ANTIGONISH: Senior staff with the Town of Antigonish say with the return of a normal schedule of events, which include a Festival Antigonish season and the Highland Games along with the local asset of Keppoch Mountain, they expect to see an increase number of people in the area this summer.
And those events and locales that will attract those people to the area, need some assistance.
During the town’s regular council meeting on March 21, senior staff heard three presentations from community groups applying for community grant funding, the Antigonish Highland Society, Positive Action for Keppoch Society, and Theatre Antigonish.
In a somewhat emotional presentation to council, CarolAnne Mackenzie, president of the Antigonish Highland Society, became choked up as she announced the 157th annual Highland Games would return to Antigonish this summer.
“The Antigonish Highland Society is a community organization that serves past, present and future generations of Gaels,” Vice-President Joe MacDonald told council. “We are the providers and the advocates for authentic living expressions of what is the Highland and Scottish heritage.”
While MacDonald highlighted the visions set out by the founders was then, and still is, to create a living and vibrant culture in Antigonish, and to be the conduit for the North American Gael to that heritage.
After a two year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in scaled back operations the previous two summers, the society has put in an application for a community grant of $15,000.
Another request of $15,000 came from the Positive Action for Keppoch Society, which is halfway through a 25 year lease with the county on the Keppoch property, with an option to re-new for another 25 years.
“We have a strong vision for the future of the mountain,” John Chiasson, past president and board member said. “In 2021, we completed our third, strategic exercise which informs the current plans for future expansion. We have not missed a target on our two strategic sessions over the last decade.”
Providing a statistic from Parks Canada, Chiasson estimated that every dollar invested into trails, generates $10 in economic activity, as they increase the value of nearby properties, boost spending at local businesses, and make communities more attractive places to live.
The 350-acre property that houses a 2,000 square-foot lodge and features over 35-plus kilometres of trails saw 4,500 – 6,500 users last summer, and on an average good weather weekend in either summer or winter, Keppoch will see 300-plus visitors, Chiasson noted.
With an annual membership of $120, for a family of four, Chiasson said that equates to a price tag of eight-cents per day, per person.
“We have a top quality facility which draws people in and gets them in the door, especially from outside the community,” Chiasson said. “But what gets people in the door at the Keppoch are our events and programs like the Winter and Fall Fun Days, gravel races, mountain bike races, and Festival Antigonish’s summer performances.”
The piece that Keppoch requested assistance on is buildings and renovations, specifically change rooms and pit privies, a stairway at Cameron’s Lake, and benches along the trails, Chiasson said.
“Partnerships are key, we’ve learned that round our council table, there’s things that we can’t do alone,” Mayor Laurie Boucher said. “We would not be able to, as a town, would not be able to take this on and do what you’ve done at Keppoch.”
Reema Fuller and Andrea Boyd, with Theatre Antigonish, highlighted their response last summer in the wake of the global pandemic, which was an outdoor performance of Robin Hood at Keppoch Mountain.
Highlighting their three week run, which was sold out by opening night saw 1,800 people, 20 per cent of those being first time theatre goers, from eight different provinces take in their outdoor performance.
“Last summer we headed out into the mountains to create an outdoor, COVID-safe production of Robin Hood; let’s face it, we all thought that by now life at the theatre would be back to normal, and we’d be programming shows inside the Bauer,” Boyd said. “So rather than risk another closure, we’re coming back outside with something even more epic; The Hobbit.”
Noting constraints that mainly focus around COVID-19, Boyd indicated their budget gaps have increased this year, and they hope their application would be considered by the town.
Theatre Antigonish’s request was for $17,500. While their box office remains one of their biggest budget constraints, Boyd said keeping ticket prices affordable for their community is their top priority.
“Box office make us 20 per cent of our budget; people see shows at Festival Antigonish paying about $35, that same show would be on Neptune Theatre for $75, that’s not a price point we could ever afford to put up,” Boyd said. “That’s where your support comes in place and plays a huge role for us.”
To put things into perspective, the cost to produce The Hobbit will be in the approximate range of $140,000, while the maximum Theatre Antigonish will receive from the box office will be $50,000.
“We expect 2,000 people for the show; it creates a lot of jobs, we go from a team of four, to a team of 30,” Boyd said. “It includes jobs for youth and jobs for artists, both groups who have been hurt especially during the pandemic for lack of job opportunities.”