by Ron Shimizu
Retirement for sansei Ray Nakano and spouse Lan Nguyen is not about conventional leisure activities. On June 13, Ray and Lan rappelled down the sheer 99.5 metres (326ft) east tower wall of Toronto’s iconic City Hall in support of the Make-A-Wish Foundation’s Rope for Hope event – an annual fund raising event to grant wish to children with life-threatening medical conditions. They qualified for the event by raising $3855.00 in pledges for their exhilarating personal challenge in descending the tall tower of 34 floors. (makeawish.ca)
Neither are new to climbing. Ray has over 20 years of experience and Lan is an occasional climber as well. The event took place on Friday June 13 and successfully raised a total of $650,000 for the charity with the support of a 10-volunteer team in which Ray served as one of the climbing experts to assist 117 participants down the wall.
Ray is retired from a IT director position in the Ontario Government and Lan is still working as the Deputy CIO for the City of Toronto. They recently celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary, have two daughters and are proud grandparents of Gibson, a 18-month-old toddler.
Ray and Lan balance their passion for high excitement activities with more subdued interests. Both are practicing Buddhists and are active in the Mindfulness Practice Community of Toronto where Ray served as President in 2013. Ray is also a former Board Member and Treasurer of the Jodo Shinshu Buddhist Temples of Canada and a past President of the Hamilton Buddhist Temple. In addition, Ray has volunteered with a youth support group in Toronto for many years. Lan is also active on a few community boards including Yee Hong Long Term Care, Family Service of Toronto and Operation Springboard, a chartiable organization devoted to supporting youth and adults in distress, find fruitful employment and the disabled to live independently.
In keeping with their parents penchant for excitement, Ray reports; “Our girls got us the CN Tower EdgeWalk as an anniversary present so we’re not quite finished with extreme sports this summer” Edgewalk is the new CN Tower attraction where visitors can walk outside on the edge of the top of the tower only secured by a tether. (www.edgewalkcntower.ca)
