King Charles III Coronation Medal Recipients
On March 19th, three Fenelon Falls community leaders received King Charles III Coronation Medals from Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock MP Jamie Schmale. The Coronation Medal commemorates the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III as King of Canada. Each recipient has made a significant contribution to Canada or to a particular province, territory, region or community of Canada, or have made an outstanding achievement abroad that brings credit to Canada. Only 30,000 medals were awarded across Canada, making it especially significant that so many Fenelon Falls residents were recognized for their extraordinary volunteer achievements.
Congratulations to all the recipients from Kawartha Lakes. Your dedication, sacrifice and visionary leadership has and continues to make a our communities stronger and more vibrant.
Tim Wisener grew up visiting Kawartha Lakes and enjoying time with family at the cottage. Perhaps its not surprising then that his path in life led him back to our beautiful community. What was less determined was how quickly Tim would integrate in the community as both a cornerstone employer and a key community leader.
After establishing his home design and construction company, Home by Tim + Chris, he stepped up and joined the Fenelon Falls & District Chamber of Commerce. As his business expanded to be a gallery and later a furniture/home decor business, so did Tim's prominence in leading positive change in our community.
Tim acceded to the role of President of the Chamber where he led a community rebranding and revitalized the Kawartha Lakes Country Living Show, the major fundraiser for the Chamber. His next effort was leading the charge in physically designing and creating an outdoor amphitheatre space for Kawartha Lakes, before helping to build out a theatre company to fill the stage with excitement. The Grove Theatre has become a significant highlight of our summer season, where you can find Tim standing at the back welcoming and ushering guests into this marquee space in our community. Not only has Tim built a business that employs over 15 people, but has created a theatre company and attraction that brings new skilled talent, exciting events and culture into the heart of Kawartha Lakes.
Thank you Tim!
Lynne Manning has provided extensive contribution to the Kawartha Lakes community through her volunteer roles. I first met Lynne in her engagement with the CKL Downtown Revitalization Project. As a community volunteer, Lynne was integral in the the research and planning phase of the Downtown Revitalization (DR) Project. She further went on to Chair the DR Committee of Council, leading the charge for community improvement in Omemee, Lindsay, Fenelon Falls and Coboconk. One of the key outcomes from that project was of course The Grove Theatre in Fenelon Falls.
As one of the key community activators, Lynne championed the effort to seek out grant funding to make the outdoor theatre possible, which only served to create a watershed of follow-on volunteer roles necessary to bring the theatre into fruition. Lynne now sits as the Chair of The Grove Theatre which just completed its third full season in Fenelon Falls. It should be noted that the Grove is more than just fun. The Theatre has a serious impact on Fenelon Falls, contributing directly to its economy and cultural fabric. Home to three Indigenous Story Poles and native plant garden, the Grove serves as a permanent installation on our path to reconciliation.
Lynne is also an active contributor to the Sturgeon Point Community, serving previously on the Sturgeon Point Association. Lynne has also been a director with Community Futures Development Corporation and the Business and Community Development Corporation for over 8 years. She is most deserving of this recognition. Thank you Lynne!
Chris Appleton has made, and continues to make, significant contributions to Fenelon Falls and the Kawartha Lakes region. With family ties to Sturgeon Lake of over 100 years, he is a hardworking, intelligent, dedicated, and integral member of our community.
A retired lawyer, Appleton has volunteered on a number of community groups since 2010, including the Kawartha Lakes Land Trust, Kawartha Conservation, Kawartha Lake Stewards, Fenelon Arts Committee, Fenelon Forward, Powerlinks, Community Fund of Fenelon Falls, and several City of Kawartha Lakes committees, including Waste Management, Lindsay Landfill Public Review Committee, and the Growth Management Task Force.
The impact of this work is far reaching and will continue to benefit the community for generations to come. He is also the recipient of the Individual Conservationist Award in 2014 and was named an Environmental Hero in 2016.
He began his volunteer work as the Boyd Island Campaign Chair. In this role, he was instrumental in raising the $1 million needed to ensure the land was donated as well as maintained and preserved for years to come. Big (Boyd/Chiminis) Island, located in Pigeon Lake, is the largest undeveloped island in the Kawarthas. The property is an area of natural and scientific interest, and home to wetlands, diverse forests, and a wide variety of plant and wildlife species. First Nations peoples used this island as a meeting and harvesting place thousands of years ago. 1
His work with the Fenelon Arts Committee (FAC) was instrumental in fundraising $50,000 for The Sculpture Project. The first initiative of this committee, the project includes two (2) permanent public artworks that were installed in the Rain Garden located along the shores of Cameron Lake in Fenelon Falls. He continues to work with the committee, as Vice Chair, to create opportunities for artists and bring public art to the community including this past summer with the first annual Downtown Sculpture Exhibition 2024 where five (5) temporary works of art were installed along Colborne Street from May to October. The committee is already working towards the 2025 project.
Always keen to share his knowledge, Appleton is a mentor, advisor, and friend to many in the Kawartha Lakes and continues to dedicate countless hours to bettering his beloved community. He has hosted numerous meetings in his home, welcoming colleagues for dinner and discussion, he often offers to pick committee members up to attend meetings in order to spend quality time together and reduce the environmental impact of driving, he has even been known to drop off bouquets of flowers, hand-picked from the beautiful gardens he lovingly maintains at his home, to community members in Fenelon during the busy tourist season to brighten up their workspaces. We are so privileged to learn from him and count on him as a valued team member. His dedication to his community is admirable and he continues to make significant contributions to the community as the years pass.
Thank you Chris!
1 “Big (Boyd/Chiminis) Island,” Kawartha Land Trust, https://kawarthalandtrust.org/protected-properties/big-boyd-chiminis-island/.