Retirement giving Alcona teacher the 'Blues'

The bittersweet moment of retiring from a teaching career is giving Ross Pityk the blues.

The Alcona Glen Elementary teacher of nearly a dozen years will shut the classroom door on Friday in time for a gig with his new passion called the Boathouse Blues Project. It all began during a COVID-19 shutdown in April 2020.

“The bass player, Debbie Bisbee and I got together as a duo and started doing driveway concerts during COVID-19,” Pityk said from his home near Big Bay Point. “We started playing driveway concerts as a duet. She’s my neighbour and we live across the street from the waterfront and several of the waterfront people said ‘well, why don’t you come and play on top of our boathouses?’ Some of these boathouses are flat, so we said sure.”

With Pityk on keyboards and Burke Erwin on guitar, the trio started performing at private parties and eventually made their way into a few pubs and even got a gig at Friday Harbour.

“We do play Etta James, but also Muddy Waters, Johnny Lee Hooker, and a lot of faster-paced blues as well. So it’s a mixture of classic and rockin’ blues. It’s kind of rare around here. A lot of people are doing hit songs and stuff at the bars, so it’s kind of unique. And so far, when we go, we get booked again,” he said.

Not wanting to pocket all the money they received, Pityk said after one gig, the idea of supporting the Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition came to him and within a year, they have already donated several thousand dollars to the coalition.

“Ross is the kind of engaged citizen who makes the world a better place,” said Rescue Lake Simcoe’s executive director Claire Malcolmson. “He supports initiatives around him in truly helpful, constructive and fun ways.”

Pityk said it comes from living, as well as visiting the lake each summer as a child, for 60 years.

“I’m concerned about the impacts that are negative on the lake. I feel really strongly about it. We are losing wetlands and woodlands within a kilometre of the shoreline all around the lake. These things naturally filter water. These wetlands act as flood mitigation and we’ve got to try to save them,” he said.

Bassist Bisbee recognizes both Pityk’s talent and passion for the environment.

“His piano playing skills and vocals are inspirational and delightful. He has more energy than anybody I know. Besides teaching young students, he’s involved in several environmental protection committees. He’s passionate about protecting the environment and he rides his bike to work on all but the coldest days, and it is easily a 30-kilometre round trip,” Bisbee said. 

A few days away from retirement, Pityk said stepping away from a career as a teacher is a tough process. “This year I’m teaching Grades 4 and 5. It’s a fantastic age. The children are really children, eh? They’re at the prime of being children and independent – I love it,” he said.