Dr. Rix specified that one quarter of his $ 1 million donation to UBC be earmarked for the building of the boathouse. A former rower, Dr, Rix said that he discovered the sport of rowing while attending medical school at the University of Western Ontario and credits rowing with teaching him many of the skills that have led to his current success in business.

Dr. Rix said that he and some of his classmates had tried a variety of sports but it was their microbiology professor, who was from UBC, and had rowed at UBC who suggested we try rowing. “Our response was, ‘is that a sport?” But they got their hands on some shells and started rowing on Fanshaw Lake. “The first year we competed against Toronto and others and they beat the heck out of us and that sort of upset us.” We persevered, did better and in the third year our guest at our annual dinner was Frank Reed, coach at UBC. “He was a formidable guy and spoke well about rowing.”

Rix said that he rowed in the 4’s and 8’s and it was the team aspect of the sport that really struck him. Said Rix, “if somebody has a “crab” it affects whole team – there is no room in the boat for people that can’t work together.” According to Rix, those lessons play a significant role in the way he operates his companies. “At MDS we have 1,200 employees, and at CanTest we have 300. You cannot run a company of these sizes without understanding how to build a team.”

Rix is hoping the building of the boathouse will help give the sport more prominence in Vancouver. “I can tell you in London that we certainly had more exposure. Rowing doesn’t seem to get the media coverage it deserves here.”

We would like to thank everyone that joined us for our Back on the Water event and provide our sincere thanks to the Varsity crews and coaches Mike Pearce and Craig Pond. We also want to encourage everyone else to join us next time. We are hoping to build on this to get even more people involved for a real Alumni challenge on April 2nd during the Brown Cup, UBC versus UVic racing event. Note that there will be an alumni tent set up for us! So you can watch or participate.

Back on the Water was a great time. I have personally never seen so many people so excited about going for a row. We almost had two 8+’s worth of alumni show up on February 12 for a paddle and a few digs against the Varsity crew. Though we sported varying degrees of fitness, we launched an 8+, a 4+, and even managed to fill Bow and 2 seat in the Varsity boat. Even though there was a mild, Corvallis style flow, the water was flat and fast.

Sporting brand new ‘alumni’ crew shirts, we conceded a seat or two, possibly more, to the Varsity men, demonstrating that after twenty plus years we can still remember which end of the oar goes in the water. At least, we demonstrated this most of the time.

The reception that followed at the Vancouver Lawn Tennis & Badminton Club was also a great success and a lot of fun. The ‘rowers’ of the afternoon were joined by the Men’s and Women’s varsity crews and a number of other 70’s alumni participated as well.

Presentations were provided on the progress of the Crews of the 70’s campaign along with a slide show of pictures from our rowing days surprised a few and entertained and updated everyone.

By Dave Dunnison

Executive Committee

The Executive Committee of the Gold for Life Campaign:

George Hungerford O.C. Q.C. -- (Chair)  ghungerford@van.fasken.com

Roy McIntosh CA -- (Vice Chair -- Fundraising) rmcintosh@kpmg.ca

Martin Gifford -- (Vice Chair)

Jane Hungerford -- (Vice Chair - Fundraising)

Doug Robinson Q.C. --(Building Committee)

Hugh Richardson - (St. George's School)

Rod Hoffmeister - (Project Coordinator)

Sherry Peters (Chair, Communications Committee) sherrypeters@shaw.ca

Mike Pearce - (Men's Head Coach - UBC)

Steve Tuckwood - (Development - UBC) steve.tuckwood@ubc.ca (604) 822-1972

Bob Philip (Director, UBC Athletics)

Christine McDermott (Fundraising Committee)

Hundreds of frostbitten spectators cheered last Saturday as the UBC Men’s Varsity Crew rowed to a 2 length, 7 second victory over arch rival UVic to win the men’s division of the Brown Cup. This was the Thunderbird men’s first win in the cup’s 14 year history. The 3.1 Kilometre race was held for the first time on UBC’s new rowing course on the Middle Arm of the Fraser River. The Richmond dyke trail allowed for excellent viewing for the full length of the race. A number of the UBC Alumni biked the dyke and were able to follow the race from start to finish.The spectator tent was set up on the site of the soon to be built John M.S. Lecky UBC Boathouse.
UVic ladies did exact some revenge by beating the Thunderbird Women’s Crew.
We are look forward to 2007, the next time UBC hosts this regatta and to being able to view the finish from the new (heated) boathouse.


One of 2 UBC Alumni 8’s that were part of the Brown Cup.
From left: Doug McDonald, Bill McKerlich, Rosy Lecky, Glen Smith, John Helliwell, Hon. David Anderson, John Cartmel.

This is a result of the generosity of a number of individuals coming forward who want to be a part of the boathouse project, many of whom are ,dare I say, “old rowers”!! As UBC alumni rowers become aware of the project through our letter and phone campaigns the interest grows.

Of particular note are two singular donors or donor groups.

First is the Crews of the ‘70s who with the firm goal in mind of raising $250,000 from their fellow oarsmen have now reached and, indeed, exceded their goal! They will have the right to name one of our four shell bays as a result. Well done and thank you.

Second, is Dr. Donald Rix who as committed to a gift of $250,000…the biggest single gift outside that of the Lecky and Saint Georges donations. What can you say? Just marvelous! Dr. Rix rowed at Western Ontario, not UBC, which has shown us that we must get our message out to the broader community.

Your committee consisting of Jane Hungerford and Roy McIntosh as Co-Chairs, George Hungerford, Rod Hoffmester, Tina Oliver and Steve Tuckwood meet every 2 weeks to strategize and compare successes. The ‘70s group meets weekly to bludgeon each other towards greater achievements. Letters have gone out to men and women from the ‘80s and ‘90s. The ‘60s have commenced a phone campaign following a letter sent in December.

The corporate campaign is being steered by a “blind four” comprising George Hungerford, Tina Oliver, Rod Hoffmeister and yours truly who is focusing on in-kind gifts from suppliers to the boathouse construction. We have some interesting prospects in line and recognize that time is a necessary evil in closing a sale.

With the start of construction coming in less than two months, all are focused on raising the last $500,000.

Many of you are aware of the secondary goals to provide endowments for coaching and equipment and for financial support for rowers at UBC. The 2005 Millenium Breakfast is on March 1st at 7:30 at the Trade and Convention Centre, just up from our old starting line at Pier B C. The Executive has considered it appropriate to allocate $25,000 of our funds to the Breakfast as it will be matched by UBC resulting in $50,000 going to the Athletes in future years. We believe we had to do this in order to double the money and to get a solid start for the endowment. We have tickets available and are hoping/expecting that you will throw in your$200 (which will be matched as well) and come to the rowing tables to renew old acquaintances.

Just remember…”you will want to have been a part of this project when it is completed”

- Roy McIntosh

Boathouse Construction Update

The excitement level is increasing among rowers and alumni. The plans are almost completed and the required permits should soon be in place. The Larry McFarland Architects designed Boathouse will be an outstanding addition to the Richmond waterfront. Tenders will be called in early April with building construction scheduled to begin in May. The semi finished boathouse will be floated to its new home sometime in September with completion is now scheduled for January 2006. The whole team including the Building Committee, Architects, Project and Construction managers are working flat out to ensure this Boathouse will meet the needs of UBC, Saint Georges and the Richmond community for the years to come.