Co-Chairs for 64^th annual campaign.  Tony and Emily (Durbin) Walsh – and their son Harrison – were named as Co-Chairs in a brief “Pass The Flag” ceremony by 2010 Co-Chairs Stacey Devolder and Bill Weaver.

 Emily Durbin:

Emily grew up in Prince Albert Saskatchewan.  Her hobbies included swimming, camping and anything to do with animals – including volunteering at the humane society.  Emily worked as a lifeguard, swimming and first aid instructor. She moved to Regina studying at the University of Regina for her Bachelor of Science in Biology and working at the Regina Humane Society. Soon she was splitting her time between research field assistant duties for the biology department and volunteer tasks at a local veterinary clinic and llama farm.

Soon after meeting Tony they adopted a cat, two dogs and a salamander. In 1998 the couple married and the following year Emily completed her undergraduate degree. They moved to Saskatoon and Emily began studying Veterinary Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan.

They spent four years in Saskatoon.  Emily completed her degree, continued her amphibian field research, and spent a great deal of time at small animal practices in Saskatoon and in Calgary. She also shadowed pathologists at the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park.

In 2003 Emily graduated with her Doctor in Veterinary Medicine and the couple decided to move to Chatham.  Emily was initially attracted to the area by the remarkable veterinary team at the Chatham Kent Veterinary Professional Corporation, which includes the Wallaceburg Animal Hospital, Chatham Kent Veterinary Hospital, Chatham South Animal Hospital, Blenheim Veterinary Hospital and South Ridge Veterinary Clinic.

Once in Chatham the friendly community, relaxed lifestyle and central location helped them decide to settle here.

Eight years later and Emily is still very passionate about Veterinary medicine.  Most days she can be found at the South Ridge Veterinary Clinic.  She also does emergency and relief work in Chatham.  Her interests include dog and cat medicine and surgery as well as pocket pets (rabbits, guinea pigs etc…) and birds.  She is also trained in Veterinary Chiropractic and continues to attend courses and conferences regularly.

Emily’s hobbies and interests include their 15-year-old cat, Clover, and Creedo the Basset Hound. She is interested in Tae Kwon Do, cooking, entertaining and travelling.  In addition to Caribbean holidays the couple has travelled to England, Scotland and Australia.

In March 2010 Emily and Tony welcomed their son, Harrison.  He has been a tremendous source of joy, laughter and pride, growing ever bigger and ever busier. Harrison also has the ‘travel bug’ and has accompanied his parents on many trips within Canada and to exotic destinations.

Tony Walsh:

Tony was born in Regina, Saskatchewan and is the eldest of 5 children. Growing up in a large family made it easy for Tony to learn the importance of family, faith, and community involvement. Tony’s parents made it an important part of their children’s routine to volunteer their time for community and charity events in Regina.

After meeting, and then marrying Emily, Tony and Emily moved to Saskatoon.  While Emily completed her schooling to become a veterinarian, Tony started his career with TD Canada Trust. He enjoyed the rewards that came from helping people manage their money and from knowing he was making a significant and important impact.

The couple moved to Chatham-Kent and Tony has held a number of progressive roles within TD Canada Trust including Branch Manager of the St. Clair Street Branch in Chatham.  Currently Tony is the Area Manager for Business Banking in Western Ontario and covers all Branches in Chatham-Kent, Lambton, Essex and Leamington.

In the last 8 years Tony has been involved with a number of charities and non-profit organizations. He is a current Board member on the TD Friends of the Environment Foundation Chatham-Kent Board and a director with the Chatham-Kent Chamber of Commerce.  Tony is involved with the YMCA Strong Kids program – fundraising committee -and is the current Executive Board Treasurer with United Way of Chatham-Kent.

Since the birth of their son, Tony is looking forward to sharing his own love for reading comic books, playing video games, and practicing martial arts with little ‘Harry’.

For information on how YOU can assist Tony and Emily with this year’s UWOCK Annual Campaign please email david@uwock.ca call (519) 354-0430 or visit www.uwock.ca.

David Drouillard, Assistant Executive Director and Director Resource Development at david@uwock.ca  (519) 354-0430.