Connection and community: those are not just words for Teresa and Mike Bell of JB Printing. To these County natives, they are sentiments that go deeper than the County soil.

Both Bells grew up in the County. They built their home here and raised their children here. Her family’s work at a feed mill in Consecon instilled the strong ties of Teresa’s love of farming and the connection to agriculture. Today’s produce is “not oats and barley anymore but grapes” she notes, but she feels we need to “continue to honour” the local agricultural based community. “It’s important to me and it always should be in the County.”

As owners of JB Printing in Trenton, the Bells provide companies with commercial printing and lithography. During off-hours, the Bell’s hearts, hands and feet are in giving to the community. This past July, JB Printing sponsored the “Sarcoma Step and Fetch,” a fun walk, bake sale and BBQ to raise awareness for Sarcoma. Teresa is personally too familiar with this soft-tissue and bone cancer.

When the Bells were approached to sponsor TASTE! a celebration of regional cuisine, they became enthusiastic endorsers of the event. Teresa shares that she “likes the gathering of community, the mingling, the cooking, the preparing, the interactions and connections.” She wants to encourage how TASTE! brings together “everyone from grower, supplier, preparer and purchaser” under one roof.

Connection and community mean something else to Teresa. In her words, they’re about “recognizing our need for each other. There are no drop outs.”

~Ineke HS Guadagnin