Young and young-at-heart crowded into the Bruce Power Theatre at the Bruce County Museum and Cultural in anticipation and excitement to await the final verdict. Would Saugeen Shores be successful in the Kraft Heinz Project Play competition and win the grand prize of $250,000? It had been nominated along with 3,000 other communities across Canada to vie for the grand prize in support of sports initiatives.
Thousands of people logged into the on-line site to vote for the community to win after it placed among the top four from 3,000 nominated communities across Canada. As the deadline drew near, the momentum continued to grow until the last weekend October 18th – 20th, when there was a 48-hour voting blitz at fever pitch. Because individuals could vote as many times as they wanted, numbers began to mount into the 1000s. By close at Sunday noon, more than 110,000 votes had been registered from the Rotary Hall at the Plex with thousands more from across the community.
The result was streamed live by TSN sports network and when the final words were uttered, “the Grand Prize winner is …. Saugeen Shores!”, bedlam erupted as everyone rose and broke into screams and thunderous applause.
Mayor Luke Charbonneau was as excited as everyone in the crowd when he was interviewed on TSN after the announcement was made claiming Saugeen Shores the Grand Prize winner.
