Why get involved? This is an opportunity to demonstrate why we feel our area is an ideal place to live, work and play. There are a number of reasons to become a volunteer such as the opportunity to gain valuable experience in a related field, to meet new people, to become better connected in our area and to earn recommendations for future employment or college applications.

When you volunteer you are giving something back to your community by lending a helping hand to people and organizations. What you may not realize is that volunteering also benefits you as an individual. There are many good reasons to get involved in the community, including learning something about yourself.  Volunteering can provide you with an experience that you may not encounter in your everyday routine, allowing you to uncover hidden skills and talents.  

Volunteers make the difference between a good event and a great event. An enthusiastic and helpful crew is always appreciated whether it’s by an athlete or a visitor simply wanting directions. A well-run event is beneficial to our communities as it keeps people coming back year after year, as well as the great word-of-mouth exposure it provides when they are telling their friends and family what a great time they had in Huntsville and Lake of Bays.

In the spirit of event tourism, the Huntsville/Lake of Bays Chamber of Commerce is developing a volunteer database to assist many worthwhile events and organizations in our area.

“There are so many ways one could get involved and contribute to our community,” said Kelly Haywood, general manager. “We will be interviewing each volunteer personally before entering them in the database to ensure good relationships are formed.”

Our community tourism partners’ vision is that Huntsville and Lake of Bays becomes a premier Ontario destination. Our mission is to create, promote and deliver a positive year-round destination over the next four years and beyond, based on our unique products. Our partners include the Town of Huntsville, Township of Lake of Bays, the Huntsville/Lake of Bays Chamber of Commerce, Huntsville BIA, King William Association, Algonquin Provincial Park, Friends of Algonquin, Huntsville and Lake of Bays Sport Council, Port Sydney Chamber of Commerce and members from our tourism industry.

The external marketing committee is chaired by Jeff Suddaby and focused on marketing Huntsville and Lake of Bays to our target markets by developing a website and marketing it aggressively. Tourism partners will be sought to leverage our marketing and media buys. The committee will be developing our key partnerships and stakeholders, identifying tourism brand, marketing concepts, our target markets and administration of the plan. We will create a program and unique style of communication that will market business long term and year-round, aligning all local communications to boost efficiency and effectiveness to market as one.

The events tourism committee, chaired by John Cowan, is working tirelessly to support existing events such as the National Pond Hockey Championships along with Muskoka Cycling’s Spin the Lakes. “The volunteer database is large project, but we are confident that it will lend great support to local sporting events as well as local organizations supporting our community,” said Haywood.

The potential benefits to cities and regions that host major events can be profound and include, for example, new capital investment, improved international market profile, increased visitor tourism, increased business volumes, increased employment opportunities, strengthened civic pride and self-esteem.

Here’s your opportunity to get involved. Contact Kate Austin, tourism development (kate@huntsvillelakeofbays.on.ca 789-4771 ext.30) or Kelly Haywood, general manager, if you have any questions or would like to set up a meeting to be included in our volunteer database.