Councillor McCann Meeting Report (April 15, 2025)
Parry Sound Area Founders Circle Awards Night
I had the honour and pleasure of attending The Parry Sound Area Founders Circle Awards Night, Thursday evening, April 10, 2025 at Resort Tappattoo. It was a wonderful gala evening. The evening was all about celebrating entrepreneurship in the West Parry Sound District. The winners of the 2025 Founders Choice Awards were announced. The first prize went to Sound Yarn & Fibre, taking home $10,000. The runner up winner was Harbour Hot Sauce winning an award of $5,000. The next three, each taking home a cheque for $1,000 were I Like To Move It Movers, New Wave Fishing Academy and Oli's Parry Sound Fishing Charters. The room was filled with excitement, motivation, creativity, entrepreneurship and drive. I found it very encouraging to see new generations developing commerce with new ideas and technology, both in the service and retail industries. Congratulations to everyone involved!
Congratulations to Fred Heidman
I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Fred Heidman on his 2025 induction into the Ontario Community Newspapers Association (OCNA) Hall of Fame. Fred Heidman got his start at the Parry Sound North Star as a 16-year-old printer’s devil in 1960. While the early part of his career focused on typesetting and ad creation, he did almost every job. Reporting was the only thing he didn't do! In 1974, Fred became the paper’s general manager, a position he would hold until he retired in 2008. He helped launch new products like Fun in the Sun, Fun in the Snow, a large print phone book and Sideroads Magazine. Following the sale of the Georgian Bay Beacon to the North Star's publisher, Fred was instrumental in merging the two operations which led to the creation of the Beacon Star, which published along side of the North Star. Fred served on both the OCNA and the Canadian Community Newspapers Association (CCNA) boards of directors, including as OCNA’s president in 2002. During his time on the provincial board, he helped rewrite the bylaws to allow for the membership of papers that publish in languages other than English or French, recognizing that they were every bit as much community newspapers as OCNA’s existing members. He also helped to organize a conference with Hebdos Quebec that brought together all the provincial and regional associations together for the first time. He received a Silver Quill in 1996. Fred was also an early adopter of new technology, being among the first weekly newspapers to have a news website. He has been a member of numerous boards and committees, including the West Parry Sound Health Centre Board, Parry Sound Area Chamber of Commerce and the Regional Economic Development Advisory Committee. Fred's values include fairness, accuracy and hard work. Congratulations to Fred and his proud extended family on this prestigious award.
Sully Burrows Makes Top Three
You may recall I reported on March 4, 2025, that congratulations were in order to Parry Sound’s Sully Burrows after being chosen as one of eight semi-finalists in a Canadian competition to find the next big country star. “The Top of the Country” competition is hosted by the Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA). Well, this evening I’m very excited to pass along the news that SiriusXM Canada and the Canadian Country Music Association® (CCMA®) announced yesterday, Sully has been selected as one of the three finalists following a nationwide vote open to Canadian music fans and industry experts. It sounds like Sully will have a busy spring and summer! All three finalists have earned exclusive mentorship opportunities and will perform at major live events across the country, culminating at Country Music Week 2025 in September. On the crowning night, the finalists will perform live on stage. The winner will be awarded a grand prize of $25,000, with the two runners-up taking home $10,000 each. The other two finalists are Noeline Hofmann from Alberta and Jake Vaadeland from Saskatchewan. In the mean time each will continue their journey with a trip to the capital of country music, Nashville, for CMA Fest this June. They’ll have the benefit of rubbing shoulders and receiving guidance from top industry experts. The SiriusXM Top of the Country champion will be crowned in Kelowna, British Columbia during Country Music Week 2025 this September. All the best to Sully!
