25 Years of Temagami
I did not grow up here. Nobody handed me this place.
I first came to Temagami about 25 years ago with my two kids, a pop-up camper and a canoe. Somewhere along the way, I walked into Dad’s Outdoor Store and met Jim Krech.
I was a young guy from London with plenty of enthusiasm and not much local knowledge. Jim gave me fishing advice, helped me with tackle, and showed me where to go on Turtle Lake.
What stayed with me wasn’t just the advice. It was the fact that he took the time to help someone he barely knew.
He barely knew me. I never forgot it. That kind of generosity became one of my earliest memories of Temagami and one of the reasons this place stayed with me.
I kept coming back. Several times a year. Every year. Because Temagami got into me the way it gets into everyone who really pays attention to it.
I was born in Poland. Moved to Germany at nine. Moved to Canada at thirteen with nothing and built everything from scratch. Started as a programmer, worked my way to VP, managed teams and budgets in the tens of millions. Along the way I bought properties, learned to renovate with my own hands, and built a property management company.
My son Sebastian is a mechanic. My daughter Karolina just became a nurse and landed her first job at Woodstock Hospital. My partner Sylvia and I have been together five years. Her boys Damian and Dmitry have grown up fishing and riding ATVs in Temagami. We are loud, we are busy, and we love this place.
When we saw 2 Poplar Crescent — a place that needed work but had bones worth saving — we did not hesitate. We bought it, rolled up our sleeves, and made it home — and we are still at it.
At the Temagami Fire Tower with family.
Kris and Sylvia overlooking Temagami from the Fire Tower.
