Margaretsville hall Nominated nationally

By Heather Killen

The Spectator

NovaNewsNow.com

A little community on the other side of the mountain has entered a national contest in hopes of winning big.

Sherry Nichols, Pat Lawson, and Erla Ritz recently nominated the Margaretsville Community Hall for the Kraft Savour Summer contest.

Sherry Nichols said they decided to nominate the hall and the park for upgrades after she read about the contest in What’s Cookin?

“The hall is a great place to hold different community events - dinners, card games, children’s activities, even exercise classes,” she said. “But it needs a lot of work.”

A new kitchen and appliances, and flooring top the fixer-up list for the $50,000 grant needed to repair the hall. Eventually they hope to keep the hall open year-round, offering activities for people of all ages. Nichols said they also applied for a $20,000 grant for upgrades at the park.

“It’s such a beautiful view - the lighthouse, the wharf, the beach,” she said. “It’s a spot where families can picnic and walk around.”

She added that the community hall is a vital venue for the community given that it’s 12-kilometre trip to the nearest town. This distance becomes even more remote in the winter, when ice and snow make traveling treacherous over the mountain roads.

“It’s a shame the hall can’t be open year-round, that really kills us,” she said. “Right now, we can only use it seasonally.”

The volunteers work hard each season to raise money through wildly successful lobster dinners. But with a limited venue, even sell-out crowds won’t raise the bank to buy a new roof.

“We can only accommodate so many,” she said. “We work so hard, but it’s almost impossible to get ahead.”

She added that with so few people trying to accomplish so much, it’s easy for volunteers in the little community to get discouraged.

The competition invited Nova Scotians to nominate their community centres, parks and sports fields to win up to $75,000 in upgrades.

The money is being awarded to community spaces that bring together children, families and friends and promote fun and physical fitness.

The entries were judged on three criteria: community spirit, overall need, and originality.