Two thumbs up
Kent Plamdon is polite and positive when helping visitors at Revelstoke’s Visitor Centre.
Revelstoke’s Kent Plamdon is a gentle person with an engaging smile. He’s lived in Revelstoke his whole life and is an older brother to Brady. He loves the people who live in his community, loves the mountains, hiking and the great outdoors. Kent recently turned 19 and transitioned to the world of adult services.
Among the activities that fill Kent’s time are writing a monthly movie review for Community Connections Society’s monthly newsletter, where he displays his gift of clever writing and includes his own 5 star rating system. The editor of Revelstoke’s on-line paper has indicated an interest in publishing Kent’s reviews.
“More than anything Kent is a good person and we’re very proud of him,” says his mother Merilee. She also commends the people who have played a role in his life, including Jane McNabb of Family & Youth Resources. Jane approached the family when Kent was born, and worked with him up until a few years ago. “She’s one in a million,” says Merille. “I don’t think we would have gotten this far without her support.”
Shannon Moorhead of Community Connections has been Kent’s vocational worker since 2008, at the time when she first launched the supportive employment program. She describes him as polite, courteous and a pleasant person to work with. His first job placement involved bussing for A&W and he worked so well that although he started off with her support, “halfway through I faded out and he worked basically on his own.”
Shannon’s co-worker Kim Wiggins and Kent have been touring the area, familiarizing him with local businesses. Last summer he was employed at the Visitor Centre and Kim helped prepare him to take BC Tourism’s mandatory courses. On busy days, the Visitor Centre sees upwards of 400 visitors, all wondering what to see and do, where to stay, and what to eat while in Revelstoke. The Chamber of Commerce manager was pleased with Kent’s polite and positive attitude and his performance and has welcomed Kent back again this year. Shannon explained that this job experience definitely increased his self esteem and he will now be working independently.
Kent has a creative streak a mile wide and has always dreamed of designing a comic book, taking photos, drawing pictures and writing stories. Kent is one of a close-knit group of four friends who are avid movie and video game buffs. A couple of the group plan to visit Germany in a few years and Kent said he’d like to travel with them as an established writer. He would love to interview popular horror movie writer Wes Craven and movie star Johnny Depp.
“We want Kent to spend time on things that are useful socially, and he should be encouraged, rather than be worried about what he can’t do.” Among his future plans, he and his father are going to open their own vehicle detailing business. For now, Kent continues to write his movie reviews and see where life takes him. As his sweat shirt says, “Impossible is Nothing.”
