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Pa ge 1 2 T hu rs da y, F eb ru ar y 5, 2 01 5 - T he IF P - H al to n H ill s - w w w .th ei fp .c a 222 Mountainview Rd. N., Georgetown This 82 Suite Retirement Residence offers planned social activities, home-cooked meals served in our lovely dining room, housekeeping and laundry services, nursing staff on site providing healthcare and assistance to enable residents to enjoy a more carefree lifestyle on our 5.6 acre beautifully landscaped site! We offer a variety of private suites for couples and singles. Thank you Halton Hills! #1 Retirement Home Mountainview Terrace owned & operated by the Summer family 60 apartment style suites for cognitive self-sufficient seniors. Mountainview Residence For more information or to enjoy a personal tour - simply call 905-877-1800. www.mountainviewresidence.com 252 Queen St., Acton 519-853-5046 5th Year in a Row Voted ACtoN'S FAVourite BANk WeWant to be YoUR bank COMMUNITY Introduced as a "giant of the indus- try", music publicist Richard Flohil entranced a sold-out audience at the opening night of the seventh annual Cultural Symposium at the Acton Town Hall Centre, Friday. Flohil was the keynote speaker at the two-day Symposium, intended to bring up-to-date information and learning opportunities to Halton Hills cultural organizations, individual art- ists and businesses. Flohil charmed the audience with amusing stories and lessons learned over his 40-year career in the entertain- ment business, that included several lifetime achievement awards. As publi- cist for Canadian icons Serena Ryder, k. d. lang, Colin James and countless oth- er notables, he has amassed a vast array of anecdotes. He also attended the Sat- urday session, providing one-on-one 15-minute sessions with attendees. Flohil outlined a number of tips on the theme for this year's Symposium, Helping culture grow. "There is a secret to this, but it's not rocket science," he said. 1. Get the word out about Halton Hills. 'Try dragging people like me out of Toronto to enjoy your culture here," he said, promising he would be back, when it's not "so damn cold." 2. Having a plan (Halton Hills Cul- tural Master Plan, 2010-2060) is good, but the plan is to encourage artistic en- deavor, and it's important to get young- er people involved. 3. Start small, build solidly, and grow incrementally, and keep control, trying not to let personalities and poli- tics get in the way, and benchmark as the plan progresses. 4. Get to know the media in your community, and "make friends with them, and keep your communications with them objective and factual." 5. Keep a healthy mailing list of sup- porters, fans, media, etc. "It is one of the most important thing any cultural or- ganization should have." Flohil's list, for example, has more than 4,000 names and contact info on it. 6. Make a video of who you are, what you are and why you do. "It is an invaluable tool." 7. Create events to raise your profile. "Promote your art, promote your cultural efforts …. Do it assiduously, do it all the time, do not give up until at least to 2060 when it's going to be done. Our task-- your task-- whether or not we make art ourselves, our job is to make art happen," Flohil said. "It needs imagination, it needs knowledge, par- ticularly in all the new forms of com- munication, it needs energy, time and effort, sometimes money and always the support of government, locally, pro- vincially, and federally. It's your money, get some of it back to support this." "Finally the rewards for ourselves, for our neighbours, for our community are invaluable, so let's get on with it," he concluded. Wellington-Halton Hills MP Mi- chael Chong, who stopped by Friday night on his way home from Ottawa, told the audience that, "arts and culture are a powerful way to communicate and understand the world around us, in a way that reason, science and tech- nology cannot do….If we are going to live to our fullest potential as a commu- nity an integral part of that is the devel- opment of culture." He said the best arts and culture in Canada is not found in the big cities but in the small towns such as Halton Hills. Chong also urged the various orga- nizations and groups in the audience to begin considering ways to celebrate Canada's 150th anniversary of Confed- eration in 2017, adding there will be funding available. "The Roundtable's main purpose is to serve as a culture catalyst in the Halton Hills community," said its chair Chris Macewan, in her introductory re- marks, noting some of its triumphs in 2014 included mentoring students who organized the Rock the Hills Festival and the opening of the Red Door Gal- lery in the Georgetown Legion. She hoped the many new regis- trants would be inspired-- about 80 people attended both days. Among those receiving recognition were long- time award-winning animators Dave and Dale Cox of Glen Williams. 'Get the word out about Halton Hills' says music industry expert Richard Flohil was the keynote speaker at the Halton Hills Cultural Symposium Friday. Photo courtesy of Manny Martins Continued on page 30