This is a story of two (or technically three) alumni born in Kitchener on the same day, and demonstrates how the seemingly small decisions we make in our frenetic youth can lead to a lifetime of success.
Chris Flemming
Chris Fleming (BES Planning, 1970) was born in the late forties along with his identical twin brother Don. “My brother Don was the star, while I was the get-it-done guy,” says Chris fondly.
After high school, both Chris and Don applied to what we know today as the School of Planning at Waterloo, while working on the side to earn money for tuition.
“There was no co-op program back then, and it was tough getting jobs,” says Chris.
By the end of first year, Chris was recruited to work at the City of Toronto Planning Department during the summer. He managed to save $650, and bought his high school sweetheart an engagement ring.
“Tuition was $650, which I didn’t have, but I was a good student, and in Planning, so CIBC gave me a $500 loan,” Chris says. With his romantic life sorted, he now had to figure out how to pay his loan back, while also making up the difference for his tuition.
“Back then, the campus wasn’t as large and students going back home to Toronto had to walk all the way to the corner of King Street and University to catch the bus,” he says. “Imagine all the students dragging their suitcases – which didn’t come with wheels - through mud and snow just to make it to the bus station, which at times was full.”
Chris saw his opportunity. “I decided to talk to my brother Don about my idea, and rent a bus which would pick up students from campus, and drive them to Toronto for three dollars - half the cost that the bus company was offering,” Chris says. “But now I needed a bus driver and someone to help with the promotion and marketing.”
Larry Hundt
Three years to the day after Chris and Don met the world, Larry Hundt was born to an established local Waterloo Region family. He was an active boy, playing sports and generally enjoying the kind of safe, fulfilling life Waterloo Region offers.
Larry got to know Chris during his first year as a Geography student, and he volunteered to help with Chris' campus bus service. Aside from having a viable driver’s license - which proved good enough for the charter coach driver, who let him learn how to drive a bus - Larry helped Chris with promotion and marketing for the new venture.
Soon after the bus service was running, Chris began to offer a movie service for the campus community. “There weren’t that many places you could go for entertainment, so we brought the entertainment to campus,” remembers Chris. By his third year, Chris was offering a weekly bus service, on-campus movies and a weekly pub night that featured one of his brother's music bands. With a student population of 10,000, and little entertainment on campus, all of Chris' ventures proved successful as the "student body was craving something fun to do on campus that was inexpensive and a convenient way to get home for the weekend for those who were from Toronto." says Chris.
After Chris graduated, Larry expanded the movie and bus services significantly. He offered his services to the Federation of Students, and opened a record store and ice cream outlet in the campus centre. The bus service to Toronto expanded greatly with 250 trips per year and became known as the Fed Bus. Proceeds from the service sponsored demonstration buses to locations to protest the Vietnam Nam War and nuclear testing.
A decade later he founded a coach tour company that today is known as Great Canadian Holidays and Coaches.
Fast forward 35 years and the company has grown extensively, diversifying its initiatives to include a full motor coach division with over 50 coaches, two garages, and the most modern fleet in Ontario. The Great Canadian group of companies also includes Great Canadian Fleet Services for truck repair, parking and more.
Today, Larry still lives on the same street where he grew up. His children manage the business and proudly support the community they so fondly call home. What began as a student-led entrepreneurial initiative sparked a successful business. When asked what advice he has for today’s students, Chris says, “take calculated risks, but don’t bet the farm.”
Years later, Larry searched out Chris to personally thank him for the part he played in that success. He sent him a long email, giving him credit for the path that led to his career. “It’s all his fault,” jokes Larry.
They say it takes a village to raise a child, but sometimes one person’s impact can have a rippling effect for decades to come.
