Everyone who does their recycling on Bowen will have bumped into Dave and Louise McIntosh. You could find them at the recycling centre just as it was closing, or see them driving their Bowen Waste Service trucks off island and back. Dave, “a workaholic,” as Louise describes him, was always buzzing around organizing the recycling centre, and overseeing activities of trucks, and their staff.
Unfortunately, the only work for Dave right now is to get himself healthier. In mid-August, Dave had a stroke, and has since remained in hospital working to regain his strength and mobility. McIntosh does physiotherapy a couple times a day, hoping for speedy discharge this month.
“When Dave and I first moved to Bowen, we were commercial fishers. In winter Dave volunteered with Hank Strubin with recycling,” Louise says. Using their own initiative, the men pulled out the returnable bottles. Strubin offered the bottles to the local Scouts for fundraising. Back then, the Scouts, and later other groups, were responsible for taking bottles into town.
Louise says it became more challenging because sometimes a group that wanted to get the bottles to town wouldn’t have a truck, “so they would borrow ours.”
McIntosh says that her husband “got idea to put a bin for bottles across the road.” Dave would take the bin into town for the organization. After waiting for the bottles to be weighed, he’d drive back to Bowen and give the cheque to the organization.
When the new depot on Bowen moved across to street to where it is now, some suggestions were made to remove the bottles and cans.
“Dave was adamant that that section stay available as a fundraiser,” says his wife. “It’s less of a burden on taxpayers because groups would go to the government for grants instead.” Dave advocated for the bottles and cans to remain as an on-going money making opportunity for island organizations.
“The idea was very appealing for the groups so the depot kept the bottles and cans and the groups came up with the configuration would work.
Today, a dozen groups benefit from the proceeds from the recycled bottles, with four groups on the waiting list.
With the change of fortunes, Louise is now picking up where Dave left off, trusting that everything will work out. While Louise is busy helping to facilitate her husband’s recovery, she’s also had to take over operations of their business with an eye on long-term planning.
While the situation would be overwhelmingly challenging for most, Louise is philosophical about the situation. “I look at it as ‘Here’s what’s on your plate.’ So I have to look at what I’ve got and rearrange my plate.”
Louise credits the support of the community in helping her to get through. “The glory of a small community is that my fridge was full for five to six weeks and that is the glory of a small community. I was able to make better decisions because I was being fed.
“Initially the offers were overwhelming, but when Dave gets home...”
Louise doesn’t know what she and Dave will need or want or what their lives will entail, but she is open to the support from the community.
The tall, silver-haired mother of two says that she expects people to ask about Dave, and is fine with the interest in their personal circumstances. She understands that within our small community folks tend to hear about the ups and downs in each other’s lives through the grapevine. While it may feel to some like being under the microscope, on the other hand, there is great community support during tough times Louise explains. “You can’t always have one without the other.
“The simple life is also about sharing, being available and out there. It’s your choice. If you are open to discussion, that is where you reap the benefit. It’s a better way to live.”
Louise says her new word that guides her through each day is ”trust.”
“I trust that I am capable of doing the right thing at the right time, and that trust means trusting that things will get done. I have to trust.”
