By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
Majors Dan and Wendy Broome have succeeded Major Michael and Carolyn Simpson in service to the local Salvation Army community.
The Simpsons have gone on to service in Peterborough after six years, with the Broomes moving here from Moose Jaw, Sask.
An officer for 30 years, Dan Broome said in an interview this week that he has spent most of his life in Toronto, except for time in Belleville as a child, a short stint in Bermuda and his four years in Moose Jaw – a town he said is just a little bigger than Cobourg.
New postings are particularly challenging during a pandemic, he said, “but we’re doing the best we can under extremely difficult circumstances.”
The Broomes knew last April they would be moving to this area, and a typical year would see transfers taking place in July. They were unable to arrive until mid-August, he said.
“So we hit the ground running.”
Their arrival came just before this year’s Coat For Kids campaign began. Now that it is winding down, the Christmas appeal is booting up.
But their new home community is a place they have admired for a long time. Broome described the trips he and his wife made from Toronto to see her family in Picton – they always made a point of getting off Highway 401 and on to County Road 2 in Port Hope.
Broome’s stepfather, an avid angler, had taken him to see the salmon jump, so there were always wonderful memories to associate with the area. And the Broomes were always thinking they should stop and look around a little more.
“It’s good to be here,” he declared.
“It feels like home.”