submitted by Deron Johnston
The Old Town Kemptville Business Improvement Area (BIA) was proud to host our annual Volunteer Appreciation Night on Tuesday July 11 from 6-9pm at Salamanders Restaurant in Downtown Kemptville. The highlight of the evening was the volunteer awards that were given to deserving local volunteers who contribute immensely to everything that the BIA does. There were awards for BIA volunteers presented by acting BIA Chair Meagan Cumming and also for Kemptville Buskerfest volunteers presented by Buskerfest Operations Logistics Chair Mary-Anne Leang.
The BIA is responsible for organizing the Kemptville Buskerfest and insisted that Buskerfest deserved its own set of volunteer awards due to the extensive amount of volunteer hours required to organize this highly successful free community event.
The winners of the awards were as follows:
– Old Town Kemptville BIA Rising Star (Youth) Award – Bryanna Mitchell
– Old Town Kemptville BIA Community Volunteer of the Year – Nancy Onlock & Paul Calder (tie)
– Old Town Kemptville BIA Board Volunteer of the Year – Sierra Jones-Martel
– Kemptville Buskerfest Rising Star (Youth) Award – Mary Furber
– Kemptville Buskerfest Volunteer of the Year Award – Paulina Hrebacka
“The BIA could literally do nothing without our volunteers. They organize our activities and events, they work on our board and do everything in between. We are beyond fortunate to benefit from the commitment, loyalty, and work ethic of some remarkable people. This event was an opportunity for some of our community builders to get some recognition for all that they do for us and their community.” – Meagan Cumming, Acting Chair of the Old Town Kemptville BIA Board.
“This year, Buskerfest was the beneficiary of an influx of new volunteers who brought a very high level of experience and ability with them. It showed in many ways but perhaps none more than the increased professionalism in everything that we did. We had more people to share the workload and that work was done beyond our expectations. It allowed our sub-committee chairs more time to pay closer attention to the details and not have so much to do at the last minute.” – Deron Johnston, Kemptville Buskerfest Executive Director.
If you’d like to learn more about volunteer opportunities with the BIA including volunteering at one of our many events (Kemptville Buskerfest, Kreepy Kemptville etc.) or joining a BIA sub-committee (such as the Marketing & Programming Committee), just send a quick email to learn more: bia@northgrenville.on.ca.
