Bert is partner/owner of Arbor Acres Plaza which he and his wife, Liz, purchased in 2005 to become long-term residents in the Ipperwash community in Lambton County.

Bert was born in The Netherlands, grew up in Zimbabwe in Africa, and lived in Europe for a time before immigrating to Canada in the mid-70’s.  He went on to make a career in corporate and marketing communications in Toronto and Sarnia and as a North American consultant in strategic risk management before moving to Ipperwash.

In recent years he has become a self-published author (autobiography, novella and a handful of short stories) and has taught himself basic acoustic guitar on which he plays ballads and fireside songs for his own amusement.  In 2015 he began experimenting with song-writing, another new art form for him.

One of his projects was to join with Sajaa Khan, a Sarnia-based musician and band leader with many years of experience, to write and produce a tribute song for Kettle & Stony Point First Nations and the Ipperwash community commemorating the spirituality and folklore surrounding the “kettles” on the shores of Lake Huron.  These types of concretions are found only in two places in the world – here in Ipperwash and in New Zealand.  The song, called ‘Lore of the Thunderbird’ can be heard periodically on 107.7 FM The Eagle Radio as well as on various social media platforms including Sound Cloud at: https://soundcloud.com/river-riffs where listeners will also find Bert and Sajaa’s growing body of other musical productions mostly of the folk and blues genres.