The Citizen, 2010-03-11, Page 22PAGE 22. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 11, 2010.Entertainment Leisure&
Calvin and Gail Semple,
along with
Murray and Maxine Houston,
would like to announce
the engagement
of their children
Jodi Marie
to
Darryl Rae
The wedding is to take place
June 19, 2010.
Our families wish them
love and happiness.
Forthcoming Wedding
404 Queen St., Blyth 519-523-4792
541 Turnberry St., Brussels 519-887-9114
Check out our books at...
The Citizen
Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day
with some
wonderful books!
BREWING MADE EASY
Imagine offering guests
your own home brew. This
book provides information
from brewing your first
batch of beer to creating
your own recipes.
Information on equipment,
instructions on making beer
and recipes for different
beers and ales. $10.95
HOMEBREW FAVORITES
Enjoy the added pleasure of creating and
drinking your own home-brewed beer and
ale. Instructions on choosing ingredients plus
240 recipes for beer, ale, porter, stout and
European and American lagers. $19.95
101 REALLY IMPORTANT THINGS YOU
ALREADY KNOW BUT KEEP
FORGETTING
From the author of How to Retire Happy,
Wild and Free comes a guide to living a
more meaningful and relaxed lifestyle filled
with happiness and fulfillment. $17.97
MAKING HAY WHILE
THE SUN SHINES
Humourist Bob Collins
brings more stories from
Hap and Edna
Fitzpatrick’s adventures in
a rural landscape peopled
with rich, true-to-life
characters with all the
quirks and foibles that
bring them to life. $18.95
THE KIDS’ BUILDING WORKSHOP
Kids can learn and gain confidence in
woodworking. This book provides
basic instructions for tools plus 15
projects kids and parents can build
together: from toy furniture to bird
houses to a puppet theatre. $18.95
I WANT TO BE A VET
Do you know a youngster who
wants to be a vet? This colourful
book gives a hint of what the job
entails. (Ages 4-7) $3.99
Stratford Festival posts $170,000 surplus for 2009The Stratford Shakespeare
Festival’s 57th season was hailed as
an artistic and financial success at
the annual general meeting held in
the Festival Theatre on Saturday,
March 6, attracting more than half a
million patrons and achieving a
surplus of $172,367.
“Once again, this Festival faced a
year of daunting economic
challenge. Once again, we rose to
that challenge and surmounted it.
Our 2009 season was a resounding
success by any measure: artistic,
critical and financial,” said Board
Chair Richard Rooney.
Total revenues for 2009
amounted to $59 million. Expenses
totalled $58.8 million.
This positive position was the
result of a number of factors,
including an enhanced marketing
campaign that was supported by
significant contributions from
government, generous donations
and sponsorships, in-year reductions
to operating expenses, and most
important, the remarkable work on
stage.
By year-end, box office and other
earned revenue remained the largest
contributor to the bottom line at 63
per cent. Corporate and individual
donors contributed a record-setting
$12.1 million, representing 21 per
cent of revenue.
At $6.6 million, government
grants made up an unprecedented
11per cent of total revenue in 2009,
thanks to the $3 million received
through the newly created Marquee
Tourism Events Program and an
additional $500,000 from the
province of Ontario, which together
doubled previous government
contributions.
These contributions funded an
incremental marketing campaign
that expanded the Festival’s
promotional efforts in both Canada
and the United States.
“Our turnaround at the box
office was spectacular, with more
tickets sold between April and
October of 2009 than in any year,
aside from our 50th season in
2002,” said General Director
Antoni Cimolino.
The Festival commissioned
studies by the Strategic Counsel and
by the Conference Board of Canada
to assess the Festival’s economic
impact and the impact of the
province’s $3 million received
through the newly-created Marquee
Tourism Events Program grant. The
studies made the following
conclusions:
The Festival’s economic impact is
estimated at $135.4 million for
2009.
The Festival generated $70.8
million in taxes to all levels of
government in 2009.
The Festival supported an
estimated 3,019 jobs in 2009, with a
combined payroll of $115.7 million.
Eighty-nine per cent of tourists
visiting Stratford have been drawn
to the area by the Festival.
Marquee Tourism Events Program
funding drove the sale of 75,000
additional tickets. Eighty-three per
cent of these were sold to domestic
and international visitors who live
more than 80 km away.
These additional sales generated
$23.4 million in economic activity
and $12.1 million in taxes.
Stranger Theatre, an artist-run,
Toronto-based company spent
March 1-7 at the Blyth Festival
working on a new script.
Marrying the Hangman is written
and directed by Kate Cayley.
Stranger Theatre describes
the work as one that combines a
narrative built around a fractured,
non-linear timeframe, physical
images, and a text which shifts
among humour, poetry and the
macabre. The work is told
from the perspective of a
woman in 18th-century
Montreal, sentenced to hang for
theft.
Stranger Theatre was founded by
Kate Cayley, Kilby Smith-
McGregor, Simone Rosenberg and
Lea Ambros in 2001. For more
information on Stranger Theatre
and their latest work in
development, visit the
company’s website at:
www.strangertheatre.com
The Blyth Festival encourages the
local community and the arts
community further afield to take
advantage of its creative space
during the off-season as part of an
ongoing commitment to further the
arts in our area.
For more information on the
Blyth Festival, new play
development or the Blyth Centre for
the Arts rehearsal and performance
spaces. visit:
www.blythfestival.com or call 1-
877-862-5984.
Happy 50th
Birthday
Christine
March 14
Love Mom, Dad
& Family
Toronto theatre company
writes script at Festival
The London Area Women’s
Institute (WI) is working on a
community event called Women’s
Day.
It will be held Saturday, April 10,
9:25 a.m. to 3:55 p.m. at the
Lucan Community Memorial
Centre.
The lineup of guests
include Monda Halpern, history
professor of the University of
Western Ontario and author of,
“And On That Farm He Had A
Wife”, who will speak on “The WI:
A Landmark in Ontario Women’s
History.”
Master Gardener, Nancy Abra will
give valuable information on
“green” remedies and recipes for
ridding our gardens of pesky insects
that cost us hundreds each year.
Cathy Burtch will give
clever ideas and insight into
accessorizing trends using scarves,
handbags and jewellery.
Robert Pel of Stratford will be
showing kilts made of leather
and hemp as well as educating
in the etiquette of kilt-wearing.
One lucky woman will
win a makeover, complete with
hair and makeup, with clothes
and shoes to keep. Deadline for
makeover consent forms
and tickets is Wednesday, March 31.
The WI branches in this area have
been very active with ROSE (rural
ontario sharing education)
programs, scholarships and
advocating for better laws both
provincially and nationally.
While WI is affiliated with a
global membership of over nine
million, the funds raised at this
event will stay within
local communities. London
Area WI includes Huron, Perth
South, Middlesex, Oxford
and Elgin.
For more information or for
tickets call Committee Chair,
Debbie Bauer 519-529-7820 or e-
mail: wdbauer@hurontel.on.ca
subject line: Tickets or Women’s
Day.
London Area Women’s Institute to host Women’s Day in Lucan