It’s worthwhile to stand out in front of the Innisfil Antique Mall and look across the street to the Simcoe District Co-op’s Feed Mill. Just look. It sits on 3.5 acres of land and holds in its boards a 55-year history. It was built by the Simcoe District Co-operative Services, an organization devoted to extending…

I first met Sharron Purdy when we were involved in helping people start their own businesses. She was doing small business startup training in Orillia and I was doing the same thing in Barrie. It made sense to share ‘best practices’ and so we started meeting regularly. Aside from Sharron’s enthusiasm for the energy of…

The air at Bear Creek Secondary School was thick with sentiment on Thursday night. That’s because 240 adults walked across the stage to complete a journey started sometimes 40 years before. These are the high school graduates of the Barrie Learning Centre in the Bayfield Mall, part of the Simcoe County District School Board. It’s…

Paul Jamieson ran Paul’s Lock until the day he died. Bedridden this spring with rectal and liver cancer, Paul still met with his employees to discuss challenges with specific security projects on the go. He’d have advice on the city’s landfill security project, or an opinion on a commercial job that needed his input. And…

For three solid weeks, 11 girls tromped up and down stairs in apartment buildings and businesses. They were delivering phone books. Thousands of them. They needed the cash. They sold hotdogs and hamburgers at Zehrs. They sold cheese orders and Christmas wreaths. They held craft shows and convinced people to buy Avon puppy dogs. They…

In 1984 Bob Morin was in grade 11at Temiskaming High School in New Liskeard, ON. Bob was a miracle in 1984, a profoundly deaf teenager who attended an ‘ordinary’ high school, lived among hearing kids and teachers. Because he’d been nurtured in a family determined to keep him out of a ‘facility,’ Bob had been…

I met Jack Gallacher a year and a half ago. He was sitting in a class at the Career Centre at the Bayfield Mall. I think it would be safe to say that Jack was pretty low on life. He’d lost his job. He and his wife have three young children. Jack’s anxiety level was…

When Margot Oswald met Wayne Anderson, they were both in the beginning of their teaching careers. She was at Banting Memorial High School in Alliston, Phys Ed and Art. Wayne was teaching Phys Ed and History at North Collegiate in Barrie. They met at a track and field meet where he was at the starter’s…

It was 58 years ago, what was to be the final year of World War Two, though nobody was counting on it in those days. The war had impacted millions of lives for six and a half long, long years. Moby and William Taylor, both natives of Toronto, had set up their newlyweds home in…

Lisa Grey is a social worker. For years, she’s been a counsellor in the young offender system and has a strong working knowledge of the probationary client, the court system, and kids. In fact, she’s been a foster parent for young offenders. And Lisa Grey has a hobby. She’s a dog trainer. And then disaster…