by Sylene Argent, Local Journalism Initiative
Residents from the hamlet of McGregor were able to learn about the different services, programs, and volunteer opportunities available to them last Tuesday evening at the first-ever McGregor Community Information Meet and Mingle.
Councillor Kim Verbeek, who represents this Ward on Essex Council, organized and hosted the event at the McGregor Community Centre as a way to allow residents to connect with the long list of service clubs and organizations, businesses, and charities from the area.
Attendees were also able to speak with Town of Essex staff members, who were pleased to share information about the recreational opportunities available not only in McGregor, but throughout the municipality.
There were also individuals onsite promoting the Town’s Trap, Neuter, and Release (TNR) program for free-roaming cats that residents can utilize to help not only control the cat population, but assist with the wellbeing of those cats. For more information about this program, log onto www.essex.ca/en/live/spayandneuter.aspx
A few from Essex Council also joined the event to connect with residents in the area and answered any questions they may have had regarding local municipal or county politics.
For the first event of its kind, Verbeek was pleased with the turn out. Foot traffic during the event was steady, which proved the need to host such an event.
The idea behind this networking event was to show what services are available locally, and even connect some of the local service clubs and organizations. That way, they may be able to learn about each other and perhaps collaborate in the future, if the opportunity arises.
Verbeek wants the McGregor Community Information Meet and Mingle to become an annual event, with hopes to plan next year’s festivities a little earlier in the fall. She hopes to grow the event, and is sure that will be possible with the support the community provides.
Those at the McGregor Community Information Meet and Mingle were also able to learn about the McGregor Branch of the Essex County Library, and the Nurse Practitioner-Led clinic onsite at the McGregor Community Centre.