On the evening of September 24th, 2014, over 70 concerned friends and neighbors of Camp Garagona were invited to the Bishop Stewart Church of the Holy trinity in the village of Frelighsburg to hear representatives of the Association Garagona, the Butters Foundation and Butters Homes provide the latest information on the fundraising campaign of the Butters Foundation, targeting the reconstruction of camp infrastructure. It was indeed fitting that the event took place in the local Anglican Church since the Bishop, in the late 1960s, tore off a 14.9 acre section of the property and donated it to the camp which was then in its planning phase.
Since this major renovation project had been postponed a few years ago after a short fundraising campaign, it was important that the community be briefed on the progress of the current project which had been grandly helped due to the leadership of the Butters Foundation.
Organized by the Butters Foundation, the event was blessed with a series of major sponsors such as the SAQ, Domaine Pinnacle and Jarislowsky Fraser Limited. The event also had the benefit of a host of volunteers from the community and the camp that made the event first-class in every respect.
Speakers made it clear that Phase One of the project was due to start in a number of days. This phase involved the construction of a multi-level administrative building that will house the cafeteria/kitchen, infirmary, dorms and smaller sleeping areas for campers with special needs, activity areas and storage. The cost of Phase One was purported to be $2.9 million dollars. A Phase Two was being planned for the fall of 2015 that would involve the building of a new Arts Centre that will provide modern facilities for a wide range of arts activities from music to dance, and from painting to sculpture with other metiers in between.
Dr. Barakett briefed the invited guests on the success of the campaign, Me Guy Gilbert of Association Garagona thanked Dr. Barakett and his campaign team for their hard work, and Mme Louise Roy-Yelle explained the timeline for construction of Phase One and the plans for Phase Two of the project, (see photo gallery above).