BAY OF QUINTE COMMUNITY BUILDERS: ALAIR HOMES BELLEVILLE
Quinte Home Builders’ Association members Brendan Troy and Simon Gutierrez of Belleville’s Alair Homes volunteered to build 650 feet of boardwalk at North Potters Creek Conservation Area, improving trails and protecting marshland habitat. They started their careers at Alair through different paths and now both share a strong commitment to community and love for the Bay of Quinte region.
Written by Angela Hawn
Read time: 2.5 min
What makes Brendan Troy and Simon Gutierrez of Belleville’s Alair Homes tick? Building something both beautiful and functional certainly ranks high on the list. Throw in the opportunity to give back, all while working in the great outdoors, and this enterprising duo might have found the recipe for the proverbial icing on the cake.
When the chance to improve the trail system at North Potters Creek Conservation Area in Quinte West came up, both builders strapped on their tool belts and said let’s go. Three years later, thanks to their volunteer efforts, alongside other Alair associates, 650 feet of much-needed brand new boardwalk now provides dry, secure footing for hikers and dog walkers along some of its muddier, mushier stretches. What’s more, this clever trail refurbishment also serves as habitat protection for local flora and fauna that call these marshy sections home.
“A woman came over at the Quinte Home Builders’ Association home show, and said she uses that conservation area almost every day and just wanted to say thanks,” Troy marvels, noting his own gratitude for the invaluable guidance of Quinte Conservation as well as lumber generously supplied by BMR Marmora.
Helping out with a community project fits well with both the builders’ commitment to community and their own appreciation of the Bay of Quinte region. Yet Brendan and Simon found their way to Belleville’s Alair Homes via very different routes.
Originally hailing from the tiny hamlet of Munster, just outside Ottawa, Troy discovered his finish carpentry skills spending time at building sites while working as a delivery driver in the Alberta oil fields. His entrepreneurial acumen first surfaced through a partnership in a small carpentry business called Wooden Roots. From there, he made the move to Alair, running Belleville’s franchise of the enormous parent organization well known throughout both Canada and the U.S.A.
Gutierrez’s path involved a few twists and turns of its own. Born in Colombia, he moved to a suburb of Naples, Florida, as a child, and continued further northwards when his family sought to reconnect with relatives in Canada. While attending high school in the Belleville area, Gutierrez took part in a youth apprenticeship program, while also exploring his affinity for math. Post-secondary studies at both Loyalist College in Belleville, Ontario, and Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario, led to his engineering papers. And though he claims to love the cold so much (he could have easily stayed in northern Ontario), he’s equally enthusiastic about his return to the BoQ.
Troy expresses similar affection for the sprawling countryside neighbourhood where his kids spend their free time. The builder who once spent his off-hours taking wildlife photography and writing nature articles for the Calgary Herald clearly loves the rural/urban mix that sums up Bay of Quinte so well. And thanks to some fabulous volunteer work, he now knows a great place for an excellent walk, even during mud season!
