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Goodsir Nature Park receives largest donation in park history

Jim Eiswerth of Ridgeline Roofing and Jim Good of Goodsir Nature Park talk about the new roof going at Good’s house. Bill Phillips photo

The cold weather is settling in.

On Monday morning it was about -7 degrees Celsius. The unflappable Jim Good, however, weathered the frost in his camper Goodsir Nature Park.

“I like to be close to nature,” he says. “It’s nice and warm in there.”

He’s been living in the camper of late because his house, which serves as headquarters of Goodsir Nature Park in Salmon Valley, has been unliveable for the past few months.

A roof that was installed “cutting corners” 30 years ago stopped about as much water as a colander. His furnace was cracked and his chimney in need of repair, meaning heating the home during these chilly mornings is a no-go.

Even so, Good kept working at the park, which is outstanding display of Canada’s botanical biodiversity, living in the camper.


John Brink, of the Brink Group, and Jim Good of Goodsir Nature Park. Bill Phillips photo

All that changed Monday morning. Actually, it started to change a few months ago when Claire Warner started a GoFundMe campaign to help Good raise $10,000 for the much-needed repairs. John Brink, founder and CEO of the Brink Group, who had donated lumber to Goodsir Nature Park last fall to update signs, got involved again and matched the $5,000 raised through the GoFundMe campaign.

Ridgeline Roofing heard about Good’s plight, decided to jump on board and donated their time to replace Good’s roof. The crew was hard at work Monday morning stripping off the old leaky roof and repairing it with a brand new, watertight roof.

RONA offered up free transportation to get all the roofing materials, which were purchased through the Brink and GoFundMe funds, to Salmon Valley. Another local company, which prefers to remain anonymous, donated a new central heating system, furnace and propane tank so the house will not only be dry this winter, it will be nice and cozy.

Understandably, it’s a bit overwhelming for Good, who celebrated the 30th anniversary of the park this year and, last year, underwent a quadruple bypass.

“It’s wonderful,” Good said of the donations, which total about $30,000. “I never expected anything like this this morning. It caught me off guard. I’m so appreciative of the concern in the community … It’ll be nice to back into the house and actually have running hot water.”

Ridgeline Roofing was inspired by the work that Good has done to create and maintain the park over the past 30 years.

“When someone pours their heart and soul into creating an establishment like this … this is what we want to be as a company,” said Josh Eiswerth of Ridgeline Roofing. “When I came up here I was blown away by the amount of work and decades of effort. This property has Jim’s heart and soul poured into it and we’re happy to fill a need.”

Brink called the park a “botanical jewel in northern B.C.” so he was quick to help out.

“Jim’s home has somewhat deteriorated because Jim spends all his money in the park,” Brink said. “We knew we had to do something.”

He urged everyone to visit the park, especially at this time of year when the fall colours are out in their full splendour.

“I just plan on continuing as far as my health will allow me to do what I love to do,” said Good. “I couldn’t think of a finer way to spend my retirement years.”

Prince George-Valemount MLA Shirley Bond chats with Jim Good, of Goodsir Nature Park Monday morning as a new roof goes on Good’s house. Bill Phillips photo

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