Garth Cane will be recognized for years of service to the RV industry.
Garth W. Cane, F90067, bought his first RV in 1960 so that he and his family could travel and visit relatives. Back then, he couldn’t have known how large a role RVing would play in his life, nor the impact he would have on the RV industry.
Now, after 60 years as a member of the RV community, the Cobourg, Ontario, resident can point to many accomplishments. Among them: He created and served as instructor for Canada’s first RV technician apprenticeship program. He chaired committees that established safe standards for the Canadian and U.S. RV industries. He’s been an RV salesman, an RV service technician, and an RV TV host. He has written countless articles as the senior technical editor for RV Lifestyle magazine. He serves as a board member of the RV Safety & Education Foundation. And he has traveled throughout North America to present seminars at RV shows and rallies, including for FMCA.
Yes, he has stayed busy. “Every time I decided to retire, someone else said, ‘Can you help us with this?’” he said.
His achievements will be celebrated in December when he is inducted into the RV/MH Hall of Fame in Elkhart, Indiana, as part of the 10-member class of 2020.
Garth noted two accomplishments of which he’s particularly proud. First, after retiring from teaching electrical engineering at a community college, he started the RV technician apprenticeship program at Mohawk College in Hamilton, Ontario, to help meet the demand for trained RV technicians.
Also, he was selected by the Canadian Standards Association to work with the RV Industry Association to “harmonize” the codes that RV manufacturers must comply with. “Harmonizing basically means to try to simplify the codes so that people can understand them, and that they mean the same thing to American manufacturers and Canadian manufacturers,” he said.
Garth first heard about FMCA from RV dealers. Over the years, the longtime member has suggested to many people that they join.
Whether writing for RV Lifestyle magazine — which he’s been doing for 37 years — or presenting at seminars, it’s important, he said, to understand the audience’s needs. At seminars, “I find it fulfilling when you talk for a while, and then you listen for a while to what people are saying. And then you find out what people really want to know.”
Over the course of his career, he has proven more than adept at delivering it.