We met at the Central Okanagan Sailing Association on Hobson Road, because that is his real home. He’s been there every day in May and June since he retired from School District 23 where he served as Superintendent for 11 years and Director of Student Services, Special Education for 20 years. Today he is dedicated to “making sure others have a great experience in sailing”. His son Devin is the head instructor at COSA where in one day school kids learn to put the boat together, sail the boat around, dock it by themselves, take it apart and stow it. “The kids learn in the boat, hands on, when the wind is light. When the wind becomes heavy, it changes the focus of how you do it, and it’s me that goes in the boat with them but they don’t learn as quickly that way. The program is so popular that it’s always booked a year in advance.” Rubadeau donates his earnings from the sailing school back to the club. He says “The sailing association has been near and dear to my heart ever since this place was created in 1983. I’ve been here for every renovation, modification, and improvement.”  His pride in the place is obvious as he shows me around the building and points out the improvements that have been made. One wall of the main hall is devoted to shelving for books and trophies. One of the trophies, a silver cup that resembles a punch bowl and is adorned with clusters of grapes, was donated to the club by Rubadeau. The club acknowledged his volunteer efforts by bestowing the cup to him. Another tribute to his long service to the club as race management officer is a carved wooden bass player, the instrument Rubadeau has played for thirty years, often performing for Theatre Kelowna Society productions.  Mounted on the ceiling of the main hall is an antique rowing shell that Rubadeau rebuilt. COSA shares the facility with the Kelowna Rowing Club. He worked an estimated 500 hours to restore the wooden boat to its original condition and even hand carved an oar. He painstakingly painted wood grain on the patches of the boat to match the original wood. Rubadeau is also a Senior Canadian Race Official and will officiate at an International Regatta in Kingston, Ontario this summer.
Prior to that he will be kept busy as President of the Board of Directors for the 26th BC Games taking place in Kelowna July 24 to 27. The games were started by former Premier, Bill Bennett and Kelowna is hosting for the third time. The purpose of the BC Games is to provide an opportunity for the development of athletes, coaches, and officials in preparation for higher levels of competition.
Athletes aged 10 to 20 years will compete in 19 sports at 22 venues around the city. Persons with disabilities ranging in age from 13 to 50 will compete in athletics and Special Olympics. The games rely entirely on volunteers, community support and sponsorship. Rubadeau says:  “It’s going to be an awesome show. We’re anticipating with athletes, coaches and officials, probably about 3300 to 3400 people from around the province. Most of them will be adolescents. We’re looking still for a lot of volunteers. We’ll need close to 3500. We are in desperate need and hope the community can really support us in two very particular areas; one is accommodation, we need dorm captains. All of our public schools in the city will be used as dorms and part of the security we provide is round the clock personnel in those dorms.  The other one is working regular daytime security. At each venue we know we’ll have some parking issues and we need personnel to assist.”  

Register to volunteer online at www.kelowna2008.ca; or call Helen Yetman at 762-3068.  The opening ceremonies are July 24 at Prospera Place at 7:00 p.m. 2500 medals will be awarded at the closing ceremonies on July 27. Tickets are free and are available at the Games office 200-653 Harvey Ave, above Quiznos.

Donna Duke