My name is Anne Randell. I’m really fortunate because I have two water bodies, I have Georgian Bay on Lake Huron and also Lake Ontario. I have my feelings about what the water means to me and why it’s important to me in my life and with my family. I’m fortunate that I live on Lake Ontario, but we spend our extended summers on Georgian Bay which we’ve been doing for 38 years.

I know for a lot of people that’s not very long because I’ve met all kinds of people who have been there for generations. For me, it feels like a significant part of my time. My kids were 1 and 3 when we started going there. They now have kids of their own. So it’s pretty special to have our grandkids grow up there. One part of my story is that I grew up with a cottage on Lake Huron and my husband grew up with a cottage on Lake Simcoe so it was inevitable that we would have a cottage and we’re feeling very fortunate that we found Georgian Bay because it’s been the one constant in our lives. It’s been the one thing that hasn’t changed, we moved, we changed jobs, we have kids that have grown up and grandkids, but we always had our place on Georgian Bay that is the place where we all come together which I’m looking forward to doing tomorrow for Thanksgiving weekend.

I guess what makes me feel good about all this is that in my retirement I’ve become involved with an organization called Georgian Bay Forever. I feel that after enjoying Georgian Bay for so long and having it be such a meaningful part of our lives, I’m now in a position to give back as a volunteer, as a board member in an organization that looks at water quality, water level, invasive species, things of concern. Collectively, our efforts are to ensure that Georgian Bay and the Great Lake are there for our kids kids kids.