CONTRIBUTOR SPOTLIGHT

JOHN BUSCH

Raised on a farm in Bruce County, Ont., John went on to have several careers including police officer, truck driver and welder, in several different areas of the country. Now 70 years of age and retired, he makes his home in St. Thomas, Ont. John enjoys travelling and has visited almost every province and territory in Canada with the exception of Labrador and the Yukon. He has several hobbies, but first and foremost is his love of amateur photography. You can enjoy John’s work in this issue’s photo essay on page 8, titled Desolate Beauty in which he photographs abandoned barns in and around his hometown.

GAIL PERESSINI

Born in British Columbia in 1956, Gail was removed from her Indigenous family at the age of five and put into foster care. The childhood trauma of being taken away from those she loved resulted in a troubled youth, a conflict of cultural identity and later an abusive marriage that spiralled into depression, anxiety and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Arriving at a point where she was convinced she would never find happiness, she managed to do precisely that. Now blessed with a “wonderful husband” of 35 years and two beautiful daughters, Gail shares her remarkable story of coming to terms with past struggles and looking towards a brighter future in Kanata on page 31.

WOLFE MILESTONE

Wolfe was born and raised in Holland Landing, Ont., where his earliest memories are of his mother singing and playing piano at home, and teaching him how to harmonize to any type of music. When he was old enough to go to school, he joined the choir right away because he loved to sing and, by Grade 6, he had learned the basics of playing guitar, thanks to some school friends. As you’ll see in his story on page 40—Welcome to Wolfe Country—from those humble beginnings, Wolfe went on to become an award-winning country singer, songwriter and performer with fans in Canada, the U.S.A. and abroad. And he’s still at it!

CHRIS SPRING

Retired from a career in aviation, Chris has lots more time for other interests now. His hobbies include hunting, fishing, canoeing, boating, motorcycle riding and woodworking. He is also fascinated with anything powered by a gasoline engine. According to him, you can never own too many internal combustion engines. So, discovering a two-stroke engine built in 1915 that powers a wooden boat of the same year was a dream come true. Read all about Chris’s project to restore this watercraft back to its original beauty in his story Still Seaworthy on page 54. Chris and his wife, Louise, live in Osgoode, Ont., and have three daughters—jennifer, Alison and Rosemary.