County to financially assist community halls

By Mike Renzella

The Haldimand Press

HALDIMAND—Haldimand County is offering a reimbursement to its local community halls for utility expenses incurred from earlier this year up until the end of 2020.

“We were greatly affected. I had the hall rented pretty well all summer long. We lost a lot of income,” said Charles Garvie, Hall Manager for the Hagersville Community Centre. “Just before it all happened, we had done some renovations that cleaned out our bank account. It was very bad timing.”

In terms of current revenue sources, Garvie says that the pickings are slim: “I have a church group that meets there every Sunday and the Lions Club meets there once a month. Other than that, I’ve had one funeral reception in there and that’s it.”