
ABA Coffee In The Park
Behind every business there's a story and behind every story there's a person. Acheson is one of the most dynamic, fastest growing business parks in Western Canada. Each week we want to bring to you some of the most fascinating stories of those people behind the businesses in and around Acheson. Listen to be inspired, encouraged and motivated. New podcast drops every Thursday at noon (GMT)
ABA Coffee In The Park
A Coffee with Don Patterson, Managing Partner & Broker of RE/MAX Excellence in Edmonton
Join us for coffee with Don Patterson, Managing Partner & Broker/Owner of RE/MAX Excellence in Edmonton.
This proud father and grandfather, an alumnus of Ross Shep, shares his remarkable and diverse journey. After earning his Law Degree from the University of Alberta (and even working as a roofer during his studies!), Don also delved into real estate development.
His life took an exciting turn when he and his wife moved to France, where they welcomed their first child. Upon returning to Toronto, Don transitioned into the real estate sector at TD Bank, gaining valuable experience on the brokerage side, building and managing teams. Their family grew further when they adopted his youngest sister's three children, adding another six-year-old and a four-year-old to their household.
A decade ago, Don and his family made the move back to his hometown of Edmonton, where he became a Managing Partner & Broker and part-owner of RE/MAX Excellence. Beyond his impressive career, Don has been a long-time and passionate supporter of the YMCA. After his children left home, he embarked on an extraordinary mission: a cross-Canada bike ride from Victoria, BC to Thunder Bay, Ontario. When jokingly dubbed "Halfway Don" by the Y staff, it sparked an even grander idea: to ride the entire length of Canada in just four weeks! He meticulously trained through winter, using his vacation time to complete this epic journey. Working directly with YMCA Canada, Don set up donation pages for YMCAs nationwide, riding by day and blogging by night. Along the way, he stopped at local YMCAs, met with community support, and even gave interviews on the roadside. His incredible efforts ultimately raised $30,000 for the YMCA's across the country. This episode is a testament to career evolution, family dedication, and inspiring philanthropy.
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Well, good morning, everybody, and welcome to another edition of the ABA Coffee In The Park. My name is Cam Milliken, and I am here with my co-host extraordinaire, Jennifer Herrick, the Executive Director of the Acheson Business Association. Good morning, Jennifer. Well, good morning, Cam, on this beautiful, sunny day. Man, is it nice out there today. It's like almost summer, but not quite. You know, you sound a little better today. Yeah, yesterday was a bad allergy day. I want our listeners to know. It wasn't a good day. I didn't know if Cam was going to make it yesterday. Oh my goodness, eyes, nose, throat. It was not a good day yesterday, but medication is a wonderful thing. And I went to bed, Jennifer, at like, I was going to go to bed at 8.30. Good thing there was no hockey game. I was going to go to bed at 8.30. Ended up going to bed at 9 and slept in this morning till about 7.30. So that was, or no, till about 6.30. So that was pretty good. I know that's what I needed. And I feel better today. So I don't think it's over yet. The trees are going to bud and all that kind of stuff. But hey, thanks everybody for joining us today. We are coming to you live from the Wall Coffee Roasters in the heart of beautiful downtown Acheson. So if you hear some coffee machines whirring in the background, people talking, kids screaming. No kids in here today. Oh yeah, right there. Look at that one. Anyway, don't worry about it. We're live at the coffee shop and we love being here. And if you've never been to the Wall Coffee Roasters, you need to come. So if you're listening to us in other parts of the world, when you fly to Canada, make this a destination point. In beautiful downtown Acheson. We've had people actually come here looking for beautiful downtown Acheson. We have. I'm sorry folks, the sign hasn't been put up yet. And you won't see condos or anything like that yet. Maybe one day we'll develop it a little bit. But hey, Jennifer, tell us about some very important people. We would like to thank our gold corporate sponsors, which include the Myshak Group of Companies, Genics, Parkland County, and Bow Valley Credit Union. That's right. Without them, we would not be able to do what we do. So thank you very much. We appreciate it everybody. Jennifer, anything else you need to tell us? Well, there's lots going on, but I think we should just get right into it. I'm excited about our guest today because he's done some pretty incredible things. He is. And I'm so excited to talk about all of the things he's done. Right on. Let's introduce him. Let's kick it off. Our guest today is Don Patterson, who is the managing partner, broker, owner of RE/MAX Excellence here in Edmonton. Don, good to have you. Good morning. Glad to be here. Glad you're here. Don, so just for disclosure, I got to know Don a little bit. I was involved in some political processes stuff, and Don and I sat on some boards together. Great guy. Awesome guy. Don, I'm so glad you're here and took the time. Don is busy, right? Because, man, real estate is on the up and up in Edmonton. Yeah, absolutely. I think we're in the best real estate market in Canada. So if you're listening to us in Taiwan or Vietnam or somewhere, and you want a good place to move, Edmonton is a great place to move. Anyways, we're going to start right from the beginning. We always do. We always do. Don, tell us a little bit about yourself. Where were you born? Where did you grow up? I was born in Edmonton, grew up there, went to Toronto later in life, raised our family and then came back 10 years ago. We're blessed with three kids and seven grandkids. Seven, yeah. That we see quite, quite often. My daughter has twin boys who are six. I'm a cyclist. We'll talk about that. Yeah, we'll talk about that, yep. The boys, actually they got involved in a little bit of cycling. We were at the bike ride and the kids, they take their training wheels off and they're out riding their bikes. And this is the six year old. So I ride my bike over and the one little guy says, Grandpa, I'm glad you brought your bike so you could try to keep up. Right on. I love it. So you went to high school here. Yes. What high school did you go to? Ross Shepherd. You did not. How come I never knew this? So did I. We are Ross Shep alumni. This is the first on the podcast. This is because we ask everybody this question. I can't believe that you went to Ross Shep. Yeah. And we actually, I got my old football jacket. Come on. 1970, where we won the city championships. OK. I also had the cleanest uniform on the team because I sat on the bench. No. Don, this is crazy. I played the first year I played junior football, but I was like you. I basically sat on the bench. Then the coach came to me and said, Cam, we really like you, but there's a problem. You're too short and you're way too skinny. You're going to get killed out there. So that's it. So I went to the swim team. I went to the coronation pool right next to Shep there. And so you and I, we are T-birds, we're Thunderbirds, so that's pretty awesome. Well, we've never talked about that. I never knew that. That's pretty incredible. So you graduated high school, did you go to university here or go to college? Yes, I went to university here. Here or did you go to Toronto? No, here. Here, yeah. And I went to law school here. I was also doing real estate development at that time as well. And my previous summer job was as a roofer. I started my real estate career, but then in 1983 with the National Energy Program. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So you went to Toronto. And no, I was still here. Okay. I'm trying to find a position as a lawyer because I've got my degree, so there's nothing there. So I actually went back in 83, 84, I'm a roofer in Edmonton to pay the bills. So I'm probably the most educated roofer in the city. I was going to say, you'd want Don as your roofer because if he fell off a roof, well, he'd just sue you. He'd sue you himself. But no, I didn't even know you were a lawyer. This is like way to blow my mind. We've actually spent a fair bit of time together, Don and I, but we've never talked about this. So this is just blowing me away. So how many years did you do roofering in Edmonton? Oh, I just did for, I did for a couple of years when I was going through university. Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then a few months. Did you ever fall off? Yeah, a few times, yeah. Okay, I was going to say, did it hurt? That's just a stupid question. Well, you're roofering in the wintertime. Yeah, that's right. You've got to shovel the snow and whatever. Okay, so then you graduated law school, U of A. Yeah. How soon till you moved to Toronto? Well, we moved actually, it's an interesting story. If we've got a minute here. Yeah, we've got a few minutes. I did practice law for three years, from 83 to 86. Okay. The market was still pretty slow in real estate here. So my wife, we've been looking to have kids, we've been married for eight years. Yeah. We didn't have kids, so we decided, okay, well, we're going to move away to France, learn to speak the language. We bought the tickets and we're ready to go. My wife comes home and says she's pregnant. Oh. We convinced my mother that there had been kids born in France before. We moved away there and it was a wonderful time. We didn't travel around quite as much there. Yeah. But it was a wonderful experience. And that's actually one example was we're seeing the doctor, Le medecin, and my wife is eight months pregnant. And he's saying, well, in French, he's saying the best way to learn French is to have a French girlfriend. Then he looks at my wife, then he looks back to me and he says, but not for you, monsieur. So the baby was born in France? Baby was born in France. And then we landed in Toronto. Yeah. Where my wife has family. Right. I actually got a position with TD Bank. Okay. And I worked there for 15 years. I took care of the real estate, and on a family side. A few years later, we adopted my younger sisters, kids who were four and six. And my daughter was six at the time. Right. They're three months apart. So she would try to explain this in school. Yeah. That's right. That would be, yeah, that would be. And then I moved on to the brokerage side, building, managing teams. And then 10 years ago, I came back to Edmonton. What brought you back to Edmonton? What was it that brought you back? There was an opportunity. Plus my daughter is a lawyer here. She followed in my footsteps and family. And one thing moved to the other. And then I got a position managing and having an ownership position in this brokerage. So it's been quite a trip. You know, here's the thing. You could be with work with somebody. And not know. This is blowing me away. Like we just never knew. This is incredible. I mean, I knew a little bit of the story, which we'll get into in just a minute, but this part of the story, I didn't know. So you moved back to Edmonton. That's good. You glad you made the move? Obviously, no, yeah. Yeah, it's been great. I mean, Toronto. I mean, Toronto is Toronto, but yeah. No, I mean, we were there for 25 years in Toronto and friends, and I was on the Toronto Real Estate Board as well. Lots of connections, but no, it's great. It's great to be back. I love the city. So many opportunities here as well. I joke with people in Edmonton, you can wear sunglasses at 10 o'clock in the morning. Yeah. In the winter, not so much. Right. No, no. We all know this time of year, you have to dress in layers. Yeah. Because it's still pretty cool in the morning. But by the mid afternoon, you're doing great. The sun's out. It's wonderful. It's beautiful. Well, Don, that's incredible. What a story. I didn't know that. That's fantastic. Question going through my brain, just my brain, Cam's brain, if your daughter was born in France, is she a French citizen? No, she isn't. She's not. They changed the rules a little bit. It's different in the US. Right. So we would have had to remain in France for at least five years. Okay. So she's a Canadian through and through. She's fluent in French. And she's a lawyer? Yeah, she's a lawyer as well. Okay. A little different. She's a criminal defense lawyer. Really? She's very good at that. And so one of the things is, I talked to her about that. I said, you probably don't have client appreciation days. And she says, dad, no, there's no party room. There's no party room at the remand center. All right. Well, this is good to know in case we ever need a criminal lawyer. Let's hope we don't. Well, let's hope we don't, but if we ever do, I'm just saying now we know one. We have a connection. We have a connection. So that's really cool. Wow. That's fascinating. What a wow. Fascinating. And I know you came back to Edmonton. You like you say, you're a managing partner and part owner of of RE/MAX here, RE/MAX Excellence in, well, in my neighborhood, actually. And you and I got to know a little bit of each other. We sat on on on our constituency board for the UCP and we got talking. And then one day you start telling me about this incredible thing you did that still just blows me away, where you decided to... take it away. OK, well, firstly, I've been a huge supporter of the YMCA over the years. Yeah, my kids grew up there and I'm a big believer in the programs that they have. Right. Especially for disadvantaged kids. And so, you know, what I was looking at, you know, is that a lot of kids of the Y are subsidized in their membership. Right. Yeah. Nobody knows who's subsidized and who isn't. Yeah. And so I really wanted to get out there. Is there some way I can promote the Y, that message, the importance of getting kids active and healthy, plus raise money for the YMCAs? So I don't want to interrupt you, but can I just tell you, I am one of those kids. So my mom was a single mom. My dad passed away when I was two years old, and we lived here in Edmonton on the West End, or in West Glen area. And I went to West Glen Elementary School, and because of a donor, like yourself, there was a Y right next to the school there with a pool. I went through five years, maybe six years, grade one, grade six, of swimming lessons, all paid for by a donor who paid so that I could go and take swimming lessons. Yeah, yeah. Incredible. Like I'm thankful to that. So when you say that, that just amazes, that's incredible. So you chose YMCA? Yeah, yeah, that's right. So our kids grew up there, and we would, you know, we'd work out at the Y. We also did kids triathlons. I participated in triathlons as well. I still do. Yeah, yeah. Though I'm probably the only one in my age group. So that's kind of nice. But anyways, after after the kids moved out, I decided, well, is there something I can do for the Y? And so I planned a trip to ride partway across Canada. And so ride your bike. Yes, ride my bike. This is a pedal bike, people, not a motorbike. That's right. Or a battery powered bike. No, not an e-bike either. So you're going to go halfway across Canada. So I went from Victoria to Thunder Bay, actually finished up at the Terry Fox monument in Thunder Bay. So I did the other half of the ride. So I got back and I raised money for the YMCA. I did that over about three and a half weeks. And I was 56 at the time. I thought it was pretty good. I was averaging about 150 kilometers a day. And so I got back to Mississauga, where we lived at the time. And the guys at the Y says, well, Don, you only went halfway. So they started giving me this nickname, Halfway Don. Oh my goodness. So I thought it was pretty good because I did 3,500 kilometers. Riding to the corner store is pretty much, you know what I'm saying? But I didn't... Thunder Bay. So Victoria to Thunder Bay, that's halfway across Canada? Yes. I didn't know that. See, I would have thought that it was much further. Yeah. Yeah. I would have thought Manitoba was halfway. I don't know. I'm a typical Westerner. What do I know about it? That's incredible. Okay. So Victoria to Thunder Bay, halfway. Now you're Halfway Don. Yeah. So I figured I got to get rid of the nickname, but also, you know, I figured there's, you know, there's ways that I can really set up, you know, work with the Y. And so we developed a program and I think of really aiming high, setting goals and never giving up. Right. So my plan was, okay, I've got four weeks of holidays. Can I ride the whole way? And I thought, well, you know, maybe I can. There was one kid who was 20 years old who did it in 24 days. Oh. So I thought, well, that'd be a challenge. Can I do that? So I started winter training in Mississauga, because if you're going to be riding 10, 11 hours a day, you gotta be training in the wintertime. So I'm riding out there in the countryside. It's about 10, 15 below. I've got my ski mask on. Oh my goodness. And I'm pedaling along. Now, the other part of it was at the end of my ride that day, I stopped into my local bank. Yeah. And the teller fortunately recognized me, probably because I've got a big nose, and she says, Don, you probably want to take off the ski mask. Yeah. So I told people that, you know, Halfway Don is now bank robber Don. That's right, coming from the banking world. Yeah, that's right. We'll give you all the money. Take it, just go. Yeah. So anyways, I've heard that, you know, wearing a ski mask is great for winter cycling. Not so good for banking. Yeah. So, but let me, you're going to take your four weeks vacation. Yeah. What's your wife, you're taking up all your vacation to ride across Canada. What was she thinking about all this? Well, she probably thought, okay, go ahead and do it. I love it. That's great. You know, even my bike shop, because it was quite a challenge. Yeah. I can imagine. You know, can he really make it? He's got a pedal over 250 kilometers a day. Holy smokes. They set up a pool. They told me afterwards that the over under was 14 days. Oh my goodness. What do you mean by that? Says, well, you'll quit before or after 14 days. But they told you that after. Yeah, they told me that after. So, sorry. How old were you now? Now? 58. 58. Oh my gosh. 58. Okay. And you're going to ride across Canada. Yeah. So what I did was I worked with YMCA Canada, and this was the first program that they had, working with the local YMCAs. And so what we did, I set up donation pages for every YMCA across the country. Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah. So it's really cool. Yeah. So what I would do, I'd ride all day, I'd eat everything that wasn't nailed down. Yeah, I bet. I would do a blog at night. And so my typical day was I would get up at 4.30 in the morning, check the bike, start riding by 5 a.m., stop at the restaurant around about 7, pedal all day. I was eating about 7,000 calories a day. Unbelievable. How many calories were you burning? You had to be burning. I was burning 10,000. 10,000, yeah. And so here's the issue, is that I'm burning 10,000, but I'm eating 7,000, which is quite a lot. Yeah. I make it into Sault Ste. Marie after 15 days, and I'm down 15 pounds. And people say, well, how do I get on that diet? Well, yeah. Yeah, exactly. It's the Ride Across Canada diet. Right? You can't afford to, I mean, I know nobody sees us. We're doing, you know, our podcast is taped. And if you saw Don, he's tall and very thin. When I stand next to Don, I have to look up. That's how tall he is. But he's very, you couldn't afford to lose that. No. So what I had to do was that I had to change my diet. And so I switched to every morning, after I'd been pedaling for a couple of hours, I'd stop at the local truck stop and order the Hungry Man Special. So the first day I'm in there, there's two truckers, they're kind of nibbling on their food. And the first platter comes out, and it's three hotcakes, syrup and butter, and I wolf those down. And then the other platter comes out, and there's three eggs, toast, hash browns, and your three basic meats, ham, sausage and bacon. So I'm shoveling the last piece of bacon in my mouth, and the one trucker turns to his buddy and he says, that skinny guy can really eat. Yeah. Unbelievable! So I'm peddling down the road. So is there anybody with you? No, no, I rode all by myself. So you don't have anybody following you or going ahead of you? No, just you. Yeah. And so I just, you know, every day I'd ride as long as I could. Yeah. Sometimes you're into a big headwind. Right. Like going from, I think it was... I can't imagine. No. Yeah. Swift current to, you know, to Moose Jaw. Yeah. And so that was a slow day. I did about 168 kilometers. That was a slow day. But the next day, the wind is blowing. Yeah. And so in my favor. Yeah. So I rode right from Moose Jaw to Brandon, 442 kilometers. In one day. In one day. So that was a pretty good, pretty good haul. So Don, did you camp? Did you stay in hotels? Like, what did you do at night? I stayed in motels. Okay. So sometimes I'd ride past my destination. Sometimes I'd stop earlier. But yeah, I had a little backpack attached to my seat post that included two pairs of cycling shorts. But by the third day, I was wearing both pairs of cycling shorts. I had a T-shirt and some bike repairs. I had three flats along the way that I had to change in that regard. So when you stopped, did people say, what are you doing? They must notice, what's this guy doing? And you're telling them you're riding across Canada. What was their response? Oh, it was great at times. My friends, another truck stop I pull in, and I was chatting with a couple of truckers, and I had a big meal, a big apple pie and ice cream. And I go up to pay, and the server says, oh, it's already paid for. So it was kind of neat. And just a great way to travel across the country. We have such a beautiful country. So you started when? You started in? I started in late June. Late June. In Vancouver. Oh, okay. On the ocean. Yeah. And I finished at St. John's Newfoundland. So you traveled July, August, or just July? No, no, just. Because you only had four week vacation. Yeah, that's right. So I finished in late July. Okay, so now you made it to Thunder, past Thunder Bay, you're thinking I'm halfway. Yeah. Yeah. And so then I'm going through, you know, going to the different Y's and they had celebrations. They had kids out at Sudbury, at Sydney, Nova Scotia, and they'd welcome me in. Cheering ya on. I took kids out for a bike ride in Sault Ste. Marie. Yeah. That was pretty cool. Yeah. So we rode for the afternoon and then I headed out on my own. I was doing interviews sometimes from the side of the road as well. So that was pretty cool. That is amazing. So when was this? 2012. Okay. Did they have iPhones in 2000? No, we did. Yeah, we did. So were you like listening to tunes all the way? You were just, just you in the road. Just me in the road traveling along. However, I did lose my iPhone on the first day. I'm pedaling up the, I'm pedaling up the Coquihalla. Yeah. Yes. Yes. Oh my goodness. And my front derailleur breaks, which means you shift from the big chain ring to the small chain ring. And then make it down the other side and pedaling down. And my phone must have popped out, smashed in the highway. So I call my, call my wife. And so she was able to on the second day when I pulled in to Sicamous, order a new iPhone. I also went into the bike shop. And it was like a little MacGyver. He put a twist tie and that held my derailleur together until Thunder Bay. This is incredible. This is, this is just unbelievable. Wow. Okay. So you, by now you've lost your cell phone, your derailleur goes crazy. The guy fixes your derailleur. Your wife sends you a new cell phone. What else? What other? Adventure. Adventures did you have in this? I still can't believe you did this with one bike. Yeah. Yeah. There's a couple of repairs I did on my bike as well. Late night flat tire out of Thunder Bay that I'm changing in the rain. You do these things. But anyways, I was determined every day to get up. There's a great slogan that the Y has, every kid deserves a chance. And that really motivated me. I never thought once about quitting. And so I just kept pedaling. We raised probably $30,000. But I think more important was just the public awareness and the importance of getting kids healthy and active. Absolutely. I've done studies on that as well. Actually did an MBA study years ago and it was very simple. It was active kids lead to higher academics, lead to skilled jobs, lead to a stronger economy. And so there's so many benefits if we can work with kids at a young age. And that makes a big difference. So tell us, so now you're getting close to, where was your end point? What was your, what was your? The last community you stopped in. Yeah. So, so the last point was St. John's Newfoundland. I took the ferry from Sydney, Nova Scotia over to Port-aux-Basques. And then it's a long way around. It's still 900 kilometers around the Trans-Canada Highway around Newfoundland. Oh my goodness. And so the first day I'm pedaling from Port-aux-Basques up to Gander and traveling, traveling through the mountains. You're going up a long climb. You're going down a long climb. It's flat for 20 kilometers. Well, there you're going up for a kilometer. You're going down for a kilometer. It's flat for a meter. You're going up again and down again. Oh, my goodness. But I met two, you know, two women who were running the Gander YMCA program. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, we had, you know, a dinner and then off early the next morning. Right. So here, now you're coming to the end of your journey. And what was the last night before you reached the endpoint? Were you, you must have been just euphoric. You must have been just, I want to get there. This is great. I can't imagine, you must have felt incredible. Well, I wasn't feeling that great. I guess not. I just forgot, he rode across Canada. Like, I guess so, right? Yeah, yeah. But still, yes, I was pretty excited to get there. And I stayed at a little hotel and then I was think, about 160 kilometers on the last day. I pedaled in and they had a really nice reception for me in St. John's as well when I pedaled in and saw all the kids as well. So it was pretty exciting there too. Did any family fly out to meet you? No, no, they didn't. No, just myself. Just Don's riding across Canada. They'll be home soon. But let's just say, Don didn't ride back home. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, put it on the record. Put it on the record. Don flew back home. Okay, I mean, but this is unbelievable. I'm sitting here trying to think, and it wasn't that long ago for me, what I was doing at 58, and it was not riding across Canada. What Cam you weren't? I know I'm not. I can't even. This is just blowing me away, actually. So I have another question, though, with this. Yeah. So Don, you rode this many days in a row, that many kilometers afterwards. How long did it take you to kind of recover from that? Because, yeah, it probably took a good month. Yeah, I didn't do a whole lot of riding or activities after that. It takes a while. A lot of hot tubs. Well, that's right. But you know, and then I did go to different events talking about getting kids active. Right. In that regard, actually one of the interesting ones was, you know, Pinball Clemons? Yes, yes. For the Eskimos. That's right. The Eskimos then Toronto. And then, yeah, yeah. So, we were at a sports event for kids. And I was talking to him about how I had done this spin ride for the YMCA in the winter time. I rode for eight hours. And of course, I've got lots of slow twitch muscles. He's a sprinter. Yeah. All fast. And he said, and he looks to me, and he said, well, how did you do it for eight hours? And I said, well, I was listening to music, I had some other kids with me as well. And he said, yeah, but what about the other seven and a half hours? Unbelievable. Don, I mean, this is incredible. I mean, you told me the story that you rode across Canada just in that abbreviated form. And now hearing you talk about it is just, wow, it's unbelievable. It's incredible what you've done. Have you done any rides since or? No, I haven't. So those those two rides. Yeah. But as I said to people, it's a matter of setting a goal, really aiming high. Yeah. Setting out a plan. And just like with this ride, never giving up. Yeah. Amazing. Wow. What a story. We're almost done. We're almost at 30 minutes. Unbelievable. We're onto our final question already. OK, take it away, Jennifer. Don, what is the best piece of advice you've been given, either personally or professionally, that you carry with you to this day? You know, I think I was saying set out goals, never give up in that regard, have high integrity and always follow those personal values that you have. Wow. Amazing. It is. And Don, I've known you for about three years now, two and a half years. And I have to say, I'm honoured to know you. I mean that and thank you for what you do for the YMCA, because again, I am one of those kids that was a recipient of that. And but just thank you for who you are and what you do. And for you, I can just, it's a genuine heart. Yeah, you can feel it. Yeah, it's just a genuine heart. You weren't out to make a name for yourself. You weren't out. You just wanted to help kids. And I think that's phenomenal. Again, for those who missed it, maybe, Don is the co-owner of RE/MAX Excellence here in Edmonton. And so if you're looking to buy or sell a home, give Don and RE/MAX Excellence a call. And I know you're involved in a few other things, politically wise and those kinds of things. And it's, it's, I'm just, I'm honoured to know you. Yeah. Thanks. Thanks so much. Thanks for taking the time. Yeah. All right. Thanks, everybody. What an incredible story. I get tired just riding my bike to like the corner store. Unbelievable. And he rode across Canada. 58 years old and just wakes up and says, I'm gonna, I'm gonna ride across Canada. Like, that's incredible. That's unbelievable. What an inspiration. Yeah. And he, you know, like, like he said, and he did it for the kids. That's amazing. It is. Wow. What a great story. Don's a great guy. He's a great guy. Just a humble, humble guy and really appreciate it. And thanks everybody for listening. Hey, make sure you tell everybody about our podcast. Tell your friends and your neighbors and your coworkers. If you don't have any friends, make one, just so you can tell them about the podcast. And you can find it wherever you get your podcasts, or you can go to www.achesonbusiness.com. And subscribe. Subscribe. And you won't miss a new episode. Thanks everybody. Have a good one. See you next time.