amazing
ALUMNI MEET
Kent Grass ’81, Roz Kelsey ’86, and Fraser Wells ’11 KENT GRASS ’81 38
Q: Tell me about your profession? Your passion? A: I took a bit of an unconventional career path. Fell into it, really. I took a recreational diving course while trying to study Geology at UNBSJ. I was totally awestruck with it. I had met some guys at university who also dove and they wanted to start a company. In the beginning, we collected marine organisms and sold them to biological warehouses in the US that sold these preserved specimens to universities for labs. This company evolved into one of the leading commercial and industrial diving companies in Canada and around the world, providing underwater services to a wide spectrum of clients. We always took the approach that if it is at the waterline or below, we can do it. Some days that was a stretch ... click, hang up the phone and then look at each other and say, “How are we going to do that?” The company grew. We had offices in Halifax, St. Catharines, Vancouver, and Busan, South Korea. One of our fortés was very specialized underwater ship repair: flexible habitats to replace the stern seals on large cruise ships and ocean going vessels; utilizing cold static loading to straighten ships bent propellers; very specialized underwater welding, and so on. I am using the past tense here as last March, after building the business for more than 33 years, we sold. A partner of ours approached us and we agreed the time was right. I have stayed on with the company, now known as Sub Sea Global Solutions as a VP. It is great being an employee, although very different. I seem to be handling it in stride. That is my career in a nutshell. As for my passion, while I still love my profession, about 16 years ago my wife (Stacey Hope ... yes, we have been together since RCS days) decided we needed to give back a bit. We started to volunteer with a
THE HEAD ’S LETTER
program called Shining Horizons Therapeutic Riding Association Inc. (SHTRA - www.shtra.ca - and on Facebook). I accepted a long time ago that horses come first, then dogs, then maybe me! Stacey has always had a passion for horses and I love being around animals, period. SHTRA just seemed to fit. SHTRA is a program that uses horses to offer therapy to disabled children and young adults. It is truly something to witness a child get on a horse for the first time. The smile itself is heart warming, but to observe the rider's progress, well, it’s hard to explain. But I'll give you an example. I have watched a child with autism taking weeks to get into the barn and then weeks more to get on the horse to now having his parents describe riding as the “love of his life.” In the beginning, he didn’t talk very much but today he fully engages with the volunteer side walkers, horse handler, and the instructor. We are also able to witness some amazing interactions between a rider and the horse. One day, the horse suddenly stopped and would not move. Seconds later, the rider had a seizure. We didn’t see it coming, but the horse sensed it. We were able to get Bradley safely off the horse and let him recover from the seizure. I’ve also seen a girl with Tourret Syndrome have all of her symptoms disappear as soon as she gets on the horse. Not a hint of the affliction and a great big smile. There are so many of those stories! Q: Describe a typical day in your life. A: I get up very early, between 4 and 5am typically, without the aid of an alarm clock, I might add. It is my favourite time of the day. I get a lot of value out of alone time - time to plan my day, week, month, years. Once regular business hours start, the day can go sideways pretty quickly in the emergency underwater ship repair world. I have seen us go