Getting Settled Near Dunnville

Maitland Shores does not yet have regular weekly activities organized to the extent that they had them at Silver Dove Estates or Tucson Meadows for that matter. At Maitland Shores most of the activities are for the kids, like wagon rides and games. On long weekends they have a pot luck dinner (where the owners provide the main protein and a side) and live band one of the nights and fire works if appropriate.  My first full weekend there was the May 24th weekend, the official start to the summer in Ontario. The meal was to feature hot dogs and hamburgers. I arrived on time, the others arrived fashionably late (about 30 minutes.) I met a couple of seasonal campers, but generally the group weren't that welcoming/friendly. 

With a home base and golf membership taken care of I began to check out what else Dunnville had to offer.  I went to town and found the local library branch. They have 4 computers you can use, WiFi throughout (useful as the campground doesn't have any, and with my phone plan I am supposed to be limited to 1GB per month of roaming, which Dunnville is considered, but in reality I am able to use more), lots of materials available to borrow, including a good selection of movie and TV series on DVD's, which would come in handy because over the antenna I wasn't getting a very wide selection of TV channels. I found a study carol, in a well windowed corner with a power outlet nearby. This pretty much became my spot. 

At the library I saw postings for other events in the area like church run fundraising dinners and charity bingo games (Tuesdays and Fridays at the Optimists Club.) 

I visited the local Chamber of Commerce where they provided me with a welcome package (a handbook listing business and services in town) and a copy of the weekly local paper called The Sachem.  Through the paper I learned about a Euchre game in the nearby town of Lowbanks on Monday nights. By playing at Lowbanks, the other Euchre aficionados put me on the the games on Wednesday nights at the Dunnville Legion and the last Saturday afternoon of the month at the Presbyterian Church. 

Dunnville is a big enough town, population around 6,000, that it has enough stores and restaurants to meet the majority of my needs, though the locals I met often spoke of making trips into Hamilton to shop, to me that was a little farther than I was interested in going just for shopping, but also shopped when I would go to Hamilton to visit my brother. There is certainly more in Dunnville than there was last summer in close proximity to my campground in Appin, Ontario. There is a Canadian Tire, a large Home Hardware, a couple of drug stores, Liquor and Beer Stores, Sobeys, Food Basics and Giant Tiger. In the downtown there are quite a few small boutique types stores and several banks.  A local coffee shop, trying to be like Starbucks, a Tim Horton's, a McDonalds, a Subway, two Chinese restaurants, two Pubs, several Canadian style family restaurants, one upscale restaurant, one Italian restaurant and several pizza places, a couple of fish and chip shops. There are government offices for drivers licenses and health cards, police and fire departments. A very safe feeling and easily habitable place, without traffic jambs

My typical weekly schedule while in Dunnville would be:
Monday morning Mixed Seniors Golf
Monday evening Euchre in Longbanks
Tuesday evening Bingo occasionally.
Wednesday evening Euchre at the Legion.
Last Saturday afternoon of the month Euchre at the Presbyterian Church. 
The other days of the week I would play golf, go cycling and go out for dinner occasionally. 
When I needed to go into town for groceries or other activities, I would generally visit the library for an hour or two.