For News Tips & Advertising call...
Kitchener East - 519-578-8228Kitchener West - 519-394-0335
By Shelley Byers
Kitchener Citizen
January 14, 2016
Above and to the left of Waterloo Region Chair Ken Seiling’s desk is a photograph of his grandfather. Alongside is a carved wooden nameplate – A. Seiling. It sits atop a cabinet chock full of mementos: a tractor, an airplane, and family photos. Small replicas of Holsteins grace another cabinet; reminders of another time. One look around, and a life, a family, a history begin to reveal themselves.
Seiling loves history.
Seiling didn’t grow up on a farm, but spent much time working on the farms and in the hatchery that his grandfather, Albert, had developed and nurtured. Albert Seiling was known for his prized
Holsteins and Aberdeen Angus, innovative poultry
breeding, racehorses and beagles.
During his school years, Seiling cleaned chicken barns, hauled corn, baled hay and straw, and helped in the hatchery. He stopped short of milking cows.
His father ran the poultry side of the business, while his uncle tended the farms.
“I think in some ways it convinced me that farming is great, but was all the more reason to carry on in school,” he said.
“I cast myself as an urban person with extensive farm experience.”
Born and raised in Elmira, Ken is the second eldest of four boys. Rod, Ric and Don all took to the ice. Rod with the New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs; Rick with the Buffalo Sabres and Detroit Red Wings; and Don with Hershey and Springfield in the AHL.
Seiling did play local junior hockey and varsity hockey for WLU. Although he had had opportunities to go on in hockey, he skated toward another goal.
“Even when I was in high school, there was a space in the basement in the old coal cellar. I cleaned it up, painted it and had a black board wall,” he said with a chuckle. “I did my studying by pretending I was teaching.”
After WLU, he moved on to his post-graduate education with McMaster University and the University of Toronto.
But even as the dream of teaching became a reality, something was brewing behind the scenes. Summer jobs running recreational programs in Elmira and acting as the Interim Recreational Director gave him pause.
“By the time I was in Grad School, I was questioning if I wanted to go the public service route as opposed to teaching,” he said.
Teaching won out, temporarily.
His education finished, Seiling interviewed for a position in Pembroke, Ontario. Teaching positions were scarce at the time and teachers went where the jobs were available. His interview wasn’t successful.
The following day, he was offered a position with Waterloo Collegiate Institute and quickly accepted.
Shortly afterward, Pembroke called back. A position had been created especially for him. He declined.
“Do you believe in fate?” he says with a chuckle. “I could have ended up in God’s country!”
History, especially local history, was a passion Seiling conveyed to his Grade 10 students. Field trips included local cemeteries and local historic sites. From 1971 to 1974, he taught history and geography at Waterloo Collegiate.
He kept his toe in the water with the recreational program in Elmira. It not only introduced him to local politics, it also introduced him to Kathryn, a lifeguard at the pool. In 1972, Ken and Kathryn were married. This past June, Kathryn retired from KCI as a Student Counsellor.
In 1974, Seiling applied for the newly created position as curator of the Wellington County Museum with no museum experience, but degrees in history and knowledge of local history.
He admits his family’s history in the agricultural community probably helped as well.
Seiling asked to be released from his teaching contract and set his future on history. His job was to take the seasonal Wellington County Museum in Elora and convert the old and now empty Wellington County Home for the Aged built in 1872 into a year-round operation starting from scratch.
“We took that old county home up on the hill, made a museum, and started the county archives, which is one of the better ones in Ontario,” he said with a smile.
Back in Woolwich, he was appointed to sit on the Township Recreation Committee, which was working on a project to deal with the rundown arena. For real change, he realized he would have to become a councillor. He ran and won.
After two years, he made his decision to run for Mayor of Woolwich Township. Another success.
However, he was still running the museum full time. For this, he took a cut in pay, which allowed him to hire an employee to run the museum’s school programs although he was still required to do his full job.
He speaks fondly about the museum and its archives.
“That’s still one of the highlights of my career. I take great pride in creating the Wellington County Archives and establishing a good footing for the museum.”
All at once, Seiling was the Director of the Wellington County Museum, Mayor of the Township of Woolwich, and a Regional Councillor. For five years, he also sat on the Police Commission, serving as chair for two years, and also on the Grand River Conservation Authority.
He and Kathryn had also started their family, welcoming five children. They have since been blessed with nine grandchildren.
“It was a busy time, but great! You had to keep moving,” he said. “There was no time to sit and worry. You had to go onto the next thing to keep things in balance.”
“But, when I became Regional Chair, I had to give up the museum job.”
The museum had gathered the funding and approvals for a major renovation of the museum and Seiling left just as the contractors were moving in.
He used his museum expertise to push for the consolidation of Doon Pioneer Village and Joseph Schneider Haus. Along with the Waterloo Region Museum, both historical venues now have a centralized function on a heritage site.
It’s been 30 years since Seiling left his beloved job at the museum, and last year marks 30 years of making his own history in the region.
First elected as chair by Regional Council in 1985, he became the first Regional Chair to be elected by the public in 1997 (when election rules changed to allow direct election of the chair).
Seiling enjoys the many contacts he makes as he attends events across the entire region. “It’s rewarding,” he says. “I like to touch base and meet people; know where people are coming from across the community.”
He’s pushed for the LRT to help manage urban growth.
“I’m not an anti-growth person, but I believe in planned growth and measured growth,” he admits.
It’s a tightrope of environment vs. economics.
Seiling initiated a growth management study in 2000, which led to the Region’s Growth Management Strategy in 2003 that sought to protect rural agricultural and environmentally sensitive lands by curbing urban sprawl.
The province used the Region’s Growth Management Strategy to develop its own growth plan, which is called Places to Grow. When David Caplan, the then Minister in charge of provincial growth planning came to Kitchener to unveil the province’s work, he credited the region for setting the stage and leading the way.
“I take great pride in this. We built on what we had learned from the people who wanted to limit the impact of growth but at the same time maintain a healthy economy locally. There’s a balance.”
“The recent approval of the Regional new Official plan has now put all of our policies in place, which will see our growth management plan firmly in place. Construction of the LRT, currently underway, will be one of the cornerstones of that strategy to intensify and limit sprawl.”
Ken doesn’t do a lot of business travelling and tends to focus his efforts on local matters and dealing with the Province. He relaxes by driving to their cottage south of Amberley on Lake Huron or taking in a show at the Drayton Theatre. Following grandchildren and introducing them to theatre and music are high on his agenda.
An organist and choir director for 40 years, he recently retired. He recalls that playing the organ paid his gas all the way through university. He still makes guest appearances.
A believer in fate, Ken looks back and accepts that what is meant to happen is going to happen.
“People have to make choices and have to believe that it’s the right choice, then get on with life and do it,” he says. “I think you can paralyze yourself by not acting.”
Ken glances again at the photo of his grandfather, Albert.
“He had a colourful history,” he says. “When I hit a tough spot, I look up at him and say, ‘now what would you do?’ I know what he would say,” Ken pauses for a moment.
“He would say – do what’s right.”
This is the ninth article in the Kitchener Citizen’s series of spotlights on community leaders. This month’s profile:
Ken Seiling – Waterloo Region Chair
Ken Seiling’s office includes many reminders of his family’s agricultural past.
Seiling with two of his grandchildren at a fundraising event in Waterloo Region.