Original story written by Jeff Olsen for the Roseau Times-Region (Volume 128 – Number 31) Saturday, August 5, 2017
With close ties to Roseau County, Dom Dumais and Bill Bredesen, two former Twin Cities residents who share a flair for ice hockey, recently got acquainted for the first time in the strangest of places.
In early July, Malung’s Julane Kjaer sent a photo of two white guys in a hockey arena in Bangkok, Thailand, which is twelve-time zones away and where ice cream melts rapidly.
Unbeknownst to Dom and Bill, they share an extended historical connection to Roseau County.
Dom’s late mother was a McMillin, which guarantees that at any one time in Roseau County, they can field a complete baseball team of McMillins.
Make that two teams!
Bill’s family ties in Roseau County extend all the way back to the 1890s when his maternal great-grandfather, Olof E. Olsen, arrived here from Sweden in 1892 and was an original member of the Roseau Volunteer Fire Department when it was organized in 1903.
His wife, Anna Connelly Olsen, was the Roseau County Superintendent of Schools from 1909-1915.
On a side note, Bill Bredesen is my sister Katie’s youngest son, who used to visit here many summers ago.
In her text, Julane Kjaer explained that Dom is her cousin’s son.
“Small world,” she added.
Yes, it is.
In early July, Bill, 37, and soon to be a first-time father just a few days later, spoke by cellphone on What’s App from Bangkok.
It was 10 p.m. here and 10 a.m. the next morning in Bangkok.
On another side note, both Bill and Dom found love in Bangkok.
Bill is married to Soey, a talented young woman, and both are employed by international news media agencies.
Immediately, the ice rink came up.
They have a Zamboni, youth hockey teams, and an enthusiastic group of Thai kids who will someday be as nuts about hockey as the kids are in Roseau and Warroad.
“We play every Thursday, a pick-up game, and then I play in the Bangkok Hockey League (BHL), that’s run by Thai guys,” he said.
“The majority of every team is Thai-ten Thai players and five farangs (foreigners),” he said, explaining that farang actually means white foreigner.
“You get all these Thai teenagers out on a date, and they press their faces up against the plexiglass and watch us play, wondering what the hell is going on,” he laughed.
But get this.
They actually have tournaments where Thailand plays against Mongolia and other countries.
“Hockey isn’t big over here, but it’s got a following,” he said.
Bill has done well for himself.
“I’ve worked for the German Press Agency (Deutsche Presse-Agentur) since 2014,” he said, adding that his title is Asia Coordinator.
“I basically look after our network of correspondents and stringers in about 20 countries, spanning from New Zealand and Australia to India, including China, Japan, Southeast Asia, and everywhere else in-between,” he said, adding that he reported on President Obama’s trip to Vietnam in 2016.
From 2008 to 2014, he worked for a lifestyle magazine published by the Bangkok Post in which he covered the arts, culture, and nightlife.
What a wonderful gig!
Dining out, bar hopping and dancing, and then writing about it.
“Soey (pronounced Soy) works for Reuters, and she does big time news on Reuters TV,” he said, “She’s interviewed all the prime ministers, and she’s out there in the streets when there are demonstrations,” he said.
On Tuesday, July 11, Soey gave birth to Charles Arthit Bredesen, their first baby.
“I have 14 days of paternal leave, and Soey will have four months of maternal leave,” he said, laughing about how upset little Charlie can get when he’s hungry. Arthit, his middle name, is Thai for the sun and sunny days.
Dom Dumais, 46, also lives an interesting life and once served as a submariner, lost his mother when he was a teenager, has a quick laugh and a flair for podcasting.
Yes, and he loves hockey.
“My mother was a McMillin,” he said, which means he has many aunts and uncles and scores of cousins up here.
“Everybody called her Layne, but her first name was Doris,” he said, adding that he was 16 when she died.
He has one other tie to this area.
“My father, who now lives in New York, is from Warroad. I was born in Roseau and grew up in the Twin Cities, but I used to spend sum-mers and Christmas up there,” he said, adding that he’s been in Thailand for 11 years.
It’s funny how people make connections. Take Bill and Dom, who recently bumped into each other at the rink.
It took just one question.
“You from Minnesota?” asked Bill, and Dom had replied, “Yes.” and they struck up a conversation.
Who knows who snapped their photo? Probably some Yank or Canadian.
In Bangkok, the expatriates refer to just one hockey league of note -the SHL – the Siam Hockey League.
Dom is the administrator and official podcaster for the SHL.
On their website, siamhock-eyleague.com, there’s a catchy heading Siam Hockey League -Brought To You By The Flying Farangs
“It’s been nine years since I took my wife up to Roseau for the first time,” he said. “Tracy is British and works for the British Council, and we’ve been married for 10 years. We got married in Thailand.”
He laughed when recalling how strangers back in the States gave him weird looks during meals when he ate with a spoon while dining out.
“There are forks in Thailand, but spoons are the preferred utensil,” he said.
He served as a radioman in the U.S. Navy from 1990-94.
“I was on a submarine, but I also did a lot of shore stuff,” he said.
In a metropolitan area of over 14 million people, Dom knows the preferred methods of transportation in Bangkok.
“I use a bicycle some days. Depending on where I’m going, I use the subway or a motorcycle taxi,” he said.
His wife designs English instruction Apps for Thai students, “I teach math and English to first, second and third graders in a Thai school,” he said. “They’re great and a lot of fun to teach.”
Dumais is an unusual name.
“It’s French Canadian and Italian,” he said, and then explained who plays hockey in the Bangkok Hockey League (BHL).
There is a mix of Thais, Japanese, British, American, Canadian, Russian, Finnish and Swedes on all the teams,” he said, adding that he just plays in pick-up games since he registered too late.
“I’ve been away from hockey since 1989,” he said, speaking by cellphone on What’s App in mid-July.
It had to be asked of a happily married man of ten years.
“Do you do the dishes?”
“Of course,” he laughed. “I do the dishes, the laundry, we share it all.”
He’s an easy interview, which comes from a master who does numerous interviews on his Dom Dumais in Bangkok podcast at http://domdumais.com.
He’s twelve-time zones away, but he can be sitting in your living room. He’s a McMillin, so he has a gift of gab and a great love of sports.
One final note: Dom and Bill never have to worry about slipping on icy sidewalks over there.