Melanie and Bruce Inglis organized Queens Hockey Fights Cancer on Saturday at Queens Place Emera Centre in Liverpool. It has raised more than $16,000 so far for cancer research. (Rick Conrad photo)

A charity hockey game in Liverpool on the weekend raised more than $16,000 for cancer research.

Queens Hockey Fights Cancer was hosted by Memories Cafe & Eatery and Inglis Kassouf Financial Solutions at Queens Place Emera Centre on Saturday.

It was organized by Bruce and Melanie Inglis of Liverpool, who own Memories and Inglis Kassouf.

“Cancer is close to everybody one way or another and for us this year, it’s been pretty challenging with some various people that we know that are fighting different kinds of cancer at different ages in life,” Bruce Inglis said Monday. “It was a case where we thought we could make it so the community could show them how much they care.”

“We are always great at doing hockey game fundraisers,” Melanie Inglis said. “We’ve done several so we knew that would be a good one for us. We did a silent auction, with the help of Karleigh Huskins who was terrific at getting a lot of businesses to chip in.”

LINK: Queens Hockey Fights Cancer donation page

They also raised money through donations from individuals and businesses, a 50/50 draw and admission to the game on Saturday. The winner of the 50/50 draw, Danny Whynot, donated the pot back to the cause.

The Inglises say they’re thrilled with the result.

“A final tally isn’t done yet, but we are a little over $16,000 right now,” Melanie says. “I think it surpassed our expectations for sure.”

“I think we knew that the community would come together,” Bruce says. “We knew that we would do $5,000, hoped that we would do ($10,000). But anything above 10 I think is pretty remarkable.”

The hockey game featured the under-18 Queens County Midget Cougars going up against another group of players who suited up for the Inglis Kassouf All-Stars. 

Admission was $10 and about 300 people showed up to watch the all-stars win the game in overtime on a goal by 14-year-old Eric Hanley.

The Inglises said the big tally is even more special given the relatively small population of the area. 

“It was a nice crowd,” Bruce says. “And that’s on a busy Saturday in the summer when there’s lots going on. There were a lot of people who did send donations, and saying, ‘Sorry we can’t be there’.” 

“We’re thrilled,” Melanie says. “It’s fantastic to have the community rally together behind us to support the people that we love in the community.”

The couple organized the event in honour of a couple of friends going through their own battle with cancer.

Jack Stephenson is a student athlete at Bates College in Maine. He spent part of his childhood in Queens County. The son of Jay and Renee Stephenson is currently undergoing treatment for sarcoma.

Anthony MacDiarmid of Liverpool is also battling cancer. A longtime supporter of hockey and community causes, he coached the all-stars to victory.

All money raised will go to the Canadian Cancer Society for cancer research. You can still donate to Queens Hockey Fights Cancer at this link on the Canadian Cancer Society website.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Listen to the audio version of this story below

Kristopher Snarby, president of the Seaside Centre in Beach Meadows, says volunteers and the community have helped revitalize the community centre. (Rick Conrad)

Volunteers in the Beach Meadows area have revitalized their local community centre, bringing it back from the brink just two and a half years ago.

When a new board of directors took over the Seaside Centre in Beach Meadows in November 2021, many in the community feared it would close.

But in the time since, the centre has reclaimed its integral place in the community. 

Kristopher Snarby is president of the Seaside Centre. He was one of those new board members. 

“We came into a situation where people were tired and they just couldn’t keep going with the way things were. And we had a group of energetic people step in. The community made it clear they wanted to keep the building. We had a huge turnout at that meeting. It was evident from that that people wanted to make sure that we kept this facility in the community.”

Over the past couple of years, board members and other volunteers have raised thousands of dollars to renovate the centre. It’s now holding more regular community events and even has a couple of regular tenants renting space to help pay the bills.

They have installed new insulation and heat pumps throughout the facility to make it more energy efficient. And they plan this year to install a new metal roof and metal siding to help it withstand the harsher weather conditions on the coast.

They also invested $80,000 in a new generator to make the building a comfort centre during periods like hurricanes or power outages.

“These projects are huge capital projects that in theory should take a long time to achieve and we’ve done a lot in the short term. … That’s almost $300,000 in capital improvements to the centre in two or three years. So it’s been busy and we’re investing in the centre to ensure it keeps on going for a long time and it’s really positive.”

The centre held its annual general meeting this week, where the board highlighted some of the successes of the past year. The facility recorded a $28,842 surplus last year.

Snarby says the Seaside Centre wouldn’t have been able to do it without its group of about 100 volunteers and the community’s support. More than half of its revenue comes from fundraising and individual donations.

“We’ve had huge amounts of support both in terms of volunteer hours but also donations. We’ve gotten donations anywhere from $20 to $1,000 or $5,000. So we’ve had big donations, small donations. It all goes into the pot to make that happen. Without that, none of this would have been achievable. All of our grants have required 20 to 25 per cent contribution from the community. Every event we’ve had people are super generous with donations and coming out to support the centre.”

“The community support it’s allowing to push through and really get this done.”

He said after the work on the exterior of the building this year, the next long-term project may be to update their kitchen facilities. 

“And then also just continuing to put on events and to be a place where people can come and gather. We have weekly groups that get together for yoga, for crafting, quilting. We’d like to expand that into some other weekly groups that attend here and just have more events for the community.”

Snarby says they’re always looking for more volunteers or for people to put on more events at the centre. You can find more information at their website at seasidecentre.ca or by joining their Facebook group.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Listen to the audio version of this story below

More than 70 people turned out for the Astor Theatre Society’s annual general meeting on Monday evening in Liverpool. (Rick Conrad)

After years of discussing the need for it, the board of the Astor Theatre says that 2024 will be the year that they get serious about securing funding for a modern HVAC system.

The 122-year-old building has only ceiling fans in its performance space, making it pretty steamy in the middle of the summer.

The Astor Theatre Society board announced at their annual general meeting on Monday night that it plans to go after federal and provincial funding this year to make the whole building more energy-efficient and to install a state-of-the-art heat pump system.

That system would keep the Astor cool in the summer and warm in the winter. They also plan to replace windows, reinsulate the roof and change all lighting to energy-efficient LEDs.

Board member Lynn Cochrane told about 70 people gathered for the AGM that the board will work with the Region of Queens, which owns the building, to ensure they maintain the structural integrity and acoustics of the Astor.

She said it’s part of a major capital campaign that the Astor will launch this year.

They also plan to create an endowment fund, supported by corporate and individual donations, to ensure the Astor’s financial security.

“It is our Astor,” Cochrane said. “So this endowment will protect it for many years, and hopefully save us from having to go hand to mouth with our finances every year.”

The Astor also got a $100,000 donation from the Greenfield-based sawmill Harry Freeman and Son Limited. 

Board chairman John Simmonds told members that the Astor is in good financial shape, even though it reported a $40,393 deficit for the nine months ending Dec. 31.

The theatre’s total audience last year from April 1 to Dec. 31 was about 12,000, with 60 per cent of that coming from Queens County and 40 per cent from outside the region.

“So we’ve had a lot of people through these doors,” Simmonds said.

The first four months of 2024, however, were stronger, with 18 events bringing almost 3,750 people to the theatre, and a net gain of $27,900.

The Astor hosted many popular concerts and events from January to April, including the late February/early March production of Follies, its first adult musical production since 2018.

“The last few months have been very important to the Astor, we’ve been so successful, we’ve had so much going on,” Simmonds said.

He said the board plans to sign a 10-year lease with the region, which will help the Astor in its fundraising goals. 

“It also gives us an opportunity to go after grants that require a 10-year lease so that we can establish to the grantors that we are going to stay around for a long time. So that could bring in some fairly big numbers to allow us to do some of the things we want to do.”

The Astor’s net assets as of Monday’s AGM are $232,000, according to treasurer Loris Azzano.

The Astor Theatre Society’s members also voted to add three new people to the board of directors, bringing the total to 11.

They are Melanie Atkinson, who also volunteers at QCCR, Terri Faber and Cynthia Walker.

They join Simmonds, Azzano, Cochrane, Anne Espenant, Willo Treschow, Dan Williams, Heather White Brittain and Colleen Wolfe.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Listen to the audio version of this story below

Astor Theatre, Liverpool, Nova Scotia. Photo Credit: Ed Halverson

Astor Theatre management was hoping for a better start to 2022.

The popular Liverpool theatre has been effectively closed since the province announced restrictions just before Christmas to limit the spread of the omicron variant.

General Manager Jean Robinson-Dexter says safety measures such as checking for vaccination, masking, and having ushers escort patrons directly to their seats encouraged a good turnout at many of the shows before they were shut down.

“People told us that they felt safe, they felt welcome and so we will just continue to do that once we’re able to welcome folks back here,” said Robinson-Dexter.

The province announced those restrictions have been extended until the end of January and Robinson-Dexter is still unsure what will happen after that.

She’s been reaching out to promoters and performers scheduled to play in February to decide if they will go ahead with their dates with the risk of more potential restrictions cancelling those shows as well.

“We’re just, kind of in wait and see, hoping that we can reopen and I’m not expecting that it’s going to be at full capacity for a while.”

Astor theatre interior. Photo Ed Halverson

Opening for 50 to 100 people is not economically viable for the theatre or performers according to Robinson-Dexter.

She hopes the community understands that leaves the theatre in a precarious position.

The Astor receives annual grants to help cover some of the operating costs and the federal and provincial governments have come forward with more money to help the theatre weather the pandemic.

But it takes funding from multiple sources, including fundraising and ticket sales to keep the Astor afloat.

Robinson-Dexter says the theatre has just wrapped its annual December donation campaign, but she hasn’t seen the totals yet.

She looks forward to reopening the Astor as soon pandemic conditions permit because the theatre is more to the community than entertainment.

“And it’s so important for people, both, I think, for social connection, to get folks out in the community, seeing friends again, and just for their mental health and well-being,” said Robinson-Dexter. “Music can fill you up.”

E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson

To listen to the broadcast of this story, press play below.

Trucks outside North Queens station. Photo Credit: North Queens Fire Department

The COVID-19 pandemic seriously hurt fire services fundraising efforts in 2020.

The North Queens fire department would normally hold suppers and events throughout the year to support the community and help pay for new equipment and trucks

Those fundraisers would usually net between $60,000 and $70,000 over the course of the year.

Because of the pandemic, those events had to be cancelled.

North Queens fire chief Chris Wolfe is optimistic about restarting the fundraising efforts in the new year as Nova Scotia has begun to administer vaccines and residents have been supporting efforts to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

“We’re hoping to get back to the way it was. It’s one of those things you’re uncertain of and you just don’t know at this point but we seem to be holding our own where we are,” said Wolfe. “ Of course with what’s coming up for truck purchases, it’s going to be difficult to do that if things keep going the way they are.”

North Queens is scheduled to replace their 25 year-old pumper truck within the next three years.

Region of Queens has an agreement in place with the five departments operating in the county to contribute $275,000 towards the purchase of any new truck.

That leaves North Queens on the hook to raise the remaining $225,000 to buy the half-million dollar pumper.

In an effort to continue to raise money, the department signed on with other fire services across the province last summer to participate in a weekly 50-50 draw.

“It was a slow start there, but as the jackpot climbed, we started getting more and more people buying. We’re going to use it towards the replacement of trucks,” said Wolfe.

The jackpot reached it’s highest total of $461,595 on New Years Eve with the winner taking home $230,798.

North Queens fire service share of the proceeds for 2020 is $4,550. That’s less than 10 percent of what their fundraising efforts would normally bring in.

Wolfe says there isn’t much that can be done until the pandemic is under control.

While many groups have petitioned public health for exceptions that would allow them to resume their functions, Wolfe says they have not contacted Dr. Strang and public health about any measures that could see their hall reopen to community or fundraising events

“We haven’t mentioned to much to him there. You know they’re doing a good job with what they’re doing, trying to keep the COVID down.,” said Wolfe. “So I’m basically just following the rules and waiting for things to improve.”

Reported by Ed Halverson 
E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson

To listen to the broadcast of this story, press play below.