Pine_meadow

Jeff Green | Dec 01, 2005

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First Ron Roberts bursaries given out at Pine Meadow

by Jeff Green

Ron Roberts was a force in the establishment of the Pine Meadow Nursing Home some 13 years ago, and sat on the Board until his untimely death three years ago. Now, much to the delight of the current Board of Directors of Pine Meadow and Ron Roberts’ three daughters, Pine Meadow continues to be influenced by Ron Roberts through an educational bursary in his name.

Connie Delyea, who has been at Pine Meadow as a health care aid for 11 years, has begun part-time studies at Loyalist College in Bancroft towards becoming a registered Practical Nurse. She also received a $500 bursary. Connie has lived all her life in Northbrook.

Lee Roberts, Ron’s middle daughter, made the presentations at Pine Meadow last Friday. Lee, who lives in Napanee, remembers Pine Meadow as a major focus of her father’s energies. “He lived with my family for the last year of his life, and I would drive him to Board meetings at Pine Meadow. He loved this place,” she said.

Ron Roberts moved to the Harlowe Road, where he built his home, about 25 years ago, while he was still a senior police officer. He was a homicide investigator, but daughter Lee describes her father as a “community activist, an outdoorsman, and a man with little patience for opposition. He got things done, and he brought that spirit to Pine Meadow, and Pine Meadow has really put Northbrook on the map. So upon his passing my sisters and I started thinking about his pet project. We wanted to set something up here.”

The board of Pine Meadow has decided to make annual contributions to a bursary fund in Ron Roberts’ name, so the bursaries will be given out when worthy candidates come forward for many years to come.

“The nursing home has provided a great opportunity for skilled jobs to be developed right here in Northbrook,” said Lee Roberts, “and now the bursaries will help people upgrade their skills further, and then keep those skills working for the residents of Pine Meadow.”

Pine Meadow Nursing Home is one of the largest, if not the largest, employer in Addington Highlands, with a staff complement of 72 full and part-time people.

The Board of the home has been developing plans for a physical expansion of the facility and an expansion of services as well, both for the residents of Pine Meadow and the surrounding community as a whole, but government funding support will be required.