THE EQUITY sat down with president of Pontiac Community Players, Greg Graham, to discuss how the group started and what it means to now be a non-profit orginisation.

The group was founded 20 year ago by . . .

amateur actors looking to put on shows for the community, according to Graham.

“We were just a group of friends who got together to put on theater,” said Graham.

Graham credited Joan Conrod, Pontiac Community Players’ original leader, as being crucial for the group’s organization until she moved to Ottawa five years ago.

As the group began putting on more and more shows, and as the complexity of the shows increased, the group realized it could more effectively fund its activities if it was non-profit.

While the number of shows the Pontiac Community Players have been putting on have dampened by COVID, with restrictions lifting and their new non-profit status, they hope to start ramping up again.

“Now as a non-profit people can give us donations in a way they couldn’t before”, said Graham. “We can have a proper board of directors and so that we can maintain our momentum.”

Executives of the group like Craig Young and Val Twolan-Graham, they plan to offer more shows to the community and to improve their quality.

A new soundboard and lights are the first things they need in order to improve the quality of their shows, according to Young.

As of becoming a non-profit, Pontiac Community Players has already secured $1000 from the office of MNA André Fortin and plans to apply for a grant from the MRC Pontiac Culture Fund.

Graham views his participation in Pontiac Community Players as important because he is contributing to the community.

“I love the Pontiac, this is my home,” said Graham. “It’s your home and then you get busy, you get active and I think about all the different ways that everybody helps make the Pontiac a little bit better.”

If you are interested in getting involved with the group send an email to Pontiaccommunityplayers@gmail.com or visit their page on Facebook.

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