Bob Family Travel changing hands, but dreams will still come true

The ownership of long-running Toronto travel agency Bob Family Travel is stepping back but not stepping away.

Pat Probert told a Friday Toronto gathering that he and partner Mary de Almeida have sold their TravelOnly agency to London, Ont., residents Craig and Marcia White but will remain on staff.

“We’re not going anywhere…,” an at times visibly emotional Probert told a large gathering of agency staff, clients and suppliers.

“We love making (travel) dreams come true.”

Probert used the event to thank Bob Family Travel staff, its suppliers and its clients. “You guys mean the world to us.”

Bob Family Travel staff in turn have been “our rock,” he continued.

de Almeida in turn told the audience that she and Probert weren’t “saying goodbye…We’re going to stay until they tell us to leave…”

“You can’t get rid of us,” she joked.

And de Almeida also thanked those who have booked Bob Family Travel: “You guys aren’t our clients. You’re our friends.”

The Whites in turn praised Probert and de Almeida, with Craig saying, “You’ve been a mentor, a true force in the travel community, ” adding they’re a “very tough act to follow. ”

Marcia in turn labelled them an “inspiration.”

The evening also had event attendees hear about Ontario-based animal rescue group Rainbow’s Bridge Animal Rescue, which works with Bob Family Travel. Its work includes finding homes for stray animals and arranging health care for them.

The project describes itself as a “safe haven for abandoned, abused, neglected, euthanasia-listed animals” and works to bridge the “gap from suffering to loving, forever families” and was named after Rainbow, the only survivor of a kitten litter who died from cancer a little more than a year later.

Rainbow’s Bridge Animal Rescue welcomes volunteer assistance and donations.

More information can be found at rainbowsbridgeanimalrescue.com

In the photo

Seen here at the Friday event are Pat Probert, Mary de Almeida,  Marcia White and Craig White.