History of The Thousand Islands Insurance Adjusters Association:

Meetings involving Kingston, Brockville and Belleville adjusters occurred as early as the 1970's. Rick York of York and Associates, who has been researching our chapter history reports that the early meetings, which were apparently loose-knit, took place every month. The executive consisted of a number of insurance adjusters and associate members, including auto appraisers, independent adjusters, and private investigators.

Don James, formerly of Holloway Stevens, moved to the Kingston area in 1980. At that time, the Kingston Adjusters Association was not affiliated with the OIAA. Don became president of the association. Meetings were held at Zorbas and at the Ambassador Hotel in Kingston, on Thursday evenings. However, the association simply fizzled out sometime in the late 1980s.

In 1995, Deb Smith-O'Dell formed a committee with Don James, Elaine Dorey, and Steve Martin, former OIAA president. Their intention was to see if there was enough interest to restart the association and join the OIAA as a chapter. They applied for a charter in 1995, and the Thousand Islands Insurance Adjusters Association was approved in September 1995. The 1995 executive consisted of the following: Deb Smith-O'Dell, president, Elaine Dorey, vice-president, Don James, secretary, Steve Martin, treasurer, and Cathy MacDonald, OIAA delegate.

It is our understanding that Debbie Smith-O'Dell was president from 1995 to 2000. The position was held by Bob Bain from 2000 to 2001, Rick York from 2001 to 2004, Rose Mutch from 2004 to 2005, Eric Colson from 2005 to 2006, Catherine Groot 2006 to 2008, Eric Colson 2008 to 2009 and Elizabeth Conboy 2009 to present.

The TIIAA hosted the OIAA Out of Town in 1999 holding the majority of the conference at Fort Henry in Kingston. The Provincial Conference returned to Kingston in 2009 and was the first conference to be held at the brand new K-Rock Centre in Downtown Kingston. Today our membership numbers continue to grow and we continue to hold lunch meetings on the third Thursday of every month. Like most OIAA chapters our largest social gatherings are the annual golf tournament in September and the curling Bonspiel in March.