A town without volunteers? No fairs, no Santa Claus...

There is rarely an event that occurs in this town that is not the result of the hard work of a dedicated group of volunteers. Think about what this community would be without: the Acton and Georgetown fall fairs, the Acton and Georgetown Santa Claus parades, the Highland Games, Classics Against Cancer, the Willow Park Ecology Centre, ArtsWeek, hockey, soccer and baseball tournaments, Georgetown Homecoming 2007, Dominion Seed House Garden and the Lucy Maud Montgomery Garden, Terry Fox runs and the sundry of other charity events... There would be no Breakfasts with Santa, no school field trips or school teams, no soccer or T-ball games, no Scouts or Guides, no community theatre or leash-free dog parks. "It's only through the efforts of dedicated volunteers that we've seen the dream of first one, and then two dog parks come to fruition," said HH-Dog member Kathy Dorbeck. "Our volunteers have been incredibly generous with both their time and their talents. Plus, they are really good sports. Every organization has volunteers, but do they have volunteers who will sign up to pick up dog poop? That's commitment!"

Volunteers with the Acton Fire Fighters Association and the Georgetown Lions Club organize the annual visit of St. Nick.

Generations of youngsters have summertime memories of celebrating Canada's birthday in Glen Williams. The completely volunteer-organized event has been a family affair for years.

Many people take it for granted that their children will play sports, sing in the school choir or participate in community theatre-- yet many of these activities would never happen unless there were volunteers willing to share their time and passion with the younger generation.

Attending the local fall fairs has been an annual rite of passage for many in this community, whether you're two or 92. But people rarely think about the fact that these two three-day events are organized entirely by volunteers-- the Acton Agricultural Society in Acton and the Georgetown Agricultural Society in Georgetown. Without a continual supply of new volunteers will these memory-making weekends continue for our children?