I am descended from a long line of carpenters. My childhood was spent in a mobile home, pulled from one job site to the next as my father moved his way up from building highway bridges to power plants and hydro dams. We eventually settled down, for my high school years, in a small town about the size of Salt Spring on the Kootenai River (as they spell it south of the border) near the junction of BC, Idaho, and Montana. There I developed a lifelong love of wilderness and of music. I moved to Minnesota for college, where I received a BA in music, paying my way with a National Merit Scholarship and summer work as a carpenter.

​

After college, I remained in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area and earned a master’s degree in international management while working full time. I spent over a decade in operations management and finance with two smaller local companies in the consumer DIY and construction sectors. I then moved into the public sector, working for 25 years with the Minnesota Department of Health in finance, administration, and facilities management.

​

While living in St. Paul I served on the board of the local community newspaper, taught community education classes in plumbing and electrical codes and methods to homeowners, and volunteered as a university certified Master Gardener and Tree Care Advisor. I spent nearly two decades as bass trombonist with the East Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and played with other local bands and orchestras, including a stint on snare drum with a local pipe band. Summers were marked by our annual family canoe trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness on the Minnesota Ontario border, a 20-year tradition.

​

I met my Canadian partner while we were both living in Minnesota. She asked me if I had ever heard of Salt Spring Island. I had not, but it turned out that she had visited the island often over the years and hoped to retire there. We made our first visit together in 2010 and I was sold. We took in Canada Day fireworks in Ganges and, on our final day on the island, asked a local real estate agent to take us around and show us some houses. Three years later we had a fixer upper on a lovely piece of property and five years later we were full time Salt Springers.

​

Retiring to Salt Spring I have continued my involvement in music and in community organizations. I am Treasurer of the Bandemonium Music Society which supports the Bandemonium Concert Band and Swing Shift Big Band. I am Treasurer of the Island Wildlife Natural Care Centre and President of the Salt Spring Island Garden Club. I am POD leader of our neighbourhood POD and serve on the Salt Spring Emergency Management POD planning group. I coordinate the annual Christmas Bird Count for our North End zone. I play bass trombone with Bandemonium concert band and Swing Shift. As a new Canadian, I’ve been honoured to play in the brass group at Remembrance Day ceremonies every year since arriving on Salt Spring.