MINDEMOYA—Cori and Allan Davy were adamant that they didn’t want any fame as volunteers when The Expositor approached them about an interview but then realized that talking about the time they give to organizations would encourage others to step forward. And they have given a lot of time over the years.
Ms. Davy is very active in 4H, a wonderful organization for kids and volunteers. These clubs may have started rurally but are certainly different today. Youth from the age of 6-21 are welcome to join and participate in many activities.
Walk on the Wild Side is a tour of Manitoulin’s hiking trails that Ms. Davy leads and other group projects include outdoor survival skills, arts and crafts, science, financial literacy and gardening. “It’s a great program, and there are many, many projects for people,” she said.
Ms. Davy has also kept busy in past years as a volunteer with the Girl Guides and is now the chairperson of the climate action committee. She has also done some volunteering with her husband, including working at the Manitoulin Family Resources thrift store and participating in the beach clean-up at Providence Bay. The Davys pointed out this is a fun thing to do and gets one out of the house to meet new people.
“And if you don’t want to get out of the house, there are other things you can do such as baking for a church or organization that is having a bake sale,” said Ms. Davy. Or some people would love to read to the children at the public school. “We would love volunteers,” she said. She also pointed out that, “high school students must have 40 hours of volunteer work. Organizations should be advertising. If others let people know they need help, they would step up.”
Mr. Davy has been, and is, a very busy volunteer. He is a past vice-president of Mindemoya Minor Hockey and is a volunteer with youth baseball where a few more volunteers are needed. Hockey was very busy as over 400 kids played. He had high praise for the people helping with the hockey season with their time and effort, putting up with COVID-19 and partial seasons as Central Manitoulin continues to have problems with the arenas.
Mr. Davy’s primary passion, though, is snowmobiling. He is a member of the Manitoulin Snowdusters and emphasizes the need in this area for more volunteers. He does signage and trail grooming and says that “the trails are only possible because of the wonderful private landowners who let us use their land.”
Ms. Davy also joined the volunteer fire team in Central Manitouiln when he moved to Manitoulin and is now a captain with the fire department.
It is easy to see the Davy family’s passion for volunteering and helping. “It is a way to give and make you feel good about helping others,” Ms. Davy remarked.
Mr. Davy is from Oshawa and worked as an engineer when he and Ms. Davy, originally from Burk’s Falls and employed as an urban environmental planner, decided to change careers and move North. They received their teaching certificates and decided to take the first jobs as educators that they could find in Northern Ontario. Luckily for Islanders, that place was Manitoulin. Mr. Davy works with at-risk students at Manitoulin Secondary School, and Ms. Davy is a Special Education resource teacher. They moved to the Island in 2003.
The Davys have one daughter, Autumn, who is also a volunteer. She has given her time to help with the Kindergarten class, preparation for camps and trails for 4H. She also assists the Lions Club by helping at their yard sale and food booth. She also represented her school on the township’s climate action committee.
This family is all about volunteering.
