Listen Up! A short personal message | Commentary

One aspect of the Christmas season that I particularly enjoy is that for me at least, it is a traditional time to pause and count our blessings.

Whatever challenges and disappointments we have faced in the past year, there are also things in each of our lives to be grateful for.  This is a time to focus on those. 

For me, first and foremost, I am grateful for my family and close friends, folks who are with you come hell or high water. Over the years, I have learned it is easy to be friends and to be supportive of people when they are right. But the real test for family and friends is who will stand with you when you are wrong. In that aspect of life, I have been incredibly fortunate. 

I am grateful too for all those who have made Doppler a household name in Muskoka and East Parry Sound, our loyal readers, our supportive advertisers, and our incredible Doppler team.

Doppler is now in its eighth year. Every member of our team, those at the beginning and those now, has worked hard to keep the communities we serve informed with detailed local news and information as well as providing a window on what is happening in the wider world that affects us here. From our beginnings, we have had a tremendous Doppler team and I am grateful for all of them.

And simply put, without our advertisers there would be no Doppler. They are our main source of revenue. Especially during these rather uncertain times, shopping locally is important. Local businesses do a lot more to support our communities than Amazon or Costco. I urge you to shop or do business with our advertisers, whenever you can. 

And to our readers, we now average about 100,000 individual readers per month. You indeed are a special blessing! 

We look forward to a new year with new challenges and opportunities.  I have no doubt that there will be interesting times ahead.

But right now, let’s just pause. Let’s not sweat the small stuff but rather, count our blessings and reflect on the good things in life. We all have much to be grateful for.

On behalf of the entire Doppler team, we wish you all a joyful Christmas and holiday season and the very best in 2023.

You’ve got this!

Hugh Mackenzie

Hugh Mackenzie has held elected office as a trustee on the Muskoka Board of Education, a Huntsville councillor, a District councillor, and mayor of Huntsville. He has also served as chairman of the District of Muskoka and as chief of staff to former premier of Ontario, Frank Miller.

Hugh has also served on a number of provincial, federal and local boards, including chair of the Ontario Health Disciplines Board, vice-chair of the Ontario Family Health Network, vice-chair of the Ontario Election Finance Commission, and board member of Roy Thomson Hall, the National Theatre School of Canada, and the Anglican Church of Canada. Locally, he has served as president of the Huntsville Rotary Club, chair of Huntsville District Memorial Hospital, chair of the Huntsville Hospital Foundation, president of Huntsville Festival of the Arts, and board member of Community Living Huntsville.

In business, Hugh Mackenzie has a background in radio and newspaper publishing. He was also a founding partner and CEO of Enterprise Canada, a national public affairs and strategic communications firm established in 1986.

Currently, Hugh is president of C3 Digital Media Inc., the parent company of Doppler Online, and he enjoys writing commentary for Huntsville Doppler.

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