Petawawa

Frank Van Hoof

Let’s welcome our neighbour, Frank Van Hoof

Tell us a bit about yourself.

“Hi, I’m Frank. I was born and raised in Petawawa and have lived in the area for most of my life. I attended Champlain High School (they had grade 13 in those days).

After high school, I was hired by CNL and worked there for 36 years until I retired in January 2017. I bounced around to about six different jobs, but I was mainly involved in the business/planning side of the isotope business. At one time, CNL made a large portion of the world’s medical isotopes until the shutdown of the NRU reactor in 2018.

I have many hobbies (sometimes I think my hobby is collecting hobbies) — hunting, fishing, motorcycling, photography, woodworking, and a little creative writing, to name a few. I also ski, ride bicycles, hike, and canoe occasionally.

I married Susan Savard in October 1986, and we’ve raised six beautiful children (five girls, one boy). I now have four grandchildren as well.”

What’s the funniest thing that ever happened to you?

“The operative words here are ‘to me’.  Many years ago, our family went to Six Flags amusement park in New York State.  My children somehow convinced me to join them on a roller coaster that included upside-down travel approaching the speed of sound.  The schoolgirl screams coming out of me for the whole ride apparently made the whole trip worthwhile – to them.”

What is your weirdest habit or trait?

“If I lose something, and I know there are several places to look for it, I will look at them in reverse order of likelihood of finding said object.  In other words, I first look in the least likely place, saving the most likely spot for last.  It gives me hope.”

Do you have any phobias? What are they?

“I used to be terrified of public speaking, but I cured that with 10 years in a Toastmasters club. I’m still scared of heights — not airplanes, but cliff edges, tall buildings with glass floors, roads with no guardrails with cliffs beside them, etc.  Places I COULD fall off of.  My palms sweat watching movies of people hanging off cliffs.”

What strange food combination do you most enjoy?

“I have eaten spaghetti with ketchup (no sauce) my whole life. I’ve even converted a few of my kids to it.  When I was a kid, a waitress nearly begged my mom to try their special spaghetti sauce. She said, ‘Nope, he only wants ketchup.’ Good mom.”

What actress did you have a crush on as a kid?

“Raquel Welch was the bomb when I was a kid.  Who could forget her in that leather bikini?”

What was the worst style choice you ever made?

“I was never a style icon. My wife still picks most of my wardrobe.  No way around it — in grade school, I was a complete dork.  But one particularly fateful day, I had gone out before school to collect maple sap from my pails, wearing my faded purple corduroy flood pants and torn paisley shirt. I was so late coming back, I forgot to change and realized my mistake on the bus. I was mortified — the clothes were bad, even for me.  I skulked around the halls all day, hoping nobody would notice.  Strange thing is, they didn’t.”

If you could be any animal, which one would you be and why?

“I think I’d like to be an eagle. To be able to soar on the wind way up high, and see everything with those amazing eyes.  Yeah, and eat sushi all the time too. Not bad.”

What is your most useless talent?

“I can tie shoelaces really, really fast.  Like, my fingers are almost a blur.  But I have a stiff back now, so I wear Sketchers. I don’t tie laces very often now, so it’s a useless talent.  It used to save me at least five seconds every day, though.”

What decade do you wish you had experienced? Why?

“I think the first ten years of the 20^th century must have been incredible. Airplanes were invented, and cars first became somewhat commonplace in that decade. Electricity was just becoming normal in houses, and new inventions were popping up all the time.  And, the world was relatively peaceful, just before WWI.”

If you could use a time machine to travel to any time, past or future, what era would you visit? And Why?

“I’d like to take a peek at what the world looks like in the year 2060, 100 years after I was born. Just to be sure the world is okay for my children and grandchildren. Is the US still a democracy? Is China the new superpower? Did Canada come out all right? Did the Leafs ever win the cup again?”

Thank you so much for spending time with us, Frank.

If you enjoyed our chat with Frank Van Hoof, you may want to subscribe below to meet a new neighbour from the Upper Ottawa Valley each week.

Next week, we will welcome Lana Gorr