Ray Rivers was seen pontificating with a bunch of Burlington Liberals Saturday morning before he headed into Toronto for the Liberal Party of Canada Showcase where the six candidates running for the leadership of the party were giving their final speeches. We asked Ray to give us a first person report on the event. Ray, still with a belly full of fire for politics, reports:
 By Ray Rivers.
TORONTO,ON. April 9, 2013 I could feel the mood as I descended the stairs from old Union Station to the near vacuous bowel of a structure, that is the Toronto Convention Centre. Trudeau volunteers were everywhere, waving their skinny balloons, and making rallying noises. They were mostly young people, which was so delightful to see. The woman on the TV the night before, told us the Liberals would have trouble filling the seats at this event, and she was right. The rows of seats were dispersed as best they could to disguise that the attendance was not what had been hoped.
At $150. per ticket, for which didn’t even get a bottle of water, let alone coffee and a doughnut, the low turnout was not a surprise but a disappointment. There was this overly lengthy tribute to departing interim leader Bob Rae – sure, he deserves recognition, but hey, I thought we were coming to listen to the candidates. Then the organizers allowed twenty-five minutes for each of the butt-numbing speeches. They were all good, of course, though I have to admit that I ran off to an ad hoc meeting and missed the last two speeches. But then, like the rest of the crowd there, I was pretty sure that it wouldn’t matter. Somebody in the Party needs to take a serious look at how they plan these events.
Joyce Murray had the most effective video and gave a very good speech. She cautiously and slowly walked the crowd through her vision of co-operating with the NDP and Greens in order to beat Harper at the polls next time. But it is a complicated matter, and so innovative, that I doubt some of the regular folks got it – or felt comfortable with it. Joyce spoke of her commitment to small business and the environment and I couldn’t help thinking what a brilliant environment minister she would make in the next Liberal government.
 The country watched as another Trudeau headed towards the leadership of a political party Then came Justin, with a huge gaggle of groupies, Trudeau scarves casually around their necks, clapping their skinny balloons and chanting, as their hopeful gracefully climbed onto the stage and proceeded to inspire everyone with his speech. He was confident and positive and delivered his well-written speech with passion and power. Knowing the question was in everyone’s mind he commented about his father, saying that his campaign was about Pierre, then added just as it was about all of the parents (of the younger of us, I guess) – that it was about restoring Canada to the glory days before Stephen Harper screwed it up. Perhaps he was just anticipating the Tory attack-ads coming the Monday following the vote count, but it certainly struck a chord with me – nice twist on a theme.
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON April 8, 2013 When Murray Hogarth was named Burlington’s Entrepreneur of the Year in 2010, he was inducted into the Economic Hall of Fame by himself. This year the Burlington Community Foundation named Murray and his wife Diana as the Philanthropists of the year – they will be celebrated at the Masquerade Ball in October.
Murray Hogarth is the founder and President of Pioneer Energy, Canada’s largest independent gas station chain.
 Murray Hogarth, president Pioneer Group and Burlington’s Philanthropist of the year. “Diana and Murray Hogarth, their family, and their corporation, Pioneer Energy, exemplify all this award represents including consistent and significant giving over a number of years and sectors, illustrating outstanding community leadership and volunteerism. We truly look forward to celebrating the Hogarth’s philanthropy at our Masquerade Ball.” says Colleen Mulholland, President and CEO, Burlington Community Foundation.
Established in 1999 by a group of local volunteers and philanthropists to improve the quality of life in Burlington, Burlington Community Foundation gives grants, collaborates with donors to build endowments, and connects community leadership. For Masquerade Ball tables, tickets or to become a Proud Supporter, contact Sandra Baker, sbaker@burlingtonfoundation.org, 905 639 0744 x 223.
 By Pepper Parr
 No one knows how many times this vote button was pushed. Often enough to bring $20,000 to Burlington. BURLINGTON, ON April 5, 2013 Goderich managed to get more votes for themselves than Burlington and they get the $100,000 Kraft – The Games Goes On award – but Burlington was most definitely in the race and will be given a $20,000 award for the Burlington Lions Optimist Minor Hockey Association (BLOMHA)
John McNeil was the Burlington “poster boy” for this feat when Kristen Priestner nominated him as the “manager extraordinaire” and that got McNeil in as a finalist.
The contest, which was open to any community in the country that ran a minor hockey team that met the Hockey Canada criteria, was based on nominations that came in from individual communities. The country was broken out into five regions, with Ontario being one of them Once all the nominations from each region were in, Kraft narrowed down the list to five from each Region. Burlington was up against Goderich, Lakefield, Cornwall and Stittsville.
Just over 18 months ago Goderich got hit with a major hurricane that tore apart the centre of that city – the community had to pull together and that experience would have had them well-oiled for the Kraft – The Game Goes On contest.
The selection was based on “votes” but these were not like the usual vote – in this game a person could vote as many times as they wanted and for whoever they wanted. All you had to do was log in click the vote button, key in the code to ensure that you were a human being and not some computer out there dialing in. Then all the user had to do was click on the vote button.
And then did it all over again until your were numb with exhaustion.
 There it was – proof positive that BLOMHA was in the winner’s circle. No one knows yet what the individual counts were for each community – the total for the country was reported at 750,000 which seems quite low.
Dirk Wolterbeek from Goderich, Ontario, received the most votes and is being recognized today with a $100,000 award to the Goderich Minor Hockey Association. The other four inspiring Ontarians earning a $20,000 award for their selected minor hockey associations include Mike Goble from Lakefield, Rod McLeod from Cornwall, John McNeil from Burlington and Cathy Bureau from Stittsville.
Burlington’s nominee, known as a “Manager Extraordinaire,” John McNeil was described by his nominator, Kristen Priestner “as going above and beyond for the Major Atom A Burlington Bulldogs. Whether fundraising, coordinating tournaments, hosting the Parents’ Christmas Social or organizing this year’s Ontario Hockey Federation Playoffs, McNeil is the heart and soul of his team.”
 As we reported on this event during the two-day race to get as many votes as possible – the picture that told the story for us was this one. The kids are focused and just clicking away. That guy in the middle is going to be playing the game – real soon. The voting started at 9:00 am last Saturday and other than a small hiccup at the start it went smoothly. Burlington parents were involved in their hockey end of season games. Besides driving to London twice and getting their kids out to two games in Burlington this band of parents had to hustle anyone they knew with a keyboard to dial in and vote.
 Working from a “hot spot” on the 401 and a cell phone – these “bulldogs” managed to vote frequently. “We used a cell phone to find a “hot spot” on the 401 and had kids on-line via the cell phone to vote as a parent drove” explained McNeil.
The winners of awards were announced Monday night during a Flyers -Canadiens game (Montreal lost which was not a good sign) and Kraft announced the $100,000 winner for Ontario – Goderich.
 Well – they certainly no where their bread is buttered. A $20,000 prize tends to pull smiles like this. This is the BLOMHA core that made the award possible – there are probably a couple of bodies that didn’t make it. I want to know – which one is Kristen Priestner? For fans – it is all about the game and $20,000 is nothing to sneeze at. McNeil who doesn’t control the award does expect the BLOMHA executive to use the funds to defer fees for kids who can’t afford to play and to buy equipment for those who need better than what their families can afford.
The core team did gather at McNeil’s house to watch the results – “it was a school night and we had practice last night, practice tomorrow, all the parents are going to a community fundraiser Friday night and we have a game Saturday…. Busy busy.” And they still managed to bring home $20,000 worth of bacon.
McNeil hopes Kraft releases the numbers. “we would like to see how we fared against the other communities – it will give us a sense of where our strength is and where we can improve”, said McNeil. Ever the analyst – he wants data.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. April 1, 2013 You will see the T-shirt first.
517 People. 25 Vendors. 344 Comments. 158 Photos. What Next?
Indeed – what next. James Burchill has managed to take an idea and use Social Media to build an audience and a network into something that approaches 2000 people. He is a shameless self-promoter. His events are described by him as “epic”. He emails like the service was going to end tomorrow but this guy managed to get more than 500 people out to an event at the Performing Arts Centre to just network. The bar prices were on the high-end and the selection was limited but the people were there and the door prizes were good and the Mayor said nice things about what he was doing. That was enough for James Burchill this time out.
 Business in Burlington is all about business cards which identify the more than 2000 people who are part of a unique collection of people who meet once a month. Burchill runs the Business in Burlington (BiB) “Meet Up”. It is what is says it is – a place for people to meet and talk business. It’s not a place to find the man or woman of your life or even for the next weekend. Certainly not a singles set up.
The way we relate, the paths we walk along to get where we want to go, the people we meet and then choose to meet are all part of the way the society we live in works. We organize ourselves into groups; it used to be Scouts and Girl Guides but those organizations didn’t keep up with the needs of families and the pedophilia within the Boy Scouts certainly didn’t help that crowd.
We join golf and country clubs, or a book study group; maybe the Chamber of Commerce or the YMCA. New organizations come into existence to meet new needs.
 They didn’t fill every square foot but there were certainly enough of them to create a buzz. The display tables on the mezzanine were very busy. Burlington has one of those unique situations where there are four Rotary Clubs – each meeting the needs of different groups of people. Many people use Rotary as a touch point and refer frequently to their fellow Rotarians. It is almost as if you have to belong to the Rotary to be real.
Sports is a big part of family life in this city. We put athletics ahead of scholarship and are relentless when it comes to funding events in the community with galas and gatherings.
In Burlington the Chamber of Commerce , which is fairly described as the mainline business organization, has committees and represents the commercial sector. BiB doesn’t do any representing nor does it seem to involve itself with the larger community.
Is this the direction Social Media is taking us in?
The ‘mini-trade show at the Performing Arts Centre was such a success for Burchill that he has already booked the date for the next such event – March 20th, 2014.
The last one went so well that Burchill is holding an event at which he will tell you how he pulled it off – he says he is prepared to tell you about what worked; what didn’t work and the mistakes along the way.
Here’s how Burchill shills for this event:
Finally, when you pull off an event this big on your own, people begin to wonder how you did it. A couple of popular questions are: How do you keep growing the networks? How do you get such high engagement and turn-out?
Would you be interested in attending a private presentation about this event and how I put it together, how I marketed it, the tools I used, the strategies I deployed and so on?
I’ll take you behind the scenes and show you the successful parts … and the screw ups (there were a couple of good ones!) It’ll be a candid experience and one I think will open your eyes to the marketing power of local networking events.
You can let me know here:
 Networking – right. It was an “epic” event for Burchill. So good that he is going to do it again next year. He promotes: shamelessly, consistently, a little outside the Burlington character but his people love him and they tend to leave satisfied and plan on returning.
Burchill has moved his monthly event from the Waterfront Hotel to Ivy on the South Service Road. Next time up is this Wednesday 5 to 7 pm. It is certainly a nice location and the parking is free. It will be “fabulous” when they are out on the patio.
Business in Burlington – if you want to know how to exploit Social Media to its fullest – listen to Burchill.
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON March 29, 2013 The nominations for Burlington’s Best awards are in, and in just six weeks the winners will be revealed at a gala event – Thursday, May 9, 2013 at 6:30 p.m. at the Burlington Convention Centre,
The 2013 gala event is proud to welcome local blogger and unabashed promoter of Burlington, Trent Schwartz, as the keynote speaker.
Keith Strong, chairman of the nominating committee is pleased with the buzz building around Burlington’s Best awards,.
“With an impressive group of nominees, the new look of the awards and an exciting ceremony coming, we think this year’s awards will help raise awareness of the importance of volunteering in the community. These nominees all help make Burlington a better place for all of us.”
Awards will be given for the following seven categories:
Citizen of the Year
Junior Citizen of the Year
Arts Person of the Year
Seniors Person of the Year
Community Service Award
Environmental Award
Heritage Award, this is a new category for Burlington.
This year’s nominees are:
Susan Busby, Mary Dilly, Joey Edwardh, Ancilla Ho-Young, Jane Irwin, Bev Jacobs, Ross Kay, Morgan Muscat, Robert Narejko, Noah Parker, Amy Schnurr, Joe Veitch
All award winners will be announced at the event.
 Civic Award winners last year; from the left: Michelle Bennett, Sam Kawazoye, Trevor Copp, Mayor Goldring (he won the election) Wendy Hager, Dan Taylor and Jim Frizzle The Planning Committee is composed of 10 voting members, including: 6 citizens from the community, and 4 representatives from media and information agencies.
Tickets to this event are $35 per person; a table of the 10 sells for $280. The event includes a light buffet and cocktail reception. Tickets are available from the clerks department at City Hall, 426 Brant St. or by contacting Roxanne Gosse at 905-335-7600, ext. 7855 or Roxanne.gosse@burlington.ca
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON March 28, 2013 Bob Jurk, currently a Senior Project leader in the Engineering department, remembers the day when he put the actual clock fixture into the Burlington Blue cast iron structure that has been standing outside city hall since 1999.
 John Bouwman is said to be the person who decided that Burlington needed a clock outside city hall and he knew just the kind of clock the city needed. That was the starting point for the clock that has been on location since 1999. One of the reasons we made this picture as large as we did is because of the reflection in the shop window. You can see the Google car driving by and photographing every street of every city in North America. Look closely and you can see the camera mounted atop the car.  They are going to lift the clock off its base and get it into the shop for a check up. The clock has been in place since 1999 – and has apparently never missed a beat. Keith Strong remembers too how people in the community came together to get the clock in place. John Bouwman, operator of the Clockmaker on John Street, is said to be the person who came up with the idea and Mrs. Carol Wardle of Wardle Insurance offered a generous contribution and before you knew it – the clock was a done deal. All it took was the typical Keith Strong, roll up your sleeves and get it done approach, and close to fifteen years later that clock is out for a fix up.
It’s going to take a couple of weeks to complete the job of refurbishing the device – so if you are depending on the sound of the chimes to get to work on time – leave home a little earlier.
The clock was installed in 1999 to commemorate the 125th anniversary of Burlington’s incorporation as a village. The city gave twin city Itabashi, Japan, a replica of the clock as a friendship gift in 1999 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the cities’ twinning agreement.
In 2014, Burlington and Itabashi will celebrate 25 years since the cities originally signed a twinning agreement.
Civic Square also includes a millennium fountain, built and installed to mark the year 2000; a bronze statue built to honour soldiers who gave their lives in the First World War, installed in 1986; and a drinking fountain built to commemorate a visit by the Prince of Wales and installed at the site in 1977.
A lot of history in a small space.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. Marc h 28, 2013 It was almost sweet. The Community Services Committee was meeting to discuss a report on the upgrades being made to Lowville Park and talk about the revenue problems at Tyandaga Golf Club where a surplus of $75,000 just wasn’t good enough for Ward 4 Councillor Jack Dennison. On the agenda as well was a discussion about the Cultural Action Plan that is being worked up and on which we should see something more concrete later in the year.
What wasn’t on the agenda was a Memo from Councillors Dennison, Sharman and Lancaster who wanted funding for a pet project they thought had been included in the budget but was not.
Last year the city held two “car free Sunday event; one on Appleby Line and the other on Brant Street. Appleby Line was a limited success worth doing a again. Brant Street was not worth the effort, the time or the cost.
Councillors Sharman and Dennison led the charge last year with the Mayor along for the ride. There were a number of photo ops as well. Councillor Lancaster wanted to get in on the game this year but they discovered that the car free Sunday was not in the budget much to their surprise.
 Traffic barriers in place on Lakeshore for the Car Free Sunday last year were expensive and not really used. The event was poorly attended. So they began to see if they could make it happen on their own and soon realized that they would need funding from the city – to the tune of $10,000 for two events – one that would take place on Appleby Line Sunday June 9th and the other on Palladium Way in the Alton Community June 23rd.
 No problem spending a bundle on Car Free Sundays last year – but 2013 was going to be different. Councillor Meed Ward wanted Council members to pony up some of the cost from their expense accounts. Didn’t happen – but she did try. These three Musketeers, Councillors Sharman, Lancaster and Dennison, then asked their fellow Council members to join them in voting to “Authorize the Director of Finance to transfer up to $10,000 from the Tax Stabilization Fund to an account in support of Car Free Sunday.
Not so fast piped in Councillor Taylor. You can use the Tax Stabilization Fund for a one time expenditure. This is your second kick at the can – can’t use that fund.
 The Appleby Line Car Free Sunday was better attended than the one on Brant Street several weeks later – but neither event was a huge success. That wasn’t going to stop Councillors Sharman, Dennison and now Lancaster from giving it another go. Ooops said the three Musketeers. Councillor Meed Ward wasn’t part of this initiative but did say she would support the effort if each of the Council members used some of the $9000 expense account to support the effort. Lancaster didn’t like that idea but did say she would use $500 of her expense money and might go up to $1000 if she had to. Meed Ward then turned to Councillor Dennison to see what he was prepared to put up. Dennison wanted none of that and he bobbed and weaved and did everything he could not to answer the question.
Councillor Craven, who was also not involved sat there smirking for a while and then pointed out that there was an event in Aldershot that was getting his community into this type of thing incrementally. There was going to be a “Jane’s Walk in Aldershot May 5th and he would support the motion if they would add in $500 for the Aldershot event. That would bring Craven on board and give the group the four votes they needed.
Because this was a sort of Parks and Recreation project members of Council asked Parks and Recreation director Chris Glenn if he could fund this. Nope – I’m broke was the gist of Glenn’s answer. And besides he added – this is more of a Transportation matter. The “buck” was being moved from department to department.
Councillor Taylor thought he had a solution. “You must have more than 10,000 reserve funds – just take $1 from each and pay for this that way.
Still no takers.
 General manager Kim Phillips saved the day for the three Council members who wanted to promote a pet project and have the city pay for it. She found $10,000 that wasn’t being used. General Manager Kim Phillips did observe that the Executive Budget Committee noticed Councillor initiated events were ending up as projects that “you expect us to take on.”
Phillips, always ready to be helpful, suggested there was some money in the Strategic Plan Implementation Fund that wasn’t spoken for – would that help. Now getting a Car Free Sunday event defined as part of implementing the Strategic Plan is a stretch – but they did find a way to stretch this one by saying that it would contribute to Vibrant Communities which is one of the Strategic Plan pillars.
But before they got to that point in the discussion, Meed Ward pointed out that when there was a role for the city in Councillor driven events, some of the funding could come from the individual council member’s expense account and she went back after Councillor Dennison and asked again how much of his expense money was he prepared to put into the project. She almost had him.
But then he Mayor said: “We have much bigger fish to fry this evening” and Dennison added “let staff find the money”.
Blair Lancaster moved the motion – they had the four votes they needed – and so there will be two car free Sundays in the city – one June 9th and the other June 23rd.
Now you know how Burlington works. Meed Ward did hold their feet to the flames.
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON March 27, 2013 If you are a photographer and want to improve your craft note Saturday April 13th at the Burlington Art Centre where the Latow Photographers Guild will hold their annual seminar. The event will run from 9 am to 4:30 pm. Tickets are going quickly and there is a limit to the attendance.
Photographer Mike Grandmaison will speak and show images on the theme of Natural Reflections in a session designed to inspire and instruct photographers of all levels.
 Mike Grandmaison at a photography exhibit. Based in Winnipeg, Mike Grandmaison is a leading Canadian nature photographer with ten books to his credit, including Prairie and Beyond, Muskoka, Georgian Bay, The Canadian Rockies and Canada. He has been photographing professionally on a full-time basis since 1996 and has taught photography for years, conducting nature-focused workshops as well as presenting lectures to various organizations.
 One of the more than ten photography books Grandmaison has published. The April 13 Seminar will be followed by the Latow Audio-Visual Festival from 7 to 9 pm. Admission to this evening of extraordinary audiovisual presentations by different photographers, each with a unique perspective, is $10 in advance or at the door. This event will appeal to anyone with an interest in visual art, not just photography enthusiasts.
On Sunday April 14, Mike Grandmaison will lead two mini-seminars, one on creating Fine Art Photography, and one on sharing your photography through websites, books, galleries, photo contests and juried exhibitions. These sessions will be of interest to photographers wishing to take their work to a higher level. Enrollment is limited but space may still be available.
For more information and registration, click here:
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON March 26, 2013 The Spin Doctors are taking centre stage now that the last of the concrete on the pier deck has been poured. The city manager has already hired people who specialize in spinning legal matters, which appears to be a skill set the communications people at city hall don’t have – so the city manager is going to set aside ten big ones to cover the cost of explaining some expected news on the legal side of getting that pier build and how we went from just under $7 million to just under $20 million.
 The pier will be illuminated with lights that change their pattern and their colour whenever the software tells them to change. The fireworks to the right is part of the Sound of Music budget. There is good news though. Staff is getting absolutely giddy and talking about opening the pier in 67 days and planning for that event. People from the events department and the communications people are moving to centre stage to make it all happen.
 An artists rendering of what the completed pier is going to look like. Those brown rails will be painted Burlington blue. The caissons that hold the pier up will also be illuminated. On the construction side things are going great. There is an artist’s rendering of what it is going to look like when you are able to walk out to the end.
Some of the light standards have been erected and they are powered up.
The public got told that there is going to be a computer application that will control the lights that will adorn the pier and the beacon that is to be installed – no wind turbine however, that got thrown under the bus when the city’s Director of engineering forgot to read the manual and didn’t know what had been installed in terms of electric equipment.
Craig Stevens, the go between for the city and the contractor, told a council committee meeting that the software that runs the lights will be able to do almost anything. “As Stevens put it, “If you can think it we can blink it”.
Expect to see some weird light patterns coming from that pier during the first six months while the techies get the hang of the software. The beacon will look like a lighthouse on the horizon. It will certainly change the waterfront view of the city.
 That yellow patch will be shutdown to repair the promenade that will lead to the pier entrance. The promenade running from Lakeshore Road down to the start of the pier will be closed for a number of weeks while that section of the walkway is repaired. The heavy trucks that ran in and out did quite a bit of damage and the walkway to the pier has to match the look of the concrete on the pier.
 Light standards are being installed and are already powered up While the snafus on getting the pier built is a story yet to be told – the news today is that what we are paying a King’s ransom for, is going to look very nice and it will do us all very proud. There is some tinkering to be done; no one is sure quite yet just how the lights on the beacon will glow but if the ones being installed now don’t work – new ones will get put in their place.
 It doesn’t look quite complete without a turbine at the top of that beacon – one of those missed opportunities. The brown coloured rails will be done in what is known as Burlington blue. It will take the city as much as a year to get used to the thing and in time they will come to love it and forget about the outrageous cost. There might be some reckoning come election time but the only people who any blame can be attached to are the Mayor and Councillors Taylor, Dennison and Craven – they were there for most of the messy stuff.
For the moment – revel in what we are going to be using in the very near future.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON March 25th, 2013 “Busy day Monday as we return to normal jobs and prepare for a trek to London for game 6 of our playoff series” was the note we got from John McNeil as he frantically continued to vote and vote and vote again to earn that award of $100,000 from Kraft Foods that would be used by the Burlington Lions Optimist Minor Hockey Association (BLOMHA) to cover the cost of getting more players on the ice pads.
 John McNeil was at his keyboard until the very last-minute Sunday night – squeezing in that very last vote for the Kraft Foods $100,000 award They were minutes and then it was over – you could try to enter a vote but the system wouldn’t take it – and for those hundreds in Burlington who had been voting for two days – it was over.
During the hectic two days parents still had to get their kids out to hockey games, still had to do the shopping and keep the house in order.
Now – the wait while the Kraft Foods people do the counting – which should take just a matter of minutes because everything was electronic but it will be more than a week before they go public.
 If you were at the McNeil house Saturday night you were at a keyboard – voting. So for now those that did the work – a chance to sit back and know they did their best. During the next few days there will be hundreds who will say ‘if they’d known they would have voted.
The Mayor was chatting up the business types at a Chamber of Commerce breakfast Friday morning and he forgot to mention the event – even though he was touting that Burlington was now the # 1 mid-size city in Canada within which to live. We hope our Mayor at least went on-line to vote a couple of times – won’t be too long before he’s looking for votes himself.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. March 24, 2013 While they can’t see the finish line –they all know where it is – hundreds of people who are involved with minor hockey or know someone who is involved, got dragooned into going on-line and clicking away at a red button with the word VOTE on it.
Have you voted yet? If is before 11:59 pm on Sunday the 24th of March – you can still vote. Vote NOW!
They were out to win the $100,000 that Kraft Foods had put up for their Hockey Goes On contest. Kraft asked for nominations and got thousands of them from across the country. They narrowed those thousands down to twenty from five regions they created. Ontario was one of the regions and Burlington was one of twenty communities in the region. John McNeil was the hockey person nominated from Burlington by Kristen Priestner, a parent who had a son playing for the BLOMHA Bulldogs in the atom division.
BLOMHA, Burlington Lions Optimist Minor Hockey Association, focuses on developing skills in the game of hockey and building character.
McNeil and Priestner pulled together the people they needed, first by reaching out to the other sports organizations and asking them to support the effort. Then friends, family, associates – even passersby were asked to support the effort.
That was the kernel of an operation that just grew.
 If you were at the McNeil household Saturday night you took your turn clicking away at the keyboard and registering votes for the Hockey Goes On $100,000 award that was up for grabs. There is no way for anyone other than the people at Kraft Foods to know who is leading. Each community just has to do its best to get its people out voting. This is a bit of an oddity in that anyone from anywhere can vote and they can vote as often as they want. If someone has the fortitude to stay at the keyboard for 10 hours – there is nothing to stop them. The community that sticks to it and organizes the most people with the most dedication gets the $100,000 that gets used for the development of hockey.
The force behind the Hockey Goes On was a need to recognize the people, those volunteers who make hockey happen at the minor league level. Some of those players might make it to the professional league level but that’s not a BLOHMA objective. Rick Dawson who serves as the president of BLOMHA is there to help kids play the game and take their talent as far as it can be taken and to build character and community values in the process.
The organization has thousands of kids playing the game, hundreds of coaches and many other support people who are part of what hockey at the community level is all about.
 Katherine Hartman on the left (Barracudas player helping out her cousin and BLOMHA), Tiegan Priestner, (birthday girl helping her brother) and the youngest Daniel, with the official BULLDOGS mascot. Kristen Priestner knew exactly who she wanted to nominate from Burlington when she heard of the contest. Sheila Ramage knew that her weekend was shot when McNeil got nominated. Sheila is one of the team that runs the operations side of the BLOHMA office and handled a lot of the phoning around and keeping people in touch during that 48 hour marathon.
Our Burlington asked Kraft foods if they could tell us anything about how the event was going. We got this back from their offices:
“We are pleased to report that we have had an outstanding response to the Kraft Hockey Goes On voting period. As you may know, Kraft Hockey Goes On helps Canadians share their passion for the game by recognizing important local contributors who make hockey happen in communities across Canada. Through the program, we began accepting nominations on January 21st and received over 1000 inspiring stories about the dedicated Canadians who invest their time and energy into local hockey every day. Nominations closed on March 8 and on March 16, we announced the top 100 nominees, as narrowed down by a panel of judges.
“Canadians are now voting for their favourite local hockey supporters at KraftHockeyGoesOn.ca and working hard to rally votes on Facebook.com/KraftHockeyGoesOn. We did experience a short period of down time on the site as the voting period began yesterday at 9a.m., but resolved it as quickly as possible and we are excited to see the votes continuing to roll in. The voting period continues until 11:59pm EST this evening, so we encourage Canadians to keep on voting!
 Flyers were needed – quickly. friends got called in, printing presses inked up and paper-cutter turned on. Colour Works Printing pulled in all the child labour!they could find. was it enough?
“The top five nominees who receive the most votes will be recognized for their contributions and $100,000 will be awarded to their selected Hockey Canada-affiliated minor hockey association. The subsequent top 20 nominees with the most votes will be recognized with a $20,000 donation to their selected minor hockey association.
A point of clarification: Each Region, and Ontario is one of the five regions, will have one – $100,000 award and four $20,000 awards.
 Every hand, or in this case, keyboard counted. Two Bulldogs on the way to a tournament in London on Saturday clicked while on the 401. “We look forward to seeing the impact that these funds will have on local Canadian hockey communities and are proud to recognize the individuals who do so much to make this nation’s sport go on every day. Canadians can tune-in to the winner announcement taking place during the Montreal Canadiens vs. Philadelphia Flyers NHL match-up on TSN on Wednesday April 3, 2013.”
Burlington is up against: Stittsville, Goderich, Atikokan, Barrie, Renfrew, Verona, Sarnia, Weston, Langton, Moose Factory, Kitchener, Prescott, Napanee, Pelham, Amherstview, Lakefield, Cornwall, Brampton and Fergus.
There are still a couple of hours to vote.
At press time Kristen Priestner reported: “We had Moms voting in the lobby right up to game time tonight at Appleby, one Mom (Shannon Scullion) even voted throughout the entire game because she felt guilty about taking the time off to go for a run this afternoon! We had siblings putting flyers around the parking lot and voting throughout the game as well.”
” Back to it, crunch time now! May have to have a team party on results night!”
There will be a nail biter of a party at the McNeil household the night the award winner is announced. Should be a great hockey game as well – Canadiens and the Flyers – not much better than that.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. March 23, 2013 How do you increase the revenue of an art centre? Sell more art would be one answer. Then how do you sell more art? You have to have what people like and you need to figure out how to grow an appreciation for art and that takes time and funding.
Anne Brownell, Corporate Enterprise Specialist at the Burlington Art Centre, has come up with a way to get the art the BAC has in its rental inventory off the racks and out where it can be seen – and develop decent revenue for the Centre as well.
 There are more than 400 paintings in the Art Rental inventory When you see an office or a board room in a television program chances are some of the art on those walls came out of the BAC inventory. Awhile back a colleague contacted Anne Brownell inquiring about what the BAC had in the way of art that could be rented. As a result of that call BAC art is now seen on CTV’s Flashpoint, Cracked and Rookie Blue.
Brownell couldn’t pull the racks out fast enough – that initial contact has resulted in a tidy little business for the BAC. The art rental and sale business contributes 30% of the revenue for the art shop.
Selling art is a complex business – people have to know you are there and they want to know that the collection has depth and consistency.
The Burlington Art Centre recently sold two painting to the Province of Ontario collection. This came about when the mother of the curator of the provincial collection, who happens to live in Burlington, got her daughter to look at what the BAC had – and was impressed enough to buy two pieces.
 Donna Fratesi, on the left holds up one of two paintings sold to the Province of Ontario collection. Helping is Anne Brownell of the Burlington Art Centre The province bought Jeanette Obbink’s ‘Killarney Rock’ and also Donna Fratesi’s ‘Almost Heaven’. While these two are no longer available for rental or purchase they could have been and there is a lot more like these two in the BAC collection.
 Donna Fratesi’s ‘Almost Heaven’, is now part of the province of Ontario collection. Ms Fratesi has 24 painting in the rental section of the art gallery. Her work is certainly popular. There is one “gotta” to all this – you must be a member of the Burlington Art Centre. That’s another good deal: A family membership is $120; Individual $105; and Seniors $85.
That membership gets you a reduced price on every event and a 10% discount on all your purchases.
Corporate memberships are also available – $250 annually for those which have the added bonus of being available to every employee. Great way for an organization to brighten up the walls of their offices. Corporations get to rent pictures for a six month period.
McMaster University’s De Groote School of Business on the South Service road used to be a corporate member; they didn’t renew last year. One would have thought the university, that pinnacle of culture, would be a continuing member. Maybe business and art don’t mix? The Burlington Art Centre is certainly showing that they do, indeed they do.
 Every painting has a story behind it. ‘Killarney Rock’ was started on the spot, with the canvas duct-taped to a tree, as a plain air painting during a canoe trip to Killarney National Park. The painting was finished later in the studio as it was too large to finish in one sitting.
Developing a reputation and a customer base is critical to selling art. People who buy art tend to start slowly and look to people who have a wide selection.
For those of us who live in Burlington there is an opportunity to rent art for a period of three months, hang it in your home and decide if you really like it. You can grow your appreciation for art by renting a piece that you are really not sure about, hanging it on your home and if after 90 days you realize that the piece was not for you – you return it. All you are out is a small rental fee.
The Burlington Art Centre has been doing things like this for the past 35 years. They are taking space in the newest art facility in Burlington when they bring Randy Bachman to town as part of their 35th anniversary celebration. The Shoreline Room at the BAC won’t hold the crowd they expect so they’ve rented the Performing Arts Centre for the event. Nice to see the two organizations working hand in hand.
 By Pepper Parr
BLOMHA – the Burlington Lions Optimist Minor Hockey Association is working like crazy today, Saturday and again on Sunday to register the votes needed to bring $100,000m to their organization.
If you want to know what being a real # 1 is all about – click on the LINK – then come back to the story.
 This is all about getting additional funding for this minor hockey team. Let’s see how well the city gets behind the effort. The puck got dropped at 9:00 am sharp; then it looked like the server went down; probably because f a surge in demand. Then it was up and the puck was red and you could vote.
There was a box you had to enter two words into before your vote got counted – that was to prevent anyone from setting up a program that would automatically place votes
When you are entering the two words, watch the spelling and don’t leave a space between the two words.
The players now have to log in, enter the two words shown and the vote gets counted. Then do just that – again and again – and remember – there are 19 other communities doing exactly the same thing. Burlington will win if they do it more often than anyone else.
That’s what Burlington has to do for the next two days if they are to be the winners of the Hockey Goes On contest that is going to put $100,000 into one Ontario community and $20,000 in four others as part of the Kraft Foods promotion that is celebrating the way minor hockey is played across Canada.
John McNeil was nominated from Burlington and has been getting this community lined up to click away.
All eight of Burlington’s McDonalds restaurants have joined the campaign and are promoting the contest. The Burlington Lions Optimist Minor Hockey Association (BLOMHA) has every parent they can find going on-line and voting.
Kristen Priestner, the woman who nominated John McNeil is busy working her magic and reaching out to the masses.
 John McNeil, nominated as one of twenty people in Ontario to take part in the Kraft Foods Hockey Goes On contest that could bring $100,000 to the city for minor hockey. He will be going hat in hand for the next two days asking everyone he sees to go on line and vote. McNeil will be at his keyboard for as long as he can – but he has to drive his son’s team to London for a game there. Perhaps they will all have tablets and find a way to get on-line and vote as they drive to London. McNeil is a techie – he just might figure out a way to do that. McNeil, who doesn’t let much get past him, has the people in London voting for Burlington. London didn’t make it to the finals in the Hockey Goes On contest.
All this activity – and guess what? The server went down and was down for close to half an hour. There must have been dozens of people at Kraft scrambling around like crazy to solve the problem – but it dd get solved and the game goes on.
Just vote and vote and vote and vote. If you can teach your cat to read and type – do that and have it vote as well.
Click for the link.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON March 22nd, 2013 There is an opportunity for the people of this city to bring home a “real” #1plus $100,000 that will go to the Burlington Lions Optimists Minor Hockey Association – BLOMHA.
Have you heard of “Hockey Goes On” a promotion sponsored by Kraft Foods? A number of years ago Kraft sponsored an event that resulted in Dundas, Ontario getting a new arena. The event was so strong a promotional vehicle for Kraft that they decided to revise it and build on the enthusiasm for “our game’.
Hockey Goes On is there to celebrate those unsung heroes that make the game go on. The sponsors divided the country into five divisions with Ontario being one of them. People within each division were asked to nominate the person they felt had done the most for minor hockey in their community.
Kristen Priestner nominated John McNeil who manages the Burlington Atom A BLOMHA rep hockey team that skate under the Bulldog banner. Priestner’s son plays in that league.
Kraft got in touch with McNeil to ensure he would accept the nomination and onto the list he went.
The Kraft organization then took the thousands of names that were nominated and selected 20 for each division. McNeil made the cut and Kraft once again called him to ensure that he was prepared for all the news coverage there would be.
McNeil was up to it.
 The T-shirt tells it all. John McNeil wants everyone in this city to let 19 other communities in Ontario be aware of the Burlington Bulldogs – they are out there gunning for the $100,0000 that Kraft Foods wants to hand out to a minor hockey association. Now McNeil doesn’t actually play hockey, he wishes he had, but he missed that sport for the most part. His job with BLOMHA, the Burlington Lions Optimists Minor Hockey Association is to handle everything “off ice” as he puts it. He has coaches galore that he works with; his job is to ensure that everything comes together – which he apparently does so well that Priestner put his name forward.
Burlington was now about to see just how well McNeil hustles. He plans to use all the old marketing skills he has along with everything social media will let him do. Can McNeil pull it off? Will the city get behind this initiative and pull in the $100,000 Kraft Foods is putting on the table?
First thing he did was get to the media; then he put out calls to all the other sports organizations in town and ask them to support McNeil and BLOMHA.
The prize is well worth the effort. Kraft will donate $100,000 to BLOMHA which McNeil hopes gets used to cover the costs of the kids who can’t afford to play hockey – “it can get expensive” said McNeil. Besides the $100,000 top prize there are four $20,000 prizes
CBC recently reported that the average family with kids in hockey spend $1,000 per child on fees and equipment. For McNeil getting those kids whose families just can’t afford that amount – this is a big deal. He would like to see some of the money spent on upgrading equipment the organization already has and then spend money on upgrading the skills of both the coaches and the players.
 If you’re within five feet of John McNeil he will put one of these flyers in your hands and badger you to log into the Hockey Goes On web site and be part of the effort to bring $100,000 to BLOMHA Flyers have gone out to anyone who will pass them out. McNeil asked the Mayor to mention the event on his blog. Teams of kids will be at the BLOMHA offices on Saturday working the computers and voting as often as they can. “We want them there in two-hour shift” said McNeil. There will be all the pizza they can eat.
McNeil realizes that the other communities will be doing exactly the same thing – looking for every possible angle to get anyone and everyone logging in and voting – and voting – and voting.
Burlington is up against Stittsville, Goderich, Atikokan, Barrie, Renfrew, Verona, Sarnia, Weston, Langton, Moose Factory, Kitchener, Prescott, Napanee, Pelham, Amherstview, Lakefield, Cornwall, Brampton and Fergus.
Some of those smaller town have great community spirit. Is theirs greater than Burlington? We will know sometime next week.
There is a website link to the story on the work he does with his team and minor hockey in Burlington. This is where you vote.
 This is what you are looking for on the voting web site. It will be red when you get to it on Saturday morning. Vote early and vote often – as often as you like. In the upper right hand corner you will see a button – it will be red when the contest starts
So from 9am this Saturday, March 23 to midnight Sunday, March 24, you can vote as many times as you can. Help bring this funding to the kids. All it takes is clicks.
John McNeil is leading this push – he’s the guy they nominated so he is the guy Burlington wants to push over the top; it’s almost like dialing for dollars.
First thing Saturday morning you go to the web site – look for that red button in the upper right hand corner and click.
Log out and go back in and click again – and just keep on clicking. There is no limit on how many times you can vote for McNeil.
John McNeil was described by Priestner as “the “Manager Extraordinaire” of the Major Atom A Burlington Bulldogs (BLOMHA) of the Minor Hockey Alliance of Ontario. John is the heart and soul of our team and what he gives back to hockey you must see with your own eyes to believe! He is the epitome of a true sports fan. He lives, eats, and breathes Bulldogs!
“His level of organization is second to none. Parents new to the team this year will constantly question if he is “for real”. His weekly emails and reminders are full of detail. He maintains a phenomenal website with up to date stats, team summaries and also takes fabulous photos to share. Tournaments are a thing of beauty with John’s attention to detail ensuring a fantastic experience for every family and never a worry.”
“Social events for the team are hosted at John’s place, the highlight being the Parents’ Christmas Social until the wee hours. Or, arranging a party bus for parents to attend a “Cupids for Cancer” fundraiser. John truly never misses a trick. A highlight for the boys came in the form of John McSanta, distributing some serious Bulldogs swag Christmas presents at a super fun team Christmas party.”
“His level of dedication is witnessed when he is the first to arrive at the rink to hang our team banners or the last to leave and clean up. He is a critical fundraiser for the team with contacts galore. In case he didn’t have enough responsibility, he is also organizing the illustrious Ontario Hockey Federation Playoffs which we are hosting this year.”
“I can’t honestly believe that John ever has time to do his day job, given that he seems to give every hour of his day to this team. When we won the Alliance provincials last year, John surprised the boys by setting up an NHL style dressing room with their names posted over their hooks and motivational signage. They were thrilled! He continuously goes beyond the call of duty and we appreciate the care and kindness he provides to our boys! John’s heart barks for the Bulldogs!”
That from one parent: Let’s see how loud Burlington can bark for McNeil.
That website link again.
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON March 20, 2103 Some of the city services won’t be available over the Easter weekend – March 29 (Good Friday) and April 1 (Easter Monday); some facilities will remain open for families to enjoy. City Hall will be closed.
Roads and Parks Maintenance will provide basic and emergency service only during the Easter weekend.
 With just a bit of a break in the weather-it is Spring now – we can all get out on our bikes Easter weekend. Parks and Recreation Programs and Facilities: There are many activities for the whole family to enjoy at city pools, arenas and community centres over the Easter weekend. Hours of operation and services available vary at each city facility.
Burlington Transit and Handi-van will operate a holiday service schedule on Good Friday, March 29, 2013. The administration office and downtown transit terminal will be closed. Regular transit service will be in effect for Sunday, March 31 and Monday, April 1, 2013. The administration office will re-open Tuesday, April 2, 2013. Please call BusLINE 905-639-0550 or visit www.burlington.ca/transit for more information.
The Provincial Offences Courts in Burlington and Milton (Halton Court Services) will be closed on Friday, March 29 and Monday, April 1, 2013.
Parking: Free parking is available in the downtown core at all meters, municipal lots and the parking garage on Good Friday, March 29, 2013. The Waterfront parking lots (east and west) do not provide free parking on statutory holidays.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON March 20, 2013 Was she pushed or did she jump? What kind of a difference will the Brenda Heatherington resignation as Executive Director of the Performing Arts Centre make to the city and the Centre?
Make no mistake about this – her resignation is this city’s loss and a significant loss at that. As Executive Director there were challenges on the business side of the operation she headed up. She wasn’t and isn’t a business person; she is an artistic director with an impressive ability to relate to people one-on-one.
She knows the performing arts and she knows how to develop an audience; she did that exceptionally well in St. Albert, just outside Edmonton, Alberta where she served for 17 years. She understood that a market needs to be grown and that growth takes time.
 She could light up any room she walked into; she knew how to grow the market for performing art – she just needed more time and more support. Part of the problem, besides the business acumen, was that Heatherington didn’t know Burlington, she was not of this community and didn’t understand how deep its rural roots are. She wasn’t given the time to acclimatize herself to a city that is still shedding its provincialism
Our Burlington has been very critical of Heatherington’s board of directors. Our view was that they failed her time after time. They expected her to do more than she was capable of doing. Someone on that board should have spotted the problems on the business side and taken the steps to bring in the help she needed.
With Heatherington in place as the Executive Director and a strong business person beside her watching the numbers side and advising her, Brenda Heatherington would have gotten the Centre to the point where it was getting by on the half a million it was always going to need from the public purse. On occasion she would have gotten lucky and needed less.
There are people who were members of the board who went out and twisted arms to raise the $11 million that was the public capital campaign. They approached their friends and told them that all the Centre would need was half a million each year and the city was committed to providing that money.
When the budget for the Centre was put out showing a need for $1.2 million in 2014 and $1.4 million for 2015 many people felt they had been misled.
Someone needed to explain to Heatherington that it was not possible to tell the public that more than a million dollars would be needed every year.
In a town the size of Burlington relationships are very personal and friends don’t like to learn that they have let their friends down. The people who signed the cheques saw the place as theirs and also as a part of growing Burlington.
For reasons that are still not clear, the board seems not to have realized the disappointment many felt over the way things were working out. The two political representatives from city hall, the Mayor and Ward 1 Councillor Rick Craven, were either deaf and didn’t hear what was being said when the disappointing numbers were posted or they fully believed they could ride it out until things got better.
City council went along with the budget request – what else could they do? But they attached strings to the money: a full business plan review done not later than October of this year.
There are those in a position to know who will tell you that the marketing and sales people failed Heatherington.
There are those who wondered why the hours worked by the team were managed the way they were; the handling of the night managers rankled some people.
The Board wanted to see more entrepreneurship: Heatherington is an artist, someone who works with talent and develops audiences. She can read a balance sheet but delving into the day-to-day operating costs and budget management, wasn’t going to happen. A bank teller she never was.
People will ask if there is a lesson for us in all this and many will wonder what is going to happen next. Sales for the year are good so far and rentals are approaching the very good level.
The program for the fall is in place and will be launched sometime in May. Heatherington will be in town to do that launch which we understand is very strong. That’s what Heatherington does well.
As for the Board – well three new people are to be appointed. The board in place today did have an entrepreneurial bent to it and some of them put their money where their mouths were. One Board member bought 200 tickets to an event and invited his staff and business colleagues.
Others, Peter Ashmore in particular, put in untold hours labouring over the books, looking for ways to improve the financial picture. The numbers were not good – did anyone really expect that they would be? The performing arts is a business you grow over time. Audiences have to be introduced to new ideas and different kinds of entertainment.
Many expected a $40 million building to be used for local amateur theatre and be a place where local talent could be grown. This is Burlington folks, a small, at times very provincial place where the shopping choices are limited and the gasoline is higher than that on sale in Hamilton.
The Blue Jeans Gala, close to the most popular event held, was a smashing success. Was it superb performing art? Jimmy Tapp was on the stage, the Mayor was at the piano and the Member of Parliament tripped over the broom he was supposed to be dancing with as he forgot his lines. The crowd loved it – this was the Burlington they knew. And that was the Burlington Brenda Heatherington had to grow an audience out of.
It was do-able but everyone had to be much more candid with the facts, much more professional in the way they did their jobs and far more transparent.
Where will Brenda Heatherington go next? Back to Alberta to be with family? That was the media release line. This woman has skills that communities in Ontario would love to have available. She will do well.
When the fall program is announced in May we will realize what we are losing when Brenda Heatherington turns in her security pass. When we look back at how things went at the end of the year let us remember that the program we experienced was put together by Ms Heatherington.
The full story of the behind the scene boards of directors machinations will play itself at the cocktail and dinner parties held in the tonier parts of town.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON March 19, 2013 It is usually the city of Burlington handing out an award for something. At times one gets the impression there is a department that does nothing but think of people an award or a certificate can be given to.
But last night it was the city that got the award – given to them by the United Way of Burlington and Greater Hamilton . City Hall staff were the recipients who last night were represented by Wendy Hough, one of the brains in the IT department. It was nice to see the people who do the work get the credit.
 When it matters, city hall staffers put their backs into it. Community building at its best. Len Lifchus, Chief Executive Officer, United Way of Burlington and Greater Hamilton, gave the city the Arcelor Mittal Dofasco community award, which in the past has been given to Scotia Bank, Mohawk College, the Spectator and CUMIS; nothing shabby about that crowd.
Lifchus advised Council that he had recently moved to Burlington, which will certainly add to our heft as the second best place to live in Canada, and told city council that Burlington city hall staff had donated more than $985,000 to the United Way in the past ten years.
Council learned as well that many city hall employees that receive service awards donate the value of that award to the United Way.
City hall staff are usually the kick off point for the Burlington United Way campaign each year when they block off part of Brant Street and literally pull a heavy truck or some other heavy piece of equipment down the street. The city departments compete with each other for the shortest pull time. One year the Planning Department had two teams on the street.
Staff gets a bit of a break from their work and set the tone and the pace for the campaign in the city. There is no shortage of criticism about what city hall staffers don’t do – which for the most part are unfounded. The kick off United Way event put on by the city hall staff is the first steps in a campaign that is much-needed in this city. All those civil servants deserve the award they were given by the United Way last night.
Good on all of you.
 City Hall media release:
BURLINGTON, ON March 19th, 2013 –Brenda Heatherington, the first executive director of the Burlington Performing Arts Centre, announced today she will leave in June to spend more time with her family.
“I was brought in three years ago to open this incredible venue,” Heatherington said. “I have watched The Burlington Performing Arts Centre go from a hole in the ground to a theatre with exceptional life and vibrancy. It is a good time now to pass the reigns to someone else.”
Heatherington came to Burlington from The Arden Theatre in St. Albert, Alta. in May 2010.
 Heatherington brought great experience in finding the talent that draws audiences into theatre seats. That talent is going to be hard to replace. “I am truly grateful to everyone who has welcomed me here in Burlington, from the staff and volunteers to the board of directors, members of City Council, the arts community and the many people who have been part of The Centre,” Heatherington said. “It is a privilege to work with you all, and I will miss you as I refocus my time and energy on new adventures and on my family.”
The executive director of the Burlington Performing Arts Centre reports to the board of directors. The Centre will begin a search for its second executive director to replace Heatherington.
“Brenda brought to the Burlington Performing Arts Centre solid community experience, energy and enthusiasm, helping give The Centre its best possible start,” said board chair Allan Pearson. “On behalf of the board, I want to offer my sincere thanks. We will continue The Centre’s positive momentum, presenting high-quality shows, excellent rental opportunities and leading theatre performance and education programs.”
In 2012, the Burlington Performing Arts Centre attracted 68,542 visitors. The Centre won the Award of Merit for Barrier-Free Design from the March of Dimes and received LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification for new construction from the Canada Green Building Council, CaGBC.
“The Burlington Performing Arts Centre is recognized as an excellent venue for culture and entertainment,” said Mayor Rick Goldring. “Brenda and her team, together with the board of directors, have done a tremendous job of making The Centre a place where the performing arts thrive and where people can meet and enjoy a lively downtown experience.”
The Burlington Performing Arts Centre’s mission is to provide the people of Burlington with a broad range of excellent performance opportunities that will both inspire and delight, delivering diverse, world-class arts and entertainment to the community and showcasing Burlington and its arts community to the world.
Editors note:
The Performing Arts Centre has been under consistent criticism by citizens of the city and some members of city council for the revenue short falls. While council approved the budget for 2013 they also required both the Performing Arts Centre and the Burlington Art Centre to undergo full business plan reviews in the fall of 2013.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. March 18, 2013 Theatre is alive and well in Burlington and Ireland House is showing the city how it can be done.
Sometime ago, Ireland House got a $32,500 federal grant to promote heritage and commemorate the War of 1812 and has decided to use some of that money to bring a live dramatic production to historic Ireland House.
 So fitting that a theatrical production focused on the War of 1812 should be performed at Ireland House. Tickets are a gift at $10. The 90 minute production will be done in the lower level of Ireland House – sound quality should be very good in a space that is quaint and intimate. It will be a difficult place for people who have ambulatory problems but other than that – it should be an interesting day.
There will be just the two performances on Friday April 5th: a matinée at 2:30 pm and an evening performance at 7:30 pm.
Tickets are very competitively price at $10 each. Call 905-332-9888 to reserve your tickets.
The Dora-nominated Toronto theatre company, Down n’ Out Productions, is bringing heritage, history and solid drama to locations across Ontario. If you don’t know what a Dora nomination is – know that is a mark of superb theatre.
The production – When the Ice Breaks is a new play based on life in Upper Canada during the War of 1812. Exploring the inner workings of an Upper Canadian household during the War of 1812, one domestic servant’s personal story of sacrifice and redemption comes alive in this intimately staged production written by Madeleine Donohue and featuring four professional performers with live early Canadian folk music.
 Construction of Ireland House didn’t begin until twenty years after the War of 1812 when the community was more settled. A close to perfect venue though for a War of 1812 production. The production will run for 80 minutes and is appropriate for audiences ages 10 and up.
If this is as good a production as it sounds – why wasn’t it put on at the Performing Arts Centre? Is $10 a seat out of the question for PAC?
This is a Museums of Burlington War of 1812-1814 initiative supported by the Federal Government’s “Celebration and Commemoration Program” that brought a $32,500 grant to the museum operation.
Down n’ Out Production approached Ireland House and asked if they could put on the performance in their locale. Great idea.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. March 14, 2013 You may remember all the hoopla about the collecting of local artifacts and having a plaster casting made of most of what was brought in for Peter Powning to consider as part of the Spiral Stella that will be placed outside the Performing Arts Centre sometime this summer.
People showed up with the darndest things, which Powning made a plaster impression of and then headed back to his secluded studio in New Brunswick where the work of an artist gets done.
 Do you recognize anything? Was something you took in part of this casting? There are more to come. There is part of the city crest in there; is that the key to Brant House? Who owned that tie and who used the paint brush – and that baby’s foot impression – where did it come from? The first glimpse of those castings can now be seen.
Do you recognize anything there? What you are looking at is one of castings that will be attached to the spiral when it is fabricated.
 Dan Lawrie put up a significant portion of the money needed to pay for the creation of the Spiral Stella. It’s coming along just fine and Dan is a happy camper. The sculpture was financed by the city out of its public art fund and a generous contribution by Dan Lawrie, president of a Burlington – Hamilton based insurance corporation.
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