Chronicle 2020

PROFILES

Building hobby into community

NANCY REID JACKSON 1952 By Julia Stanley Weaver 1978

Nancy Reid Jackson was a go-getter on the professional front. After graduating from Havergal, she studied political science and economics at the University of Toronto. She embarked on a career as a financial analyst, working for Canadian Business Services, Financial Post Services and The Timothy Eaton Company. She did a master’s in education at OISE and then focused her career on training within corporations, government departments and agencies. “I really enjoyed watching people grow and develop,” says Nancy. Nancy married Rex Jackson, they had three children, and she continued her career. But career and family were not all. Nancy believes deeply in the importance of activities that feed the mind, body and spirit. Sports have filled this role throughout her life, helping her balance the often competing demands of work and home. For many years, Nancy made the time to play tennis regularly. The Jacksons are all avid skiers. Nancy and Rex were founding members of the Craigleith Ski Club in Collingwood, to which they drove from Toronto with the children on winter weekends. Now widowed and in her 80s, Nancy no longer plays tennis, but she still skis often, alongside her eight grandchildren. Nancy has also enjoyed a lifelong love of art, beginning with art classes at Havergal. In the early 1950s, she attended evening art classes and subsequently joined The Toronto Watercolour Society and the Willowdale Group of Artists. She participated in workshops, life drawing sessions

and demonstrations by visiting professional artists. She painted and contributed to art shows. She found this to be a wonderful outlet for her artistic instincts and a magnificent way to meet new friends. In 2003, she and Rex moved to Collingwood, where there was no equivalent art group. She missed the camaraderie of a group of artists and wanted to make friends in her new community, so she and a friend started the Marsh Street Artists. They put up notices around town and held the first meeting at Nancy’s house. Now the group has 45 members who meet weekly at the Marsh Street Community Centre in Clarksburg. Fifteen to 20 members attend each week, and the meetings have a supportive, inclusive atmosphere. Everyone works at his or her own pace on their individual projects, knowing that should they run into difficulties, they can call on others for assistance. Coffee breaks are the most important time. All stop work to chat and enjoy the baked goods that members take turns providing. Once a month, there are demonstrations by professional artists. The group puts on shows at libraries in town and nearby Meaford, Thornbury, and Owen Sound. The Marsh Street Artists continue to be a mainstay of Nancy’s busy life, allowing her to continuously meet new friends, keep up with old ones and contribute to her community. All in all, Nancy is glad to be rounding off her professional and family life with hobbies that bring her social, physical and creative pleasure.

PHOTO: CYNTHIA JACKSON

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