Terra Cotta residents receive Trillium grant to restore Community Hall
By Anneleen Naudts

Residents of Terra Cotta enjoyed a potluck dinner Saturday night in the soonto be restored community hall, bringing them together in a time when hibernating tends to become second nature.

While they enjoyed a variety of home-cooked dishes and warm apple cider, local resident Ron Budemas addressed the audience, announcing the highly anticipated arrival of a cheque for $100,000 from the Ontario Trillium Foundation.

The Trillium Foundation, which required the community to raise $35,000, awarded the grant to the people of Terra Cotta to help pay for the restoration of their community facility.

The community hall, a former Methodist church built in 1862, was donated to the people of Terra Cotta. It needs a new foundation, improvements to the structure, a new kitchen and bathroom. The building is also to be made wheelchair accessible.

Over the last four years, a 12-member board of trustees has spent countless hours preparing for the restorations.

Private donations and funds raised through golf tournaments, potluck and spaghetti dinners, plant and flower bulb sales, barbecues and cycling races resulted in more than $150,000.

Area resident Ted Webb has been involved in organizing the annual cycling races, which sees participants ride through the village 12 times. Webb, a member of the Ontario Cycling Association and, at age 75, the oldest participant in the race, plans to head up the event he called "a pinnacle of Ontario's racing program." The event is scheduled for July 6, and Webb said it will attract 150 to 200 licensed and nonlicensed cyclists.

To date, the races have raised $7,000 towards the hall's restoration.

Sometimes, fund-raising initiatives do not have to be elaborate to be effective. That was demonstrated by Verna Jespersen's idea to send letters asking for a donation to all members of the community. The initiative exceeded expectations when residents donated $4,000.

Jespersen said the letters made sure everyone would be included, and offered "a way to reach people other than those who have often been called upon over the past years."

Restoring the hall is important for the community, she said. Having a place to meet is vital for the town's cohesiveness, especially since Terra Cotta no longer has a community store, and kids on the same street may not go to the same schools since the village straddles municipal boundaries.

The restored hall will allow a wider variety of events to bring people together than is currently possible. Jespersen joked that holding a dance in the hall in its current state may result in everyone falling through the floor.

The total cost of the restorations will be $300,000, said Budemas. Along with funds to finance the construction, residents are pitching in by donating materials. One resident donated materials for the kitchen and another person will handle the expenses related to installing the bathroom.

"Everyone in the community pulled together," reflected Jespersen.

Construction could commence as early as spring.