Having lived away from my northern roots for some 44 years, I have returned to enjoy retirement to the fullest here in Huntsville.  

My husband and I have been involved with several different aspects of retirement for the past three years, mainly socially with the Probus Club of Muskoka North. Several activities have kept us both very busy and as of November, 2007 we chose to take on yet another adventure, volunteering for the Animal Shelter for Huntsville.

I arrived at the shelter to find that with so many lost, abused, forgotten and surrendered animals, volunteers were desperately needed for fundraising, walking dogs, maintenance and the list goes on.  The shelter doesn’t receive any government funding. They operate solely on the generosity of the community.

As a volunteer our first challenge was to call on local businesses for donations for the Animal Shelter for Huntsville’s auction/dinner held on April 26. I can’t express my pride and gratitude enough to the response that the coordinator and volunteers like ourselves have been given through the generous donations that all the local and a few out-of-town businesses and residents have given.

Hats off to all of Huntsville and Muskoka for such a successful event for the shelter. A special thanks to the residents of Rowanwood Retirement Residence for their wonderful donation of a framed puppies picture, particularly when they were going through a tragic upheaval of their own.

I must say that we are very proud to be part of this great Huntsville community in our retirement years.

Jane and Dave McPhee,
Huntsville