(The following is the first in a series of stories by Doug Collie about area community halls)
Rugby Hall, west of Didsbury in Mountain View County Division 4, is “doing fine,” thanks to an upsurge in facility rentals, according to president Della Kyncl.
She says this past weekend's turkey supper will also help pay the bills.
Kyncl says a few years ago, a lotteries grant plus grants from Mountain View County enabled the board to undertake a lot of renovations to the hall. That helped keep it up and make it attractive to potential renters.
“Just about anybody and everybody (rents our hall),” Kyncl says. “We have everything from funerals to weddings to family reunions. We have lots of folks that have come back every year for 10, 12 years now.”
Kyncl says some of the money from the lotteries grant was used to build a big veranda on the south side of the hall.
“That's boosted rentals (significantly),” Kyncl says, although she's not quite sure why that's the case.
She says the Rugby Hall board also benefits from a good relationship with local 4-H groups.
“We donate the hall to the local 4-H groups and they pitch in and help with keeping up the facility and that sort of thing,” she says.
Kyncl stresses 4-H groups don't necessarily donate money to keep the hall going, but they donate time, doing things like cutting and trimming the lawn. They also help stage the turkey dinner.
“So like I said, the whole community participates,” Kyncl says.
