2023…A New Year…A New Beginning

To kick off the holiday season, our December Board meeting was held at the home of Social Committee Chair, Mary Parkes, where a shortened business meeting was conducted followed by a delightful social time.

The year certainly ended dramatically with the Christmas Blizzard of 2022 here in Niagara! Those of us living on the “South Coast” battled power and phone outages as well as impassable roads for several days, some up to a week or more. Christmas festivities were either cancelled or postponed. By January 1st, the weather had turned into spring-like rainy days with the threat of flooding. As this goes to print, we’re experiencing another snowy day with slippery roads and cancelled school buses. Mother Nature has certainly had some surprises in store for us so far this winter!

With the new year beginning, we are once again focused on plans for our 2023 Festival and we have learned that coming back to a full Festival after the pandemic is no easy task. Finding venues has been a frustrating, and at times, a seemingly insurmountable feat! After an exhausting search for an alternate location, we are finally able to announce that the Dance competition will be held at Lakeshore Catholic High School in Port Colborne. Secondary and Community Bands as well as the Percussion classes have also been relocated and will be held at Lakeshore Catholic High School. We are pleased that Central United Church and Portal Village Bible Chapel are once again our sites for School Choirs/Choral Speaking/Choral Evening and Vocal/IVS/Instrumental Solo/Piano classes as well as our Festival Showcase. Port Colborne High School is our new location for the Elementary School Band classes.

Not counting the 2-year absence due to the pandemic, this will be our 36th annual event and, although it has been a challenge securing some of the venues, we are looking forward to a full Festival this year.

We couldn’t do this without your support. The many volunteers who work during the days of the Festival are invaluable. The financial support we receive from the community makes it possible to continue offering the Festival each year. In November, two of our Board members attended a meeting of the Port Colborne Optimist Club and were presented with a donation that will sponsor 2 sessions of this year’s Festival. Upon disbanding, the Welland/Port Colborne Branch of ORMTA has generously provided us with funding that will be used for future Festivals. All donations are gratefully received.

REMEMBER: Entry Forms and Payment are due at the end of this month (January 31st) so please read all the information on our website and submit your entries soon. If you have any questions or concerns, contact our Program Secretary, Linda Caldwell, at 905-834-7418 or email progsecretary@pcfa.ca.

Happy New Year to all!

Hope to see you at this year’s Festival!