Frank and Sue D’Angelo who live in St. Ola, raised $12,000 for the Limerick Fire Department with a fundraiser at their home over the Canada Day weekend. They were honoured at the July 21 Limerick council meeting with the presentation of a large cheque. Frank D’Angelo and Limerick Fire Chief Greg Maxwell comment to The Bancroft Times on the money raised and what it will be used for.
CAO Victoria Tisdale confirmed that the Frank and Sue D’Angelo were presented with this novelty cheque at the July 21 council meeting as a thank you for their efforts in organizing a fundraiser for the fire department.
“They held this event at their own house over Canada Day Weekend. Their total money raised was $12,000!” she says.
Frank D’Angelo told The Bancroft Times on July 29 that it was pretty cool, because it was not what they expected.
“We were hoping for $3,000, just a small little get together kind of thing and the next thing you know, it blew up into something bigger and it’s pretty cool,” he says.
D'Angelo says the fire department was a cause that they thought everyone could get behind.
“So by doing that we basically went to local businesses and individual families and whatnot that were making donations and sponsoring and we were raising money to cover the cost of the band [Moon Sugar out of Trenton] and whatever the other costs were. My company put the food and all that towards the costs. Yeah it was just easy. A lot of friends, family members, people in and out of the community,” he says.
D'Angelo says that they sold tickets at the door instead of in advance so he doesn’t have a clear idea of how many people came by the fundraiser. However, he estimates it to be between 75 people and 120 people.
“This year was a pilot progam, let’s call it. Next year we’ll do something hopefully equally if not better and we’ll sell tickets in advance. We’ll have two different bands instead of one and Greg from the fire department prepared all the food we did; hot dogs, sausages and hamburgers this year. Next year he said he'd do a pig so we’ll do that with all the fixings. And I’ve had other people say they’re willing to donate things to it so that’ll be fun!” he says.
He wanted to thank the following business sponsors for their help; Vance Motors, BMR Bancroft, Tripp Excavation, St. Ola’s Station, Team Alexander Realty, Palmer Rapids Twin Music Festival, Casey’s Propane Bancroft, Bancroft Pub, Scottish Painters, Shawn Mekewon and Sons Contracting, Lakeside County Homes, Woods Logging, Up North Web, Summer fun rentals, Quinte Paint and Wallpaper, The Outpost Burleigh Falls, Nifty Gifts by Nancy, Woodhaven Campground, Rustic Roadside Restaurant, St. Ola Concrete, Brinklow Lake Bender, Canadian NASCAR and Canadian Mosport Park, and D’Angelo Painting. The individual sponsors who helped out were as follows; Richard and Susan Fox, Wayne Speck and Kate Shoniker, Donna McTaggart, Dan Jaques and Carry Salsbury, Gord Phillips, Dan and Cindy Potter, Stan Morrow, and Patrique and Taylor Ouimet (all the way from Ottawa). He also wanted to thank their volunteers; Bob Lemay, Samantha Juranyi, Lori Stranaghan, Kirk Tripp and the Limerick Fire Department.
“My wife and I first dated on a Canada Day so we have always thrown a Canada Day party/barbecue for our friends and family. This year was our ninth year up in St. Ola with previous ones at our last residence, so we decided to make this one a bit bigger which included the community, and what better way to do that than to make it a fundraiser, and as previously maentioned, the fire department was something we believed everyone could get behind, and for the most part most businesses and individuals did,” he says.
Maxwell told The Bancroft Times that they are very pleased with what the D’Angelos did for them and all those who supported their event. He also confirmed that he was the cook again at the fundraiser, which he loves doing.
“The money raised helps Limerick Fire with training and equipment and is very much appreciated.”