6 people who made a difference in our communities in 2014
story by Judy Janet Lees, photography by Kristie Woods & Brenden Woods
People are the cornerstone of our communities in Southern Georgian Bay, and we can lay claim to having some of the best within our midst – people who quietly but persistently champion local causes. On The Bay presents our annual salute to six of these ‘Grassroots Heroes’ – extraordinary people from various walks of life, age groups and localities who have gone ‘above and beyond’ to make a difference that will be felt in our communities for years to come. Each of these remarkable individuals humbly denies being a local hero, but their achievements speak for themselves. We should all be proud to call them our neighbours and friends.
Hella Sandberg
Theatre Champion
“Find something you love to do, and you’ll never work a day in your life.” The author of that quote could have been talking about Hella Sandberg, who has translated a 30-year professional career with Theatre Collingwood into volunteering and a post-retirement “hobby” compiling histories of arts and culture in the area. Sandberg was in charge of costumes, makeup and hair design for the now-bygone Laughing Water Festival in Meaford, then for Theatre Collingwood from 1984 until 2012. But retirement hasn’t slowed her down one whit – she now does makeup and hair design on a volunteer basis for Gaslight Community Theatre Productions, a not-for-profit amateur theatre company that got its start in 2010 with The Gaslight Tour in Collingwood. “Hair and makeup, like costumes, really support the actor,” explains Sandberg of the importance of her work. “I do all the research – if the play is about the First World War, what did hair look like? What did makeup look like back then? I try to make sure it’s as authentic as possible.” A born storyteller, Sandberg loves to talk about her years in local theatre and the many people she met along the way, some of whom went on to achieve fame on the national and international stage. “I’ve worked with a lot of wonderful people and formed a lot of wonderful relationships,” she muses. “There are a lot of stories to tell.”
Poring over these memories led her to put together a history of Theatre Collingwood, with photos and news articles compiled into binders on display at the Studio Theatre on Simcoe Street. She enjoyed this endeavour so much, she has begun researching a complete history of arts and culture in Collingwood since 1858. “Arts and culture has been shown through studies to be very important for a community’s identity as well as economically,” notes Sandberg in explaining her interest. “It just makes a better community, and that is certainly the case in Collingwood, where we are seeing such a resurgence in arts and culture. I’m all for that – I really feel that we are going back to where we were in the ‘80s with not just theatre, but all the arts.” In addition to her work on the histories and with Gaslight, Sandberg has donated her talents to other amateur theatre groups in the area, and to local high school productions and charitable events. She also regularly gives talks, seminars and lectures. A mother of three, grandmother and great-grandmother, Hella is also caregiver to her husband. So where does she find the time for so much volunteer work? “As I always say when you talk about volunteers, we do it because we’re passionate about it; you don’t find a volunteer who hates what he or she is doing. You’re passionate about it, you just want to see it happen, so you give of your time. Other people give money because they have lots of money. I don’t have lots of money, but I have a lot of myself to give.”
For more information about Gaslight Community Theatre Productions, go to www.gaslighttheatreproductions.com.
Michael McCluskey
Running Champion
Twenty years ago, Mike McCluskey was involved in sports, but “couldn’t run a kilometre without sore knees.” Now 68, he has run 15 marathons, including Boston, New York, Toronto, Detroit, Niagara Falls and Mississauga. But McCluskey doesn’t just run for fun or personal achievement – he runs for local kids. His chosen charity is the Wasaga Beach YMCA Strong Kids Campaign, which provides sponsorships for families that cannot afford the full price of children’s and family programs and camps. “They never turn anyone away, but those programs are not funded through the regular fees you pay when you go to the Y, so they need outside funding to keep those programs open to everyone,” says McCluskey, who has raised almost $7,000 over the past five years by getting local residents and organizations to sponsor his marathon runs. “I like giving back to the community in some way, and children are the future of our community.”
These days, McCluskey is “slowing down,” he says, participating in only one marathon a year. But he’s still running – and raising money – almost constantly. He organizes the annual Terry Fox Run in Wasaga Beach, which has raised almost $50,000 towards cancer research and has almost tripled participation since McCluskey took over in 2010. To help others train, whether for the Terry Fox Run or a Marathon, McCluskey leads weekly runs in Wasaga Beach for the Georgian Triangle Running Club, including a run every Sunday year-round, and a Thursday night pace run in spring and summer. As if that weren’t enough, over the past eight years he has volunteered at a running clinic put on by Beach Chiropractic, helping coach and put together training programs for beginner and intermediate runners.
His newest project is the formation of a local Team Unbreakable, offering recreational running groups to kids and teens in support of not only physical, but also mental health. “It’s been proven that exercise helps in fighting off depression and other forms of mental illness, but you don’t have to be a kid at risk to be able to benefit from the confidence and self-esteem you get from running,” explains McCluskey. Helping kids get involved in sports and recreation, helping beginners learn the joy of running, and helping runners become better, stronger, faster and healthier – it all comes down to a simple yet powerful credo for Mike McCluskey. “I can run, so that’s the skill that I use in order to give back to the community.”
For more information about the YMCA Strong Kids Campaign, go to http://ymcaofsimcoemuskoka.ca/wasaga-beach-ymca-family-camp/
Jack Marley
Labyrinth Champion
“Stroll for your soul.” That’s the vision former marketer Jack Marley has for The Collingwood Labyrinth, which will soon provide a new mind-body-spirit experience along The Collingwood Trails Network. Why a labyrinth? “It’s a quiet, contemplative space,” says Marley. “A lot of people, when you say labyrinth they think maze, but there are no tricks in a labyrinth. It’s a circular path leading to a centre space. Walking a labyrinth is very good for meditation and mindfulness.” Marley got involved with the project at the invitation of George Christie, aka “Mr. Trails” in Collingwood. Christie drummed up interest in the labyrinth, got started raising funds and formed a committee. Marley took the reins of the committee, and has helped raise awareness along with over $63,000 towards the project. He also applied for another $50,000 in Aviva funding, and the labyrinth has so far made it to the second round of the voting process Aviva applicants must undergo.
Marley, who also volunteers on the Collingwood G&M Hospital community engagement committee and Hospital Foundation board, talks about the labyrinth in terms that bring the project to life. “The design closely resembles a labyrinth that is on the floor of the Chartres cathedral near Paris,” he explains. “The area where the Collingwood Labyrinth will be is very quiet and relaxing, where the Georgian Trail and the Collingwood Trail meet near the Arboretum, so it will be accessible to everybody, and will be a great addition to the trail system.” The area will be a cell-free zone to ensure peace and tranquility, with benches surrounding the labyrinth itself. “It will give people a way to quiet the mind, recover balance, self-reflect, reduce stress and foster well-being. People walk labyrinths to give thanks, grieve, solve a problem, release fear, dream, create, exercise, resolve conflict, or just to have fun.” Ground for the 67-foot diameter circular pathway was cleared this fall at Harbourview Park, and work is expected to begin in the spring of 2015.
To find out more about the Collingwood Labyrinth, or to donate money or time, go to www.collingwoodlabyrinth.ca or www.facebook/CollingwoodLabyrinth.
Jane McCabe
Arboretum Champion
In her professional life, working in the “fast-paced, high-stress” world of finance, Jane McCabe turned to gardening as a way to feed her soul. “I always found that gardening was a great way to decompress,” she recalls. So it was natural, she says, that when she retired she chose to join the Collingwood Horticultural Society. “It was something I loved and had a passion for, and something that had nothing to do with what I had done before.”
That was nine years ago, and today McCabe is the president of the Horticultural Society, whose volunteer members are responsible for arguably the most beautiful corner of Collingwood – the Arboretum. Tucked between First Street and Georgian Bay, the Arboretum is home to more than 160 trees of over 75 different varieties, each lovingly planted and labelled with the Latin tree name, generic name and a numbering system indicating when the tree was planted and dedicated. The 5.5-acre site also boasts flower beds, benches and a pergola, all built and maintained by volunteers, and all the more impressive given that this sylvan setting was once an industrial landfill. “We really have to pay close attention to what we do and how we care for the trees, because three or four feet down there are a lot of obstacles to the tree roots, including rubble, glass and carpet remnants,” notes McCabe.
In addition to its hands-on work at the Arboretum, the Horticultural Society brings in expert speakers, organizes trips, and every Earth Day, with the help of local high school students, conducts a massive cleanup. The group funds itself through plant sales and dedications of trees and benches in the Arboretum. It’s a huge undertaking, and although the person who nominated McCabe as a Grassroots Hero noted the “hundreds of hours” she personally dedicates to making things grow in our community, McCabe is reluctant to take even a small share of the credit, quick to acknowledge the 55 members of the Horicultural Society, the part-time groundskeeper paid through donations, and ongoing support from the Town of Collingwood. “We have a wide range of people with a wide range of knowledge, and I learn so much from other people,” she enthuses, adding, “there is a lot of gratification, for ourselves, our neighbours, the community and visitors. The Arboretum gets visitors from all over the world, and I love talking to people from Germany or Japan who are just amazed that we have this.”
To find out more about the Collingwood Horticultural Society or the Arboretum, go to www.gardenontario.org/site.php/collingwood.
Jim Campbell
Small Halls Champion
Jim Campbell’s face lights up when he recalls a halcyon childhood in Duntroon, with Duntroon Hall and its surrounding park as the focal point of the community. “The park and the hall were alive,” he reminisces with a smile. “Kids running around and playing and having fun. It was the gathering place. There were picnics. And baseball games – three games a day, six days a week up until the 1990s – and the games were very much a social thing. In the hall, there were dances, and dinners, and parties, and even bowling leagues – the two-lane bowling alley is still there today.” His mother, Vira Campbell, was treasurer for over 20 years of what was then known as Nottawasaga Hall, and Jim gets choked up when he talks about the plaque in her honour that graces a large boulder in the park. “She was a great inspiration,” he says, fighting back tears. So it is that today, raising children of his own in the 1840s house that belonged to his great-grandfather, Campbell carries on his mother’s legacy in this little corner of Clearview Township. As volunteer president of Duntroon Hall for the past 15 years, he has been instrumental in ensuring that his beloved hall remains just as vibrant and just as much a gathering place as it was in his boyhood. From square dancing to family reunions, weddings, concerts, picnics and, yes, bowling, the 8,000-square-foot Duntroon Hall can be rented by any group for practically any function for a mere $450 – even though last winter’s hydro bill alone came in at a whopping $2,500 per month. So fundraising is key to ensuring the hall continues to operate. The main fundraising event for the past 15 years was the Know-it-all Ball trivia night. Until this year, with the addition of the Small Halls Festival.
Campbell was a driving force behind the first annual Small Halls Festival in October. Celebrating the eight small halls in Clearview (Station on the Green, Avening, Dunedin, Duntroon, Nottawa, Singhampton, Brentwood and Sunnidale), the unique event included music festivals, dinner theatre, art exhibits, comedy, dancing, kids’ activities and culinary events showcasing local chefs, farmers and breweries. The first of its kind in Ontario, the Small Halls Festival was a rousing success, and Campbell and his team are already working on the 2015 version. Campbell couldn’t be more thrilled that both locals and visitors are embracing and supporting the area’s small halls. “The community halls are such a great way to bring people together,” he says. “They are the heart of the community.” Asked why he devotes so much time and effort to the cause, Campbell says it must be in his blood. Then he adds, maybe that even has something to do with why he became an architectural designer. “A lot of people in architecture are a bit utopian or optimists or something,” he laughs. “We want to make everything look nicer, work better, improve, add beauty, create spaces that people can enjoy. “We want to make the world a better place.”
For more information about the Small Halls Festival, go to www.smallhallsfestival.ca.
Krista King
Lighthouse Champion
Growing up in Collingwood, Krista King has fond memories of looking out over Collingwood Harbour to the majestic Nottawasaga Lighthouse. “I’ve always loved the water,” she says – so much so that she has been an avid collector of marine and navigational history since girlhood. Today King looks across to the lighthouse and sees a travesty that needs to be rectified. Water damage and disrepair have caused the tower’s outer face to crumble and fall to the ground, and the island upon which it sits – once a nesting site for endangered birds and a popular picnic area for local families – is no longer fit for either avian or human enjoyment. The lighthouse’s former champion, the late Jim Kilgour, was King’s high school biology teacher. “When he passed away in 2012, I decided to help carry the torch and join his committee, but I quickly realized there wasn’t a committee – it was one elderly man trying to get something done.” Never one to back down from a challenge, she gathered together a group of 13 people interested in preserving the lighthouse, and set to work. Her interest in marine history came in handy. She spent months researching and combing through Kilgour’s files, where she stumbled across a petition the federal government required for any “surplus” lighthouses to be designated under the Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act. Collingwood’s lighthouse fell into this category, but by the time King found the petition there were only two weeks left before the expiry date.
“I scrambled to get more signatures, launched an online Facebook page, and managed to get the petition in on time,” she says. She has until May, 2015 to put together a five-year business plan in order to have the lighthouse designated under the act. “We’re filing to become incorporated so it will always have a preservation group there, and we’re registering as non-profit so we can apply for grants. We want to claim our lighthouse, restore it, protect it and preserve it.” The group finally got access to the lighthouse this past May, sent in engineers, and learned that while the outer damage is extensive, the inner core of the tower is structurally sound. That’s especially good news because earlier estimates had put the pricetag for repairs as high as $8 million. King says it’s looking like the actual cost will fall between $1.5 million and about $3 million – still a lot of money, but feasible with grants plus private and corporate donations. King’s passion, enthusiasm and get-it-done attitude are proving invaluable, but she is quick to point out that more people need to get on board. “We have one more chance to save this wonderful piece of marine history,” she declares.
“Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have it up and running in the next five to 10 years for all to enjoy! Not too many towns have the opportunity for such a beautiful destination place just off their shore, let alone maritime history such as this to share with its visitors and our future generations.”
To find out how you can help restore our lighthouse to its former glory, go to www.facebook.com/nottawasaga.lighthouse.
