It takes a village
The Small Halls Festival, now in its second year, is a true testament to Clearview Township’s community spirit.
A pre-event media kick-off was held in Creemore Wednesday when sponsors showed off their products – mainly food and drink – and participants offered a sample of some of the entertainment that is lined up, or a reasonable facsimile.
Hall representatives dressed the part to promote the various themes and events planned during the first weekend in October.
Most halls have multiple events and activities planned, sometimes five or six, filling out the entire weekend.
There is a significant amount of resources that go into any event but this one is nine-fold.
In advance of the event, Clearview Township received $44,100 in grant money from Celebrate Ontario, a program that aims to give tourists more to see and do at Ontario’s festivals and events.
It takes a massive coordinated effort to pull off a multi-day event at nine venues spanning the entire township. There’s the administrative work, the sponsors and the army of volunteers (dubbed hallunteers) that make it happen. There must be hundreds of them putting in hours and hours to prepare for the event only to be on duty the entire weekend, setting up, serving, taking down and cleaning up, only to do it all again to get ready for the next scheduled activity. They do this because they love the halls and how they help to create a sense of community.
Past community members worked to establish and maintain the halls. Most of the work was done by volunteers back then.
It’s been said that back then if something needed to be fixed, it was done. If people wanted something to do, a dance was organized. Communities were close-knit and people were ready to pitch in.
We think this is still true, to a degree, but this community is changing with the times. As we change it is important to hold tight to those things which best reflect our past while we prepare for the future. It is nice to see the halls, the volunteers and the township working to merge the tradition of small rural gatherings with the need for economic development, community engagement and just plain fun.
Now, the only problem is that there’s so much going on that those who are volunteering can’t get to any of the other events, which is a real shame especially when they involve stand-up comedy and smoked meat.
For a full line-up of activities at all the halls, visit www.smallhallsfestival.ca.
Anyone willing to volunteer during the Small Halls Festival is asked to visit the website or contact Karen Murphy at 519-835-5243 or murphann@sympatico.ca and Karen France at 647-828-9611 or kfrance@rogers.com.
See photos of the Small Halls Ball on page 7.
