ORLANDO DELANO
SPECIAL TO THE NEWS
Maggi Slassor is a well-known individual in many areas of Port Alberni. Her name has been associated with senior sports activities, her job as a health professional worker and her role as a volunteer for emergency situations in the water.
Born in Cambridge, England, Maggi Slassor moved to Canada in 1974 and a new life and new challenges opened for her on this side of the world.
With a friend, she landed in Medicine Hat, Alberta, where she worked as a physiotherapist—a career she had been trained for in Britain.
“Then, after a holiday back in the UK, I visited a friend in Victoria and fell in love with the Island,” said Slassor.
At that point, she made the decission to live on the coast (where she has lived ever since), in places such as Cedar, Coombs and Qualicum Beach before moving to Port Alberni. She even lived for five years on a 32’ sailboat at Schooner Cove in Nanoose Bay.
While living in Nanoose Bay, she became a sailing instructor for the Canadian Yacht Association (CYA) and got involved with the Ballenas Power Squadron and the Coast Guard Auxiliary (now known as Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue) for 33 years.
As a physiotherapist, she worked for the Nanaimo Regional General Hospital and the West Coast General Hospital. She also provided services for Community Health Care, as well as managing her own private practice.
“I am fortunate to have had many interesting jobs,” she says.
For six years she owned “Alpha Wave Adventures,” an outdoor store at Harbour Quay that sold camping and paddling gear, canoes and kayaks and ran kayak tours in the Broken Group and Deer/Chain group.
She was also involved with Community Futures and the Mt. Klitsa Garden Club.
One of the several highlights of her active sports life was her participation in the World Dragonboat Races in 2016 in Adelaide, Australia, and in the Pan-Am dragonboat races in Tobago in 2019, earning a few medals in both.
She also competed in the Yukon River Quest in 2017, which is the longest canoe/kayak race in the world (750 km) to be done in less than 55 hours.
As a senior athlete, she has competed in 11 BC 55+ games, firstly in dragonboating and for the last three years in table tennis. She has won medals in both sports, and has been an area rep for zone 2 for 10 years.
It is important to point out that the 55+ BC Games 2019 were held in Kelowna in September, more than 4,100 competitors from all over B.C. taking part in 32 sports. Vancouver Island athletes won 254 medals.
Other highlights of her life include canoe trips in the Peace River, Gulf Islands and the Milk River in Alberta.
And, as if her life is not busy enough, this mother of two (Tim and Jessie) continues her involvement with the Power Squadron and the Port Alberni Outdoor Club, among others.
In addition to her active and continous participation in sports such as table tennis, canoeing/kayaking, outrigger canoe racing and dragonboating, she enjoys painting as a hobby.
Her future plans for 2020 include her return to the Yukon as a check point volunteer for the Yukon River Quest and driving to the Arctic Ocean to Tuktoyatuk.
Slassor is not only an energetic person, but also someone with a contagious sense of humour who is always accessible and approachable.
