Joyce Bigelow – 27 years at Connections Adult Learning

Jeff Green | Oct 26, 2022

It’s been a few weeks since Joyce Bigelow retired from Connections Adult Learning, an agency that supports learners in Addington Highlands, North and Central Frontenac, and parts of South Frontenac.

It is taking her a while to get used to her new life, since she has been the Executive Director of Connections through a few name changes, and 27 years.

“When I started, in 1995 we were called the North Frontenac Literacy Program,” she said in a phone interview a few days after a retirement party was held in her honour, at the Sharbot Lake Community Hall.

“A lot has changed since then. For one thing, North Frontenac was not a township then, but a catch all name for 9 townships north of Verona. And we were doing mostly literacy work back then. Now we help people learn about technology, prepare themselves for educational opportunities at a variety of institutions, and more.”

Over the years, growing and maintaining services in ‘the North’ has been a major part of Joyce Bigelow’s job. Part of her job was taken up with; securing funding for new educational programs in changing rural communities; developing new programs such as employment services; and making sure that her agency was able to thrive, as provincial funding programs changed their focus from time to time.

She was also a key member, and long-time chair, of the Inter-Agency group, a monthly meeting of social, educational, and medical service providers based in the Sharbot Lake, that serve the entire region.

“Inter-agency has been a tremendous group. Peter Bell and Linda Rush started it up when she was working at what is now Rural Frontenac Community Services, in the late 90’s.

“We compared notes, talked about what we can each do on our own, or together, and worked to make sure that services were always improving in communities that could have been forgotten by the provincial government otherwise. And we had a lot of fun along the way as well.”

One of the more challenging times for Connections has been the COVID pandemic.

“We work with a lot of seniors, on hands-on projects and how to use computer technology. Bringing all of that online was not easy, and some of it was just horrible for everyone. We did what we could but it was hard. Getting back to in-person learning this year, even though we have to be very careful, was very welcome for us.”

When it came time for Joyce to think about retirement, that too required some planning, to make sure the agency she has been at the centre of, for close to 3 decades, will continue to thrive. And it took some funding.

She went to the Trillium Foundation, for a grant, to facilitate both strategic and succession planning.

“The grant has enabled us to prepare for a changeover, and develop the right job description for my replacement, Tracy [Riddell-Keefe] and for her to be able to work with our small, but strong staff, on a strategic plan. We were able to get a consultant to come in, and help the group focus, on what we want to do over the next few years.”

For Joyce, retirement is taking some getting used to. She said she still has anxiety at times, thinking about what has to be done.

“But then I think, wait. I’m retired, I don’t have to worry about that stuff anymore.”

She has a lot of family living near to her, and is enjoying her lakefront property and her pets, and preparing to get back into some hobbies she has neglected over the years.

“I’m just going to coast for a while, before taking anything new on,” she said.