Donor wall to be unveiled on anniversary of tornado

An appreciation / donor wall be unveiled in the parkette beside Goderich Town Hall on Aug. 21.

GODERICH – A lasting tribute to the contributions of first responders, community organizations, volunteers and those who made a significant financial contribution to the Goderich and Area Disaster Relief Fund will be unveiled in a ceremony held on the one-year anniversary of a tornado ripping through Goderich.

The Appreciation/Donor Wall will be unveiled in the parkette at the Goderich Town Hall on Tuesday, Aug. 21, starting at 3:30 p.m., which coincides with the time the F3 tornado made it’s way up from Lake Huron, through Goderich and along the Maitland River valley into Central Huron.

“The fund-raising campaign led by Dr. Tom Jasper, Ken Dunn and Matt Hoy has been extremely successful raising over $3.975 million, which, if necessary, generates almost $12 million to pay eligible claims at the 90 per cent rate permitted under the Ontario Disaster Relief Program. I am very confident that the Disaster Relief Committee will have sufficient funds to pay all eligible claims,” said Duncan Jewell, who is chairperson of the Goderich and Area Disaster Relief Committee.

He said the three-panel appreciation/donor wall has a storyboard as the centre panel, providing a brief outline of the disaster, the first responders and community organizations involved following the disaster and recognizes the thousands of hours of assistance provided by hundreds of volunteers. The two outer panels recognize the significant financial contributions from individuals, businesses, organizations, foundations and corporations and provides special recognition to the local media who ran many public service announcements and printed many photographs of cheque presentations.

“The Goderich and Area Disaster Relief Committee is extremely pleased that the Sifto Canada Corporation has provided the funds for the design and casting of the brass plaques,” he said.

The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, the Honourable Kathleen Wynne, has been invited to speak at the unveiling but her attendance has not been confirmed.

Also on Aug. 21 at 1:30 p.m., the Goderich Lions Club will dedicate the Tree of Remembrance and unveil two plaques at Lions Harbour Park, one to dedicate the tree and one to honour Normand Laberge, who died in the tornado while working at Sifto’s salt mine.

Written by on August 14, 2012 in Communities, Goderich, Goderich Tornado - 1 Comment

One Comment on "Donor wall to be unveiled on anniversary of tornado"

  1. K. John Hazlitt August 22, 2012 at 6:30 pm · Reply

    The donor wall smells of political posturing whereas the tree by the doctor and Mr. Wallace is from the heart.

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