Community Hero by Anna Proctor
North Simcoe Life’s Social Media Manager: Hillary Handy
In 2026, as part of our 20th anniversary year, we will be showcasing the folks on the North Simcoe Life team as our Community Heros. Last issue, we featured our photographer, Deb Halbot. This month, we present Hillary Handy, our Social Media Manager.
A self-confessed Type A, Hillary is, no other word for it, a dynamo. She gets more done in one day than most people do in a week and her self-deprecating and humorous attitude about her superpowers just make us love her even more.
Hillary first got involved with North Simcoe Life in April 2021, when she approached Anna about an idea for a column, The Toddler Tourist. She did such a bang-up job with that, Anna asked if she would be interested in writing about Warminster, the town she and her family live in, as well.
From there, her involvement expanded into NS Life’s social media. Anna had been struggling with it and knew it needed to be better, and that there was a lot of untapped potential there. in desperation, she reached out to Hillary, wondering if she had any interest.
As luck would have it, social media is Hillary’s “jam”. She loves doing it and is very good at it. Anna felt like she had won the lottery…something she feels every day when she reflects upon the NS Life team!
Since Hillary took over NS Life’s social media, we have more than quadrupled our followers, we post way way more, and we are a big part of people’s social media day…updating community members of NS Life content, local events, school bus cancellations, and lots more. It’s another way we can help community members and organizations, we love that we can do it…and we love that Hillary does it for us.
All of the things that Hillary does for us are a teeny tiny fraction of the things she does in her day-to-day life. These days, she is a busy mom of two kids, Dottie (10), and Weston (8). She somehow attends Lakehead University full-time, and will graduate with her Bachelor of Education degree this spring. She volunteers at Bob Rumball Camp for the Deaf and the Orillia Thrift Store, as well as her kids’ school’s Parent Council.
She does our social media as well as Bob Rumball’s and Speaking of Wildlife. She writes for The Villager magazine. She works as an Educational Assistant at Warminster Public School whenever she can. She is fluent in sign language and has a certificate in Autism and Behavioural Sciences from Georgian College. Her social media posts and videos are the bomb. She is an awesome wife, sister, daughter, and friend. She stays close with her friends and family. And we don’t know how she does it all!
Hillary and her family moved to Warminster in 2020, a pandemic move. Family members were already up here, and it was a chance to be closer, support each other, and enjoy a more rural way of life. It was a good move for her family, Hillary says. They love the local school, the beauty of the area, and of course she loves the chance to get involved with community organizations like ours.
“I just love what North Simcoe Life does for the community,” she reflects. “I think it’s an amazing publication, and I am proud to be a part of it. We have such a great team, and I really love our time together and how we are involved in the community in so many ways.”
For all of the ways Hillary supports our publication and her community, we salute her as this month’s Community Hero. We are lucky to have you as part of our community, Hillary!