Greg Link visiting a school in Africa.
Although Greg Link is a Winnipegger, he has developed a close affinity with Australia. He grew up in North Kildonan, completing Business Administration and Business Teacher Education at Red River College after high school. He then relocated to Thompson, Manitoba for three years, teaching at the high school for two years before becoming an Educational Computer Consultant for one.
While in his third year in the North, he received a wedding invitation from a friend in Canberra. As we all know, it is tough to fly to Australia for a weekend so he sent video greetings along with several resumes for her to distribute. The Victorian Ministry of Education happened to be recruiting Business and Computer teachers, so in 1989 he headed off to OZ, landing at East Loddon School, located near Bendigo, Victoria.
He played hockey during his time in Victoria, traveling to Melbourne to play with the league premier Saints for a season before becoming the playing coach of newly established Bendigo Raiders hockey club. The Raiders won the premiership their first year in the league and he was subsequently asked to coach the Australia Under 21 National Development team to tour New Zealand. After a year and a half in Victoria, he went North again, this time to the tropics of Townsville to teach.
In 1991, Greg became a dual citizen before returning to Winnipeg to teach at Tec Voc High School. Greg’s wife Kim is also a Winnipegger and co-owner of Sokal Industries, makers of custom-built trailers. They have three children. 21 year-old Rachel is in her third year of Sciences at the University of Winnipeg. Mitchell, 19, is in second year in Commerce at the University of Manitoba. Michael, 18, attends Kildonan East School, and is expected to graduate this year as an HVAC technician. All three work as lifeguards for the City of Winnipeg. Six years ago, Greg took a six-month leave of absence and the whole family went to Oz, visiting friends and acquaintances from Adelaide to Cairns.
Two decades later Greg still can be found at Tec Voc. His role has changed as he now facilitates Career Development and Apprenticeship placements for high school students and recruits high school graduates for their highly touted adult Aerospace program. Our members are encouraged to contact Greg at greglink@wsd1.org if their business or employer needs skilled workers or if they have friends or family interested in a career in Aerospace.
Greg coaches the golf team at Tec Voc, and stays active cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, and, of course, playing hockey. Seeing the world is a passion of his as he has been to several countries including Russia, Finland and South Africa this past year. Greg’s family was shy and didn’t want their picture published so he included a photo from a school visit during his conference in Durban, SA.
Greg was doing some work around the East St Paul Community Centre about nine years ago and was introduced to the DUCW by Peter Debenham. As always, another interesting find from our membership ranks.
Gordon Keatch