Barbara Lester with her husband John, were very involved with the introduction of the local ambulance service to the Mazinaw Lake area. This was accomplished by their starting a first response team known locally as the Northern Emergency Organization. It consisted of over 50 people to act on first aid needs in various locales prior to the ambulance arriving, having been summoned from Parham, Ontario, an hour away. They built and ran Lester Marina, at the foot of Lake Mazinaw for many years and selling to Barb & Jim Smart around 1965. Barbara was a poet and business person. Bridge and the Historical Society were important parts of their lives.