the north grenville
www.ngtimes.ca
TIMES
Vol. 1, No. 51
The Voice of North Grenville
Little League looking for votes
School House Exhibition Page 11
One of the most successful sporting events ever held in North Grenville took place last summer when the Kemptville Little League hosted the Ontario Minor Championship tournament in Riverside Park. More than 3,000 spectators followed the week-long event, and it received national coverage. Now, the KLL are hoping to host another major tournament: the 2014 Little League Ontario Junior Championship, which will be another huge boost to our local economy as well as to the encouragement of sports among our young people. It is a win-win scenario, but there is one major problem to deal with first. In order to qualify to host the tournament, one of the
existing ball diamonds needs to be renovated to conform to Little League requirements. To their immense credit, the KLL have worked hard trying not to place the burden on tax payers. As in previous years, they have made over $10,000 worth of upgrades to the diamonds they use, and this is a yearly commitment to improve the fields. But the cost of bringing that one diamond up to standard for the 2014 tournament is $80,000. They, and that means the kids as well as parents, have given out flyers, stood in malls, anything to let people know the need and to raise funds. They did not go to the Municipal budget meetings, because they know the tax money is not there. But there is one avenue
they have been exploring that could make all the difference, and to succeed, they need your help. And it will not cost you a penny, just a few minutes a day. AVIVA Insurance has a special Community Fund of $1 million, some of which the KLL could receive to renovate the ball diamond at Riverside Park. The Fund provides grants to organisations which submit an idea, a project, and which meets AVIVA’s criteria. Funds are given through a three-stage competition where the number of votes given to each project counts for 15% of the total marks. KLL have made it through to the third and final round, and all that is needed now is that the public of North Grenville vote to
show their support for the project. Voting costs nothing, and you can vote once a day on-line. This stage of voting runs from November 11 to 25, so time is of the essence. You can help make this renovation work happen, help bring in that 2014 tournament, encourage youth sports in our community, and save the taxpayers money, all by voting every day for the KLL project. This is one time when we can legally say: vote early and often! To vote, go to http:// www.avivacommunityfund. org/ideas/acf17816 and register to vote. Remember, vote once a day every day until November 25, and help bring new energy and enterprise to youth sports in North Grenville.
Nov 20, 2013