NFCS BBQ survives the deluge

Jeff Green | Aug 26, 2015

There has not been a lot of rain in recent weeks, but last Thursday afternoon was an exception. At 5 in the afternoon Sharbot Lake was not visible from the bandshell that faces it.

Five o'clock also happened to be the start time for the annual Northern Frontenac Community Services (NFCS) Community BBQ, this one marking the 40th anniversary of the agency.

Although they hung on to the idea of holding the event at the beach for as long as possible, about an hour earlier NFCS staff had decided it was time to move indoors.

The balloon castle was not going to fit into the Oso Hall, so it had to go, as well as some other outdoor events, but the band set up on stage, the food was prepared and as the storm was raging outside, over 200 people crammed into the hall to eat and laugh together.

“It was the last thing we wanted to happen,” said NFCS Executive Director Louise Moody, “but in the end we pulled it off and people showed up anyway. Everybody still had fun, although it has been a bit hectic for us.”

To mark the 40th anniversary, the first executive director of NFCS, Wayne Robinson, was on hand, as were a number of staff and board members from over the years.

“It's wonderful to see that something we put together so many years ago has continued to find its way and flourish like this,” said Robinson.

NFCS had its roots in a series of meetings between community members in the early 1970s to talk about community needs. In 1973, St. Lawrence College, which was itself only seven years old at the time, gave the group a grant to hire a “community animator”.

Forty-two years later NFCS provides services to children and youth from its Child Centre location on Road 38, and to adults and seniors from its Adult Services building in the middle of Sharbot Lake.

With funding from a number of provincial ministries, the United Way and the community itself, it provides services for youth throughout Frontenac County, and for adults and seniors in the area from Verona north to Plevna and Ompah and beyond.

“When a young family needs information, a teenager needs training to become a babysitter, an adult is in crisis, or a senior needs help to stay happy and active in their own home, we are there for them,” said Moody.

The NFCS BBQ survived the rain, but that does not mean it will be scheduled as an indoor event next year.

“It is pretty hot in here,” said one mother, “and humid, too.”