildlife. We had one scholarship that we gave to a Green Team member so that she could go into some environmental program.

Dave Graham: I guess this place could be seen as something of a reflection of the often unfortunate interactions between human and wildlife over the decades. What has your experience here told you about changes or trends in terms of the status of wildlife and habitats in this region?

Sylvia Campbell: I can't give you numbers, but we look after about 700 animals a year. Why they come in is because 90% of it is because of human interaction directly or indirectly. So there's car collisions, there's clearing of land while it's baby season, or cat attacks is huge. The cats take millions of birds, electrocution, things like that. So it's all got to do with humans—is why we have the animals. But I can't tell you if the numbers have gone down. We are still getting animals coming in all the time. What we know is that if we educate people, it's going to get better. And I think it has gotten better. We don't do fawns, but we used to. We used to get 20 fawns in the spring. We knew that they shouldn't be coming in, so we had to start educating people and saying, "Listen, if you see a fawn alone, the mother's probably half a mile away. Just leave it alone." Over the years, we've discovered that there's only maybe one or two, three fawns that come in, and for the right reason. We know that our education is working.

Dave Graham: We haven't mentioned yet that this is a major event—40th anniversary. You wanna talk about some of the plans?

Sylvia Campbell: Yeah, we're excited about that. Like, 40 years. Holy cow. We've tried to do a few things just to get people coming and seeing the place. We've had things like a fairy lady brought all her fairy garden, and I wouldn't really ask her. She came and I thought, "Why not? It's just something that people would love to see." And we have some artists coming, and we had somebody talk about polar bears. We had Mike Yip here who talked about eagles. He's an amazing guy. Bill Helin is going to do some native drumming here. It's a celebration, not charging any extra money for it or whatever. It's just an extra perk when people come here.

Dave Graham: Congratulations to you and everyone. It is a remarkable and wonderful achievement.

Sylvia Campbell: We feel pretty good about it, actually.

Dave Graham: Yes, you are. You're entitled to. Is there a single message or a thought that you'd like visitors to this place to have when they leave this place? Is there one message or a theme, a thought, whatever?

Sylvia Campbell: I want people just to go away from here and be really aware that they are part of wildlife. And that we need to be stewards of it. Take what we have, what we've offered for information, for education, and hopefully that'll make a difference.

Dave Graham: Is there a factor that drives volunteers? Is there any common factor that you see?

Sylvia Campbell: The only reason people volunteer is 'cause they like animals. There's no doubt about it. We have some pretty fanatical animal lovers that volunteer here, and it's good, though, if you can get past the human aspect of what we do and look at the animals and take that on. Our volunteers are amazing. They do all kinds of things. We have people come here, some elderly people that come and they rake all the leaves up and clean the tables off, and I'm going, "Why do you do that? You're not really helping wildlife." But you're helping us. It's totally amazing. We have another group that's called the Beautification Team. They do all kinds of stuff that most people wouldn't do, and they do it for the animals. They don't really do it for Robin and I, they do it for the animals. There's educators, there's cage cleaners, they're picking up poop and all kinds of stuff. Who wouldn't love being able to be so close to an eagle or a hawk, or even a young owl that we were just talking to earlier? Being close to that raven—it's something that you don't get to do otherwise.

Dave Graham: How about the stability of the North Island Wildlife Recovery Center for the years to come? How are you dealing with making sure this legacy remains?

Sylvia Campbell: That's a really good question as well, because Robin and I are getting into our late seventies, so what are we gonna do here? Like, we see it as a passion that we have. Is there gonna be someone else who will take on that passion? I don't know, but I think we've set it up good enough that someone will come along and continue it on. We have manuals on everything—on how to keep the yard, how to look after the animals. All our educational programs, it's all there. It's ready for somebody to take over. And as far as keeping it going—when we first started here, it was bequests that actually helped us a lot. So if you go into the Museum of Nature, it was by one man. If you go over to the Eagle Flight cage, it was one woman. If you go to the learning center, it was one woman who gave money for that. All of those large buildings were given through a bequest, and I have to tell you about this one bequest because I think everybody should do it. His name is Arthur Knowles. He came here right at the beginning in the nineties, and Robin showed him around a little bit. Several years later, he passed away. This is what he did. He gave us $500,000, which back in those days was a huge amount of money. But he gave it to us so that we only got the interest. So the principal went in the bank, we got the interest for 15 years, which was perfect because it gave us time to figure out exactly what do we need, what do we want, instead of spending it all at one go. And then after the 15 years, that money went to the City of Nanaimo to a child's park. So there were two things that man did. So he built the museum, he helped us build the bear enclosures. That sort of thing keeps on going. It's not as dramatic as when we first started—people aren't giving as much money—but they still are helping us through bequests, and that's just an amazing thing. One thing that I did look up for you, though, is where do we get our money from? 33% of that comes from the admission to come into the center. We had to get a permit from the Ministry of Environment to actually allow people to come in and look at the non-releasable wildlife because of our education program. It's well worth it for us, and people are helping us. 26% of the money that we get comes from donations, like people that wanna give us some money. 17% right now is from estates. 13% comes from that little gift shop there, which has grown over the years. The rest of that is—we have a really good board of directors. They're a good group. They look after our money really well. What we have done too, to make sure that things are going to continue, is that we started a wildlife college. Our wildlife veterinarian, who is Dr. Malcolm McAdie, he's been with us for 34 years, and he is giving sessions. We actually video him—every aspect of wildlife rehabilitation that you can imagine. And so when we have new employees, they sit down and they listen to these videos and they learn everything there is. Someday we may open it up to the public as well, but we've got it all covered. We hope so. We hope that things will continue on after we're gone.

Dave Graham: Congratulations again, and Sylvia, it's been a real treat to see you and thank you for the tour and thank you for all that you've done.

Sylvia Campbell: What a life we've had. It has been good, for sure.

Peter McCully: The North Island Wildlife Recovery Center's anniversary celebration includes a collaboration with the McMillan Art Center to present "en plein air," which means to paint outdoors. It's a workshop exhibition which will allow visitors to the recovery center a chance to see artists at work.

Dave Graham: Oh, I was talking about that exact same thing at the painting race I was helping with recently. In my opening remarks, I admitted that, well, I can't paint unless it's a house, and I don't draw unless it's conclusions. And so to me, there's a kind of magical quality involved in creating art, and watching it being made is to see magic at work. The en plein air event happens between 10:00 AM and 1:00 PM, August 10th. You know, I've said it before, Peter, and I'm going to say it again. I firmly believe we are all artists, whether we know it or not, and to find our creative voices to live life more fully. And speaking of being full, oh, is it time to see Mabel in the cafeteria?

Peter McCully: You know it. Mabel's an artist too, you know.

Dave Graham: Oh yeah. How's that?

Peter McCully: You've seen what she can do with gravy.

Dave Graham: I'm in the mood for an order of fries smothered in art.

Rockin Rhonda & The Blues Band: Here comes Peter, here comes Dave, oh listen. Bringing stories, making waves. No missing. Spinning tales in the podcast cave. So to speak. Laughs and insights everywhere. What a treat. Peer and Dave. They're on the mics all right. Join the ride. It's gonna feel just right.