D , 'Xon "This has provided me with opportunities of looking at education for children, education for adults who want to be in education as teachers and now working with both adults and children at O'Hara," he said. Born in Stouffville and raised in Whitby, Dixon graduated from high school and worked for three years at the Oshawa Times as reporter/photogra- pher. Then he decided he'd rather work with children and entered teacher's college in Toronto. A year later, in 1960, he began his teaching career with the Scarborough board of education. He spent several holidays in Prince Edward County and fell in love with the area. Six years later, he moved to the county. Dixon joined the former Belleville Public School Board in 1966 and purchased an 1840-built farmhouse on Lake Consecon. He taught special education at Queen Alexandra (now the Education Centre) and, a year later, became the first guidance consultant for the board. He subsequently became vice-principal of Queen Elizabeth in Belleville and Prince Charles in Trenton and then developed and started an alternative high school program at Quinte Secondary School for students with different kinds of problems. He served as executive assistant to Hastings County Board of Education director Bruce Mather for three years and returned to the elementary school system as principal. He was principal at Hillcrest, Breadner at CFB Trenton, and retired in 1994 from S.H. Connor in Tweed. "I thoroughly enjoyed the diversification of the 34 years I spent in education," he said. Dixon wasn't done with education after retirement. He spent six years as a lecturer for the faculty of education at Brock University. He taught teaching candidates educational psychology and counselling "to help them understand their future students." He taught two days a week and spent a lot of time driving back and forth "but it was worth working with these people who will be our future educators. "I think they will be really top calibre teachers. I have faith in all the school systems," said Dixon. He has also taught sociology at Loyalist College and principal's courses for Queen's University. Dixon is particularly proud of his own academic achievements. He took evening and summer courses throughout his teaching career to earn his Bachelor of Arts from York University, Bachelor of Education from the University of Toronto and his Master of Education from Queen's University. Quinte Conservation allowed him to embark on a new career in 2000, which tied in nicely with his love of conservation and history. As O'Hara Mill curator, Dixon's responsibility is to entice people to step back* in time and get a feeling for the pioneer days. He said more people are supporting the village. A fundraising dinner and auction last month raised a record $12,500 for the site and annual attendance at the village exceeds 2,500. Heritage Day, featuring pioneer demonstrations, is scheduled for the village Sunday, July 28, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. "I'm getting calls every week from people in this area who want to donate items and donate their time to the village to make sure that it does survive." Survive it will, he maintains. "I see the village as being part of the roots of Hastings County because this is how we started out...I admire them because of their abilities to survive in very harsh situations and with their own resources. "Sometimes it's great to be able to go back in time and enjoy a more relaxed atmosphere that people had in that time," said Dixon. I'trf-et/,' aencer- J^/