Applications are now being invited from community groups and organizations for grant funding under the Terence Haight Financial Assistance Program.
The Terence Haight Financial Assistance program was established by the Town of Gravenhurst Council to provide limited financial assistance to community groups and organizations within the municipality to assist with activities, special events or with an improvement to the organization’s existing assets. This support is in recognition of the value of these organizations to the well-being of the community.
From the Town of Gravenhurst:
Terence Haight was born on November 5, 1920 in Peterborough, ON.
His father, a newspaper pressman, moved the young family to Bracebridge for the beauty of the area and clean air. Terence, along with his 3 brothers and 1 sister, loved the outdoors, swimming, canoeing, snowshoeing and skiing. They also helped tend their father’s vegetable garden, hunted and trapped.
As a young man, Mr. Haight ran a bakery in nearby Bracebridge, and the tourist establishments in Gravenhurst always gave him plenty of business. Eventually marrying a Gravenhurst woman named Audrey McDonald, they moved 2 hours away to North Bay, ON where he worked in a hardware store. After Audrey died, Terence relocated to New Liskeard, ON.
Mr. Haight was a private, yet very much community-minded person. Although he helped many causes in his community of New Liskeard, ON, he did not seek attention, preferring to donate in a discreet, charitable manner.
What his friends & neighbours did not know was that he had invested in mining stocks and quietly accumulated a small fortune. To everyone’s surprise, he donated over $ 1 million dollars to the Town of Gravenhurst.
Why did Terence Haight choose Gravenhurst?
We know he had a great appreciation for Gravenhurst during the time he ran his bakery, but more importantly his wife Audrey McDonald grew up in the Town at 22 David St. East. She was the daughter of John McDonald, a lumberman. Terence chose to be laid to rest in Gravenhurst. He was buried beside his wife in Lakeview Cemetery, December 2008.
Details of the program and application information are available by visiting: www.gravenhurst.ca/communityfunding
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