It Takes A Village

We are so grateful to everyone who helped with this project, but there are a few people we really need to thank.

Avalanche Pizza- a new home for Twin Trees Veterinary Clinic.

Rick Hale, the owner of Avalanche Pizza, is really first the one who opened the door for Twin Trees to take root.

I had spent months searching every nook and cranny of Whistler- trying to find the perfect place for a veterinary emergency clinic. Finding the right location is the first and most important step in creating an emergency clinic. You can’t put an emergency clinic in a location that is difficult to access or find. It must be centrally located with simple directions (turn at the gas station–> continue 100m–> you will see on the left–> drive right up to the door), or we knew that over time we would lose some patients because they simply couldn’t find it or get help in time.

A picture of Avalanche Pizza during the summer of 2015.

After a long and fruitless search for the right location, I finally approached Rick about the possibility of re-purposing the Creekside Avalanche Pizza satellite location. I was completely blown away by Rick’s kindness. He said, “Wow, I have been in Whistler for more than 30 years, and we really need something like this. I couldn’t agree more, this is the perfect location for an emergency clinic. I believe in goodwill for the community, and I want to help.”

The heart of the pizza shop- where the oven once was…

During construction, we tried to preserve some of the existing elements of Avalanche Pizza, a local favourite and important piece of Creekside history. In our emergency room, you can see stainless steel along the north wall, where it was in the pizza kitchen. Chef Stephen is also working on prototypes for an Avalanche Pizza dog treat:)

…is now the ER, the heart of Twin Trees Veterinary Clinic.

Everyone at Scotiabank- Whistler has been wonderful.

Let’s be honest- it takes a lot of capital to be able to purchase the equipment that is needed in an emergency room. I cannot say enough good things about the Whistler branch of Scotiabank(located just upstairs from us) who provided the small business financing for our hospital.

The guys at Scotiabank are huge animal lovers, and they really believe in community. Did you know that they donate $5,000 to WAG (the Whistler animal shelter) every year? They also support countless other community initiatives, from kids hockey teams to outreach organizations and charities.

The wonderful people at the Whistler branch of Scotiabank (located in Creekside) are huge supporters of the community.

We are particularly thankful to Faris Ataya (Branch Manager) for going the extra mile to help us secure the financial backing to build the clinic. Thank you also to Adam Adams (Personal Banker), Hayley, Kara, Karen and all of the other friendly staff at Scotiabank for their smiles and encouragement day-in and day-out.

Finding a contractor in the middle of shoulder season in Whistler is nearly impossible. It was October, and everyone I called said that they had been turning down jobs for weeks, and (between laughs) told me to call back in February.

I had gotten a firm “no” from every contractor in the phonebook from A-T, when I finally reached TM Builders. Owner Tom McColm answered the phone himself. He admitted that his crew was extremely busy, but said he would try to help us out. I was completely blown away by their work ethic and professionalism from day 1.

Phase 1 of construction- the bare bones.

We are SO thankful to Colin Duncan, Chris McKenzie, Tom McColm and Jamie Akehurst for their beautiful craftsmanship, innate standard of excellence, unending willingness to help, and for always going above and beyond.

Our project manager, Colin Duncan, who also builds the Joyride for Crankworx (Whistler’s legendary mountain bike festival), has just the creative mind that we needed to basically create a hospital from a pizza joint.

Brandon Semenuk at Red Bull Joyride 2015 © Scott Serfas/Red Bull Content Pool

Leah Perry, Infused Content.

Special thanks to Leah Perry from INFUSED CONTENT for her kindness, support, guidance and sleepless nights throughout the business planning, website design, and marketing plan development processes. We would not be here without her help.

Thank you also:

-Mel, Mel’s son, and Grizz from Peak Plumbing and Heating

– Neal Jennings, Roxanne (and Lisa) from Whistler Tile

-Steve, Steve, Kristen and Matt from Noble Electric

–Tyler Collins for his beautiful work painting

-Daria and Colby from Burnt Stew Computers

–Gary Gaboury for making our lovely sign

-Graphic designer Aaron Jackson (APJ Design)

-Mike Ryan from Time Equals Nothing for website development

-The guys at Custom Air

-Michelle Pawson for consulting

…and everybody else!! We are so grateful to have worked with so many wonderful people.