- by Anne Finlay-Stewart, Editor

Okay, I will admit to getting a kick when someone tells me that they follow the Hub for their Owen Sound info, but this time it became a whole story in itself.

We met quite serendipitously at Mr. Khan's on 9th Street, and did our "Six Degrees of Separation" exercise. It turns out Barry works with my brother-in-law at Seneca College where Barry is Manager of Alumni Relations. He's still making the regular trek down to Markham and the GTA, but he and Kim have bought a home here in town.

They love Owen Sound, and were just saying "If only there were a shawarma place in town, it would be perfect" when Mr. Khan's announced its opening.

The two say they have three reasons why they love this city. Barry counts them off on his fingers - "This place has the friendliest people...the WATER!....and the housing prices." They are absolutely certain that Owen Sound is going to be a boom town.

They really came here looking for a house and community for Kim's mother. She'd come in to a small inheritance and was looking for an affordable home. She now lives in Owen Sound, close to downtown on the west side.

Barry and Kim had a condo in the Yonge and Sheppard area of Toronto that they had bought right before the market went wild. They sold it and bought a 1933 cobblestone Kennedy house five doors from the water on 29th Street West. "We can see the water from our house"; they are practically swooning. The pricetag - $294,000 – still amazes them.

Kim's brother has an apartment in Toronto where Barry lives when he is working. He made one visit to Owen Sound and bought himself a house which he'll use as a vacation property for now. Another brother came up and is now working for Van Dolders and looking at real estate.

"Our family will soon have bought four houses in Owen Sound in the space of a year!" says Kim.

She was hired as an instructor/therapist at a private autism centre - Autism Behavioural Services - that opened here earlier this year, and she is now the Senior Therapist. Kim is passionate about the work she does there because she can see that it changes lives.

I feel pretty confident that those are not the only lives that are going to be changed now that Kim and Barry are in town. We'll keep you posted.