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, and the position is currently held by Catherine Groot.

The TIIAA hosted the OIAA Out of Town Meeting in 1999 and looking forward to hosting another Out of Town Meeting in a 2009. In 2005, the chapter began to work with the local brokers association in hosting events, to provide for larger venues and a closer insurance community. Today our membership numbers continue to grow and we continue to hold either lunch or evening meetings on the third Thursday of every month.