The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

working long, hard days to make a modest living as an arborist. But Jim’s story begins long before he made the decision to migrate 1,700 km from his Tennessee birthplace to live in small-town Ontario. Jim was born and raised in a middle-class Memphis neighbourhood with his parents and brother. His life was not unlike most young lads, who spent their time hang- ing out with friends and playing little league fastball. He also enjoyed hunting for quail and deer with his dad and grandfather. “Momma had us outside all the time,” he recalled, adding “our street was always full of kids. We grew up together and graduated together.” While attending school he picked up his first guitar and after a few lessons, learned to play by ear, honing his skills playing at local schools and parties. “Memphis has so much good talent,” he says and. music is one of the things he misses most now that he’s living in Canada. “Almost every beer joint had bands playing on the weekends - music is just a part of life there,” he smiles. He remembers fondly hanging out in the entertain- ment district and along Beale Street, listening to the sounds of blues, soul and rock music spilling through doors and windows of its many colourful and dimly lit bars. Not unlike many of today’s youth, Jim had no idea what he wanted to do when he was growing up. “I re- belled after finishing high school knowing I didn’t want to be any part of public service. This dislike came about partially from seeing his father spend 27 years as a police officer and police chief in Memphis. His grandfather was also a public servant - serving as a deputy fire chief for the city. Admittedly a bit of a rebel, Jim started out working in factories and warehouses before landing a job with a tree service company. And while he never intended to stick it out for long, he found he enjoyed the job and working outside and stayed at it for five years. After leaving, he jumped from job to job for the next few years, never being able to settle down. He didn’t like working inside, so eventually he returned to work in the tree service business. This experience eventually led him to a position with the University of Memphis when a friend offered him a position as a tree trimmer for the school. It was during this time working at the university that he completed a course to become a certified arborist. “I went from being a tree trimmer to a certified ar- borist,” he smiles, noting that he got a title, but didn’t get any more money. During this same time, Jim supplemented his income working private jobs on the weekends. It was while working at the university he was approached by a young Canadian woman, Hannah Scott, a professor in the De- partment of Criminology who asked if he would do some work at her home. “Thad long hair below my shoulders and a ‘Fu Man- chu moustache,” he said, as he traced his fingers along the side of his mouth to show its length. But it seems his scruffy appearance had not deterred the young Canadian, so he agreed to do the work. “From the beginning I was intrigued by her,” he smiles. “She was pretty, easy to talk to and we enjoyed similar music tastes.” It was apparent that Hannah also took a liking to this young “Memphian’” as she provided him her business card on three occasions, with her pri- vate home number scrawled on the back. But it took Jim almost a year before he called her for a date which was to include dinner and a concert. That was in September 2002, but unfortunately, due to strong winds and rain, the result of a hurricane passing through the area, the concert was cancelled so they settled for din- ner in an Italian restaurant. Three months later Hannah asked Jim if he would con- sider moving to Canada with her, if she accepted a new job posting in southern Ontario. Jim knew she (Hannah) was the woman he wanted to be with so there was no hesita- Please turn to page 20 DONOVAN SMITH Over 30 years business experience in the private sector Responsible ¢ Fair Experienced Leadership OTE REGIONAL COUNCILLOR ©| 905-986-5084 donovansmith7@gmail.com FOCUS - OCTOBER 2010 19