Retiree Stories - Bernice & John Bell

Retiree Stories

Bernice and John Bell
Newcomers 1999, Sault Saint Marie, Ontario

Beautiful views no matter where you go, proximity to water and woods, small town atmosphere, welcoming community, and an abundance of activities offered to people their age and up, are some of the aspects of retiring in Campbell River that make the Bell's happy they did so. They moved here from Sault Ste. Marie three and a half years ago. John is retired from managing an airport and Bernice also from airline work. They discovered Campbell River while visiting family here and it just always seemed to them like an excellent place to retire, with a better climate, cleanliness, friendliness, and size than anywhere else they've lived, and they still think so after three and a half years.

"We've never been kept indoors on account of the weather." Says John, who likes the mild winters because he can cycle year-round. John rides a road bike about 30k a day, savouring the scenery. Bernice loves all the beautiful trails, and enjoys just walking down the street and noticing all the beautiful gardens which the West Coast climate makes it so easy to maintain. This same climate also results in very few pesky insects. After living in the interior the Bells are very happy to say that they don't have screens on their windows because there aren't enough flies or mosquitoes in the summer to worry about.

Bernice Bell has found that there are just so many activities for people her age in Campbell River. She is a member of Happy Wanderers at the community center. It's a club for people fifty and over that organizes group hikes, dances, exercise classes, crafts, card playing and a range of other activities all year round. She is also involved with the Trinity Presbyterian Church. The North Island College in town offers all different types of courses for continuing education. John recently finished taking a web page design course there.

The town, and its situation, among mountains, forest and sea is simply a nice place to be. Mr. Bell likes the attractive down town area, and the accessible marina that lets you walk along the docks among all the boats. Wherever you live in Campbell River you have the down town area nearby as well as the country and numerous islands to explore.

The Bells have camped on Quadra and Denman and explored them both by bicycle. The Bells don't have a boat themselves but have chartered one to explore the "world class" beautiful boating areas of the surrounding waters - or they can always just enjoy this beauty from their living room window which has a view of the mountains and surrounding forest.

The Bells have lived in many places around Canada, from Whitehorse to Windsor, and something they are quite sure of is that Campbell River is the best place they've been to for retirement.