Newcomers is a regular series featuring the impressions and experiences of residents who are new to Newmarket. To share your story, send an email to [email protected]
Rachael Bozzetto has lived in Toronto for almost the entirety of her life.
The 27-year-old said she wanted to work in funeral homes as a funeral director. The reputation of Newmarket’s Roadhouse and Rose prompted Bozzetto to seek a job with them — which she managed to achieve.
After spending a couple of years working for them while living in Toronto, she decided to take the plunge in July 2023 to move out of Toronto for the first time in her life.
“The commute back and forth was a bit much,” she said. “I got tired of living in the city. It was a bit too hectic for me post-COVID. I want to have a bit more of a small-town experience, with accessibility to the city.”
Bozzetto has lived in the Newmarket downtown area since that time. After a rocky beginning — she got into a car accident on her first commute to work — she said she has found the community to be a great one.
“I like how much activities there are to do here, especially at Riverwalk Commons. I think that’s pretty interesting,” she said. “I like that everyone on Main Street knows each other.”
Bozzeto was born and raised in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto. She studied at York University and Ryerson University, before getting into retail management. She decided to change paths and enrol in Humber College’s funeral service education program in 2020.
Bozzetto said she wanted to be a funeral director for a long time. Joining Roadhouse and Rose was a positive experience for her, she said.
“It’s family-owned. The staff are really nice, really caring. We get good feedback from the community. It’s nice to be a funeral director and be a person at the same time,” she said. “It’s nice to be able to be friendly and actually engage with families.”
It was a little frightening to move somewhere new, she said. But now that she has adjusted, she added that accessibility to Toronto has become less of a priority.
“It’s nice that I can still go back to the city pretty easily, but I find myself not needing to,” she said. “Everything I need is here really.”
After a few months of Newmarket, she said she sees a future here.
“I’d like to stay here,” she said. “It’s a really nice and interesting community, so I’m glad that I moved here.”