"I gave Survivorman My Card!"

Conor Lynch
Jun 18, 2017
5 min read

This story isn't about that, though... (Read Through For Photos!)

What this story is about, is a man who is just as real as his Television Show, a man who cares deeply for the Environment, and the Kind of Man who Looks Deeply Into People's Eyes and Reads Deeply into Peoples Questions.

The Kind of Man who Shakes Your Hand for Longer than he needs to, signs autographs for Everyone in the audience, and the Kind of Man who Takes Your Card.

What Began as a Dismally Rainy Weekend, A Bust, or A Letdown, (as some people may have seen it) Quickly Became a Meeting of Minds, Hearts and Souls, as Les Stroud arrived in his SUV and made his way to the Stage, where he began Tuning Up, Tuning Out and Tuning In to All Of Us.

Les Performed Spectacularly, along with his Friend on the Acoustic, Violin and Dobro, Les showcased his Acoustic, Harmonica and Throat Singing skills, "Jamming Out" for a "Warm Up", as the two of them flew into inspiring solos on their respective instruments, and played a couple new takes on old classics, as well as showcasing some of his own songs, paying homage to Nature and the Environment.

Les started Interacting with the Audience and Taking Questions, and Begged Us to Come Up Close and Personal for his Performance.

From his Scariest Experiences and his Best Advice, to some of his Most Interesting Stories and talk of Survivorman; Bigfoot, our Small Group of 50 or so spectators soon found out that "Les is More".

More than a Survival Guy and a Musician, from the moment I saw Les Stroud, I could tell he thought of himself as simply Another Human Being, another Person in the Audience of Life, and he Treated Everyone with a level of Respect and Admiration that was Palpable.

The whole trip came on due to a series of events, starting with Les creating his Show, Survivorman and his Music, which led to Mika of Gamingg Nature Center contacting him, almost a year ago. From there, his production team let him know and he agreed to do a show.

At that point, None Of Us Knew What Was Coming.

It was only in the Last Few Weeks that my friend Joey found out about the event and Contacted Me, asking if I wanted to go.

From there, it was an Instant Yes. How many times do you get a chance to meet Survivorman, and hear him Play Music, no 'Les'?

From there, I invited my friend Ryan, and found out that my brother Mitchel was already set to be Chaperoning the event through the 1'st Bobcaygeon Boy Scouts.

Ryan was not sure at first if it was his kind of thing, but then decided a couple days before that, "What the Hell" He was going to go for it!

So We Bought Our Tickets, and There We Arrived, at Gamingg Nature Center, with our Tents and our Sleeping bags soon after.

The Weekend Began with a guided tour of Gamingg, led by my brother, Mitchel, and took us to Pine Grove, where we set up our tents and Set Off for a short Canoe Trip around Pigeon Lake.

When We Got Back, Les was just arriving, practicing his Guitar in the Barn/Amphitheater, and So Was The Rain.

Thunder and Lightning Parted Amicably, in time for the Performance, and Les and his Friend with the Fiddle, put on an amazing show.

Fast Forward to Night Camping at Pine Grove, as Lightning and Thunder Struck Fear Into Our Hearts, and lit up the entire forest, as well as Our Tents.

Some Luck and a Little Prayer later, we were off to sleep among the Cold, Damp Leakage of our Unseasoned Tents.

I Begged my Friends to let me sleep in... at least until 7! They however, were up at the Break of Dawn, for a Beautiful Sunrise and a Morning Canoe Trip, and arrived back before I had even woken up.

Later that day, as the rain poured down in sheets and clustered us under the solitary tent -which had been set up with home cooked pulled beef burgers the day before- We Happened To Meet a Wonderful Family -or a dozen- who told us of how they had just moved to Lindsay, and wanted to check things out and get in to the Kawartha's Scenery.

Another Networking Victory, I was introduced to their Son, who happens to play Piano and Guitar. I was excited to find him, because as some of you may know, I am also very much into Music, and we had a lot to talk about, with Music already on our minds, waiting for Les's show.

When Les arrived, the Rain Came Back, and Kept Us Off The Trails, causing us to Miss Our Nature Walk.

It turns out however, that this was a Gift in a Curse, as it just meant We Had Lots of Time to Listen To Les's Stories, Ask Questions, and all have our Personal Time With Les.

Les Spared No Man, Woman or Child, as he Spoke To, Shook Hands With, Took Photos With and Signed Every Person's Belongings of Interest.

Later that day, I was to run in to yet another group of Great People, this time a Group of 5 Girls, Artists Respectively, who asked me -upon a friendly greeting- what it was I had Given Les My Card for.

I Really Cannot Express How Important Networking is, Especially for People Who Experience Anxiety, Depression or Introversion.

For Me, as someone Starting a New Business, with very little experience, and very few contacts, it was a Priceless Event.

I got to hear First Hand Survival Stories and Tips from the Survivorman himself, got to Listen To Wonderful Music about the Environment -A Truly Inspiring Show- and I got to Meet Great People as well.

To Top That Off, I also Had a Great Time with my Friends, Got Some Paddling In and Had A Blast, Hiking the Gamingg Nature Trails.

One More Conversation with Gamingg's own Mika, and one more card later, We Were All Ready To Head Home.

Just One More Amazing Adventure Story, that never would have happened, if not for Real World Idols, Community Volunteers, Good Friends and Personal Initiative.

I Thank You All for reading this little Adventure Tale, and Encourage You to Find, Create and definitely "Explore!" some Amazing Adventures Of Your Own!

Check out Les Stroud, Survivorman, Here: http://www.lesstroud.ca/survivorman/ https://smtvnetwork.com/