Aug 18, 2011


Photo: Official ribbon cutting at the SL Legion l-r, Patti Middleton, Mayor Janet Gutowski, Bill Charlton, Ken Sorrenti, Guy Cooke and Dan Bush

There was much to celebrate as the Sharbot Lake Legion held an official grand re-opening ceremony on Sunday, August 14. The celebration recognized the overwhelming generosity and hard work of many in the community, who helped to turn an unforeseen and costly septic nightmare into what can only be described as a miraculous dream come true.

Legion president, Patti Middleton, presided over the ceremony, which included guests Mayor Janet Gutowski, Legion Padre Marcel Giroux, a plethora of Legion officials and representatives, and visiting guest of honour, Bill Charlton of Napanee. Recently, Charlton's generosity has enabled the Legion to pay off in full their $40,000 loan for their new cutting-edge septic system, which became operational just over a month ago.

“It was like having an angel of mercy come down”, Middleton said later. “He (Charlton) came to my house, knocked on the door and said to my husband Don and me, 'I've known your parents and grandparents all my life and I need to know what it’s going to cost for the new septic system.' We told him and he said he would donate the full amount.”

At one time Bill Charlton (photo left) owned Charlton Motors in Napanee, but he was originally from the Sharbot Lake region. He sold cars in Kingston before moving to Napanee, and he was an active service club and Legion member throughout his working life.

“He said that he had nothing when he left Sharbot Lake, and he wanted to give something back to the community where he was raised,” said Patti Middleton.

Charlton, who is 88, has known some of the senior members of the Sharbot Lake Legion, such as Ken Hollywood and Art Goodfellow, for many, many years, and he remains in touch with them to this day.

He owns a cottage on Sharbot Lake and told Patti Middleton he plans to move back to the area when he retires.

The Legion received the initial $40,000 loan from the Frontenac Community Development Corporation back in June, which Middleton said was the maximum amount that Ontario Command allowed the Sharbot Legion to borrow for the project.

Bill Charlton's donation came with a small string attached. He asked that a plaque be made and hung to recognize the donation in memory of his father, Robert Charlton, and Patti Middleton was more than happy to present him with the plaque after inviting him to do the official ribbon cutting.

The Legion also wished to honour the many other “angels” from the community who donated their time, equipment, skills and muscle to the project, and without whom the new system could not have been put in place.

“You can't really single out any one person because there were other huge costs involved due to the amount of work that needed to be done. We were told that in total this job in reality could have cost us $140,000 but we were able to do it for $40,000, thanks to the incredible generosity of 60 plus businesses and individuals, which is really quite unbelievable,” Middleton said.

With that in mind, a second plaque recognizing all of the individuals and businesses involved was unveiled, and it will also hang in a prominent location at the Legion.

Towards the end of the ceremony, and on a humorous note, attendees were invited to purchase playing cards from a deck. Two players’ cards were chosen and they were invited to make the official “royal flush” of the ladies and gents toilets, ending the official ceremony on a high, dry and, thanks to all of the donors involved, a very sanitary note.

 

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