- Story by Sean McIntyre Photography by Don Denton

Old pumpkins, a trebuchet and a man with an idea. Stu Hopewell of Alair Homes is all about building custom homes as well as community.

Stu鈥檚 neighbourhood has long been known as the place where Nanaimo residents discard unwanted pumpkins. In the days that follow Halloween, the pumpkins proliferate along the side of the road, creating an alluring seasonal attraction, until time and November rain take their toll.

鈥淚t鈥檚 nice, but generally ends up as a big greasy mess,鈥� he says.

Always innovative and having a knack for practicality, Stu built a giant catapult to launch what he hopes will become an annual community tradition: The Great Pumpkin Toss. The inaugural event, undertaken in partnership with the Nanaimo Science and Sustainability Society, will see a few creative and fun ways to dispose of post-Halloween pumpkins. For a modest donation, Stu will load people鈥檚 old, unwanted pumpkins into the launcher and send the sad squash soaring high through the sky and into a field behind the East Wellington Fire Hall on Jingle Pot Road.

鈥淒epending on the weight, we can usually launch them between 150 and 200 feet,鈥� he says.

Funds raised from this year鈥檚 event were donated to the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Vancouver Island and the Nanaimo Science and Sustainability Society, whose members built a pumpkin cannon as part of the project.

The pumpkin toss is a whole lot of fun, but it鈥檚 also just one of the many ways the successful businessman and long-time builder has found a way to give back to his hometown and support local charities.

Stu hopes other companies will join the event in future years, helping to raise more funds for great causes that need ongoing support.

鈥淭he more participants, the bigger the event and the more dollars raised, which is our overall goal here.鈥�

Last summer, Stu was part of the Alair Homes team that had a solid finish in the city鈥檚 annual Silly Boat Race. The team engineered a Jaws-themed shark boat that took a bite out of the competition and helped raise more than $100,000 for the Nanaimo Child Development Centre.

鈥淢y family moved to Canada from England in the late 鈥�70s, and the CDC helped me at that point by doing some speech therapy, so they鈥檝e made a big difference in our lives,鈥� he says.

Stu gave back by serving on the CDC鈥檚 board of directors, a position that showed him how much the organization helps disadvantaged and disabled kids in spite of a slim budget. Continual funding uncertainty, he says, means the CDC has a waiting list of anywhere between 300 and 400 children who need assistance at any given time.

鈥淭hat, to me, just doesn鈥檛 make sense. If we can increase funding and decrease those waiting lists, then the kids that need help will get help much faster,鈥� he says. 鈥淛ust getting out in the community and giving back is important for me. It鈥檚 not about dollars and cents, it鈥檚 about making a difference while you鈥檙e here.鈥�

Engaging in more community events is part of the company鈥檚 long-term strategy, he adds. Building annual traditions where residents can have fun and have an impact is a great way for him to increase the quality of life in the region that he and his family are proud to call home, he says.

Stu is in a place where he can make a difference. Back in 2011, tired of working for someone else, he decided to speak with fellow builder and friend Blair McDaniel about going into business. Within a decade, Stu had become the co-owner and chief operating officer of Alair Homes, North America鈥檚 largest custom home company. Starting out as a general labourer during summers at 14 years of age, Stu has risen to the top of his field. He now works with 60 employees out of the company鈥檚 home office in downtown Nanaimo and assists hundreds of the Alair franchisees in towns and cities across North America.

鈥淲e handle all of the back-end business in this office here,鈥� he says. 鈥淢ost builders are excellent with clients and the sub-trades, but they struggle with the paperwork like paying bills and processing their payroll. As a result, good builders have struggled to be successful.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 where we can help, doing the payroll, HR, accounting, payables, receivables, operations, marketing and legal.This allows our builders to handle a much higher volume than on their own.鈥�

Stu鈥檚 success and Alair鈥檚 expansion mean he arrives at work early, usually by 6 am, to coincide with business hours on the east coast.

鈥淚t鈥檚 hard work, but I enjoy myself,鈥� he says. 鈥淚f you love what you do, it鈥檚 not difficult to go to work.鈥�

Making time for work and family means he鈥檚 had to reconsider some of his priorities.

Once a stalwart at Vancouver Island race tracks such as Saratoga and Western Speedway, Stu has shifted gears. Once an avid racer of the pint-sized and high-powered dwarf-series race cars, family and work responsibilities have encouraged Stu to grab the keys of his family car to wheel his two teenage children around the streets of Nanaimo.

鈥淣ow it鈥檚 really about chasing around my kids, dropping them off and picking them up,鈥� he says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 always a skating event, dance lesson or karate tournament.鈥�

As Alair Homes expands, Stu has been racking up some hefty frequent flyer points by visiting new locations. One week he鈥檒l be in Alberta or Ontario, while the next will see him travelling to Texas or Florida. As someone who has worked in the industry since his early teens, Stu is continually fascinated by the different approaches and building techniques he encounters in different regions.

Outside of work, he shares his desire for travel with his wife and two teenage kids. The family takes frequent trips overseas as a way to broaden their horizons and remember the triviality of 鈥渇irst-world problems.鈥�

鈥淲e feel it鈥檚 important for us and our kids to see other parts of the world,鈥� he says.

On a trip to Africa, the family was awed by the scale of the continent鈥檚 wilderness and wild creatures. They also visited an orphanage run by an Australian ex-pat with no government funding. Despite the challenges and poverty, he recalls, all the children had access to clean beds and regular meals, and had smiles on their faces.

鈥淭hat was a life-changing trip for me,鈥� he says.

It鈥檚 experiences like these, Stu adds, that remind him to be grateful for what he鈥檚 achieved and aware of how we can all make our communities, be they on Vancouver Island or overseas, healthier and happier places to live.

To find out more about Alair check out their .

Story courtesy of , a Black Press Media publication
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