Jack Van't Spker's Classification Talk

Posted by Jack Van't Spyker

on Mar 11, 2015

Classification Talk.

It is with pleasure that I do stand here for this classification talk. It is about 19 year ago that I made a similar speech to this club and a lot of members have come and gone since then and so it is time to re-introduce myself.

My name is Jacob Frederik (Jack) Van’t Spyker. I was born in a small village in The Netherlands, Zwijndrecht, in 1947. I have 3 brothers and 1 sister older then me and one younger sister. They are all still alive, presently in Holland, all retired and that leaves me the only productive one in the family, as I like to tell them when we meet.

I went through grade and high school and had my vocational training in a technical collage similar to the Automotive institute at Georgian College in Barrie.

I landed after college a job with an importer of east European cars: Wartburg and Trabant where I had the responsibility of handling warranty claims between the dealers and the factory. The quality of the vehicles was even for the 60's, terrible and I learned to write long pleading letters to the factories and even longer letters of rejections that were thick with language and short on content.

I did marry my wife Betsie in 1968 and we both immigrated to Canada in April of 1969, came to Alliston and 3 days after landing I started to work for the local Pontiac Buick dealer here in town. To the day I worked there as mechanic for 4 years after which I started for myself selling gas and repairing vehicles. The place was across from the highschool where now Wimpy’s diners is located. I did this for almost a year but had to change my position as my wife and I realized that the by then second daughter Annette then 1.5 years old, was afraid of the fellow that she saw on Sunday morning and who disappeared again after one day. I worked from 7 AM till 9PM and Annette was asleep when I left and sleeping in bed when I returned home.

I bought in with my previous partner Sam Miedema and we ran a successful service station in town. Always busy and we could have worked 24 hours a day and still not finished. In 1975 we became a sub dealer for Don Coffey Ford sales in Shomberg and became a full dealer in 1981. And how I have been able to fare after that can be seen on the corner of Highway 89 and the Industrial Parkway, on highway 89 near Shelburne and on Highway 10 in Orangeville.

During this time the family grew with 4 children, 2 girls, Jacky, Annette, Eric and Tony, and we had a rich family life with school, outings, events, holidays etc.

All 4 kids did very well in school and all went on to get to university to get degrees, all 4 have MBA’s as well as Annette who also has an MLA and the youngest son did get DR before his name as a medical doctor.

I am very proud of their achievements and their current positions and jobs that keep them very much occupied.

The only further statistic I like to add at this point is that I also have 7 very lively grandchildren and for me it is a privilege to follow their exploits. One of my most satisfying times is when I lock the doors at night and know that they all are safely asleep in a warm house after being spoiled by Betsie and me.

So that was 68 years in a nutshell, but who am I?

First of all I count myself a very lucky fellow having had great opportunities that I was able to grasp, having a solid family that supports and fends for each other. I experienced this so very much with my recent back surgery. The kids made sure both Betsie and I did not have to worry about traveling by ourselves, there was constantly at least one kid around the hospital just in case etc. A rich experience indeed.

I am not affiliated with any church or political organization. Church I gave up on a long time ago, not so much for any spirituality as for the lack of consideration for different interpretations or questions of doctrine and history. Too many personality conflicts that damaged innocent bystanders and created opposing parties with no direct correlation to spirituality or the communion of believers.

A church, Mosque or temple community can give a strong support base for individuals that need such support, but so can Rotary and Lions clubs or Legion to name a few.

Politics is in my view divided by people who have good intentions and people that seek power and work hard to maintain their jobs and their accumulated power. The last category seems to have the upper hand most of the time.

Things have to make sense to me, if common sense is placed outside the door mistakes are made and there always will be victims of such mistakes.

I could give long list of items that do not make sense and that make our beautiful country slide backwards in prosperity and throttle innovation. The country that I live in now is not the same country I did enter in 1969 and that pains me.

I would like to retire and keep working and be productive at the same time. The privilege I had to visit and work in other countries: the Dominican Republic, Berkina Fasso, Tanzania with Rotary, Bangladesh, Rwanda in other capacities have given me learning experiences that fulfilled me and left me in awe of the people I was allowed to meet and interact with.

I am a bit of a loner at times. I go faster through airports on my own, alone in the car I get to the destination faster (I love speed).

If things do not interest me I find it hard to pursue these items, but I can if I must.

I love Baroque classical music, organ and piano are my favorite instruments, but let me listen to music with beautiful harmonies and interweaving themes and I am all ears. I think I can play 8 hours of music for 30 days and not play the same cd, record or tape twice. I had to put a lid on buying more music as my collection became so big that it is almost impossible to choose what next to play.

I do try to read a lot. Good fiction, analytical history stories but no more crime and war stories as we get a full dose of the real thing on TV and newspapers.

I love my vegetable garden and start very year earlier with growing transplants, the first tomato and beans and what have you are such a source of satisfaction.

I like to stretch the growing season and see if I can beat nature. I normally lose.

I have some dreams yet too, I would like to transplant myself for 3-4 months in France to learn the language, and after that do the same in Spain.

I would like to go by train from Moskow to lake Baykall to experience that vast country and take time and drive from Ontario to the southern tip of South Amerika and take time to see famous and historic sites.

I would like to run in Targa Newfoundland one more time with a faster car and myself driving, but I might find strong opposition to such plan on the home front. And as such this will probably remain a dream.

But what is life without some dreams.