In this issue
Team successes require individual efforts
Individuals can make a difference. We're always told that and it's certainly true. In this issue, for example, two individual efforts leap out--those of fish farmer Ward Griffioen and of mountaineer John Clarke.
Individually, Ward Griffioen has led a revolution in fish farming practices--creating a model that is not only successful from a business point of view, but will help make the world a better place.
While the Lois Lake farm has not been without its controversies, compared to most ocean farms, it's an environmental as well as a business success story that has earned the approval of the Vancouver Aquarium and fish buyers across the country. Best of all for Powell Riverites, you can eat this fine fish at local restaurants, and, soon, buy it to prepare at home!
While there's no doubt Ward is a leader, he'll be the first to tell you that his individual efforts would have amounted to nothing without a great team. In Ward's case, his family formed the core of a team that has created a business entity that puts Powell River on the map.
Another man who changed Powell River's map, quite literally, was John Clarke. John was a mountaineering legend who climbed most of the peaks in this area before anyone else--often by himself on extended solo trips. This summer a peak behind Princess Louisa Inlet was renamed in his memory.
But John's most important legacy is not Mount John Clarke or his dizzying record of first ascents. Rather, it is in the lives of the young men and women he transformed by hiking with them in the wilderness, or making presentations in the schools.
Perhaps most enduring will be the work John did with the Squamish Nation that led to the protection of the Simms Creek valley below Mount John Clarke--again an example of how much an individual can accomplish when they join with a team.
This truth of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts is seen in other stories in this issue, too, such as the efforts to help the salmon on Myrtle Creek on Page 20 or the story on Page 30 about businesses creating new ways to thrive.
Of course, great teams require great leaders, which is why individuals like Ward and John deserve accolades. But never forget that whether you're the leader, or a member of the team, individual efforts are needed to make it all work.
Sean Percy, Associate Publisher · sean@prliving.ca
