My First Season

My guest today hails from beautiful Montreal, Quebec and his first season was in 1996 at Club Med Punta Cana as a Boutique G.O. Please help me welcome to MFS, Steve Ouimet!! Before Club Med, Steve was a singer in a rock band and he also managed a clothing retail store (Neon) in Montreal. From 1996 to 2007 he worked in Club Med resorts such as Magic Isle, Haiti, Club Med 1, Varadero, Cuba, Cancun, Playa Blanca, Paradise Island, Crested Butte, Columbus Isle and Djerba la Douce. When Steve was eighteen years old, he went to Club Med Cancun as a G.M. in the late 80’s. During Steve’s first season, he actually thought he had to be at each activity (like beach volleyball for example) if he was not working at the Boutique! This went on for ten days until someone told him he did not have to do that! Steve may have started at the Boutique but went from there to Sailing, to Landsports, to Chief of Sailing, Chief of Sports to finally Leisure Manager. Do you want a ton of stories?! Steve has them!! From Skydiving with Aureo Stern in Club Med Varadero, to performing a G.M. Show number with Uncle Larry, to crossing the Atlantic Ocean twice with the Club Med 1 and actually witnessing the Club Med 1 and Club Med 2 pass each other on the open water, Steve had quite the adventure in Club Med! The interview ends with Steve telling us the three things he misses the most about Club Med and the names of some of the incredible people he met and became friends with. **My First Season podcast has always been ad-free and free to listen to and is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Samsung Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. And if you like what you hear, please leave a review at Apple podcasts.

Please check out the link below to see the 4-star hotel in Paris where Steve is currently the General Manager:

Boutique Hotel 4* | Maison Barbès | Montmartre, Paris (maison-barbes.com)

And his Instagram:

Steve Ouimet (@steve_ouimet.art) | Instagram

My guest today went to Club Med Cancun for a two-week vacation in December of 1989. He started as a G.M. that week, but wound up as an au pair Snorkeling and Picnic G.O. We will get into that and more on this episode of My First Season. From Maple Ridge, British Columbia, I am pleased to welcome to the podcast, Dean Barbour! Dean was looking to relax for two weeks when he went to Club Med Cancun as a G.M., but he ended up tearing the ligaments in his ankle and was on crutches for the rest of his stay. The G.O. team showed exceptional care for Dean during his vacation and this made him approach the Chief of Village, Ye, to see if he could work there. Dean moved to Sailing a few months later and then to Landsports. After Cancun, he went to Club Med Huatulco in December 1990 to November 1991 as Landsports. While at Huatulco, he starred as the love interest in a Nathalie Simard music video called “Reste Ami”! While everyone from Quebec knows who pop singer Nathalie Simard is, we will explain in the interview for the rest of the world who does not! From the second Dean sent me this video, I had so many questions! He was very kind and patient to discuss this hidden piece of 90’s gold with me. Not since Barney Stinson uncovered the “Robin Sparkles” video in “How I Met Your Mother”, has there been a greater video! I see your “Let’s Go to the Mall” or “Sandcastles in the Sand” and raise you one “Reste Ami” video (or as I’m calling it, Floorplans in the Sand-you will understand why once you watch the video!). After Club Med, Dean studied Dramatic Arts at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles and then got a Business Administration degree at Mt. San Antonio College in California. The interview ends with Dean telling us the three things he misses the most about Club Med. Please enjoy this episode with a very funny man!!**My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to and ad-free and is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Samsung Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. And if you like what you hear, please leave a review at Apple podcasts.

Here is the famous video with Nathalie Simard that we spoke about. Dean is the shirtless, blonde hunk in the video. Please enjoy!

Reste Ami 1991 - YouTube

My guest today and I just missed crossing paths in Club Med, but his first season was during the summer of 2003 in Club Med Cancun as a DJ/Animation G.O.  From New York City, please help give a warm welcome to DJ Wej!! Before Club Med, Wej was pursuing a Criminal Justice degree from Long Island University. Not really wanting to use his degree, he took a friend’s advice that he should check out Club Med. Wej had his interview in New Jersey and at first was offered a Club Med Artist contract. He politely declined that and waited for a contract, which came in the form of a DJ contract to Cancun, not long after. Wej worked in Cancun for one year and then worked for six months in Club Med Turks and Caicos. Wej has very vivid memories of his first week in Cancun and shares them all with us. Wej shares a very funny JoJo incident, a story about G.O’s in Turks chartering a plane to Cuba on their day off and the three things he misses the most about Club Med. We also get into what he is currently doing now and we talk about his Tik Tok account and the many videos he has on that platform. I had to ask Wej about his Tik Tok video where he went from New York to Naples, Italy, just to try a sandwich (true story)! I hope you enjoy listening to this interview as much as I enjoyed recording it! **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to and is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Samsung Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. And if you like what you hear, please leave a review at Apple podcasts.

Please check out Wej’s social media:

privatejetsetter420 (@privatejetsetter4) | TikTok

Sativa Dave (@privatejetsetter420) | Instagram

This is part four in the series, “Amazing Women doing Amazing Things”. In July 2019, my guest today accomplished her goal of visiting all forty-seven National Parks of Canada, making her the first-ever visitor to do so. She is an accomplished wilderness adventurer, Nordic skier, backpacker, kayaker, canoeist, cyclist and world traveler. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and The Explorers Club. Her work has been published in Canadian Geographic Magazine, CBC News online and The Explorers Club’s “Far Afield” magazine, among many others. Her book called “Park Bagger: Adventures in the Canadian National Parks” was published in 2021 and it chronicles her adventures being the FIRST visitor to all of Canada’s National Parks. Everyone, please help me welcome, author Marlis Butcher!! Marlis grew up in Montreal and has a B. Com from McGill University and an MBA from Concordia University. In visiting all forty-seven National Parks, Marlis has had her share of adventure! From snowshoeing in -40 degrees in the Southern Rocky Mountains to witnessing Polar bears in Churchill, Manitoba to a travel horror story that took her eight long days to get to the Central high Artic, Marlis’s book recounts the visits to each National Park in great detail. Her book will make you want to visit Canada’s National Parks and also inform you that not all National Parks are accessible by car (like I previously thought!). Marlis is a skilled photographer and her book is full of beautiful pictures that she took of the many parks she visited. At the time we recorded this interview in August of 2022, Marlis was leaving the next day to visit the forty-eighth National Park, Thaidene Nëné, in the Northwest Territories! I hope you enjoy this interview with an extremely interesting and kind person! **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to and is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Samsung Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. And if you like what you hear, please leave a review at Apple podcasts.

Please check out her website below to find out more about Marlis:

About – Canadian Park Bagger

My guest today who worked in Club Med in the early 1980s have never met, but he came to my attention when I saw him post the most excellent photos of his time in Club Med in the 80s on the Official Club Med EXGO Facebook Group. His first season was in December of 1980 in Club Med Magic Isle, Haiti as a stagiere Choreographer. Born in and raised in Alhambra, but now residing in beautiful San Diego, please help me welcome to MFS, Doug Evenson!! Before Club Med, Doug was that rare athlete (football & basketball) who also won a theatre scholarship. His father went to a Club Med in Guadeloupe in 1976 and told Doug that this is the place that he should work! In 1980, his best friend saw a tiny Club Med ad in the newspaper looking for theatre folk. From that ad, he got his interview and it took place at the Universal Hilton in Hollywood, California. The first part of Doug’s story takes place from December 1980 up until October 1986. He worked in Club Med villages such as Cancun, Copper Mountain, Paradise Island, Ile Maurice, Bora Bora, Fort Royal, Playa Blanca and Eleuthera. Doug was even present when the famous (or infamous) 1983 movie “Copper Mountain” starring Jim Carrey and Alan Thicke, was being filmed at Club Med Copper Mountain! Doug has so many interesting stories to share during this interview. Some highlights are The DC-3/Cancun/Chichen Itza story, the submarine story, lunch with Pierre Salinger (Press Secretary for President John F. Kennedy), hanging out with Rita Coolidge in Copper Mountain, Bar Games with Sean Connery in Paradise Island in 1982 and driving his 1969 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia to Copper Mountain from California. I really hope you enjoy this interview with one heck of a raconteur! **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to and is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Samsung Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. And if you like what you hear, please leave a review at Apple podcasts.

My guest today and I met and worked together during an amazing season in Club Med Playa Blanca in 1996/1997. His first season, however, was at the opening of Club Med Lindeman Island in Australia and he arrived on December 12, 1992, as a Musician/Animator. From Newcastle, Australia, please help me welcome former Chief of Village, Luke "Gus” Neale!! Before Club Med, Gus was studying Tourism Management at the University of Newcastle. As part of his degree requirement, he organized a five-day field trip up the East coast of Australia, from Newcastle to Brisbane. On that trip, he met a Belgian Club Med employee called Bellings, who gave Gus his business card and told Gus that if he ever wanted to work for Club Med, to give Club Med that card and the rest is history. For those who have had the pleasure to work with Gus, know that he plays a mean violin (and guitar and didgeridoo). He started playing violin at seven years old and even got a scholarship to study music at the Conservatorium at the University of Newcastle, where he studied for four years. Gus worked as an animator and Chief of Animation in resorts such as Cherating Beach (Malaysia), Bora Bora, Kamarina (Italy), Bali, Playa Blanca, Turks & Caicos, Huatulco and Djerba La Douce (Tunisia). As a Chief of Village, he worked at Sonora Bay, Cancun, Crested Butte and Lindeman Island. Gus is kind enough to take us through his Chief of Village stage in France and what his first season as CDV in Sonora Bay was like during the summer of 2001. We cover a lot in only an hour, so I really hope you enjoy this episode with Gus! **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to and is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Samsung Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. And if you like what you hear, please leave a review at Apple podcasts.

My guest today and I have never met or worked together before, but we do have a “Quebec” connection that we will talk about in this interview. His first season was in Club Med Martinique in May of 1987 as a Waterski G.O. From Napa Valley, please help me welcome to the podcast, Steve McClaine!! Before Club Med, Steve attended the University of California (Berkeley) and obtained a Political Economy degree. He did not want to start using his degree just yet, so he taught skiing at Heavenly Mountain Resort in South Tahoe. One of the ski instructors mentioned Club Med to him and Steve took it from there. Steve also worked in the Club Med villages of Copper Mountain (April 1987-88) and Cancun as a Waterski G.O. in 1988. Steve tells an amazing story about a pre-college basketball player, who later helped win a fifth Championship for the NBA Chicago bulls in 1997. This story is incredible, so I will not spoil it here with more details, you’ll just have to listen! Another amazing story is one Steve thought wasn’t that interesting or even merit as a “fun fact” that I ask guests to provide for their interview. While he was at Berkeley, Steve played trumpet and percussion for the University of California Marching Band. In March of 1983, Queen Elizabeth (RIP) and Prince Philippe came to San Francisco aboard the royal yacht Britannia to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, in a ten-day trip across the state of California. Steve, as part of the Berkeley marching band, performed for the Queen with the San Francisco Ballet at the Louis M. Davies Symphony Hall as part of a San Francisco/Americana-type show. Because the Queen enjoyed the show so much, they were invited back the next day to the pier where the Britannia was docked and the Queen watched the show from the balcony. Steve didn’t think this was a fun fact! We cover quite a lot in this interview and how different Club Med was back then in the 1980’s. Steve ends the interview by telling us the three things he misses the most about Club Med. Please enjoy! **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to and is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Samsung Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. And if you like what you hear, please leave a review at Apple podcasts.

My guest today and I have never met, but I had heard very funny stories about him from other EXGO’s over the years. His first season was in Club Med Sandpiper in February of 1992 as Manager of the Annex restaurant with Carlos Castro as CDV. From New Jersey (via Florida), please help me welcome, Sammy Orodenker!! Before Club Med, Sammy was doing a double major in Hospitality Management and Musical Theater, making him a much-desired prospect for a company like Club Med! Sammy was given the title of Manager of the Annex because during his senior year of college, he also owned a catering company. He then later switched to the position of Animator and Chief of Animation. Sammy worked for Club Med from 1992 to 2001. He worked in villages such as Club Med Copper Mountain, St. Lucia, Punta Cana, Eleuthera, Ixtapa, Cancun and his final season in Kabira. Sammy has so many stories and we tried to pack in as much as we could in an hour, so if you were an early 90’s G.O., you will want to hear this one! Sammy recounts some stories where he got locked out of his room wearing only a barely-there towel and having to walk to reception, getting caught during a “Walk of Fame” moment behind the main restaurant in Sandpiper and why his cocktail of choice was always a Rusty Nail. Please enjoy this episode with Sammy!! **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to and is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Samsung Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. And if you like what you hear, please leave a review at Apple podcasts.

Please check out his "Pissotieres" sketch from Copper Mountain 92/93:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wdnTSULnrc

I never had the pleasure of working with my next guest, but we did cross paths at EXGO Reunion 3 in Cancun in 2010 (and we currently have 112 mutual friends!). His first season was in Club Med Eleuthera, Bahamas in the Summer of 1990 as a Mini Club G.O., with the amazing Denis Amsellem as CDV. From Fresno, California, please help me give a big MFS welcome to Chris Wiehl! Before Club Med, Chris was a walk-on shooting guard at UCLA Bruins men’s basketball team. Although the coach was Walt Hazzard at the time, Chris did get the opportunity to meet legendary UCLA coach John Wooden twice. He first heard about his future employer from a French girlfriend in high school who told him about Club Med (she later worked at CM St. Lucia in ’88). After he graduated from UCLA, Chris went to the family resort of Club Med Eleuthera, as a single guy (there is a story there). Before his week was over, he was approached by the late, great Mini Club G.O., Jim Henry, who asked him if he’d like to work there and then cleared it with Denis Amsellem. Chris worked at the resorts of Club Med Punta Cana, Sandpiper and Playa Blanca. He finally made the leap to Landsports at Playa Blanca the winter of 1991/1992, under Gregg Snyder, who was doing his first season as the resort manager. Chris is a heck of a raconteur and you will love his Eleuthera/Shell Hill/Ronnie’s Hideaway story with the Mini Club as well as his Richie Cannata (Billy Joel’s saxophonist) story. Chris talks fondly about the early G.O. reunions that the late and amazing John Shelly organized in San Francisco in the late 1990’s and how much he misses both John Shelley and Jim Henry. **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to and is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Samsung Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. And if you like what you hear, please leave a review at Apple podcasts.

Please check out his Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/cswiehl/

My guest today and I met in Club Med Columbus Isle in January of 1996. I was Landsports and he was the resort photographer. Little did I know at the time that I was in the presence of true greatness and I am very grateful for the 2 ½ years I got to spend with him. His first season was in Club Med Paradise Island in 1980 as a Sailing G.O. Everyone, please help me welcome, the Bahamian sensation, the one and the only, the Best Chief of Sports there ever was, Hansel Moss!! Before he started working as a Sailing G.O., Hansel was actually a plainclothes security guard in Club Med Paradise Island. He asked the Chief of Village, Greg Russell, if he could become a Sailing G.O., even though Hansel did not know how to sail! He then recounts a hilarious story about a sailing outing with G.M.’s on the harbour-side of Paradise Island that you will absolutely want to hear! Hansel’s Chief of Sailing his first season was none other than LouLou from France, and you have to hear Hansel describe meeting LouLou for the first time! His second season was in Club Med Cancun with Alain Decouan, who then asked Hansel to go to Club Med Donoratico, Italy with him for Hansel’s third season in 1981. It was Hansel’s first time in Europe (at 19 years old) and you have to hear the visa/travel horror story that Hansel endured, when a Bahamian tries to go to Italy in the early 80’s, when he was told he did not need a visa to go! When that season ended, Hansel went to visit his girlfriend in Holland for about a month, only he didn’t call her to tell her he was coming-he just showed up at the address she gave him! And yes, that is another funny story! This interview goes up until his first season as a Chief of Sports in Club Med Sonora Bay. Because of my long history and friendship with Hansel and the history he has with Club Med, the second part of this interview will come out at a later date. **I changed the setting of this episode from clean to explicit (as there was not a middle option), for some mild expletives and the fact that we were talking about Club Med in 1980 and that it was a very different time for everyone. **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to and is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Samsung Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. And if you like what you hear, please leave a review at Apple podcasts.