17 minute read
Never Too Old
COVID sends 77-year-old back to school
by FRANK TILLEY photography by JESSICA CRANDLEMIRE
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Like many of my friends in Southern Georgian Bay, the COVID-19 restrictions of summer 2020 were getting me down. Before the pandemic struck, I had started a new project aimed at active Baby Boomers in this area. It had slowed to a crawl as I was unable to recruit volunteers face to face.
My wife and I were frustrated that our planned bicycle trip from Innsbruck, Austria to Verona, Italy had to be postponed. We had not been to the theatre, cinema or church since March. Most restaurants were closed. The house was closing in, I was drinking too much wine, my pants were getting too tight, and I was getting used to sleeping in. Something had to be done. Pivoting is the new buzzword my children use. I had to find something new. But what?
My last class in university was in 1966. I enjoyed the experience but had stayed away from academics with the exception of a year’s sabbatical in Geneva, Switzerland as an executive in residence at the local MBA school. I had always said I would pursue my interest in theology when I had some free time. It looked like it was now or never.
How do you make a decision like this? First, I talked with people who know me. Of course, my wife/consultant/coach had to be
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Online learning allows Frank Tilley to tune in to Zoom classes from anywhere, including a park bench or his desk at home (right).
involved. Then I talked with my children. Friends who know me well were also consulted. We reviewed my interests and what skills I had to offer.
My work had evolved into an entrepreneurial role in setting up a foundation, but I needed discipline and external accountability. Volunteering was an option, but I knew as an employer of volunteers for many years, I need something more rigorous.
Going back to school, in the normal sense, was not an option. All the universities were shut down. It was difficult to find a live person in any institution to talk with, particularly in the middle of the summer. I was frustrated in trying to communicate only with an impersonal website.
By August, I realized time was getting short. Providentially, the brother of a friend had taken a Masters program at Tyndale University, a private Christian university in Toronto. He encouraged me and suggested I try Tyndale as well as Wycliffe College, a Christian evangelical seminary at the University of Toronto. Finally, in the last week of August, I found a very helpful voice on the phone who guided me through registration and course selection for a Masters of Theological Studies at Wycliffe. He also interceded for me, as registration had formally closed three months earlier.
Fifty-four years of absence from university left me totally unprepared for my first class. I knew nothing about the school, professors or students. Talk about being out of your depth! I was in the same class as students in their fourth year of a divinity program. As an occasional student, I did not even have a library card. Technology was challenging. I commented to a fellow student, who was one-third my age, that the last time I had submitted an assignment, it was typed on a manual typewriter. She responded, “A manual what?”
I learned that, like all industries, academics have their own jargon, which makes it difficult for the uninformed newcomer. The dictionary
on my phone was used more in the first two weeks than it had been in the prior 10 years.
As all courses were online-only, traffic getting to class was not a problem, but I did not really feel part of a university until I took the step of inviting a professor out for lunch. That one face-to-face contact in Toronto helped me feel connected to the university.
People are asking me what return I expect from such a large investment of time and resources at my age. Often these people are experiencing frustration and boredom with the COVID lockdown. In contrast, I have rich new insights into a fascinating field of study. Boredom has not been an option. I am experiencing real excitement as I dig deeply into new research and learn new skills.
Initially, the work – two-and-a-half-hour Zoom classes and demanding assignments – was very challenging. As time moved on, I found my stride and I’m proud of my results in the first two semesters (an average above 80 per cent). I am now eagerly anticipating the third semester.
Today I reflect on the note I made for myself before I started this
journey, titled, “Why do this?” I have found a disciplined method of experiencing God. The material covered has been helpful with the founding of a new ministry. Finally, I have discovered a whole new world that has renewed my energy and challenged my mind. Who knows what the future will bring? ❧
Frank Tilley is the former president and CEO of Tilley of Canada Ltd. and the founder and former board member of The Institute of Southern Georgian Bay. He is currently involved as founder and member of the South Georgian Bay Music Foundation; elder responsible for mission and outreach at First Presbyterian Church in Collingwood; founder and member of the South Georgian Bay Prayer Breakfast; member of Business as Mission, a local Christian business group; and executive director of Finishing Well, an organization working with “active agers.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: Perspective is an op-ed column featuring a guest writer’s personal perspective on a topic of interest to our readers. If you have suggestions for future topics or writers, or to comment on this article, please email janet.lees@me.com
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FROM OUR READERS
RE: SPRING 2021
Fabulous issue. I had to read it cover to cover. Every article well written and thoughtprovoking, providing insights to local concerns and changes, as well as eye candy with glorious artwork and beautiful photos of wonderful homes. I picked up a free copy in Collingwood yesterday, and live near
Markdale.
Kathy (last name withheld)
RE: LET’S GET REAL, SPRING 2021
I was very moved by reading your opening letter to the Spring 2021 edition of On The Bay. Your words really spoke to the heart of the issue of the current housing crisis, as I do believe it is, indeed, a crisis.
This whole issue resonates greatly as we have been seeing prices soar in this community, especially where we live at Lighthouse Point. We have witnessed the frustrations of first-time home buyers, namely the children in our own family.
The question remains as to how to attain affordability for all. It’s one thing to buy a house; it’s another to maintain it and not be house poor. The debt that our younger generation is about to take on is staggering. To quote economist Mike Moffat from an article I read in the CBC this week, “We’re going to have a lot of both political and economic problems if we
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price an entire generation of young families from ever owning a home.” It’s bad enough that we’ve left them a planet that is hurting. They face the challenges of climate change as well as the challenges of obtaining a basic necessity: affordable and safe shelter.
What’s more, it concerns me to see the effect that wealthy new homeowners are having on the local economic climate. Although I think it’s wonderful to see new businesses spring up downtown, I can’t help but wonder how many average Collingwood citizens can afford to patronize them. It seems to me that these new businesses are simply catering to Toronto money. I wish I had a solution. I do think the area has already become a “haven for the rich” and we need to see more affordable options, everywhere.
Sue Livingston
RE: NOTTAWASAGA ISLAND & LIGHTHOUSE
The Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON) and the Nottawasaga Lighthouse Preservation Society (NLPS) are pleased to announce an agreement to work together to preserve the natural and historical legacy of Nottawasaga Island. Nottawasaga Island is an important bird rookery for common and rare bird species, and is also the site for one of the oldest and historically significant lighthouses in Ontario.
“The Nottawasaga Lighthouse Preservation Society has worked with the Saugeen Ojibway Nation to find common ground to allow us to move forward with our restoration plans for the historic lighthouse,” said the NLPS. “We have done so by respecting that the Nottawasaga Island is part of SON’s traditional lands and the waters around it are their traditional fishing areas. The NLPS looks forward to our continued partnership to ensure the restoration of the lighthouse and island.”
Nottawasaga Island is a 5.26-hectare island located five kilometers northwest of Collingwood. Although the island is small, it is very important from a historical, cultural and ecological perspective. The island is currently owned by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO). The SON and the NLPS wish to see the island returned to the SON, as the lighthouse is no longer in use. Both parties have worked hard together over the last two years to create an agreement on how to protect the ecology and history of the island. We look forward to our collaborative partnership and to the restoration of the lighthouse and island to its former glory.
“We have had a very productive working relationship with the Nottawasaga Lighthouse Preservation Society and our agreement is a demonstration of what we can achieve by working together for the benefit of all,” said Ogimaa Lester Anoquot, Chippewas of Saugeen First Nation and Ogimaa Greg Nadjiwon, Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation. “We eagerly await a commitment from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to remediate the soil contamination on the island and to see the island returned to our care.”
The island is part of the Mary Ward shoal, which is a valuable spawning ground for lake whitefish, a species of great cultural and commercial value to the SON. Staff from the SON sampled fish around the island, as part of the SON’s and NLPS’s work to protect the island. Gentle sampling revealed tens of thousands of small fish, such as shiner and minnow species, demonstrating the high productivity of this site. The Nottawasaga Island is of strong importance to breeding birds including cormorants, great blue herons, great egrets, blackcrowned night herons, and various gull species. This island is one of only four great egret breeding colonies in Canada and contains
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three percent of Canada’s black-crowned night heron populations.
One of the key issues that needs to be addressed is the heavy metal soil contamination directly around the lighthouse, from years of use. The parties are united in their desire for the DFO to clean up the site, preventing damage to the surrounding vulnerable ecology.
The lighthouse is one of six imperial towers built by John Brown of Thorold, Ontario in the 1850s. First lit November 30, 1858, it was in operation until 2003 when a lightning strike caused the outer wall to fail. Unfortunately, the lighthouse is in serious need of rehabilitation and is in danger of collapsing if immediate intervention does not take place soon. The SON and the NLPS are unified in their desire to preserve this historical lighthouse for future generations.
Ryan Lauzon, Fisheries Assessment Biologist,
Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation &
Stephen Emo, Chair,
Nottawasaga Lighthouse Preservation Society
RE: TIME TO RETHINK COUNTY ROAD 91 AND 26/27 SR
In 2021 why would the Municipality of Clearview still be advancing a plan to close a major regional road and divert all that traffic onto the 26/27 Sideroad?
More than a decade ago, The County of Simcoe offloaded County Road 91 to Clearview for $1, who in turn promised it to Walker Aggregates. In the original Minutes of Settlement between Walker Aggregates and Clearview Township (February 10, 2010), Clearview committed to upgrade the 26/27 Sideroad as soon as possible. Upon completion, the upper portion of County Road 91 would be transferred to Walker Aggregates and Walker would commence extraction activities.
However, it was not until four years later that the Joint Board (Municipal and Environmental) approved the quarry but not the road upgrades as they were outside their jurisdiction. Nevertheless, they acknowledged that public road works were essential to the successful and safe operation of the quarry and stipulated that they must be in place prior to the opening of the quarry.
By this time, major cold-water streams and wetlands along with steep Escarpment slopes had been identified beside the to-beupgraded 26/27 Sideroad, so the Niagara Escarpment Commission had to approve a development application for the sideroad. In 2015 the NEC turned down that application because alternative solutions had not been explored. In that same year, Clearview Council gave Walker permission to dig a tunnel under County Road 91 (a viable alternative to the 26/27 SR development) and Walker has been carrying on business ever since.
In 2021 these are the facts:
• The expansion of the 26/27 Sideroad will at best be a narrow twolane road. It will devastate the sensitive ecology of the Escarpment and will not accommodate farm equipment, firetrucks and other emergency vehicles. Moreover, original projections in 2010 and 2015 were for “light traffic” (it was to be paved when 400 cars per day was reached). In 2021 an upgraded 26/27 SR will not accommodate the thousands of cars and trucks that now use
County Road 91 daily. • All surrounding municipalities are against the closing of Road 91.
The Town of The Blue Mountains, Grey County and the Town of
Collingwood all actively oppose the closure of County Road 91. They
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say this road is critical for regional transportation and its closure is not necessary since Walker has a tunnel and is proceeding with its quarry business. • The original Minutes of Settlement committed council to sell the top portion of County Road 91 to Walker only, if and when, the 26/27 sideroad was upgraded. Clearview still owns the road.
County Road 91 does not need to close and for the good of the region should not be closed. • The Minutes of Settlement state that subsequent councils are free to make their own decisions.
There is nothing in the contract that requires council to continue to fight to implement an idea that may have made sense in 2008 but is actually harmful in 2021.
Walker has been accommodated by council, allowing it to build the tunnel and engage unhindered in its quarry operations. They have been accommodated in good faith. County Road 91 is critical regional infrastructure and must remain open. It is a solution everyone can live with.
Lynn Eakin, Stayner
Above right, the opening page of our article about quarries in the Fall 2007 issue of On The Bay.
WHERE DO YOU STAND ON THE ISSUES?
Do you have any comments, suggestions or additional information in response to any of our stories? To submit your letter to the Editor, go to onthebaymagazine.com/write-a-letter-tothe-editor. Comments may be published in an upcoming issue of On The Bay. We reserve the right to edit for style, content and space considerations.
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