A familiar face at the Fort St. James Chamber of Commerce, Rosa Anne Howell is back from her retirement as the acting manager.
“I was getting used to retirement,” says Howell who retired three years ago from the chamber. But with winter around the corner, she is happy to help out as she is not much of a winter activities person, she says. Howell will be staying on with the Chamber until they find a new office and manager.
Howell has lived in Fort St. James for over 48 years now. Howell and her husband raised three children in the community and she says she loved every bit of it.
So what brought a person from the South up to Fort St. James? “My husband… he’s a true local, he was born here” she says. But what kept her back, apart from her family was the community in Fort St. James.
“It’s a great community. I love the people and all my grandchildren live here so that;s another draw to keep me here,” she says. When her children were growing up, Howell says she and her husband spent a great deal of time travelling with the kids for sports.
“Our kids were all involved in sports, so we spent a lot of time travelling for hockey, figure skating…”
Raising children in Fort St. James was great, she says. “We were busy, but it was good.”
“Fort St. James is a great place to live,” she says.
And like all true locals Howell’s praise for Fort St. James is incomplete without mentioning the Stuart Lake. Her family loves to make use of the many recreational activities that the place has to offer, such as camping and motorbiking.
“My husband starting this hobby of motorbikes and so he got one for all the grandchildren so they do a lot of motorbiking.”
In her downtime, Howell also volunteers at the senior centre on Mondays – an activity she has grown rather fond of.
“I get to see people that I wouldn’t normally see and, it kind of gets me out of the house as well especially during the winter.”