-Denise Freeman and Edward Marchewka

We lived on a little farmlette near Newmarket, affectionately called Falling Down Farms. It was time to retire. We went online and looked in a wide circle radiating from our home. East and west, too built up and pricey, north , the same until we ventured further north and west to Owen Sound. When we had a little snoop, we found this charming town with a Carnegie library and three independent bookstores. Perfect. We booked a realtor to see a property within walking distance of downtown. My sensible husband cautioned me to put on my poker face, but when I walked into this dear little Ontario style house and grabbed his arm, "This is it, I love it", he surrendered and we bought that same day. Poor guy. We expected to settle in with books and our dog and drift into contented retirement.
Our first excursion took us to the River Cafe, where we were adopted by a big friendly Australian and his wife, who said "welcome, nice to have some new folks come to town". Within weeks we were bouncing around at Aquafit, volunteering at the Roxy yard sale and making more friends than ever before. Edward is a fabulous cook and he fell in love with The Farmers Market. Most of my first connections originated from Aquafit, and I really struggled to recognize anyone out of their bathing suits, but folks were very forgiving.
It is four years later. I seriously over joined and have needed to whittle down my commitments to ones that are a good fit. One book club, OSSIA choir, one board, the Peace and Justice group, Friends of the Library, and so many informal regular gatherings that I hardly have time for housework which is fine with me.
We stay because this is a welcoming vibrant community where everyone seems to have a multitude of talents, which they readily share. It is a small town city rich in music, art, poetry and goodwill in a stunningly beautiful landscape.
We feel like we have won the Lottery.