DON and COLLEEN THOMSON relocated themselves and their business, DonCol Nature Products, to Salmon Arm from Abbotsford to be closer to their children and grandchildren. The couple wanted “to have more of a work/life balance,” which includes fishing, camping and cycling, as well as running the birdhouse-kit-building business Don started in 1995 while he was still teaching science, PE and tech in Langley schools.
When Don retired in 2011, Colleen, formerly an administrative assistant, joined in to take care of that end of the business.
“We live each day to its fullest,” says The Bird House Guy, as he is known to the many students and adults who participate in his workshops and professional development sessions that focus on building bird houses, feeders and now treasure chests. All the projects are made from off-cut red cedar, which is durable, weather-proof and easy for beginners to work with.
In 2017, Don received an offer to sell his kits online through a major US chain, but he turned it down. Today, the cottage industry is one his grandchildren enjoy participating in.
“I love my work, but I don’t want my business to interfere with my retirement,” he says. Colleen echoes the sentiment and adds that getting supplies from the coast gives them an opportunity to visit family there.
For more information: doncolnature.ca
SEAN and CATHY NOBLE moved to Grand Forks after retiring from their professional lives in Red Deer, Alberta. Sean says their new hometown has “the most perfect four-season weather in North America.”
The dream was to build a home on the Granby River, with a generous ground-floor B&B open year-round (except at Christmas) and offer guests a movie room, pool table, kitchen, access to the river, and much more, including purchasable Borscht, a nod to the area’s Doukhobors roots.
Upstairs, their Great/Breakfast Room can seat 36, when necessary, to include all their family and neighbours for their annual Thanksgiving dinner. “It was an important criterion to seat that many,” says Cathy.
A community-minded family, Sean and his three sons rode Suzuki V-Strom 65 motorcycles on a 27,000 km trip from Argentina to Alaska in 2007 to raise funds for Alberta’s Kids Care Cancer Foundation, and to make the Guinness Book of World Records, which they did, in 29 days and some hours and minutes.
Nowadays, Sean shares the job of Animal Control Officer with his brother, Brian, when he’s not welcoming guests. “The world comes to us,” says Cathy, who shares the business equally with Sean, including cooking fabulous breakfasts that keep their guests fuelled up for the day.
For more information: www.noblehousesuites.com; noblequest.org
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