COVER STORY

What are the other three most important words in Real Estate?

Reputation. Reputation. Reputation.

Over the years publishing magazines in Toronto and now in Grey County and surrounding cities and towns in Southwestern Ontario, I’ve had the opportunity to meet and work with a number of Realtors. Many of whom were upstanding, and generally speaking, very good people. Not all were great Realtors, however. And some of the ones who were skilled at selling real estate, weren’t always wonderful people. I suppose this is true for most professions; including Magazine Publishers :)

When our family moved from South Etobicoke to Grey Highlands, we noticed a shift in culture. We were used to the fast-paced, every-person-forthemselves, take-no-prisoners kind of attitude and were very pleasantly surprised by the more laid back, slow and steady speed with which life is conducted in the country. But how could business possibly get done at this pace, I wondered.

About a year into publishing Hello Country Magazine, I had the privilege of meeting Graciela and Eric Robertson, the motherson team behind Grey County Real Estate Inc. in Markdale. While sitting in the front room of their office, sipping a coffee kindly offered to me by their Office Manager, Kristen Bryan, I was struck by the overwhelming sense of peace and relaxation I was feeling, which isn’t a typical vibe I experience when first visiting a real estate office. Usually, there’s a frenetic energy - a mix of nervousness and excitement - with people hustling in the background trying to make their monthly quotas. Not here.

Grey County Real Estate is a peaceful place.

When I was greeted by Graciela and Eric, I learned that I was sitting in what used to be the living room of the home where Eric was raised. No wonder it felt so calm.

After our meeting, I kept bumping into people who knew both Graciela and Eric and spoke incredibly highly of them. I understood why. Not only were

they very genuine people, they were also excellent Realtors - very professional, client-focussed, and extremely communityoriented.

“Eric’s a great guy and an even better Realtor,” one person said to me. “He does a lot to give back to our community.”

As Grey County Real Estate Inc. celebrates its 10th anniversary, their reputation as a highly proficient brokerage precedes them. If you or someone you know is looking to buy or sell property in Grey County or surrounding areas, I recommend reaching out to Graciela and Eric Robertson. It’s worth the trip to Markdale.

By: Roger Tumminieri

GREY COUNTY REAL ESTATE INC. 39 Main Street East, Markdale www.greycountyrealestate.com (519) 986-2552

Familiar faces at the successful 2022 Home & Garden Show presented by the Grey Highlands Chamber of Commerce.

This July, the inaugural Plein Air Painting festival will run for four days in Walkerton, Hanover, and Durham, and all points in between. Plein air painting is simply the act of painting outdoors, which means that from Wednesday July 20 through Saturday July 24, local and visiting artists can be seen setting up easels along the Saugeen Watershed to capture the perfect landscape. They will be employing such media as acrylic, oil, and watercolour. The event will be hosted by the 28-member Saugeen Artist Guild with the support of Hanover’s Innovative Peoples Program and is open to professional, amateur and student artists. Special events for those who attend the festival include a dinner Friday night and the Sunday afternoon art show with an opportunity to meet the artists, vote for the winner of a People’s Choice Award, and even to buy one of the originals produced during the festival. There will be prizes and awards for the artists and attendees. For details about the Plein Air Festival, visit the Guild’s website at https://saugeenartistsguild.com.

Bev Morgan, one of the founding members of the Saugeen Artist Guild, has participated in plein air festivals throughout Europe over the last ten years as a watercolour artist, but it was the one she attended in Elora in 2019 that inspired her to propose it locally. The group embraced the idea, formed a steering committee of 12 artists and 7 volunteers and, in collaboration with the Hanover Cultural Roundtable, the festival was planned for 2020. The pandemic, however, had another agenda and 2022 became the inaugural year.

Like many artists, Bev came to her craft through an indirect route. In 1987, towards the end of her career as a medical lab technologist, she studied under well-known watercolourist Lin Souliere in Stratford. Over the last fifteen years as an artist, in addition to the large volume of work she has produced, largely drawn from nature, and often organized by focal themes, Bev has spent a great deal of time teaching, whether on cruise ships where she taught painting four hours daily, or through online classes to more than 7,800 students.

Her work outdoors results in a great deal of walking, which she loves. “Sometimes nothing jumps out at you,” she admits, but she still gets to be in a place that she loves. Nothing beats the moment her eye lights on a subject. “It’s that feeling, that inspiration,” she explains. Bev loves to experiment, and to try new techniques. She generally confines her efforts to watercolour, having tried oils and acrylics without the same level of satisfaction.

Every year, Bev explores a different theme while working in her studio. Past year’s subjects include musical instruments, fruit, lighthouses, and the passage of time. This year, the prevalent focus is on mushrooms. Consider driving through the countryside along the Saugeen watershed during the first-ever Plein Air Painting Festival this July. With any luck, you might come upon Bev Morgan as she attempts to capture an unusual Morel in watercolour.

KEVIN ARTHUR LAND

KEVIN ARTHUR LAND

Painting by Bev Morgan

SPEAKING VOLUMES BOOKS & AUDIO 12 Toronto Road, Flesherton kevinarthurland@gmail.com kevinarthurland.ca

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Perfectly situated atop a hill overlooking beautiful 6 acres of rolling hardwood forest is this custom-built bungalow. You’ll be splendidly surprised to find it's both cozy and charming

200 Highland Drive, West Grey

39 MAIN STREET EAST

MARKDALE 519-986-2552

Covered front porch, bright open living room, custom kitchen, dining room, 3+1 bedrooms, 4-piece bath, 3-piece ensuite, 2-piece powder room, laundry/ mudroom and family room.

Stunning mix of open space, rolling forest with trails and mature trees. The property also has two road frontages, with the second frontage at the end of the cul-de-sac and may offer potential for severance.