The committee was one of five invited to set up a display to not only exhibit its participation in the CIB program, but to also promote the town of Gravenhurst to approximately 100,000 people that attended the show.

Representatives at this event included Helen Waters, Kyla Bruce, Jackie Budgeon, Marty Cairns, CIB chair Sandy Cairns and the town’s community economic development officer Lance Sherk, who made a one-hour presentation on behalf of Gravenhurst at the “Ask the Experts” stage.

The first few days catered to bus tour groups from places as far away as Ottawa and Sudbury.

“We enjoyed speaking with people who had or have connections to Gravenhurst,” Budgeon said. “We met many cottagers from Gull Lake, Silver Lake, Muskoka Lake, etc. People saw our banner hanging proudly and stopped to tell us of their visits to our area. We encouraged them to revisit our community and experience our growth and our beautiful main street ambiance.”

It gave the group an opportunity to discuss the CIB provincial award weekend that Gravenhurst is hosting in September.

“Using our display panels, we were able to point out the different facilities that we will be using throughout the community including the Muskoka Boat and Heritage Centre, the Centennial Centre, and our beautiful Opera House,” Budgeon explained. “It was our privilege to make people aware of all the sites and activities that Gravenhurst has to offer. One gentleman asked for information on the Antique and Classic Boat Show, which he was forwarding to a friend in the United States.”

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the members of our community who stopped by our booth to say hello, especially Jose and Scott MacLaren, owners of the Canadian Tire store.

It was a special day for Jose when she discovered that her cousin, whom she had not seen for a number of years, was doing a presentation at the master gardeners “Ask the Experts” stage.

It was a wonderful experience for us, and hopefully we will be invited back next year.