Giving back is as easy as saying 'Yes' for East Gwillimbury resident

Town benefits from Bill Potts's generosity

Yorkregion.com
Jan. 2, 2020
Simon Martin

Few people in East Gwillimbury give more to their community than Bill Potts. A resident on Boag Road since 1968, Potts has a nasty habit of keeping himself busy, and as result the people of East Gwillimbury benefit.

Potts became a member of the East Gwillimbury Seniors Task Force in 2016. When the chair suddenly resigned, Potts found himself in the position. “I’m still chair,” he said.

The Seniors Task Force has morphed into a vibrant community that offers various activities for the town’s seniors. There is a walking group that meets at the East Gwillimbury Sports Complex every Wednesday. Potts and his wife, Ann, make sure there is tea and coffee and cookies.

Tuesdays and Thursdays the group meets at the Sharon Temperance Hall where people play cards and games.

“Socializing is a big thing for seniors,” Potts said. “We are slowly getting bigger and bigger.” Still, the task force faces challenges that weigh on Potts. “We don’t have a building to call our own. We have nowhere to store our equipment,” he said.

The group held their Christmas Luncheon earlier this month at the East Gwillimbury Sports Complex and fed more than 120 people.

Potts's volunteer work doesn’t start and end with the Seniors Task Force. For years he has been an integral part of a group of volunteers that run events out of the North Union Community Centre. Whether it’s the beef dinner, the pancake breakfast, the strawberry supper or the corn roast, if North Union is doing it you know that it will be done well.

“It’s all community based. You try and get the community involved,” Potts said.

When Ward 2 Coun. Joe Persechini first started working on the committee with Potts for North Union he was blown away at how the group functioned. “That’s one of the best committees I have ever worked on,” he said.

Money raised from the events either goes back into the community centre or to community groups like the Mount Albert Food Pantry and Holland Landing Food Pantry.

The building was erected in 1914 by John Croutch as a one-room schoolhouse.

Students then knew the building as S.S. Public School #9, which is still carved in a brick above the front doors.

Much of the structure has remained the same since then, including the original doors and floors, but a lot of upgrades and renovations have taken place through the years, including the kitchen, which served as a former library.

In 1965, when the school closed, the Union Street Women’s Institute made sure the building was not destroyed. They petitioned to keep the building as a community hall and went to the town, which acquired it from the school board. Since the late ’60s, volunteers have maintained the hall.

“They are very dedicated people,” Persechini said. “People just look forward to going to North Union.”

Across the road from Bill and Ann’s house, the community centre is never far from their minds. “The building is special,” Potts said.

So why does Potts give so much of his time?

“I enjoy it,” he said. “People come to me and say, 'Would you do this?' and I say yes instead of saying no. There is only so much I can do, but I try not to turn people down.”