Council invests $31,000 in centennial events

A St. Jean Baptiste Festival centennial coin is one of a dozen projects that were approved for centeenial grant funding Tuesday night.
By MorinvilleNews.com Staff

Morinville – Residents and visitors will have a wide range of activities to participate in during Morinville’s centennial year, now that council has approved $31,000 in spending to help a number of community groups bring their centennial ideas to reality.

Council chambers were packed Tuesday evening for the first intake of applications for Morinville’s Community Grants Program, a purse that was increased to $100,000 for the Town’s centennial year.

Thirteen applications were presented at the Jan. 11 meeting and council approved all but one of the applications. Decision on the thirteenth (an historically-themed baseball tournament) was tabled until the Jan. 25 meeting of council so that the presenters would be able to clarify some questions about the event’s budget.

In total, Town Council approved $31,415 in grant funding Tuesday night, money that will support a dozen community events and initiatives whose budgets tally $193,089.

“I think it’s a pretty good investment in the community,” said Mayor Lloyd Bertschi at the conclusion of the grant approvals, noting the amount of money being spent by the town was a fraction of what the local groups were investing to bring their projects and initiatives to life during the Town’s centennial year.

Three of the 11 events approved for grant funding are events familiar to area residents, but events that are looking to add an historical element in 2011. Council approved $3,000 to support the Tour de l’Alberta, which is looking to add an historical route for children this year, $5,000 to the Morinville and District Ag Society to support the annual Tearin’ Up the Turf bull riding event and another $2,500 to support their annual Community Easter Egg Hunt.

While some events will be familiar events dressed up in historical garb, council approved funding for many new events, some of which will have a specific historical flavour.

Council approved a $5,000 request from the Friends of the Morinville Library Society to help fund a theatrical performance called 100 Years of Stories. The event will employ professional actors who will take oral histories of Morinville from local seniors, crafting them into a play to be performed for the public.

The Morinville Historical Society was granted $1,750 to help fund a re-enactment of the formation of the Town of Morinville on Apr. 18, 1911. The event is scheduled to take place 100 years to the day Morinville became a town.

The Royal Canadian Legion was awarded $1,300 to host a 1911 Celebration Dinner for Morinville’s seniors and the Morinville Minstrels were granted $1,370 to help them host the 32nd Senior Choir Festival, an event that will have the choirs singing songs from the era when Morinville became a town.

The St. Jean Baptiste Festival Committee was granted $3,020 to produce a commemorative coin for Morinville’s centennial, which the committee is looking to sell at this year’s expanded festival.

But not all the funding had a specific historical flavour. The Morinville Fish and Game Association was granted $2,000 to help fund educational displays and interpretive signage around the Fish and Game Pond, a legacy project that would allow the group to display information on the plants, animals and birds commonly seen around the pond and in the region.

Additionally, the Morinville Community High School will receive $1,500 to help fund an art show to be called The Town of Morinville: Growing Up in a Rural Community. The event is set to take place in the fall of 2011 during Alberta Art Days.

Sports events were also a part of the first intake of grant funding. The Morinville Mavericks Fun Team was granted $2,475 to help cover the costs of a CFCW Critters Vs. Morinville Jets Alumni game set to take place Feb. 17. Additionally, the Morinville Minor Hockey Association was approved for $2,500 to help cover costs of their Love of the Game Novice Tournament to be held this March.

A $5,000 request from the Sturgeon Victim Services Association to hold a Morinville Centennial Wooden Bat Tournament in May was tabled until the next meeting of council so councillors could get some clarification on a budget item regarding the serving of alcohol.

The deadline for the second round of centennial grant funding is March. Council is set to review the next round of grant requests at its April meeting.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

2 Comments

  1. These are great ideas! I love the historic baseball idea. Also the high school art show will be amazing because they have a wonderful art program there.

  2. Lots of good activities for a change, hope there are more. One thing I hope Council is rectifying this year is the total absence of CANADA DAY festivities, the most important day for CANADIANS. I certainly hope this was an oversite on the town of Morinville last year and will not be repeated this year! I know many citizens were extremely upset that so much effort was put into the St Jean Batiste Festival and Canada’s birthday was completely ignored last year!

Comments are closed.