Watched over by its board of directors, the squat, beige coloured building has hosted countless events for the communities of South West Lot 16, Central Lot 16 and Belmont.
If the local churches could be said to have nurtured the soul of this community all these years than the hall is most certainly its heart.
But no mater how strong, all hearts eventually waiver.
Which is why people like Tammy Shores come along to give them little jump-start.
“Growing up, I always remember coming out to the hall and there always being something to do here. And Lot 16 was always a very close-knit community,” recalled Shores.
Though she grew up in nearby Birch Hill, she spent a great deal of her childhood and teenage years in South West Lot 16 at Jeannie MacLean’s Oceanbreeze stables.
Today, she and MacLean both sit on the hall’s board of directors, and together with the rest of its members, are trying to put some new life back into the building, which has gone largely unused in recent years; save for the frequent senior’s card parties, 4-H meetings and special occasions.
MacLean has been on the board for many years, but Shores only joined a few months ago – after hearing rumours the community might be close to losing the hall.
Those rumblings turned out to be unfounded, said Shores, but the budget was looking thin for 2013.
In a last-ditch effort to avoid going into the red financially before the end of the year, Shores suggested they host a karaoke night – a hobby that’s close to her heart.
“After seeing the hall empty time and time again I thought, well I have something here let’s give it a shot. Just see how it goes. Try and bring community back together again,” she said.
The idea turned out to be a success. They had more than 50 people show up at the first night and even more the second.
The popularity of the karaoke nights emboldened the board a bit, so a kitchen party was organized with various local and visiting talent.
Again the hall was filled.
Between just the three events the board has raised a little more than $1,000 – which might not sound like much, but it’s money it wouldn’t have had otherwise.
The success of these events has provided some much-needed encouragement for the group and it is now brainstorming new ideas to continue their forward moment in terms of renewing interest in their hall.
More karaoke and kitchen nights are planned, and they have a few other ideas that they’re kicking around, such as a community game nights or reviving the local theatre troupe.
Their also busy preparing for their largest fundraiser of the year – the Christmas house tour, which is Dec. 1 from 5 to 9 p.m. Tickets are $12 each and are available by calling 436-1220, 436-5200 or 436-7185.
But while the money raised during these events keeps the doors of the hall open, it’s the people who participate who make a rural community like the Lot 16s and Belmont what they are, said Louanne Wolfe, another board member.
Rural areas are changing, said Wolfe, moving from being self-contained to serving as bedroom communities for people to commute to the city for work.
“So a challenge for us at the hall is that as the rural community changes – how do we keep our hall a vital part of the community,” she asked.
MacLean added that in all the years she’s lived and raised a family in South West Lot 16 she’s known pretty much all of her neighbours – but less so in recent years.
There are a lot of new families in the area, she said, and with that change has come a loosening in the tightly bound fabric of community.
Breathing new life into the hall can hopefully help repair those bindings, she said.
“It’s a chance to bring them out and meet them again.”
These are three small places, only 180 households between them, that have helped each other pay mortgages, who show up with carloads of food when someone has a death in the family and who help each other in a thousand other little ways throughout the year.
That’s worth fighting for, she said.
“I love this community.”
The Lot 16 Community Hall maintains an active Facebook group, which lists all upcoming events. The board of directors would like to encourage anyone who’s interested to “like” the group and follow their activities.
@JournalPMacLean
Watched over by its board of directors, the squat, beige coloured building has hosted countless events for the communities of South West Lot 16, Central Lot 16 and Belmont.
If the local churches could be said to have nurtured the soul of this community all these years than the hall is most certainly its heart.
But no mater how strong, all hearts eventually waiver.
Which is why people like Tammy Shores come along to give them little jump-start.
“Growing up, I always remember coming out to the hall and there always being something to do here. And Lot 16 was always a very close-knit community,” recalled Shores.
Though she grew up in nearby Birch Hill, she spent a great deal of her childhood and teenage years in South West Lot 16 at Jeannie MacLean’s Oceanbreeze stables.
Today, she and MacLean both sit on the hall’s board of directors, and together with the rest of its members, are trying to put some new life back into the building, which has gone largely unused in recent years; save for the frequent senior’s card parties, 4-H meetings and special occasions.
MacLean has been on the board for many years, but Shores only joined a few months ago – after hearing rumours the community might be close to losing the hall.
Those rumblings turned out to be unfounded, said Shores, but the budget was looking thin for 2013.
In a last-ditch effort to avoid going into the red financially before the end of the year, Shores suggested they host a karaoke night – a hobby that’s close to her heart.
“After seeing the hall empty time and time again I thought, well I have something here let’s give it a shot. Just see how it goes. Try and bring community back together again,” she said.
The idea turned out to be a success. They had more than 50 people show up at the first night and even more the second.
The popularity of the karaoke nights emboldened the board a bit, so a kitchen party was organized with various local and visiting talent.
Again the hall was filled.
Between just the three events the board has raised a little more than $1,000 – which might not sound like much, but it’s money it wouldn’t have had otherwise.
The success of these events has provided some much-needed encouragement for the group and it is now brainstorming new ideas to continue their forward moment in terms of renewing interest in their hall.
More karaoke and kitchen nights are planned, and they have a few other ideas that they’re kicking around, such as a community game nights or reviving the local theatre troupe.
Their also busy preparing for their largest fundraiser of the year – the Christmas house tour, which is Dec. 1 from 5 to 9 p.m. Tickets are $12 each and are available by calling 436-1220, 436-5200 or 436-7185.
But while the money raised during these events keeps the doors of the hall open, it’s the people who participate who make a rural community like the Lot 16s and Belmont what they are, said Louanne Wolfe, another board member.
Rural areas are changing, said Wolfe, moving from being self-contained to serving as bedroom communities for people to commute to the city for work.
“So a challenge for us at the hall is that as the rural community changes – how do we keep our hall a vital part of the community,” she asked.
MacLean added that in all the years she’s lived and raised a family in South West Lot 16 she’s known pretty much all of her neighbours – but less so in recent years.
There are a lot of new families in the area, she said, and with that change has come a loosening in the tightly bound fabric of community.
Breathing new life into the hall can hopefully help repair those bindings, she said.
“It’s a chance to bring them out and meet them again.”
These are three small places, only 180 households between them, that have helped each other pay mortgages, who show up with carloads of food when someone has a death in the family and who help each other in a thousand other little ways throughout the year.
That’s worth fighting for, she said.
“I love this community.”
The Lot 16 Community Hall maintains an active Facebook group, which lists all upcoming events. The board of directors would like to encourage anyone who’s interested to “like” the group and follow their activities.
@JournalPMacLean
