Over 140 people attended the Brant Waterways Foundation’s annual spring fundraising gala, entitled “Grandelicious By the Lake” at the Mohawk Park Pavilion on Thursday, May 22, 2025.
The all-inclusive community event is a key source of funds for Brant Waterways’ community projects throughout the City of Brantford, the County of Brant and Six Nations of the Grand River.
“At Brant Waterways, we really focus on preservation, protection and enhancement of environmental areas, and finding ways to help people connect with healthy waterways,” said Dana Darnbrough, President of the Brant Waterways Foundation. “And so tonight is our annual fundraising gala where we try to raise money for all that great stuff that we do; things like trail improvement projects, environmental initiatives and tree plantings, and improved river access points like the D’Aubigny Creek River Access Project.”
Throughout the evening, guests had the chance to sample several dishes from Devlin’s Country Bistro, as well as enjoy a variety of refreshments from Manns Distillery, Vodka Friday, Sassy Britches Brewing and Altitude Coffee.
In between snacking and mingling with old friends and new, many attendees took the opportunity to enter to win one or more of the 50-plus raffle items and 45-plus silent auction items.
“We have an amazing silent auction and raffle happening here tonight,” said Marie Fanjoy, gala committee Chair. “This year we’ve had just incredible support from local sponsors who have donated these items, and in turn, are investing in our community by supporting Brant Waterways in our environmental initiatives and our recreational projects. I also have to give a shout out to the local companies that are providing the amazing food and drinks tonight, it’s so great that they’re giving back to the community and we just appreciative of them.”
Around 8:00 p.m., a large selection of guests also participated in the annual River and Trails game for a chance to win a basket of wine and spirits. In the end, Shannon McMannis, Jacquie Cornick and Linda Beach, ultimately decided to split the prize three ways.
McMannis later said that she has been attending the gala for many years, and that she always enjoys getting out to support the cause.
“I’ve been coming for a number of years now and it’s just a fantastic event that really brings people together for such a great cause,” she said. “We need to support our waterways because it’s one of the fundamental things that makes our community what it is.”
Since its establishment in 1988, Brant Waterways has helped to invest over five million dollars into the Brantford-Brant communities by improving walking trails, biking trails, and river access points, as well as waterways restoration projects.
Currently, there are a number of projects are underway with community partners including: D’Aubigny Creek Water Access project and the Ecological Study at Rotary Centennial Waterworks Park with the City of Brantford, trail signage at the Barker’s Bush with the County of Brant, and annual tree plantings organized by the Brant Tree Coalition, a sub-committee of Brant Waterways.
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
