Town parks director moving on to Springwater

If you’ve ever participated in public engagement about Collingwood’s parks and recreation, Dean Collver might be a familiar face to you.

For this week’s edition of People of Collingwood we spoke with Collver, 54, director of parks, recreation and culture for the Town of Collingwood.

Q: Where were you born?

A: I grew up in Truro, Nova Scotia. I was born in Galt, Ontario but moved to Truro when I was three. All of my formative development years were spent in Bluenose country.

Q: Where did life take you after that?

A: When I was 17, I finished high school but I wasn’t ready to go to university yet. I did a year of OACs just to have an excuse to not go to university.

Then I took off to Australia for a year with my girlfriend, who became my wife. I used that to figure out what I wanted to do with my life.

When I got back, I started school at McMaster for a psychology degree. That didn’t work out, so I shifted to an economics degree. That also didn’t work out, so I ended up with an English degree.

I’d always had an affinity for writing and creative language.

Q: When did you start thinking about parks?

A: I have this really weird resume that is too thick, and too complicated.

I had managed bars in university. From there, I went into the hospitality industry. I did some consulting work, helping out restaurants and events. I did some retail work along the way.

When my wife got a job in Sarnia, I went to work at Lambton College as their student life activities co-ordinator.

I met a lady whose husband worked for the college. She was working at Bayer – the same company that makes Aspirin – in Sarnia. In Sarnia, they make rubber. She asked if I wanted to do some contract communications work. I said sure.

That led to a relationship where Bayer wanted to be a sponsor for a stop of the Canadian National Golf Tour. I helped to facilitate that, called the Bayer Championship. I did that for four years while working in their communications department.

That woman moved on, and I took her job. I did that for a few more years.

Then Bayer went through a downsizing, and I was told I didn’t have a job anymore.

After that, I did a few things before settling into a job with the Sarnia Sting in the OHL. They were looking for someone to write their Memorial Cup bid. I spent a year doing that. If we had been successful, it would have been an amazing event.

I approached the ownership and told them they had a hole in their business department, and I asked if they’d like a business manager. Strangely, they said yes.

I spent eight years with the Sarnia Sting managing the business of the team and the sports and entertainment centre.

Eventually, I reached the limit of everything I could do there.

I ended up at the University of Windsor, managing their athletic facilities, and moved to Amherstburg. Eventually, an opportunity came up as director of their parks, recreation and culture . I applied for it and got that job.

That’s how I got into municipal work.

In the meantime, my dad was going through a battle with cancer. He lived in Marmora.

I really wanted to be closer to them.

Coming to Collingwood cut that distance in half. That’s why I ended up coming to Collingwood.

As a result, after my dad’s passing, my mom moved here. My sister now has a place in Craigleith. My brother comes up here in the winter.

I have my whole extended family now living within arm’s reach.

Q: When did you start working with the town?

A: In 2014.

Q: Over the past 10 years you’ve overseen a lot of projects in town. What’s your favourite project that you’ve overseen?

A: That’s so hard!

I started with the waterfront master plan literally on my drive up from Amherstburg. I stopped in in London at the AMO (Association of Municipalities of Ontario) Conference, where Collingwood was doing a pitch to get some funding from the province to help support the waterfront master plan.

While we weren’t successful at the time, it opened my eyes to what this new job was going to be about.

It was nothing like what I was coming from.

(The waterfront master plan) was a huge project – extremely intense. I got to know everyone in the community because everyone had an intense interest in the water because it’s a prime asset here.

I’m proud of that. We’ve used that plan. It hasn’t become dusty. We refer to it quite often.

The Awen Gathering Place was hugely important for us because it opened a conversation with our Indigenous community members. We built an understanding.

That leads us to the Unity Collective which I’m super grateful for. They are the most generous people in sharing their trust and their stories.

The Awen Waterplay was a huge accomplishment. Sunset Point playground was a huge thing too. It started at the beginning of COVID and then everything got thrown off track. In my opinion, we ended up with the best playground in the province because of its accessible design and variety of features. Also, the intentionality of those features. Kids actually informed it, and our designers figured out how to accomplish that.

I can’t pick one.

Q: Are there any misconceptions about your job you’d like to correct?

A: Probably that it’s easy.

I think a lot of people have the idea that this job is easy or completely fun. And while it is fulfilling, there is a lot of stress associated with the responsibility of how people feel about the community.

We all take it very seriously.

Over time, it can become a heavy burden when you realize people’s expectations are far greater than what you’re ever going to be able to provide.

I will say though, there are a lot of huge rewards being involved in this part of a municipal operation. We see the impacts the things we create have on people. We see them enjoying what we do.

Q: You’re leaving your job at the town as of April 5 to be the parks and recreation director for Springwater Township. Are there any lessons you’ve learned here that you’ll take with you?

A: For sure.

The staff group I get to work with are second to none. Knowing that value has been important in order to be successful in Collingwood.

I’ve learned what an authentic approach to equity, diversity and inclusion is in Collingwood. I don’t believe you can buy that education.

I’ve learned what real, good and successful community engagement looks like. 

There are a lot of huge lessons I’ve had here that I’ll be taking with me to Springwater Township.

Q: What do you do when you’re not working?

A: I like hiking. We are all blessed we have the Bruce Trail nearby. Getting into nature is a big part of me being whole.

I’ve become a bit of a cyclist. I’m not the highway warrior-type cyclist but I like to get out by myself. I get a lot of mental peace from that.

Mostly, (spending time) with my family. My oldest (son) is in Toronto now so I don’t get to see him as much as I like. My middle guy is going through getting his construction certificate at Georgian College. My daughter is big into equestrian stuff, so I spend a lot of time at the barn with her.

My wife and I have been together for 35 years. She’s my best friend.

Q: Is there anything else you’d like people in Collingwood to know about you?

A: I’ll still live here.

I hope everybody can join me in appreciating how lucky we are to live where we live.

One of the reasons we’re growing so fast is a lot of people want what we have. As much as there are challenging parts...we are living in a special place.

For our feature People of Collingwood, we speak with interesting people who are either from or are contributing to the Collingwood community in some way, letting them tell their own stories in their own words. This feature runs on CollingwoodToday every weekend. If you’d like to nominate or suggest someone to be featured in People of Collingwood, email [email protected].