Great Grants Award Winners: Grey, Bruce, Huron, Perth Due to inclement weather the Mildmay Great Grants Awards event scheduled for November 22, 2007 was cancelled. Congratulations to the following Great Grants Awards recipients: • Arts and Culture: The Gairbraid Theatre Company c/o Goderich Celtic Folk Festival When people want to attend a premiere professional theatre performance, Goderich is now front and centre.   In 2005, OTF granted the Gairbraid Theatre Company $60,000 over two years to launch a new summer theatre experience. Comprised of young professionals from around the province and seasoned enthusiasts from the community, the company produced new local works and international classics. As an important component to the Goderich Celtic Folk Festival, the company also created historical walkabouts and vignettes.  Audiences enjoyed the sold out performances and tourism received a substantial boost, creating new employment and volunteer opportunities. All together, over 3,100 people attended 71 productions. Partnerships with the municipality, Huron County Museum and local heritage groups are helping to support the sustainability of the theatre.  The Gairbraid Theatre Company has proved to be a mid-summer dream in Goderich. • Sports and Recreation: Scenic City Order of Good Cheer In 1606, Samuel de Champlain established the Order of Good Cheer, to bolster flagging spirits during harsh Canadian winters. In 2005, OTF granted the Scenic City Order of Good Cheer $5,000 to create an outdoor artificial ice surface in Owen Sound’s Harrison Park. While Champlain’s Order lasted only one brutal winter, Scenic City is destine to keeping area residents cheerful for decades to come. Available for free-skates during the winter and basketball, volleyball and other sports during the off-season, the open air rink is one of the most popular sports facilities ever in the community.  This all-purpose free facility for recreational enjoyment encourages children, youth and adults who might otherwise never participate in organized sports get physically active outdoors. As the grantee noted, “It’s a joy to see different age groups using the facility, particularly grandparents and grandchildren.”  An outdoor rink and a summer sports court, accessible to all, is good reason to cheer.  • Environment: Friends of Hullet The Hullet Provincial Wildlife Area is home to a variety of ecosystems, making it a unique and enchanting nature experience for young and old. What it didn’t have was a modern environmental interpretive centre.  With the determination of the Friends of Hullet, visitors to the area can now be officially welcomed. In 2003, OTF granted the Friends $42,200 to turn a derelict building into a new and vastly improved educational centre where learning materials and programs can engage the community.  In two years, membership in the Friends of Hullet rose to 171, with almost 150 volunteers getting involved in learning activities and year-round tours of the 2,200 hectares of land. Prior to OTF funding, learning opportunities at the wildlife area were limited. Now, thanks to a little help from these friends, especially Vanessa Palmer, visitors to the Hullet Provincial Wildlife Area will fully appreciate the surrounding splendor.     • Human and Social Services: United Way of Perth County The United Way of Perth County has an exemplary reputation for its work in the community. With the help of an OTF grant of $61,000, the organization assisted and united even more not-for profit community groups, this time under one roof. In 2003, the United Way of Perth developed a multiple agency centre that lent space to small groups which would have had difficulty finding affordable space of their own. A development manager was hired to acquire further financial support and during the span of the grant, 214 grant proposals were submitted to foundations. With the increased exposure and accessibility for tenant agencies, the public became more aware of services available to them. Saving costs through shared staffing and infrastructure helped tenant agencies save money and redirect it into services. While multi-service centres are not new in urban settings, it was an innovative approach in this rural area. The United Way of Perth County is leading the way in the community.  • Grant Review Team Chair’s Award - for exemplary volunteerism: The Cairn Committee c/o Owen Sound Marine and Rail Museum Owen Sound was the northern terminus of the Underground Railway for black slaves fleeing the United States. To increase the knowledge of this local history, OTF granted $46,000 in 2004 to a moving arts project commemorating the bravery of these early settlers. An impressive cairn was sculpted by the great-granddaughter of a black slave and was placed in Harrison Park. The cairn prompted a renewed interest in this important aspect of Owen Sound’s heritage.  New volunteers participated in community projects like the Emancipation Festival, an annual black heritage event attended by blacks across North America. Art has the power to motivate. Through this stirring memorial to Owen Sound’s early settlers, the community has rediscovered its important place in Canadian history.  • 25th Anniversary Award - for remaining a leader in the not-for profit or charitable sector by consistently delivering on the Foundation’s granting priorities:  Victoria Jubilee Hall c/o Architectural Conservancy of Ontario An integral part of the Walkerton community, the Victoria Jubilee Hall has been a landmark in the region since 1897. OTF recognized the importance of this heritage building and gave three grants in 1999, 2002 and 2007 totaling $44,500, to renovate and restore the hall. Local residents fought to save the hall from demolition in 1997 when the municipal council and town clerk moved from the building. Successful in its bid to keep the wrecking ball at bay, community volunteers turned to fundraising to help with restorations. Efforts paid off and since then, the hall remains a centre for community and cultural activities. Over 20 organizations regularly make use of the facility and several have permanent residency in the hall.  Its striking 300 seat opera hall attracts top performers like Patricia O’Callaghan, Rita Chiarelli and Rik Emmett.  With early seed money from OTF and with extensive local support, this community hub and architectural gem has a new lustre.   Back to the events list