Basketball and a Blizzard with Balance - A Visit with BC Alumni

On February 16th, we gathered at the Tap and Barrel, Bridges location on Granville Island in Vancouver. While enjoying some refreshments, we introduced ourselves and everyone shared stories of their involvement at CDS “back in their day” and elaborated on their current lives in Vancouver. Before describing some of their memories of recent days at CDS, recent Cyclone / current UBC undergrads Carly Campoli ’20 and Sarah Sutherland-Pace ’21 listened intently as Jennifer Chiu (Hustadt) ’95 and Rachel Thexton ’00 took us down memory lane, sharing their CDS highlights and anecdotes from the “good old days,” with spirited tales of teachers, trips, classmates and student life. Acting as resident archivist, I helped fill in the blanks with names and timelines and such. It was three hours of laughter-filled conversation that covered a whirlwind of personal stories from our CDS history … Cyclonic!!

In addition, Jennifer and Rachel offered to act as professional mentors and potentially help with employment opportunities for the younger alums at the table.

Rachel’s recollection of Montreal basketball trips and a basketball championship, served to jog my memory of a special era for CDS girls’ basketball. Something to write about for another time, perhaps….

Then on Family Day, the top of Whistler Mountain seemed to fit the bill for a cool photo-op and novel-yet-likely place to find CDS community members for a 50th gathering. I invited people to join me at Seppo’s Bar in the Roundhouse Lodge. As the start time drew near, the winds approached blizzard strength, slowing and temporarily stalling gondola and ski lift operations on Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains. Former CDS Junior School Librarian Pat Garrow (retired 2016) and I beat the storm and arrived early. We wondered who might be able to join us. Alexia Constantinou ’14, Nevis Hunt ’21, Logan Hunt ’18, Bridger Hunt ’17 eventually made their way in, along with past parents Dan and Jean Hunt. 

Some great visiting ensued, followed by a group photo. Check us out, holding the CDS flag on the patio while the blizzard raged. Upon re-entering the lodge after the photo shoot, a gentleman approached our group and asked, “What does balance look like, at a school?” He had read the “EDUCATION WITH BALANCE” tagline as we held the flag and posed for the photo.

Pointing to our group members as I listed their “balance” I replied, “It looks like a basketball player and business student taking some time to travel before re-engaging in his studies. It looks like an endurance athlete on snow and running trails who plays a musical instrument and now studies business and plans to be a pilot. It looks like a vocal musician who is a forestry biologist and teaches at a university. It looks like a place that supported each of their individual pursuits. It looks like two supportive and philanthropic parents who give of their time and expertise to help advance their children’s education and their school. It looks like a retired librarian who has taken time to reconnect at an alumni gathering. And finally, it looks like their PE teacher, committed to helping them maintain these connections.” 

The gentleman seemed sufficiently impressed and introduced himself as a local climatologist who is connected to the BC commercial aviation industry and community. Seeing as that was of interest to commercial pilot Logan and aspiring pilot Nevis, connections were made and unexpected opportunities discussed.

The light began to fade and the winds subsided as we all departed in our own directions, heading down the mountain for our final runs of the day. I reflected on my BC CDS 50th anniversary gatherings and had thoughts of basketball and a blizzard with balance. And on the importance of the connections that are possible.