She鈥檚 a person who doesn鈥檛 like to waste precious time 鈥� and when she arrived in Squamish, she wasted no time getting involved in community life. Within months, Edith Tobe emerged as a community leader working to preserve the environment.
I sat with her last week at a downtown caf茅, where she shared her story.
Tobe is from Thornhill, Ont., a suburb of Toronto, and studied biology at University of Waterloo, but she discovered there weren鈥檛 many jobs for biology graduates. So after some soul searching, she went back to school to study resource engineering at Seneca College. Her courses included municipal design, road construction, surveying, drafting鈥� 鈥淚t was just the right fit for me at the time.鈥�
鈥淭hen I was working in Ontario in really good jobs鈥� but I just knew I didn鈥檛 want to be living it out in the Ontario region,鈥� she recalled. 鈥淚 just couldn鈥檛 feel myself being happy there.鈥�
She first went to Israel, where she worked on a kibbutz for a few months, then in a lab. But what she remembers most is the lively dating scene.
鈥淚 was going out with a fellow, living with another fellow鈥︹�� Tobe laughs. She鈥檚 single and now leads a quieter life in 麻豆社国产but remembers fun times with the other young Jewish people.
In 1992, she moved to B.C., intending to live in Kelowna or Nelson but en route to visit friends in Pemberton, she stopped in 麻豆社国产and read the job postings. Her first job was at Howe Sound Secondary School as a science teaching assistant. By 1993, she was working as an engineering technologist for Frank Baumann and Associates.
鈥淚t was my first real job I had after moving to Squamish,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 was always trying to figure it out. My whole life, I have been trying to figure it out.鈥�
She settled in Squamish, buying a house in 1994 and adopting a dog in 1995.
By then she was already an energetic leader. 鈥淚 arrived full of energy. I didn鈥檛 mind working on my own time. It never dawned on me that I was working on my own time鈥︹��
She had joined environmental groups and as a volunteer, wrote a watershed management plan, although the District of 麻豆社国产never adopted it. But the girl who grew up loving streams and frogs had found her niche.
For the past 17 years, Tobe has been executive director of the 麻豆社国产River Watershed Society and continues her work as a professional biologist under her business name EB Tobe Enterprises.
For the watershed society, 鈥�75 per cent of my job is going after funding,鈥� she said. 鈥淓very day, I am writing reports and applications. I am never not writing reports. I have 90 per cent success in obtaining funding 鈥� I know who to go after.鈥�
As a single person, she has also done well financially. The house she bought in 1994 for $180,000, which seemed like a stretch for her budget at the time, is now worth about $550,000, she estimates.
鈥淚t鈥檚 insane, and the incomes haven鈥檛 gone up that much,鈥� she says.
But Tobe says she has no plans to sell her home as she is settled and happy in Squamish. 鈥淲here would I go?鈥�
When she arrived, 麻豆社国产was a small town with a robust resource sector 鈥� but near Vancouver, which appealed to her. 鈥淟et鈥檚 face it; it鈥檚 nice to be near culture.鈥�
She has always loved living here, even if as an educated, single woman, she doesn鈥檛 fit the mold in a historic logging community.
鈥淚n 1992 I didn鈥檛 dare tell anyone that I was from Ontario, let alone from Toronto, and I didn鈥檛 tell anyone I had an education,鈥� Tobe says.
At the time, she recalls, some business owners were not friendly to outsiders. 鈥淪ome business people would slam their doors on tourists鈥�. Overall, it was a very hostile environment to non-residents鈥�. We were a pretty hard, redneck community.鈥�
But Tobe is a natural leader and wove herself into the community鈥檚 fabric. 鈥淚 really felt comfortable here from day one. Within a year of arriving, people were asking if I would run for council.鈥�
Finishing her coffee and telling me about the estuary restoration project underway, Tobe says she prefers to stay out of politics 鈥� and indeed, to keep her evenings completely free. After being diagnosed with Cushing鈥檚 disease and undergoing several surgeries, she has allowed herself to slow down and no longer goes to evening meetings, even for environmental groups. She鈥檚 not going on dates like in her Israel days; instead, she likes to walk her two Australian cattle dogs on the trails. 鈥淚 am the most boring person on the planet,鈥� she laughs, but she calls herself a happy single person.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot to be said for being a happy single person.鈥�
听
Coffee with Christine is a regular column featuring Squamish's most interesting people.
