It started out as an efficiency of business. And it’s turned into an indescribable bond of encouragement and respect. It was back in 1985 that a group of self employed women, anxious to serve our community in a business and charitable capacity, founded our own business organization, with the encouragement of the Greater Barrie Chamber…

“Only 5 to 10 percent of today’s kids get into trouble with the courts. And 80 percent of first time offenders don’t come back.” With those words, Doug Morton typified the attitude that made him one of Canada’s most respected juvenile and family court judiciaries. A quiet man, with a round face and black eyes,…

Last week the Nebs Business Forms company recognized Valerie and Phil Callus as Barrie’s Most Community Involved Local Business in 2001. Anyone who knows the Callus team will be smiling as you read this… everywhere you go, Phil Callus is there. Everywhere! I first saw Phil scooting in and out of the crowd of people…

My remarkable mother-in-law, Emma, gave us a wonderful Christmas tradition. A lifelong knitter, her hands flew all year long. She turned out literally dozens of pairs of colourful striped wool stocks, mitts, head bands, sweaters, slippers. At Christmas we could each count on receiving a sweater in our favourite colour. But the best part was…

“It’s better to burn out than to fade away.” Neil Young’s famous lyrics, from My, My, Hey, Hey (Out of the Blue) were never more true than this week when Barrie lost Carol Boonstra. For those who knew (and automatically loved) Carol, there’s strong consensus that she just burned out. She left her earthly address…

I’m weird. My family tells me this all the time. We have no microwave at our house. We’re one of 15% of Canadian homes that manage to live their lives microwave-less. How come? Because it makes no sense to me to cook food in something I have to have checked annually for radiation leaks. And…

Jay Norrie is one of my favourite people. I worked with Jay in 1997 when he launched Prestige Lawn Care, a full service lawn program. I like Jay. One of the things I learned from Jay is that not everybody and his uncle can spray pesticides; it takes specific, certified skills and the knowledge that…

When Jean Wilson died last month, a shudder rippled through the Roman Catholic community in Barrie. People stopped–stunned–and profoundly saddened by the loss that Jean’s death brings to her many communities. We each live several roles in our lives, that of sister or brother, parent, child, caregiver, community volunteer, our working contribution, friend. Jean’s life…

It’s been three years since my daughter and I first ventured into the Out Of The Cold program. We were looking for a volunteer effort that we could both do together. And we wanted the opportunity to work in a team setting. So we signed on for Out Of The Cold. We don’t have an…

Tired of the commute? Tired of feeling like your work doesn’t matter two hoots to anyone? Tired of knowing you’re likely next to get “the axe”? There’s another way to live. And you can get a bird’s eye view of what that looks like on Wednesday from 2 to 8 pm at the Army Navy…