November 25, 2025 • 33 mins
As part of the 10th Anniversary of #ElderWisdom, we’re revisiting a classic conversation that brought plenty of laughs to the Green Bench — this time painted red.
Canadian comedy legend Steve Smith, best known as Red Green, joined hosts Erin Davis and Lloyd Hetherington to share reflections from his remarkable career, his thoughts on aging, and why laughter truly is good medicine.
From duct tape philosophy to goose control projects, Steve reminds us that humour keeps us young — and that the key to life may just be summed up in a single quote from Clint Eastwood:
“I get up every morning and I go out. And I don’t let the old man in.” – Clint Eastwood, shared by Steve Smith
“When you are out of laughter, you are out of hope.” – Steve Smith
As we celebrate 10 years of #ElderWisdom, this encore episode reminds us that laughter, curiosity, and purpose never retire.
🎧 Listen again to the Red Green Bench and rediscover the wisdom in humour.
Learn more at elderwisdom.ca
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
When he found out I was pregnant, he just fired me on
the spot. We tried to fit everyone into
some a few small molds and a lotof people just don't fit.
When I first got sent to the convent, I saw these great long
(00:23):
halls and I said, oh, and I did car wheels all the way up.
And the nun looked at my mother and said, where does she come
from? A circus.
Welcome to Elder Wisdom stories from the Green Bench.
I'm your host for these open andhonest and sometimes so funny
(00:47):
chats about everything surrounding life with and for
seniors with a bench a very realsymbol at Schlegel villages
retirement and long term care residences of inclusion, of
discussion and of gathering safely in a place of kindness
and information. I'm your host Aaron Davis,
joined by my Co host Lloyd Hetherington, who at 86 is
(01:12):
probably 1 of the world's more senior podcast hosts and is
tickled not just pink, but red today to be here with our guest.
Why? Well, our friend Steve Smith is
joining the bench, which just for today, we'll sometimes call
the Red Green Bench because Red Green is the character for whom
(01:32):
he's best known during his 15 years on CBC and then PBS.
Steve is 75 now and lives with his wife of over 50 years.
He's got a fascinating career that goes beyond the wise and
funny. Red Green.
Wait till you hear what he actually invented.
And we're so happy to have him here with us today.
(01:53):
Well, Lloyd, before we get to our guests today, I just want to
check in with you and see how you're doing.
How's life treating you? Life has been good and it's
going to be even better when we talk to our.
Guest today Amen I'm. Just so excited about that.
All right, then, let's bring himin.
Everybody knows him, of course, as red green, but in real life,
(02:13):
if there is such a thing these days, he is Steve Smith.
And we're so pleased to have youjoining us here on the green
bench today. Steve, thanks for making the
time. Hey, I'm happy to be here, Aaron
Lloyd. Looking forward to it.
Thank you. So what you been up to?
Let's go back to, oh, I don't know, when did the Red Green
show stop airing new episodes? Because it's been in syndication
(02:38):
and reruns now forever. You know that this is going to
outlast all of us. But tell us a bit of the
timeline of your career. Would you please, Steve, and
please forgive me, I'm going to call you Red sometime during
this interview. And I think Lloyd might too.
So we'll put a, we'll put a dollar in the jar.
Like a swear jar? Yeah.
Kind of, yeah, Yeah. It's a.
It's a blurry line anyway. So walk us through what you've
(03:00):
been up to. OK, well, first of all, when
when I got to the end of the 13th season of Ray Green, we we
would always meet with the CBC, the program director there, a
guy named Slako Klimku. I always said he was conceived
during a game of Scrabble. I said to him, so we would
always talk to him and see if hewanted to renew the show for a
(03:23):
year. And I, I said to him at that
meeting, I said, you know, I know you can do whatever you,
you want. You know, you're, you're the
boss. But here's what I'd like I said.
And if I could do two more seasons, two more years of Red
Green, that'd be 15 seasons, 300episodes.
And about a month later, I wouldturn 60.
And I, I said, like, I know an exit ramp when I see one.
(03:45):
So classy guy, what he says, we're going to write up that as
a contract. So I got a two year contract.
I mean that that was unheard of,you know, to get that kind of
commitment from a broadcaster. And what that allowed me to do
was to tell all the people in the cast and all the crew, this
is you got two years notice. We're going to do this for two
more years and then we're not going to do it anymore.
(04:06):
And then I thought that would bethe end of the end.
You know, it was a great ride. And I was, I was afraid of what
happened to me was when I got tolike season 14, ideas that I had
rejected in Season 3 started to look good to me.
So, you know, I thought maybe it's time to hang it up, you
(04:26):
know? Yep.
So you got this contract extension from a network that is
kind of renowned for letting shows just disappear at the
height of their popularity. Looking at Rita McNeil, as I say
that. So really, that must have been a
true boost in the arm that you were going to be able to go out
and to end on your terms and maybe wrap up some storylines.
(04:48):
Or did you want to keep it open in case there was some kind of a
Red Green reunion? Because, you know, the whole
Friends on HBO Max thing is huge.
What about a Red Green reunion show?
I'm sure you could ask this all the time.
Yeah, You know, that's just, there's a long list of things
that will never happen, and it'snear the top.
Ah, it's just like, first of all, I have a basic problem
(05:09):
with, with moving backwards. I've never in my life gone back
and done something that I did earlier, you know, we'll get to
this eventually, I guess. But when I, you know, got, I got
off the golf course and went back into performing and, and
did for North American tours. It wasn't that I had done stand
up when I was 21. I've never done it in my life.
(05:30):
So it was a fresh new thing and that's always what I gravitate
towards. So the idea of doing a reunion
show and trying to recapture some version of what was good 10
or 15 years ago has no interest to me whatsoever.
I love your philosophy Steve, always forward-looking, the
pastor behind you, a marvelous run.
(05:52):
But you're looking forward to new and exciting things.
That's the spirit. It keeps life alive.
When you say, I will look for new creations, new activities,
rather than getting buried in the degree of the past.
Well, thanks, Lloyd. I, you know, for me, when I like
say I would never do a reunion, show it for me.
(06:13):
In my mind, it adds value to theto the time we did spend
together, to the things we did. If you don't, if you stop them
when they're still great, you remember them forever as being
great. You don't let them, you know.
Don't let them go too far. Right.
It's a wise move, Steve. Many a person lingers long past
their best date, and what they end up with is a project that's
(06:35):
not good. But you're wise enough to know
when the best date had arrived, and you left it at that.
Yeah, there was a, there's a website called Jump the Shark.
And what they do is they identify, they identify
television programs that went a season or two too long or a
movie sequel that shouldn't havehappened.
And they did say in there that the Red Green Show is, is one
(06:57):
that will never jump the shark. And and I, I took that to heart.
Right. That's high praise because of
course, the name of the website refers to the episode of Happy
Days where they knew that Henry Winkler, the fawns, knew how to
water ski. So Garry Marshall decided he was
going to use Henry's knowledge of how to water ski and turn it
into this whole thing where he was going to actually literally
(07:17):
jump a shark. Because this was kind of the
Jaws heyday too. So it's always been held up as
the sign of here's what not to do.
So well done. You.
For never having jumped the shark.
Thank you. So let's talk about that off
lane. You talked about the off lane
definitely did not go to a kiss and ride parking lot, although
(07:38):
you know what you do in your spare time with Moragus just
fine. But what I'm talking about, what
I'm talking about is you didn't just sit.
In fact, you mentioned you went on four North American tours.
Was this concurrent with your TVshow?
Or how is the timing of this, this blossoming into a stand up
comic at this point in your career, which as you pointed
(07:59):
out, so many artists do in their20s, like let's say Jerry
Seinfeld, and then that sort of segues into another career.
Hopefully you did it the opposite way.
Tell us about that and the decision.
My whole career has been backwards really, when you look
at it, and to get from walking away from the TV show to the
tours, there was a bit of a journey there.
(08:20):
First of all, I immediately wentto Florida and during that
winter I was down there 180 days.
I played 162 rounds of golf. Well, so.
What I did was I, I didn't get any good either.
I just played a lot, you know? Well, you could have been
president, but that's another thing.
Yeah, I just. You had the time, yeah.
(08:41):
I had the time and I needed something to do.
So that's what I decided to do. And and then I, I was, you know,
spending my creative energy, youknow, sort of annoying my
friends. Like I'd say funny things and,
but maybe too many funny things.And then I was playing G1 day
with the the Canadian chairman of Random House.
And he said to me, you know, if you wanted to write a book as
(09:03):
Red Green, we would publish anything you wanted to write.
So I thought, well, first of all, it was a compliment.
You know, I was flattered. And I also realized if I said
no, he was never going to ask meagain.
So I, I decided to write a book.So I wrote a book called How to
Do Everything That's Red Green. And it was very successful.
And then I had to do book tours,you know, where you go to
(09:27):
Saskatchewan and you know, to sell nine books.
You know, I said to them, I'll buy 10 books, not to go.
So what happened was I decided, well, if I got to go around to
promote a book, why don't I put a one man show together, make it
a performance, have more reason to go than just to do a book
(09:47):
signing. And so I did that.
And then I, I'd been on PBS at that point for probably 10
years. And I really felt I owed them a
lot because they exposed me to that.
Our American fan base is so muchlarger than our our Canadian one
and that I mean they're not better.
I would never be here without the Canadian fans, but they're
just just the numbers were thereand I wanted to give them a
(10:10):
little thank you. So I did AI think a 35 or 40
night tour in the US and I gave all the money to PBS and then it
was kind of my thank you to them.
And also that first night, it was in Minneapolis I think was
where I started and I walked outon that stage and I was 5
minutes in. It's like this is what I want to
do. This is this is the greatest
(10:32):
entertainment experience of my life.
Today you got you can watch TV on end, you can watch it on your
phone. I'm sure in five years you'll be
able to watch it on your thumbnail.
So there's no limit to that. But live performance, you're
either in the room or you're not.
And that goes right back thousands of years ago when
people would tell stories arounda campfire.
There's just something about that.
(10:52):
You're talking directly to the end user.
There's no advertiser, there's no sponsor, there's no hidden
agenda. I I just loved it.
Demographically, was there anything Canadian that you had
to drop from your ACT when you were in the US because it just
didn't translate? Well, you know the the the easy
answer is no. I mean, I, I can't really
remember it. I mean, I've, I've been from
(11:14):
Tampa to Fairbanks and I just keep meeting the same guy to be
honest with you, you know? He's you, that's the thing.
He's me, he's me. And they all say to me they have
a red green in their family. And if you don't have a red
green in your family, it's probably you, you know?
Right. So right on.
There's something, there's something basic about it.
I, I, when I was doing the tours, I would always have a
(11:37):
meet and greet, you know, afterwards and the comments I
would get. You know, I had a the guy said
to me that he was in his 20s andhe said you, you made me look
forward to getting old, which I thought was pretty neat.
(11:57):
Steve, all of us some time or other begin to realize that the
years of marching by time is fleeting and we wonder, is there
some advice you can give us as we face this aging process?
Well, sure, yeah, I'm, I'm goingto steal it, but at least I'll,
I'll name who I'm stealing it from.
It was actually an article I read in a magazine, I guess.
(12:20):
And it was Toby Keith. And he was talking about he had
been in a movie with Clint Eastwood.
Clint at this point was almost 90.
He's probably 89 years old. And, and, and Toby Keith asked
him, how do you keep doing it? How do you keep doing all these
projects and being so active andeverything?
And Clint Eastwood said every morning I wake up and make the
(12:43):
decision not to let the old man in.
And man, that just stuck with me.
And that's what I'm trying to donow.
I get up in the morning and I'm not going to let the old man in.
Also good advice if you're married to 1 and don't want him
home. But anyway.
Steve, I can vote for your popularity in the states.
(13:05):
I was at seminary in Saint Paul's, Minnesota and a couple
of the most dignified professors, real academics,
would stop everything to listen to your show.
There is no way anything, no academic programs, nothing would
come come either way. They just, they just loved it.
Yeah, that, that's a nice way. Thanks for saying that.
(13:26):
I I do have that. I, I, it's amazing now, people
that you don't expect it. It hits, it hits a chord with
them for some reason. I remember.
I think they like the self-sufficiency of it.
If I had to really analyze the you know, Red doesn't really
need the outside world all that much.
I think that roll of duct tape is something else.
(13:47):
All of us have a duct tape in our toolbox somewhere and your,
your creativity with it is fantastic.
I I love the time you're trying to get the wood stove up on the
second floor of Fossum Lodge andyou use some skis and those and
an extension ladder and it was just hilarious how you put it
together. You got a good memory, Lloyd.
(14:10):
We made our own forklift. That's right.
I remember that. Had a lot of fun.
And I think the the duct tape thing came along because most
guys would rather, you know, fixsomething just well enough and
spend 10 minutes on it every Saturday, having to fix it every
Saturday, then to devote one complete Saturday and do it
properly. And, you know, you never want a
(14:30):
repair job. Doubt, Livia.
You know, Yeah. Fixing it with duct tape is a
glimpse of immortality. Steve, I love some of your
quotes as well. Your most famous one is the
women don't find me handsome. At least they'll find me handy.
Yeah. That'll be on your tombstone,
Steve I. Think that's hilarious?
(14:51):
Thank you, Lloyd. Early on I had a promo, you
know, on, on TV and it ended up saying when you've already
wasted most of your life, what'sanother half?
Hour I love. It.
I love that. That's perfect.
Steve, let me assure you that it's not 1/2 hour wasted with
you because laughter is good medicine and we we need all we
(15:12):
can get of it. So it's time spent well, sitting
in your presence, listening to some of your skits, some of your
quotes. Well, thank you.
I actually on my last tour, I, Ihad a woman come up to me
afterwards and she, she had brought her, her father to the
show and, and her mother had passed away four or five months
(15:32):
ago. And she said her dad, he didn't
go out. He would never smiled.
He just stayed to himself. But he was a, he was a fan of
the red green show. So she got him to come out, She
said. He just laughed for 90 minutes.
And she's thanking me for doing that, you know, for her.
Oh, it's great. It is wonderful.
And you know, when Lloyd is talking about the benefits to
health of laughter, there's actual empirical data like the
(15:56):
psychosomatic medicine, Norwegian researchers published
this that found that women who have a great sense of humor live
longer and men are better protected from infection.
So where were you when COVID started?
Steve, thanks a lot. I wasn't laughing.
I'll tell. You.
Oh my God. Yeah.
Who was? Yeah.
And and there's a link to laughter and healthy blood
(16:17):
vessels. So we are increasing blood flow
as we speak here today with you here on the green bench.
The red green bench, we're calling it today, by the way.
Yeah. I always think if if you can
laugh, then you still have hope.You know, when you're out of
laughter, you're out of hope. So I think they're connected.
Absolutely. And so if you had to, would you
rather be handy or humorous? Which one, Mr. Steve?
(16:40):
Smith Oh, my goodness, humor hassaved my life.
When I I know you think I'm a giant, but I'm really not that.
I'm not all that tall and I've never been taller.
So as a kid and I, I was born onChristmas Eve.
So, so right away I'm younger than all the other kids.
Like when I started kindergarten, I was 4 because I
was going to turn 5 before the end of the year, right?
(17:03):
Then I skipped on top of that, skipped a grade.
So when I went to high school, Iwas 12 and I was, I'd be
surprised if I was 5 feet tall and beside the locker beside me,
there was a guy and he, he was 15.
He was a man and he was in, he was in my class, he was another
student. And he turned to me on the 1st
day and he said, you know, if I wanted to, I could kill you.
(17:25):
And, you know, I had no reason to question that.
So I, I spent the whole year making sure he didn't want to
kill me. And I did that by making him
laugh. And, and that became a pattern.
I've used my sense of humor to soften people up to make a
meeting go the way I wanted it to go.
It's it's been a great asset. It is an incredible tool and
(17:47):
it's been used for everything, including to get someone that we
know on this show awarded the Order of Canada in 2006.
Tell us, Steve, what that felt like.
It must have been a little surreal.
Tell us how that whole thing came to be.
Oh my gosh. Well, first of all, when I found
out I was getting it, I thought it meant every Canadian was
(18:07):
getting one. And then I, I was, I think I was
in Florida at the time. I came back up and I, I took my
mother, my mother, God bless her.
She's, she's 98 today. And at that time, she was, you
know, 15 years younger than 83 or something.
And she is her meeting the Governor General.
(18:27):
Oh, my goodness. You know, for, for that day, I
was her favorite. And it was worth it.
It's an awesome honor. And do you wear the pin?
I do when I have to, you know, when I I'm usually I'm under a
car so that no one cares at thatpoint.
But if I'm going to a governmentthing, they have these deals.
I have to. I wear my pin.
Yeah. I'm proud of it.
(18:48):
Nobody in my family's got one. Yeah.
Well, there you go. And under a car in a good way we
should say too, because you havean interest in fixing up old
cars that wasn't just kind of a stick for the show, you know
your way around. Yeah, You know, when I was a
teenager, you know, you could open the hood and and recognize
stuff. You know, you could.
That's a generator, that's a starter, that's a distributor.
(19:09):
You know, You know, you open thehood these days, it's like the
first time you saw a picture of a naked woman.
You know you, you don't see anything you recognize and you
don't have a clue how to get it started.
You probably have some very precious memories of some of
those early cars of yours. Oh, Lloyd, you had to keep it
(19:30):
clean there, didn't you? That's all right.
Yeah. I got lots of memories of cars
and I've got a few old cars now that I I just in in Florida.
I just I have a 29 olds of Bill,a 35 Chrysler and a 47 Lincoln.
And those are the car. Those are the only cars I've got
that. So if I want to go somewhere I
got I got to get one of them going or I don't or I stay home.
(19:53):
Holy. Wow, they're your everyday
transportation then. Yes, Sir.
You probably get lots of stairs when you pull into the parking
lot. Oh yeah, people, people love it.
You know, it's a even a young, young people who don't even,
they weren't even around when those cars were around.
They just think it's neat that somebody's keeping that thing
going, you know? Yeah, what do you, how do you
get around around the fuel thingthough?
(20:14):
Like where do you get the gas? Well, as a matter of fact, there
is a place that sells leaded fuel in Florida, but I don't use
it. I just use the regular gas.
It just means you have to clean the plugs a little more often.
But they run okay. And I'm talking 500 miles a year
on these things. I don't.
I'm not going to California or anything.
Well, Speaking of plugs, and that was probably one of the
(20:35):
clunkier Segways, but let's go for it anyway.
Tell us about your Possum Lodge podcast.
See what they did there? Really good man.
They told me you were good. No, well, they they lied, but I
appreciate. It She's a natural, isn't she?
So yeah, the podcast, Steve. Now how did this all come to be
and what made you decide OK this?
Yeah, well, I, you know, I, I, Idecided not to tour anymore.
(20:56):
I, I did 4 tours and the last one I called it.
This could be it, you know, and I my plan was, but if it wasn't
going to be the last one, the the next one would be called
this is definitely it. And probably 1 after that would
have been that this that one should have been it.
Anyway, what I did was I thought.
It was going to be. I told you that was it.
(21:16):
Anyway, so I started the This Could Be It tour and after the
first few nights it became clearthat people were using this as
an opportunity to come up and tell them how much I'd meant to
them. And it was just, it just was a
perfect goodbye. So it wasn't an ore of war.
So I decided, OK, this is definitely it.
(21:38):
And it was 2019. Can you imagine if I'd have made
it 2020? It would have been a disaster.
So I'm very that's I was going to say to all your listeners, if
I have one piece of advice, it'sbe lucky.
But anyway, when I finished the tour, I knew I didn't know what
I was going to do, but I knew I needed something.
(21:58):
I needed something like, like Lloyd was saying earlier, I need
something ahead of me. I don't want to go looking
backwards. And I didn't want to write any
more books. I wrote eight books, did a
feature film, all those TV showsand the touring.
I'm done. What's next?
Well, when I was a kid, all of the all of the programs were on
the radio, not on television. And and and it would be like
(22:19):
variety shows, mysteries, comedy, drama, everything on the
radio. I would lie in my bed.
I made a crystal radio and I hooked the my brother and I have
bunk beds, so his springs are over my head.
So I would clip onto that as my aerial and lie awake and listen
to the Jack Benny show or, or, or Burns and Allen or or our
(22:40):
Miss Brooks. And I could picture every scene
and every character. And I remember years later, like
a few years later, our Miss Brooks came on the air and it
was like, I'm thinking, that's not what that person looks like.
And those sets are hokey. The ones I had in my mind were
wait. And I honestly believe that the
experience of listening to stories and comedy and whatever
(23:04):
on the radio forced me to develop my imagination, which
then gave me a career. And I see that kids today, I
don't want to be like an old guytalking about the kids today.
But you know, if the graphics onthe video game aren't good
enough, they get bored with it, you know, like to me, I want if
I was going to do a podcast, youcan call it a podcast if you
want, but I want to do a radio show.
(23:25):
I want to do a where where scenes are going on like and
ours, like I do handy handyman corner stuff on the first one.
I, I, I turned the bathtub into a hot tub by using AK car to
heat the water. So, yeah.
And I have a remote starter. So when it starts to get cool, I
start at the car and it, the, all the stuff runs through,
(23:47):
right. But a car engine runs at 150°.
That's a, that's a little warm for a hot tub.
So you just, you just shut her down, you know, and then turn it
back. And I said, I said at the end of
it, I sure hope Bernice likes a man who smells like antifreeze.
So this is this podcast then. It's a scripted half hour, but
(24:08):
you've you've brought back a lotof the favorite characters.
Now you hear from you of course,and Harold and Winston and
Dalton and Ranger Gord and stuff.
So are these the same actors? Like would we hear Patrick
McKenna and stuff as your nephew?
And Oh yeah, but. Who's in it?
Well, those those guys are all the same.
Peter Callahan, Bob Bainborough,Jeff Lumbey.
I mean, Jeff Lumbey does and he,he lives in France, so it makes
(24:31):
it a little tricky. Yeah, but we've got some great
character actors We had. There's a woman in Kathy
Greenwood, you may know her, Erin, but she is so talented.
Sure. I don't know if you know her or
not, but she does a lot of voicework and anime.
Anyway, we, we wanted to have a character, a 13 year old boy
who's just kind of jaded and bored with every adult and
everything. And I didn't really want to use
(24:52):
a 13 year old boy because if it was successful, next year he'd
be 14 and he, he, he wouldn't sound 13 anymore.
Meanwhile, Kathy, who's, you know, middle-aged lady, she
always sounds like a 13 year oldboy.
So perfect. She's just, she just so good, so
good. So anyway, yeah, the, we got 4-4
or five voice actors and some ofthem do several voices.
(25:13):
We've got about 17 or 18 characters in the show.
It's totally scripted, top to bottom, totally 100% scripted.
And are you doing all of the writing?
I am. I am.
I've written, wow, like I've written 100 and 150 scenes for
for this one that we're in production for now.
Yeah. Wow, where do you get your
inspiration Steve? I know that there are some tips
(25:35):
on waking up with a positive attitude, like starting your
day, being thankful, having something to look forward to,
doing what you do which is focusing on the present and not
yesterday or tomorrow, and of course learning from mistakes.
But where do you get your inspiration?
What keeps you writing? I'm, I'm basically my, my
default position is optimism. I guess.
(25:57):
You know, I have this thing, I, I have this thing I developed,
which is there are 4 things you have to think about when you're
going to decide to do something with your life.
So these these are, there's my career advice, Erin.
OK, I need this. Come on, Lloyd, listen up.
You never know when we're going to need it.
Yeah. I know I'm thinking of that
right now. Pieces of career advice from
(26:17):
Steve Smith. OK #1 Whatever you do has to be
mostly enjoyable. Not totally enjoy.
There's nothing. Nothing is totally enjoyable,
but it has to be mostly enjoyable.
It's #1 #2 it has to be a worthychallenge.
Boredom is your enemy. It's got to be something that
that's not easy for you. OK #3 you have to have a
(26:40):
reasonable expectation of success.
OK, So that kind of fights #2A little bit.
And #4 this is, this is the mostimportant one and the most
difficult. It has to be good for people,
not just you. So there you go.
That's it. Right on.
And that's what I've been doing and, you know, through my, you
know, making people laugh and everything.
(27:02):
And I know that I know it helps them through a tough day.
And so I feel like what I'm doing is good for people.
It's certainly challenging. I do have a expectation of
success and it's mostly enjoyable.
Like I'm probably high 90 percentage of having an
enjoyable career. It's so important to have some
pleasure and fun what what you're doing.
(27:24):
But I love that last point, thinking of others.
We live in a world right now where we're so self-centered.
It's it's doesn't, I don't feel good.
It doesn't entertain me. It's me, me, me all the time.
And if people would switch theirfocus outwardly, they would be
amazed how they will help others.
(27:46):
But in helping others, the blessings and the good things
come back to them. You know, Amen.
Amen. Lloyd.
That's exactly, that's exactly it.
And for me, it's, it's why I look forward to whatever I'm
going to do next, you know, because I, I feel like I am
helping other people. It's not just not just totally
about me, but my experience has been, I've never been able to
(28:09):
help other people without helping myself.
It's been a huge disappointment.Well, it is.
It is karmic and and the altruism comes back and it's a
wonderful thing, but we cannot let you go without asking you
about a project you're involved in that actually does sound like
something from the Red Green Show.
But you'll assure us it's legit.It's Canada Goose Control, a
(28:31):
goose repellent. Laser.
Now, anytime you mention laser, you have to put your pinky to
your mouth and say it like Mike Myers.
A laser. But tell me.
Come on, Steve. OK, tell us what this is all
about, Will. You, Oh my goodness, yes.
Well, three years ago. Well, first of all, I have a
boat in the, in the harbor here and I've been there for 25
(28:53):
years. And Canada geese, they're
lovely. They're beautiful birds and
everything, but they need to be in their area.
They need to not be in my area and my area being on the dock
where my boat is. So these, these lovely birds
would sleep on the dock every night and leave their droppings
everywhere. It's a horrible mess in it and
there's bacteria and parasites, all kinds of bad things.
(29:15):
And they've tried everything. They, they have a guy under
contract and he shoots guns in the air and he has dogs and he
flashes lights and makes bird sounds.
And anyway, I did some research and I found out that the
University of British Columbia did a study and they and they
found that laser beams are a deterrent to geese.
It doesn't hurt the geese. These are low powered lasers.
(29:35):
Under 5 milliwatts doesn't hurt the geese, but they see it as a
predator. So I started working on that and
I got six other guys that have boats there.
And we, we formed a group calledOperation Albatross.
And we would take turns only at night, like starting like at
midnight and then you go at 2 and you go at 4:00 in the
(29:56):
morning. So you keep setting the alarm
every two hours and get up, walkthe dock with this handheld
laser. And if you see geese on the
dock, you just kind of point it at them and they take off.
And they, we had a log book you had to write in what you saw
when. Anyway, Fast forward, it was
very, very effective. And then we decided, OK, we need
to somehow mechanize this and make it high tech and
(30:20):
everything. And one of the guys is an
engineer who owns a 3D printing company.
So he and I took it from there. So now it's called the GC 1
Goose Control. And if you go to
gc1goosecontrol.com, it's all laid out and we sold about 30 of
them as prototypes and and we have 4 distributors now taking
them on. So our big, our biggest fear is
(30:41):
that it's going to take off and and we're not going to be able
to supply the demand. So anyway, nice problem.
Jeez, again with the new beginnings.
Hey, Lloyd, just like Steve was talking about.
Yeah, he saw a problem, but the problem was really an
opportunity in waiting. And we need, we need more of
that vision so that when we see the challenge of the life, we
(31:05):
might just never see them as theproblems, but as the
opportunities. Absolutely right.
I commend you, Steve, for being so creative.
Well, thanks. You know, when something breaks,
it's like I, I like that becauseI'm, I feel like I can fix it.
I I'll figure it out and I'll fix it.
Well, imagine a guy who is famous for his prowess with duct
tape and it does have AT on the end, although now there is a
(31:27):
duct tape out there, quack, quack.
So that's a losing battle. And now with lasers.
So just keep going, keep growing.
Steve, we love everything that you put out there because it's
good for you, but it's even better for us.
I'm just waiting to get my duct tape out to wrap up this show,
and then we'll do that after we say thank you for being such a
(31:47):
marvelous guest. It's been exciting.
So much worthwhile has been shared.
Red, it's been great. And I see you in that character
right now. Thank you, Lloyd.
Thank you so much for joining ushere today.
Hey, thank you guys. It's a pleasure.
Gosh, that was so much fun. Thank you, Steve Smith.
(32:10):
I can't remember the last time Lloyd and I laughed so much.
And we're looking forward to ournext chat with Brendan Rossiter.
He's a Schlegel Villages and long term care resident who has
plenty of stories to tell and anIrish lilp that will brighten
your day. So you could say we're moving
from red green to just straight up green.
(32:32):
Please subscribe for additional episodes every two weeks and
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And share your thoughts and opinions on social media using
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bench. Just take a moment and rate and
review the Elder Wisdom Podcast.If it's easier, go to
elderwisdom.ca to find the link.And while you're there, be sure
(32:55):
to sign the Elder Wisdom Pledge.On behalf of Lloyd Hetherington,
I'm Aaron Davis, we thank you for sharing in these life
stories. And we'll talk to you again
soon, because your seat on the green bench is ready and
waiting. Elder Wisdom Stories from the
(33:17):
Green Bench is brought to you bySchlegel Villages.
A complete continuum of care offering independent living to
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go to our website schlegelvillages.com.
When he found out I was pregnant, he just fired me on
the spot. We tried to fit everyone into
some a few small molds and a lotof people just don't fit.
When I first got sent to the convent, I saw these great long
(00:23):
halls and I said, oh, and I did car wheels all the way up.
And the nun looked at my mother and said, where does she come
from? A circus.
Welcome to Elder Wisdom stories from the Green Bench.
I'm your host for these open andhonest and sometimes so funny
(00:47):
chats about everything surrounding life with and for
seniors with a bench a very realsymbol at Schlegel villages
retirement and long term care residences of inclusion, of
discussion and of gathering safely in a place of kindness
and information. I'm your host Aaron Davis,
joined by my Co host Lloyd Hetherington, who at 86 is
(01:12):
probably 1 of the world's more senior podcast hosts and is
tickled not just pink, but red today to be here with our guest.
Why? Well, our friend Steve Smith is
joining the bench, which just for today, we'll sometimes call
the Red Green Bench because Red Green is the character for whom
(01:32):
he's best known during his 15 years on CBC and then PBS.
Steve is 75 now and lives with his wife of over 50 years.
He's got a fascinating career that goes beyond the wise and
funny. Red Green.
Wait till you hear what he actually invented.
And we're so happy to have him here with us today.
(01:53):
Well, Lloyd, before we get to our guests today, I just want to
check in with you and see how you're doing.
How's life treating you? Life has been good and it's
going to be even better when we talk to our.
Guest today Amen I'm. Just so excited about that.
All right, then, let's bring himin.
Everybody knows him, of course, as red green, but in real life,
(02:13):
if there is such a thing these days, he is Steve Smith.
And we're so pleased to have youjoining us here on the green
bench today. Steve, thanks for making the
time. Hey, I'm happy to be here, Aaron
Lloyd. Looking forward to it.
Thank you. So what you been up to?
Let's go back to, oh, I don't know, when did the Red Green
show stop airing new episodes? Because it's been in syndication
(02:38):
and reruns now forever. You know that this is going to
outlast all of us. But tell us a bit of the
timeline of your career. Would you please, Steve, and
please forgive me, I'm going to call you Red sometime during
this interview. And I think Lloyd might too.
So we'll put a, we'll put a dollar in the jar.
Like a swear jar? Yeah.
Kind of, yeah, Yeah. It's a.
It's a blurry line anyway. So walk us through what you've
(03:00):
been up to. OK, well, first of all, when
when I got to the end of the 13th season of Ray Green, we we
would always meet with the CBC, the program director there, a
guy named Slako Klimku. I always said he was conceived
during a game of Scrabble. I said to him, so we would
always talk to him and see if hewanted to renew the show for a
(03:23):
year. And I, I said to him at that
meeting, I said, you know, I know you can do whatever you,
you want. You know, you're, you're the
boss. But here's what I'd like I said.
And if I could do two more seasons, two more years of Red
Green, that'd be 15 seasons, 300episodes.
And about a month later, I wouldturn 60.
And I, I said, like, I know an exit ramp when I see one.
(03:45):
So classy guy, what he says, we're going to write up that as
a contract. So I got a two year contract.
I mean that that was unheard of,you know, to get that kind of
commitment from a broadcaster. And what that allowed me to do
was to tell all the people in the cast and all the crew, this
is you got two years notice. We're going to do this for two
more years and then we're not going to do it anymore.
(04:06):
And then I thought that would bethe end of the end.
You know, it was a great ride. And I was, I was afraid of what
happened to me was when I got tolike season 14, ideas that I had
rejected in Season 3 started to look good to me.
So, you know, I thought maybe it's time to hang it up, you
(04:26):
know? Yep.
So you got this contract extension from a network that is
kind of renowned for letting shows just disappear at the
height of their popularity. Looking at Rita McNeil, as I say
that. So really, that must have been a
true boost in the arm that you were going to be able to go out
and to end on your terms and maybe wrap up some storylines.
(04:48):
Or did you want to keep it open in case there was some kind of a
Red Green reunion? Because, you know, the whole
Friends on HBO Max thing is huge.
What about a Red Green reunion show?
I'm sure you could ask this all the time.
Yeah, You know, that's just, there's a long list of things
that will never happen, and it'snear the top.
Ah, it's just like, first of all, I have a basic problem
(05:09):
with, with moving backwards. I've never in my life gone back
and done something that I did earlier, you know, we'll get to
this eventually, I guess. But when I, you know, got, I got
off the golf course and went back into performing and, and
did for North American tours. It wasn't that I had done stand
up when I was 21. I've never done it in my life.
(05:30):
So it was a fresh new thing and that's always what I gravitate
towards. So the idea of doing a reunion
show and trying to recapture some version of what was good 10
or 15 years ago has no interest to me whatsoever.
I love your philosophy Steve, always forward-looking, the
pastor behind you, a marvelous run.
(05:52):
But you're looking forward to new and exciting things.
That's the spirit. It keeps life alive.
When you say, I will look for new creations, new activities,
rather than getting buried in the degree of the past.
Well, thanks, Lloyd. I, you know, for me, when I like
say I would never do a reunion, show it for me.
(06:13):
In my mind, it adds value to theto the time we did spend
together, to the things we did. If you don't, if you stop them
when they're still great, you remember them forever as being
great. You don't let them, you know.
Don't let them go too far. Right.
It's a wise move, Steve. Many a person lingers long past
their best date, and what they end up with is a project that's
(06:35):
not good. But you're wise enough to know
when the best date had arrived, and you left it at that.
Yeah, there was a, there's a website called Jump the Shark.
And what they do is they identify, they identify
television programs that went a season or two too long or a
movie sequel that shouldn't havehappened.
And they did say in there that the Red Green Show is, is one
(06:57):
that will never jump the shark. And and I, I took that to heart.
Right. That's high praise because of
course, the name of the website refers to the episode of Happy
Days where they knew that Henry Winkler, the fawns, knew how to
water ski. So Garry Marshall decided he was
going to use Henry's knowledge of how to water ski and turn it
into this whole thing where he was going to actually literally
(07:17):
jump a shark. Because this was kind of the
Jaws heyday too. So it's always been held up as
the sign of here's what not to do.
So well done. You.
For never having jumped the shark.
Thank you. So let's talk about that off
lane. You talked about the off lane
definitely did not go to a kiss and ride parking lot, although
(07:38):
you know what you do in your spare time with Moragus just
fine. But what I'm talking about, what
I'm talking about is you didn't just sit.
In fact, you mentioned you went on four North American tours.
Was this concurrent with your TVshow?
Or how is the timing of this, this blossoming into a stand up
comic at this point in your career, which as you pointed
(07:59):
out, so many artists do in their20s, like let's say Jerry
Seinfeld, and then that sort of segues into another career.
Hopefully you did it the opposite way.
Tell us about that and the decision.
My whole career has been backwards really, when you look
at it, and to get from walking away from the TV show to the
tours, there was a bit of a journey there.
(08:20):
First of all, I immediately wentto Florida and during that
winter I was down there 180 days.
I played 162 rounds of golf. Well, so.
What I did was I, I didn't get any good either.
I just played a lot, you know? Well, you could have been
president, but that's another thing.
Yeah, I just. You had the time, yeah.
(08:41):
I had the time and I needed something to do.
So that's what I decided to do. And and then I, I was, you know,
spending my creative energy, youknow, sort of annoying my
friends. Like I'd say funny things and,
but maybe too many funny things.And then I was playing G1 day
with the the Canadian chairman of Random House.
And he said to me, you know, if you wanted to write a book as
(09:03):
Red Green, we would publish anything you wanted to write.
So I thought, well, first of all, it was a compliment.
You know, I was flattered. And I also realized if I said
no, he was never going to ask meagain.
So I, I decided to write a book.So I wrote a book called How to
Do Everything That's Red Green. And it was very successful.
And then I had to do book tours,you know, where you go to
(09:27):
Saskatchewan and you know, to sell nine books.
You know, I said to them, I'll buy 10 books, not to go.
So what happened was I decided, well, if I got to go around to
promote a book, why don't I put a one man show together, make it
a performance, have more reason to go than just to do a book
(09:47):
signing. And so I did that.
And then I, I'd been on PBS at that point for probably 10
years. And I really felt I owed them a
lot because they exposed me to that.
Our American fan base is so muchlarger than our our Canadian one
and that I mean they're not better.
I would never be here without the Canadian fans, but they're
just just the numbers were thereand I wanted to give them a
(10:10):
little thank you. So I did AI think a 35 or 40
night tour in the US and I gave all the money to PBS and then it
was kind of my thank you to them.
And also that first night, it was in Minneapolis I think was
where I started and I walked outon that stage and I was 5
minutes in. It's like this is what I want to
do. This is this is the greatest
(10:32):
entertainment experience of my life.
Today you got you can watch TV on end, you can watch it on your
phone. I'm sure in five years you'll be
able to watch it on your thumbnail.
So there's no limit to that. But live performance, you're
either in the room or you're not.
And that goes right back thousands of years ago when
people would tell stories arounda campfire.
There's just something about that.
(10:52):
You're talking directly to the end user.
There's no advertiser, there's no sponsor, there's no hidden
agenda. I I just loved it.
Demographically, was there anything Canadian that you had
to drop from your ACT when you were in the US because it just
didn't translate? Well, you know the the the easy
answer is no. I mean, I, I can't really
remember it. I mean, I've, I've been from
(11:14):
Tampa to Fairbanks and I just keep meeting the same guy to be
honest with you, you know? He's you, that's the thing.
He's me, he's me. And they all say to me they have
a red green in their family. And if you don't have a red
green in your family, it's probably you, you know?
Right. So right on.
There's something, there's something basic about it.
I, I, when I was doing the tours, I would always have a
(11:37):
meet and greet, you know, afterwards and the comments I
would get. You know, I had a the guy said
to me that he was in his 20s andhe said you, you made me look
forward to getting old, which I thought was pretty neat.
(11:57):
Steve, all of us some time or other begin to realize that the
years of marching by time is fleeting and we wonder, is there
some advice you can give us as we face this aging process?
Well, sure, yeah, I'm, I'm goingto steal it, but at least I'll,
I'll name who I'm stealing it from.
It was actually an article I read in a magazine, I guess.
(12:20):
And it was Toby Keith. And he was talking about he had
been in a movie with Clint Eastwood.
Clint at this point was almost 90.
He's probably 89 years old. And, and, and Toby Keith asked
him, how do you keep doing it? How do you keep doing all these
projects and being so active andeverything?
And Clint Eastwood said every morning I wake up and make the
(12:43):
decision not to let the old man in.
And man, that just stuck with me.
And that's what I'm trying to donow.
I get up in the morning and I'm not going to let the old man in.
Also good advice if you're married to 1 and don't want him
home. But anyway.
Steve, I can vote for your popularity in the states.
(13:05):
I was at seminary in Saint Paul's, Minnesota and a couple
of the most dignified professors, real academics,
would stop everything to listen to your show.
There is no way anything, no academic programs, nothing would
come come either way. They just, they just loved it.
Yeah, that, that's a nice way. Thanks for saying that.
(13:26):
I I do have that. I, I, it's amazing now, people
that you don't expect it. It hits, it hits a chord with
them for some reason. I remember.
I think they like the self-sufficiency of it.
If I had to really analyze the you know, Red doesn't really
need the outside world all that much.
I think that roll of duct tape is something else.
(13:47):
All of us have a duct tape in our toolbox somewhere and your,
your creativity with it is fantastic.
I I love the time you're trying to get the wood stove up on the
second floor of Fossum Lodge andyou use some skis and those and
an extension ladder and it was just hilarious how you put it
together. You got a good memory, Lloyd.
(14:10):
We made our own forklift. That's right.
I remember that. Had a lot of fun.
And I think the the duct tape thing came along because most
guys would rather, you know, fixsomething just well enough and
spend 10 minutes on it every Saturday, having to fix it every
Saturday, then to devote one complete Saturday and do it
properly. And, you know, you never want a
(14:30):
repair job. Doubt, Livia.
You know, Yeah. Fixing it with duct tape is a
glimpse of immortality. Steve, I love some of your
quotes as well. Your most famous one is the
women don't find me handsome. At least they'll find me handy.
Yeah. That'll be on your tombstone,
Steve I. Think that's hilarious?
(14:51):
Thank you, Lloyd. Early on I had a promo, you
know, on, on TV and it ended up saying when you've already
wasted most of your life, what'sanother half?
Hour I love. It.
I love that. That's perfect.
Steve, let me assure you that it's not 1/2 hour wasted with
you because laughter is good medicine and we we need all we
(15:12):
can get of it. So it's time spent well, sitting
in your presence, listening to some of your skits, some of your
quotes. Well, thank you.
I actually on my last tour, I, Ihad a woman come up to me
afterwards and she, she had brought her, her father to the
show and, and her mother had passed away four or five months
(15:32):
ago. And she said her dad, he didn't
go out. He would never smiled.
He just stayed to himself. But he was a, he was a fan of
the red green show. So she got him to come out, She
said. He just laughed for 90 minutes.
And she's thanking me for doing that, you know, for her.
Oh, it's great. It is wonderful.
And you know, when Lloyd is talking about the benefits to
health of laughter, there's actual empirical data like the
(15:56):
psychosomatic medicine, Norwegian researchers published
this that found that women who have a great sense of humor live
longer and men are better protected from infection.
So where were you when COVID started?
Steve, thanks a lot. I wasn't laughing.
I'll tell. You.
Oh my God. Yeah.
Who was? Yeah.
And and there's a link to laughter and healthy blood
(16:17):
vessels. So we are increasing blood flow
as we speak here today with you here on the green bench.
The red green bench, we're calling it today, by the way.
Yeah. I always think if if you can
laugh, then you still have hope.You know, when you're out of
laughter, you're out of hope. So I think they're connected.
Absolutely. And so if you had to, would you
rather be handy or humorous? Which one, Mr. Steve?
(16:40):
Smith Oh, my goodness, humor hassaved my life.
When I I know you think I'm a giant, but I'm really not that.
I'm not all that tall and I've never been taller.
So as a kid and I, I was born onChristmas Eve.
So, so right away I'm younger than all the other kids.
Like when I started kindergarten, I was 4 because I
was going to turn 5 before the end of the year, right?
(17:03):
Then I skipped on top of that, skipped a grade.
So when I went to high school, Iwas 12 and I was, I'd be
surprised if I was 5 feet tall and beside the locker beside me,
there was a guy and he, he was 15.
He was a man and he was in, he was in my class, he was another
student. And he turned to me on the 1st
day and he said, you know, if I wanted to, I could kill you.
(17:25):
And, you know, I had no reason to question that.
So I, I spent the whole year making sure he didn't want to
kill me. And I did that by making him
laugh. And, and that became a pattern.
I've used my sense of humor to soften people up to make a
meeting go the way I wanted it to go.
It's it's been a great asset. It is an incredible tool and
(17:47):
it's been used for everything, including to get someone that we
know on this show awarded the Order of Canada in 2006.
Tell us, Steve, what that felt like.
It must have been a little surreal.
Tell us how that whole thing came to be.
Oh my gosh. Well, first of all, when I found
out I was getting it, I thought it meant every Canadian was
(18:07):
getting one. And then I, I was, I think I was
in Florida at the time. I came back up and I, I took my
mother, my mother, God bless her.
She's, she's 98 today. And at that time, she was, you
know, 15 years younger than 83 or something.
And she is her meeting the Governor General.
(18:27):
Oh, my goodness. You know, for, for that day, I
was her favorite. And it was worth it.
It's an awesome honor. And do you wear the pin?
I do when I have to, you know, when I I'm usually I'm under a
car so that no one cares at thatpoint.
But if I'm going to a governmentthing, they have these deals.
I have to. I wear my pin.
Yeah. I'm proud of it.
(18:48):
Nobody in my family's got one. Yeah.
Well, there you go. And under a car in a good way we
should say too, because you havean interest in fixing up old
cars that wasn't just kind of a stick for the show, you know
your way around. Yeah, You know, when I was a
teenager, you know, you could open the hood and and recognize
stuff. You know, you could.
That's a generator, that's a starter, that's a distributor.
(19:09):
You know, You know, you open thehood these days, it's like the
first time you saw a picture of a naked woman.
You know you, you don't see anything you recognize and you
don't have a clue how to get it started.
You probably have some very precious memories of some of
those early cars of yours. Oh, Lloyd, you had to keep it
(19:30):
clean there, didn't you? That's all right.
Yeah. I got lots of memories of cars
and I've got a few old cars now that I I just in in Florida.
I just I have a 29 olds of Bill,a 35 Chrysler and a 47 Lincoln.
And those are the car. Those are the only cars I've got
that. So if I want to go somewhere I
got I got to get one of them going or I don't or I stay home.
(19:53):
Holy. Wow, they're your everyday
transportation then. Yes, Sir.
You probably get lots of stairs when you pull into the parking
lot. Oh yeah, people, people love it.
You know, it's a even a young, young people who don't even,
they weren't even around when those cars were around.
They just think it's neat that somebody's keeping that thing
going, you know? Yeah, what do you, how do you
get around around the fuel thingthough?
(20:14):
Like where do you get the gas? Well, as a matter of fact, there
is a place that sells leaded fuel in Florida, but I don't use
it. I just use the regular gas.
It just means you have to clean the plugs a little more often.
But they run okay. And I'm talking 500 miles a year
on these things. I don't.
I'm not going to California or anything.
Well, Speaking of plugs, and that was probably one of the
(20:35):
clunkier Segways, but let's go for it anyway.
Tell us about your Possum Lodge podcast.
See what they did there? Really good man.
They told me you were good. No, well, they they lied, but I
appreciate. It She's a natural, isn't she?
So yeah, the podcast, Steve. Now how did this all come to be
and what made you decide OK this?
Yeah, well, I, you know, I, I, Idecided not to tour anymore.
(20:56):
I, I did 4 tours and the last one I called it.
This could be it, you know, and I my plan was, but if it wasn't
going to be the last one, the the next one would be called
this is definitely it. And probably 1 after that would
have been that this that one should have been it.
Anyway, what I did was I thought.
It was going to be. I told you that was it.
(21:16):
Anyway, so I started the This Could Be It tour and after the
first few nights it became clearthat people were using this as
an opportunity to come up and tell them how much I'd meant to
them. And it was just, it just was a
perfect goodbye. So it wasn't an ore of war.
So I decided, OK, this is definitely it.
(21:38):
And it was 2019. Can you imagine if I'd have made
it 2020? It would have been a disaster.
So I'm very that's I was going to say to all your listeners, if
I have one piece of advice, it'sbe lucky.
But anyway, when I finished the tour, I knew I didn't know what
I was going to do, but I knew I needed something.
(21:58):
I needed something like, like Lloyd was saying earlier, I need
something ahead of me. I don't want to go looking
backwards. And I didn't want to write any
more books. I wrote eight books, did a
feature film, all those TV showsand the touring.
I'm done. What's next?
Well, when I was a kid, all of the all of the programs were on
the radio, not on television. And and and it would be like
(22:19):
variety shows, mysteries, comedy, drama, everything on the
radio. I would lie in my bed.
I made a crystal radio and I hooked the my brother and I have
bunk beds, so his springs are over my head.
So I would clip onto that as my aerial and lie awake and listen
to the Jack Benny show or, or, or Burns and Allen or or our
(22:40):
Miss Brooks. And I could picture every scene
and every character. And I remember years later, like
a few years later, our Miss Brooks came on the air and it
was like, I'm thinking, that's not what that person looks like.
And those sets are hokey. The ones I had in my mind were
wait. And I honestly believe that the
experience of listening to stories and comedy and whatever
(23:04):
on the radio forced me to develop my imagination, which
then gave me a career. And I see that kids today, I
don't want to be like an old guytalking about the kids today.
But you know, if the graphics onthe video game aren't good
enough, they get bored with it, you know, like to me, I want if
I was going to do a podcast, youcan call it a podcast if you
want, but I want to do a radio show.
(23:25):
I want to do a where where scenes are going on like and
ours, like I do handy handyman corner stuff on the first one.
I, I, I turned the bathtub into a hot tub by using AK car to
heat the water. So, yeah.
And I have a remote starter. So when it starts to get cool, I
start at the car and it, the, all the stuff runs through,
(23:47):
right. But a car engine runs at 150°.
That's a, that's a little warm for a hot tub.
So you just, you just shut her down, you know, and then turn it
back. And I said, I said at the end of
it, I sure hope Bernice likes a man who smells like antifreeze.
So this is this podcast then. It's a scripted half hour, but
(24:08):
you've you've brought back a lotof the favorite characters.
Now you hear from you of course,and Harold and Winston and
Dalton and Ranger Gord and stuff.
So are these the same actors? Like would we hear Patrick
McKenna and stuff as your nephew?
And Oh yeah, but. Who's in it?
Well, those those guys are all the same.
Peter Callahan, Bob Bainborough,Jeff Lumbey.
I mean, Jeff Lumbey does and he,he lives in France, so it makes
(24:31):
it a little tricky. Yeah, but we've got some great
character actors We had. There's a woman in Kathy
Greenwood, you may know her, Erin, but she is so talented.
Sure. I don't know if you know her or
not, but she does a lot of voicework and anime.
Anyway, we, we wanted to have a character, a 13 year old boy
who's just kind of jaded and bored with every adult and
everything. And I didn't really want to use
(24:52):
a 13 year old boy because if it was successful, next year he'd
be 14 and he, he, he wouldn't sound 13 anymore.
Meanwhile, Kathy, who's, you know, middle-aged lady, she
always sounds like a 13 year oldboy.
So perfect. She's just, she just so good, so
good. So anyway, yeah, the, we got 4-4
or five voice actors and some ofthem do several voices.
(25:13):
We've got about 17 or 18 characters in the show.
It's totally scripted, top to bottom, totally 100% scripted.
And are you doing all of the writing?
I am. I am.
I've written, wow, like I've written 100 and 150 scenes for
for this one that we're in production for now.
Yeah. Wow, where do you get your
inspiration Steve? I know that there are some tips
(25:35):
on waking up with a positive attitude, like starting your
day, being thankful, having something to look forward to,
doing what you do which is focusing on the present and not
yesterday or tomorrow, and of course learning from mistakes.
But where do you get your inspiration?
What keeps you writing? I'm, I'm basically my, my
default position is optimism. I guess.
(25:57):
You know, I have this thing, I, I have this thing I developed,
which is there are 4 things you have to think about when you're
going to decide to do something with your life.
So these these are, there's my career advice, Erin.
OK, I need this. Come on, Lloyd, listen up.
You never know when we're going to need it.
Yeah. I know I'm thinking of that
right now. Pieces of career advice from
(26:17):
Steve Smith. OK #1 Whatever you do has to be
mostly enjoyable. Not totally enjoy.
There's nothing. Nothing is totally enjoyable,
but it has to be mostly enjoyable.
It's #1 #2 it has to be a worthychallenge.
Boredom is your enemy. It's got to be something that
that's not easy for you. OK #3 you have to have a
(26:40):
reasonable expectation of success.
OK, So that kind of fights #2A little bit.
And #4 this is, this is the mostimportant one and the most
difficult. It has to be good for people,
not just you. So there you go.
That's it. Right on.
And that's what I've been doing and, you know, through my, you
know, making people laugh and everything.
(27:02):
And I know that I know it helps them through a tough day.
And so I feel like what I'm doing is good for people.
It's certainly challenging. I do have a expectation of
success and it's mostly enjoyable.
Like I'm probably high 90 percentage of having an
enjoyable career. It's so important to have some
pleasure and fun what what you're doing.
(27:24):
But I love that last point, thinking of others.
We live in a world right now where we're so self-centered.
It's it's doesn't, I don't feel good.
It doesn't entertain me. It's me, me, me all the time.
And if people would switch theirfocus outwardly, they would be
amazed how they will help others.
(27:46):
But in helping others, the blessings and the good things
come back to them. You know, Amen.
Amen. Lloyd.
That's exactly, that's exactly it.
And for me, it's, it's why I look forward to whatever I'm
going to do next, you know, because I, I feel like I am
helping other people. It's not just not just totally
about me, but my experience has been, I've never been able to
(28:09):
help other people without helping myself.
It's been a huge disappointment.Well, it is.
It is karmic and and the altruism comes back and it's a
wonderful thing, but we cannot let you go without asking you
about a project you're involved in that actually does sound like
something from the Red Green Show.
But you'll assure us it's legit.It's Canada Goose Control, a
(28:31):
goose repellent. Laser.
Now, anytime you mention laser, you have to put your pinky to
your mouth and say it like Mike Myers.
A laser. But tell me.
Come on, Steve. OK, tell us what this is all
about, Will. You, Oh my goodness, yes.
Well, three years ago. Well, first of all, I have a
boat in the, in the harbor here and I've been there for 25
(28:53):
years. And Canada geese, they're
lovely. They're beautiful birds and
everything, but they need to be in their area.
They need to not be in my area and my area being on the dock
where my boat is. So these, these lovely birds
would sleep on the dock every night and leave their droppings
everywhere. It's a horrible mess in it and
there's bacteria and parasites, all kinds of bad things.
(29:15):
And they've tried everything. They, they have a guy under
contract and he shoots guns in the air and he has dogs and he
flashes lights and makes bird sounds.
And anyway, I did some research and I found out that the
University of British Columbia did a study and they and they
found that laser beams are a deterrent to geese.
It doesn't hurt the geese. These are low powered lasers.
(29:35):
Under 5 milliwatts doesn't hurt the geese, but they see it as a
predator. So I started working on that and
I got six other guys that have boats there.
And we, we formed a group calledOperation Albatross.
And we would take turns only at night, like starting like at
midnight and then you go at 2 and you go at 4:00 in the
(29:56):
morning. So you keep setting the alarm
every two hours and get up, walkthe dock with this handheld
laser. And if you see geese on the
dock, you just kind of point it at them and they take off.
And they, we had a log book you had to write in what you saw
when. Anyway, Fast forward, it was
very, very effective. And then we decided, OK, we need
to somehow mechanize this and make it high tech and
(30:20):
everything. And one of the guys is an
engineer who owns a 3D printing company.
So he and I took it from there. So now it's called the GC 1
Goose Control. And if you go to
gc1goosecontrol.com, it's all laid out and we sold about 30 of
them as prototypes and and we have 4 distributors now taking
them on. So our big, our biggest fear is
(30:41):
that it's going to take off and and we're not going to be able
to supply the demand. So anyway, nice problem.
Jeez, again with the new beginnings.
Hey, Lloyd, just like Steve was talking about.
Yeah, he saw a problem, but the problem was really an
opportunity in waiting. And we need, we need more of
that vision so that when we see the challenge of the life, we
(31:05):
might just never see them as theproblems, but as the
opportunities. Absolutely right.
I commend you, Steve, for being so creative.
Well, thanks. You know, when something breaks,
it's like I, I like that becauseI'm, I feel like I can fix it.
I I'll figure it out and I'll fix it.
Well, imagine a guy who is famous for his prowess with duct
tape and it does have AT on the end, although now there is a
(31:27):
duct tape out there, quack, quack.
So that's a losing battle. And now with lasers.
So just keep going, keep growing.
Steve, we love everything that you put out there because it's
good for you, but it's even better for us.
I'm just waiting to get my duct tape out to wrap up this show,
and then we'll do that after we say thank you for being such a
(31:47):
marvelous guest. It's been exciting.
So much worthwhile has been shared.
Red, it's been great. And I see you in that character
right now. Thank you, Lloyd.
Thank you so much for joining ushere today.
Hey, thank you guys. It's a pleasure.
Gosh, that was so much fun. Thank you, Steve Smith.
(32:10):
I can't remember the last time Lloyd and I laughed so much.
And we're looking forward to ournext chat with Brendan Rossiter.
He's a Schlegel Villages and long term care resident who has
plenty of stories to tell and anIrish lilp that will brighten
your day. So you could say we're moving
from red green to just straight up green.
(32:32):
Please subscribe for additional episodes every two weeks and
you'll be notified as soon as they're up.
And share your thoughts and opinions on social media using
hashtag Elder Wisdom to help everybody find us on this green
bench. Just take a moment and rate and
review the Elder Wisdom Podcast.If it's easier, go to
elderwisdom.ca to find the link.And while you're there, be sure
(32:55):
to sign the Elder Wisdom Pledge.On behalf of Lloyd Hetherington,
I'm Aaron Davis, we thank you for sharing in these life
stories. And we'll talk to you again
soon, because your seat on the green bench is ready and
waiting. Elder Wisdom Stories from the
(33:17):
Green Bench is brought to you bySchlegel Villages.
A complete continuum of care offering independent living to
long term care. Celebrating and honoring the
wisdom of the elder. To learn more about us, please
go to our website schlegelvillages.com.
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