Bellrock Community Hall Needs Volunteers

Jul 03, 2024

BellRock Hall is a beautiful historic building over 160 years old and was originally a one-room schoolhouse. After the schoolhouse was closed in the late 1940’s, it was converted into a functional and attractive community hall with a kitchen, a stage, and capacity to seat about 80-90 people. The acoustics in this hall are outstanding; many performers have enjoyed playing here. We have hosted dinners, theatre productions, wedding and family gatherings in the hall. It is an integral part of our community and a valuable resource. The playground behind the schoolhouse is popular and well-used. It provides a pleasant, green space for busy parents to safely have their children play. We also are now proud to run a community garden that provides food for the South Frontenac Food Bank and local villagers.

None of this would be possible without the efforts of a small and dedicated group of volunteers who oversee the management of the day-to-day running of the hall. We regularly run events at the hall for the benefit and entertainment of you---the community. We also need to produce enough revenue to keep the hydro on and pay insurance and taxes.

Other, older BellRock citizens (some even attended school in BellRock) managed the hall for many years when the schoolhouse first became a community center. A number of volunteers have stepped forward over the years and we have carried on the work the original volunteers began.

Our present group of volunteers is quite small and we are again finding that we need to reach out into the community to ask for help in supporting this valuable community resource.

Several people on the committee have put in a great deal of effort to keep the hall going, but it is time for YOU—the people of the BellRock and surrounding area—to step forward and help us keep things going. We need people to come out to our monthly meetings, held in the hall. We need volunteers to help us run events. We need people to help with maintenance. We need ideas for events that would appeal to the community, and people to help organize these events. We need YOU!!!!

Many hands make light work. It can be fun to get together and participate in keeping the history of this village alive. Our volunteers are a great bunch of people and very welcoming. By volunteering to help with the schoolhouse, you can get to know your neighbours better. You can enjoy making the schoolhouse part of your own family history by coming out to events and help run them. You can put forward your ideas about what you’d like to see happen in the village and in the park. It doesn’t have to be a huge time commitment—even a few hours could be useful . We close the hall during the winter months . It does not have to be a huge burden on your time.

We need your help! If we can’t continue to maintain the hall, it, and the property around it, could fall into the hands of the township and we would lose control over an important part of the history of this village. The township has little interest in running community centers like ours so it would likely be sold to a private developer. That would be a sad day for BellRock.

Our monthly meetings at the hall are generally held on the third Thursday of the month during after-work hours. You are welcome to attend and find out what it is all about. Or email or phone: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

(613)484-5977 (Kaye))