Today, anything anybody could want to watch is just a click of a button away on a smartphone’s information superhighway. But back when the Internet was more of a dirt road, showcasing the world’s elite sports involved more tangible solutions.
It was 1999 when Langley couple George and Dianne Tidball imagined, designed and oversaw the construction of the world-class 84-acre Thunderbird Show Park, one of the premier equestrian facilities in North America. On Wednesday, April 12, their children will remember that remarkable accomplishment at the BC Sports Hall of Fame’s Banquet of Champions at the Vancouver Convention Centre when their parents are inducted into the hall under the builder category.
“Today, the world is so small. When we started Thunderbird the world wasn’t so small. We didn’t have Internet so you couldn’t just watch showjumping from around the world,” said Laura Tidball-Balisky, youngest daughter of the late Tidballs, who both died in June 2014.
When Laura joins her siblings Kathy Robbins, Stephen Tidball and Jane Tidball, along with many grandchildren, at the Hall of Fame banquet, it will be a “happy but emotional” moment.
She and her family owe much to their parents, both in the way they learned about showjumping, but also how to run a business surrounding that sport. Laura is a nine-time Canadian champion and two-time Olympian in showjumping, and along with her family she continues to help maintain the legacy of the Thunderbird Show Park.
“That was very important to my parents. They didn’t want to just let the place go. They wanted to keep it modern.”
George Tidball’s business ambitions are well-known in Western Canada. He become the first Canadian to open a McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) restaurant outside the United States in 1967 when he brought the franchise to Richmond’s Granville Avenue and No. 3 Road.
Four years later, he opened the first Keg Steakhouse, another franchise restaurant that has gone on to open 52 locations on both sides of the border. Tidball-Balisky said her father’s business philosophy was to make customers feel at home in his restaurants, walking through and chatting with diners and staff to ensure everybody was comfortable and happy.
“My dad ran his business a little like it was a sport. He had passion for it. He had a wide umbrella of thoughts on how to make people want to come and eat at his restaurant.
Tidball-Balisky added that the personal touch went a long way toward making friends and gaining respect in their community.
“Some business people are all about the numbers, and they’re ruthless about it, and that’s just the way it is. Not everyone around them is necessarily happy. But my parents were different in their model of how they ran their business. It was about having a passion and wanting to include people in their team, not exploit people.”
While George Tidball was busy running The Keg empire, his wife was also making her mark in the business world. With the help of architect Robert Jolicoeur, Dianne Tidball built the Thunderbird Show Park on 72nd Avenue in Langley. It featured six competition rings, three indoor arenas, five warm-up rings, stabling for up to 890 horses, riding trails and even a golf course. Over the years, she managed to showcase every aspect of horse sport, from short-stirrup division to World Cup, with competitions for different breeds and disciplines.
Tidball-Baliskysaid her mother would look at the world’s most popular equestrian facilities and then figure out how to bring that back home to Langley.
Today, Thunderbird is owned and operated by the Tidball children, along with several grandchildren. But Tidball-Balisky said it’s not just the family connection that keeps their business strong, but the human qualities passed down by their parents.
“My father had foresight in what he wanted to create and empathy for the people he wanted to include. He was like that as a family man, and he was like that as a business man, and he was like that as a sportsman.”
