Time to retire ‘Bertha the boiler’
June 15 event to help fund replacement at McNally Community Centre
The building that was McNally School is still going strong 72 years after it opened in 1947. Bertha, the building’s longtime boiler, is ready for retirement, however.
To ensure the well-used former school is comfortable come winter for members of the McNally Community Association along with numerous visiting groups, efforts are underway to finance a replacement heating system. It’s with that goal in mind that McNally Community Centre will host “World of Whimsy,” a fundraising gala tea and international hat fashion show June 15 from 2-4 p.m.
The event will feature numerous door prizes, including a diamond pendant from Tompkins Jewelry; a champagne brunch and train ride from Aspen Crossing; a $25 gift card from Mocha Cabana and an $85 gift card from Pure Spa.
Tickets for the June 15 tea and fashion show are $35 (cash only) and can be purchased at Country Blooms Garden Centre on Broxburn Road or The Jasmine Room at 1112 6 Ave. S. in Lethbridge.
Raffle tickets will be sold following the tea.
The event will also feature musical entertainment by classical guitarist Austin Culler.
An art walk will follow the fashion show to give visitors a tour of the community centre, which keeps busy with a wide assortment of activities, from zumba and yoga classes to bridge and a book swap. The centre is also home to a group of local artists, and will play host to the latest Hatrix Theatre production from May 29 to June 1, the Neil Simon farce “Rumors.”
Vaughan Coupland, president of the McNally Community Association, said the centre is used by an estimated 200 people each week. The association hopes to be able to have Bertha’s replacement operational by the time the cold weather returns so they won’t have to turn away people who use the facility.
The fundraising goal is $85,000, which will include money for installation of a new heating system, a renovation requiring an upgrade to the building’s electrical power.
“It’s a big project,” Coupland acknowledged. “It’s kind of daunting.”
Fortunately, “the community has jumped in and is helping us.”
That includes the artists who have studio space in the building and have chipped in by donating paintings for the fundraiser.
Besides raising money for the new heating system, the association is also hoping to raise awareness about the community centre, which is still known as McNally School to many in the area. Coupland says there are a number of local residents who went to school there (her husband is one of them) before it closed as a school in 1989.
The tea and fashion show will be an opportunity “to engage the community further to get people that haven’t been to McNally to come out and see what we have in the building,” said Coupland.
The building has undergone a number of renovations in recent years, including receiving 115 new windows, new eavestroughing and a resurfaced parking pad.
For more information about “World of Whimsy,” contact Susan Sauer at 403-327-9190 (email smsauer@gmail.com) or Kathy Gschaid at 403-327-9431 (email kgschaid@gmail.com).
For more information about the McNally Community Association and what’s happening at the centre, visit the website