Hello everyone,
The time has come for the North Huron & Area Events Newsletter to evolve. It has been my great pleasure and privilege to prepare, release, and share the newsletter with all of you over the past four years. Having said that, right before COVID hit, I was barely able to keep up. The newsletter has grown to such an extent that, now that things are opening up more, and more in-person events are starting to happen again, I can no longer manage the newsletter in its current state as a near one-man show.
However, we are by no means going to leave you all in the lurch. I’ve been in discussion with a few others in our community, including our partner North Huron, and we have a plan for moving forward.
To explain, I need to give you a bit of history and background. Back in 2018, the library asked the community what they wanted to see in order to build a better community. After dozens of short interviews and ten community conversations, two things were born; this North Huron & Area Newsletter, and the Wingham Community Connectors. Some of you will know about the Wingham Community Connectors. For those that don’t, just as their name suggests, they are a group of community members dedicated to connecting our community together in various ways. They now have a Facebook group that has nearly 2,000 members. You all know about the newsletter, which for those who don’t know, has always been released through the partnership between the Huron County Library and the Township of North Huron, ever since the beginning back in 2018.
The Township of North Huron recently released a brand new website, and it’s this new resource that has made this evolution of the newsletter possible. The website has a community calendar which allows anyone with an account (which anyone can sign up for) to add community events. These "community events" can be anything and everything in our area and beyond. Our goal is to make this calendar the place to find everything that’s going on in North Huron and nearby areas.
In addition, the Wingham Community Connectors Facebook group has become a prime spot to find out what’s going on. Some events are already being shared there, and we are encouraging that to continue and increase.
By pairing the WCC Facebook page with the North Huron calendar, you’ll be able to ask questions, get immediate responses, and be able to see what’s being posted right now with the WCC FB group, and you’ll be able to see what’s happening during any given week at a quick glance (North Huron calendar). We believe this combination will be perfect for keeping you abreast of what’s happening.
Having said that, this is going to be a community-led effort, so we need your help to make this work really well! If you have an event you’re organizing, or your organization is hosting or taking part in an event, or if there's an event your volunteering for, or if there's just something you know about but don’t see on the calendar, please add it to the North Huron calendar. Once an event has been added onto the calendar, you can then share it straight from the North Huron calendar to the WCC Facebook group.
I'd like to give a few examples of what I mean by "event":
- Weekly cards at the legion
- Skating registrations
- Golf tournament
- Barbecue
- Mental Health Training
- Coffee Club at the arena
- Wing night / Open mic night
- Turkey dinner / take-out luncheon
Many things that you may not think as an "event" can still be worth sharing. If it's happening in our community, or even online, it would be great to see it on the calendar and WCC Facebook page.
Also, just to illustrate the idea of this a bit more, I'm part of the Huron County Library team. As such, moving forward, I'm going to be sharing Huron County Library events on the North Huron calendar, and then from them, I'll share each event to the WCC Facebook page. If we can get individuals from many different businesses and organizations contributing in this way, as well as individual volunteers or those with their "ear to the ground," the calendar and WCC Facebook page will show us just about everything that's happening in our community.
Here is how to add an event to the North Huron calendar :
Go to https://www.northhuron.ca/en/index.aspx - Recreation, Parks, and Culture - Community Calendar - Submit an Event. Create an account, then Submit an Event again. Please fill out as each part completely, including contact information.
Here’s how to add an event to the Wingham Community Connectors Facebook group if not already a member :
Search Wingham Community Connectors on Facebook and join the group. Once you're a member, you can easily share any event straight from the North Huron calendar. To do this, go into a event on the North Huron calendar and click Share.
I’m excited about the potential of this new direction. One limitation of the monthly newsletter was that once it was sent, there was no editing it. With the calendar and Facebook group, this will no longer be the case!
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out, I’m always happy to hear from you and to help where I can. My email is hbaker@huroncounty.ca
Lastly, I just want to say thank you for being part of the North Huron Events Newsletter. As I said at the beginning, it truly has been my pleasure and privilege to share with you what's been happening in our wonderful, small-town community. I'm looking forward to helping with the continued growth of this initiative.
All the best,
Hamilton Baker