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Friday, December 10, 1999 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Photo by Ruth Idler The Honourable Hilary M. W eston, left, shakes hands with M arsha Grout, chair o f the board for the Festival o f Classics. Grout was at a special reception and awards presentation in Toronto on Tuesday to accept a $10,000 Lieutenant G overnor's Award for the Arts on behalf of the Festival of Classics. The money will be used for next year's Shakespeare presentation in Coronation Park. Festival of Classics wins Lt-Gov. award B y C arol B aldw in ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Not only was its production o f Twelfth N ight selected as the best Shakespearean production in Ontario last year, but the Festival of Classics was also selected as one of 15 arts organizations in Ontario to receive a $10,000 Lieu tenant G overnor's Award for the Arts this year. M arsha Grout, chair of board for the Festival o f Clas sics, accepted the award on Tuesday (Dec. 7th) from Lieu tenant Governor Hilary M. Weston at Toronto's presti gious Arts and Letters Club. Pam Eddenden, managing producer o f the Festival of Classics, says the money will be used for next year's Shakespearean production in Coronation Park, either to increase the salaries of the young theatre grads in the cast or to improve the site itself. `T h is year (1999) was our best year ever; we had over 5,000 patrons. Our audience total over the past four years is 13,529, and over 5,000 of that was this year's show," Eddenden says o f the pro duction in the park. "Either "This year through word-of-mouth or people going back year after (1999) was our year, the audience is defi bestyear ever, nitely growing as is support from local business and cor we had over porate sponsorships." 5,000patrons. The first Lieutenant Gov Our audience ernor's Awards for the Arts total over the were presented in 1995, hav ing been established by past four years W eston's predecessor with is 13,529, funds from his personal foundation, the Henry N. R. and over 5,000 Jackman Foundation. Speak o f that was this ing at the awards ceremony, year' s show Jackman stressed that the awards are not presented for artistic merit but rather to organizations that successfully "get out and raise m oney...self-generated income." And the Festival of Classics certainly does that suc cessfully, although Eddenden says the fundraising has gone on right up until opening night every year but this. In fact, in 1997, the show almost didn't go on. The Town o f Oakville, which always supports the festi val through cultural grants, also lent the festival $10,000 at the beginning of the 1997 season. "Otherwise the show w ouldn't have gone on," says Eddenden, adding that the success o f the summer theatre production erased that debit from the books in ju st a few months. "Out o f the box office, the festival paid the $10,000 back in September." The selection com m ittee for the Lieutenant G overnor's Awards for the Arts not only considers each organization's fundraising efforts, it also considers its earned income, board and volunteer activities, and attendance. "Both the volunteer board of trustees for the festival as well as the volunteer staff at the site definitely demon strated O akville's support o f the organization," says Eddenden. "And we have a partnership with the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts, which allows us to have joint technical staff and box office arrangements. Also, our partnership with Bookers Bookstore both as a sponsor and as a box office outlet is an asset." Each year the Lt.-Gov. awards, totaling $30,000, are presented to professional performing arts organizations, art galleries and artist-run centres. The Canadian Opera Company was the 1999 recipient of the largest award o f $50,000, followed by four organi zations which received $25,000. H a lto n H e a l t h C a r e C o r p o r a t i o n , f o r m e r l y t h e O a k v ille T r a f a l g a r a n d M ilto n D is tric t H o s p ita ls , is je o p a rd iz in g lo c a l h o s p ita l s e r v ic e s . H o s p ita l a d m in is tr a to r s w a n t to im p o s e s u b - s t a n d a r d w a g e s a n d c o n t r a c t - o u t h o s p ita l s e r v ic e s to th e p riv a te s e c to r. Please ioin hospital workers and Halton's own Ebenezer Scrooge for a PR E -H O L ID A Y D E M O N ST R A T IO N on Tuesday, December 14 th, at 5:30 p.m., in front of tbe Oakville Hospital. Together we can fight these changes, because our hospitals are Not for Sale. ^ U O \ T | , DENTURE CLINIC COMPLETE DENTURE SERVICES SENIOR RATES FREE CONSULTATION DENTAL & WELFARE PLANS WELCOME REPAIR & RELINE WHILE YOU WAIT PERMANENT SOFT LINER SPECIALISING IN PROBLEM LOWER DENTURES Bronte Plaza 2302 Lakeshore Road West, Oakville, Ontario Across From Tim Horton's Doughnuts « 4 « * 4 - 4 4 4 i 4 1 4 » -* · * - 4 4 * * · « · « « « 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 ( 4 4 H 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 1 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 827-2066 C O P E Local 815