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14 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday September 3, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com PROBLEM DENTURES... FULL SERVICE DENTURE CLINIC PROMPT QUALITY CARE SAME DAY RELINES & REPAIRS EVENING APPOINTMENTS AVAILABLE NEW PATIENTS WELCOME! Butterfly park never took flight Continued from page 1 BRIAN CARR DD JODIE CARR DD HAYLEY CARR DD Are you a candidate for Permanent Teeth-in-a-Day? CALL 1-877-453-3393 FOR YOUR COMPLEMENTARY CONSULTATION Making a Family Tradition of Creating Smiles for 29 years! -ing good, but we kept plugging away and kept trying," said Ward 1 Councillor Ralph Robinson, who is also the chair of the BBF. "We tried many, many, many different ways of doing it, but nothing worked." As the park was expected to become a destination at the Bronte Harbour for both residents and tourists, the BBF initially received support, with Xerox Canada Limited donating photocopying equipment, paper and services to keep the charity's administrative costs down. Metrus Development Corporation pledged $25,000 over five years while the D'Orazio Group of Companies and Custom Cupola & Steeple Co. Ltd. donated materials and labour to complete Phase I of the park design -- a 30foot diameter, cedar Butterfly Gazebo that was inaugurated in December 2002. Despite this help, the charity was continually frustrated by a number of factors. Robinson noted that the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the 2005 tsunami and the Hurricane Katrina disaster diverted the public's donations elsewhere. There were also problems with the existing partners. "We had commitments from large organizations and they reneged and changed their minds," said Robinson. "It was unbelievable some of the things that happened." Robinson also blamed the Town of "We just could not get the big bucks that we needed and that was probably the biggest frustration." Susan Sheppard, executive director of the Bronte Butterfly Foundation Oakville (previous administration) for not offering the support that could have saved the project. He pointed out that the City of Burlington had secured a federal grant for its waterfront park by investing some of its own money in the project, an action not shared by Oakville. "The Town of Oakville said they would explore this for me, but they didn't," said Robinson. "That's not easy to forget." Numerous fundraisers, such as the Monarch Ball, golf tournaments, and Festival Forest at Christmas time were used to support the project. The foundation went so far as to hire professional fundraisers to breathe life back into the project, but even here the organization was frustrated by failure. According to Revenue Canada the BBF spent nearly $400,000 in fundraising efforts between 2000 and 2007 to no avail. "We just could not get the big bucks that we needed and that was probably the biggest frustration," said Susan Live your dream. Your RRIF to a LP UNLOCK your RRSP to your Dollars or RRIFpocket, Andrew Blanchard of IPC Securities Corporation invites you to join us for this insightful breakfast event. Sheppard, executive director of the foundation. "The reality was, we're a charity like so many other charities, but when you're new, you don't get the big donations like the art gallery would get or the hospital would get or Sheridan College. You need to establish yourself and by the time we established ourselves it was too late." While the foundation did receive $350,000 in provincial grants over the course of several years, Sheppard said, these were strictly for administrative purposes and could not go toward the actual building of the park. "They recognize that if you don't have a telephone, if you don't have a fax machine, if you don't have a computer or office space, you're not going to get anywhere," said Sheppard. "They also supplied some funding for staff, but it didn't cover 100 per cent of what those costs were." In late 2007, Oakville Council formally acknowledged the BBF's decision not to proceed with the project due to a lack of funding. At that time council directed staff to develop alternative park concepts for the lands within the Bronte Heritage Waterfront Park. "What was really disappointing was the fact that we were not successful in raising the amount of money that we needed to do the project ourselves," said Robinson. "A conglomeration of situations just made it very difficult and then impossible for us to raise the money we needed." Despite the collapse of the Bronte Butterfly Park vision, Robinson noted that efforts are underway to recognize the contributions of all those who made donations to the BBF in the new park development. The prolonged period of waiting has taken its toll on some contributors, who have called Robinson over the last few years and asked for their money back. Robinson noted this will not happen. "People are of the impression that they purchased trees or purchased benches or purchased brick pavers and that's not true," he said. "They made a financial contribution to a charitable organization for which they received an income tax receipt and that's that." 30 Date: Thursday, September 25th at 9:3 AM Location: Harbour Lighthouse Banquet and Conference Centre, Bronte RSVP: Space is limited. Call today to reserve your seating! This informative seminar will only be of interest to people with total portfolios of $500,000 or more. A perfect day in the country! #1 antique show, with 300 top dealers in a beautiful park setting. Great selection. All categories. Large licensed food court, picnic sites, shade trees, ATMs and more. CHRISTIE ANTIQUE SHOW Antiques, collectibles and retro design Saturday, Sept. 6 8am - 5pm / admission $8 / free parking HEAR ANDREW'S TOP TEN BOTTOM PICKS FOR 2009! Christie Lake Conservation Area 1000 Hwy 5 W., Dundas, ON antiqueshowscanada.com