By Pepper Parr
May 15th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Caroline Simpson was the person responsible for making sure the Regional Chair’s Annual Golf Tournament went smoothly. She was looking for items that could be put into the silent auction and approached the Art Gallery of Burlington where she crossed paths with Mary Mazur, the EA to the CEO.
They talked and Simpson came away with a piece of art for the golf tournament silent auction and also knowing a lot about an event the AGB was sponsoring at the Performing Arts Centre. Simpson felt good about the new contact she had made and delighted to be able to get to a concert she might not normally have gone to – an evening of music played on a flute.
Gordon Burwood points out the location of the hotel that Caroline Simpson, on the left, will stay at during her week in Paris – a prize she won at a raffle during the Evening in Paris event sponsored by the Art Gallery of Burlington at the Performing Arts Centre. Karen Burwood looks on.
Oh joy – one might say – but this evening was not just a concert – it was an art history lesson, it was an opportunity to not only hear the music, which Simpson, really didn’t’ know much about, but to learn about the context and the times the music was composed.
She didn’t know that the Impressionist art movement came out of the same period and that the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel tower were created during the same time frame as well and that the Paris Opera House came out of the same time period.
What she did know at the end of the performance was that she has heard a superb flutist perform – and that she was going to Paris
Simpson is a Laurier University “poly-sci” graduate with three kids at home and a demanding job.
Part of the “Evening in Paris” event put on by the Art Gallery in Burlington at the Performing Arts Centre was a draw for two tickets for a week in Paris. The prize was donated by DH Tours – tickets were $2 each.
Serene Martin on the left, Ondrea Crockett on the right – Caroline Simpson in the middle.
Simpson had bought 40 tickets, she said she “had a sense I was going to win. “I wasn’t totally surprised” she said “but it did take a minute for my winning to sink in.”
“I knew the range of the tickets I had bought – the winning ticket was the last one in the range – 0597. I think my friends, Serene Martin and Ondrea Crockett were more excited than I was.”
The prize included $500 of spending money.
As of Saturday afternoon Simpson had not told her children. “I was thinking about who I would take with me – my daughter who is turning 16 – if I take her what do I do for my 13 year old? I have thought about taking my Mom – that would be nice.”
But right now explained Simpson “I can’t spend any time thinking about when I go to Paris or who goes with me – I have a golf tournament to get done.”
Simpson is the enhancement programs coordinator at the Willow Foundation – an arm’s length agency of the Region of Halton that raises funds for the for the seniors living in the three village retirement residences run by the region. The Foundation, a non-profit, registered charitable organization, was established in 2002. Governed by a volunteer board of directors, funds are raised to further enhance the lives of seniors and disabled adults in the Halton Region’s three long-term care homes: Creek Way Village in Burlington and Post Inn Village in Oakville and the Allendale Village in Milton where there are about 575 residents
Regional Chair Gary Carr a community event.
The golf tournament, known as the Regional Chair’s Annual Golf Tournament, is taking place Thursday – the 18th at the Crosswinds Golf and Country Club. Simpson is beavering away at all those last minute details – that seem to be never end. Event registration, if you’re interested: https://birdeasepro.com/thewillowfoundation
“The Chair is a big supporter of the Willow Foundation. It is nice to work for an organization where there is strong leadership.
Simpson thinks about sitting at a café in Paris and reading some of the books she doesn’t have time to read these days. “It will be different – won’t it” she suggests.
