It has been said, usually with a bit of a laugh, that to be from Salmon Arm you need to have lived there for several decades.
While this is only his fifth year in the community, it could easily be argued Garret Pristie has earned the right to say he's from Salmon Arm. In fact, to at least one person he's known as Mr. Salmon Arm, in part for all the things he does behind the scenes to better the community.
Friends of Pristie call him humble, explaining he just does things for people out of a genuine desire to help.
“He’s Mr. Salmon Arm because he is everywhere doing everything… he doesn’t do any of it for profit. He’s always out and about helping the community,” said Jessica Chevallier, a former Salmon Arm resident currently residing in Whitehorse.
In November 2022, Chevallier organized a local drive to support families living up north, where the cost of living is, as she put it, “astronomical.”
Pristie, who moved to Salmon Arm in 2019 to help open Mr. Mikes, arranged for space at the restaurant for Chevallier to prepare northbound care packages.
"He’s not asking for anything in return, and he’s definitely one of the friendliest people you will ever meet and he has no issues going around, chatting, asking how you need help," said Chevallier.
"I always say his heart is as big as the Shuswap."
With a passion for small business, Pristie has become an invaluable friend and ally to Kate Watson and Lana Fitt with the Salmon Arm Economic Development Society (SAEDS).
"From my perspective, Garret has been a total gift to Salmon Arm," said Fitt, SAEDS' economic development manager. "I think he is just such an amazing community ambassador as a whole, but also a small business ambassador for Salmon Arm."
Pristie frequently volunteers his time with SAEDS, helping with different initiatives. As of late he's been working on sponsorship recruitment for the upcoming 55+ BC Games.
Watson, SAEDS marketing coordinator, knew she would be friends with Pristie when she met him at an event at Zest Commercial Food Hub. Watson said Pristie, still fairly new to the community, had volunteered to be a "presence at the market." That presence immediately caught her eye.
"I walked over and before I could introduce myself, he stuck his hand straight out and said, 'Hi, I’m Garret,' and I was like oh, I want to know you more'," said Watson.
Watson described Pristie as an outgoing person who loves Salmon Arm, and an "old soul" who has long been a part of the community.
"Most people, it takes them a while to integrate…," said Watson. "He’s willing to integrate and make a difference in the community and he’s been doing that since Day 1 when he arrived."
Originally from Quesnel, Pristie said he'd only planned to be in Salmon Arm for three weeks. But as he bonded with the staff at Mr. Mikes and others in the community, he found those weeks turning into months, and so on.
"I stayed because I love the people," said Pristie. "I arrived in Salmon Arm to open a restaurant and had made connections and friends in the first week from people coming in. Craig Shantz and Chad Eliason were some main ones who really scooped me in. I needed a place to live and Chad Eliason let me live with him which was very helpful. And then I just never left – I fell in love with Salmon Arm to be very honest."
Pristie wound up in a management role at Mr. Mikes, working with a team of people who furthered his desire to stay.
"They were phenomenal and that was part of what made me fall in love with it… the staff," said Pristie. "I liked them, I wanted to be around these people to let me help them grow and be better."
That desire to help people grow and be better is a big part what drives Pristie. He explained this, in part, comes from difficulties with family that led him to begin working at age 12.
"I didn’t really have mentorship or support, and I didn’t really have parents, so I had to kind of learn and grow through the community of Quesnel and the people that I knew," said Pristie.
In 2018, when he was 21, Pristie started Quesnel Soup, a volunteer-driven event that crowdfunds projects in the city, in a similar way Shuswap Women Who Wine supports local non-profits.
“It’s called ‘Soup’ because it’s a potluck dinner, and the idea behind soup was it’s something easy for people to donate and easy to have…,” Pristie told the Quesnel Cariboo Observer at that time. "My biggest hope for (Quesnel Soup) is that I can help get people involved in the community. That’s something I’m very passionate about because I love Quesnel with my whole heart.”
Since living in Salmon Arm, Pristie has found he doesn't have to put as much effort into getting people involved with their community – that there's lots going on in Salmon Arm. And not just events. He sees in Salmon Arm a great deal of collaboration, from businesses working with community groups, to city council chambers.
"The community is run very well; the council is very respectful and kind…," said Pristie. "They’re co-operative, they work together, they’re appreciative of the work their staff is doing and the community does…"
Needing a change, Pristie became a licensed realtor in 2022. Through this work he continues to go out of his way to help. Something the Shuswap Association for Community Living (SACL) is grateful for.
"I don’t think he really received much of anything for helping us. It was mostly voluntary," said SACL's Lesley Campbell about how Pristie helped the organization to relocate in Salmon Arm.
"It was more than just finding a place, it was helping us figure out different rental rates so we could move forward with what we had in the works… I think he did get a little something but it was no huge sum… mostly he volunteered his time."
Pristie volunteers his time and expertise to a number of things. In addition to working with SAEDS to support small business (and running a website that does the same), he's part of Re/Max's Community Care program, he's a director with the Literacy Alliance of the Shuswap board, he sits on Shuswap Tourism's advisory committee and is on two Salmon Arm chamber committees – events and business excellence awards.
"At the end of the day I do a lot of this stuff I would want people to do for me, and I’ve been blessed with that kindness in my life again and again, of people supporting me and helping me and being willing to show up. I can do that as well. I’m not obtuse to the fact that I know it would help my business, but I would do it anyways."
Though he may be relatively new to Salmon Arm, Pristie has established a long list of friends and acquaintances that enable him to do something else he's passionate about: connecting people.
"I love connecting people – my business is only successful because of the connections I have," said Pristie. "And I believe that Salmon Arm is a more successful place because people volunteer and support each other and support Salmon Arm businesses."
Watson and Fitt are grateful for everything Pristie has done and continues to do for Salmon Arm.
"In a very short time, he's established these incredible relationships because of his willingness and support," said Fitt. "I think he is just an amazing example of someone doing this type of work for the right reasons, with the ambition to better our community. And definitely not for anything to come back his way for personal gain."
