Roy MacGregor celebrates Canada at 150 in Fairvern fundraiser

Canada shouldn’t work, but it does. So says celebrated Canadian author and former Huntsville resident Roy MacGregor. He’ll share his insights into why, “despite its many contradictions and impossible size, this amazing country works” in Canada at 150: The Bumblebee Nation that Somehow Flies, a fundraiser for Fairvern Nursing Home.

MacGregor has spent more than 40 years travelling throughout Canada and writing about its people, places and personalities. He believes it’s the only 150-year-old country still being explored.

“(Roy) still gives a lot back to this community,” says Rob Laver, Chair of the Fairvern Nursing Home Board of Directors. “He’ll be talking about, as the bumblebee technically shouldn’t be able to fly, how does a country like Canada that shouldn’t be able to hold it together continue to do as well as it does and survive and thrive on the international stage?”

Tickets for Roy MacGregor’s June 30 presentation are available at the Algonquin Theatre box office or online here.

Fairvern is a not-for-profit long-term care home with 76 residents. “It’s important for them to have the quality of home and care they need,” said Laver. Proceeds from ticket sales for this event and other upcoming fundraisers will go toward the Fairvern Redevelopment Fund in support of a new facility to be built on lands near Huntsville’s hospital.

“The Town has been generous in helping us financially,” said Laver. “The District is behind us to the tune of $10.5 million as of last December. That ticks a whole lot of boxes for us. We are looking to expand the size of the home by at least 20 beds and that’s the part we are working on right now to get us to the next step and go ahead with the build.”

With the costs of construction covered by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and the District of Muskoka, additional funds raised will be used for other costs like furnishings, designs, architects fees, and site assessments, said Laver. “All that sort of thing that needs to be done before we can even start.”

Fairvern is waiting on final approvals for the project and is working with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to try to secure at least another 20 beds for the new facility. There are a static number of long-term care beds allowed in the province and any allotted to Fairvern will have to come from another facility that no longer needs them.

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