The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor Much has been made of the so-called American Dream, but the Canadian Dream shines just as brightly. It's the idea that in a country as free and as open as ours, anyone can be successful provided he or she is willing to work hard and overcome obstacles. The concept is one that few appreciate more than Dave Gunn. Gunn and wife Maxine pulled up to Flin Flon 21 years ago. They were ready to take on the future, but also completely uncertain of what that future would bring. 'It was 40-below out and we had no jobs and nowhere to live and no money,' he recalls with a cheery smile that dominates his face. Up to that point, Gunn, then 35, had spent his entire adult life plucking guitar strings for a succession of Western Canadian bands. With names like The Renegades, Lonesome Charlie and Pointed Sticks (a reference to a Monty Python sketch), the groups never reached the charts but nevertheless afforded Gunn a living. But after thousands of performances in smoke-filled bars and lounges, Gunn was ready for a fresh start. Besides, living in Calgary was awfully expensive and the hustle and bustle was becoming overbearing. Having grown up in Flin Flon, Maxine had suggested it as the perfect place to begin life anew. Change, however, would not come without worry. 'I guess I was a little concerned,' says Gunn, a farm boy originally from Kyle, Sask., north of Swift Current. 'All I'd ever done my whole life _ well, for the last 15 years _ was play guitar on the road in bars.' Half joking, he adds, 'I was a little concerned that I'd have to get up and go to work and have a real job, but I knew it was coming anyway. I just kind of put it off as long as I could.' Logically, Gunn's first attempt at a 'real job' in Flin Flon came at Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting, the community's largest employer. The interview did not go as he had hoped. 'They basically said, 'You have no skills. You're 35 and out of shape. We need you like a hole in the head,'' he says, again laughing. 'In hindsight, I think it's probably the best thing that could have happened because it forced me to get my own thing going.' To get his own thing going, Gunn turned to his number one skill and passion _ the guitar. 'I always liked the sound of the acoustic guitar,' he says. 'The electric guitar, you can make it sound like anything. It's the most versatile instrument there is. It just seemed like the one to play.' So proficient with the instrument was Gunn that he had been making money sharing his talent since age 17. And if there was ever a time when he needed money, it was upon his move to Flin Flon. So he crossed his fingers and took out a newspaper ad offering to teach aspiring guitar players. Within a week he had 10 students, a number that would slowly but surely grow. Gunn initially instructed his one-on-one sessions at the Denare Beach cabin he and Maxine rented. As the demand grew, he shifted to some vacant second-story space on Main Street. As his reputation grew, so too did his commercial aspirations. With no other music store for hours, he was soon selling guitars and musical accessories. When the couple moved to the south end of Main Street a couple of years after their arrival, Gunn transformed the basement of their home into an instructional studio and retail space. Today, all these years later, Gunn Sound and Light stands as a true northern success story, a fact that still occasionally astonishes Gunn. 'I look around at what we've built here and it's actually amazing,' he says. 'It's been so gradual, you don't really notice. But then sometimes I look around and go, 'Wow!'' But Gunn is quick to point out that he doesn't warrant full credit. 'I didn't do this on my own. My wife Max has been with me the whole way, and she's the accountant and bookperson,' he says. 'So it was both of us pulling together and making this happen. And yeah, you look back, it's been a good ride, but it hasn't been just us. The town has been good to us, and I think we contribute to the town and the town has contributed to us, too.' And this example of the Canadian Dream isn't about to neglect the bigger picture. 'I think that we're so lucky that we don't even have a clue how lucky we are to live in this country,' says Gunn. 'There's no lack of opportunity here, and if you want to work hard and get ahead, you can.'
