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Thursday November 6th,2003
The seventh annual James McIntyre Poetry Evening was held on Thursday November 6, in the Town of Ingersoll's beautiful Council Chambers. The purpose of this event was to honour the winners of the James McIntyre Poetry Contest and to celebrate Ingersoll's unique poetic heritage.
The Poetry Evening was a “standing room only” success! It was wonderful to hear poems read aloud by Gail MacKay, and to see poets of all ages receiving their awards. Many thanks to our special guest Ted Comiskey who sang two songs: his original (and brilliant!) setting for James McIntyre's "Ode on the Mammoth Cheese", and his moving Remembrance Day song, "Red Petalled Flower" . Thank you to Bonnie Mott who was our excellent MC again this year, to Shirley Lovell, Ingersoll’s Cheese Poet Laureate, who provided a display and some background on the Mammoth Cheese, to Mayor Michael Hennessy who gave out the prizes, and to our caterer Ruby Miree. Thanks also go to the judges, Dr. Catherine Ross and Dr. Lynne McKechnie, both of the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at the University of Western Ontario. Many thanks to our sponsors: The Ingersoll Times, the Corporation of the Town of Ingersoll, and Oxford County Library. And last but not least, thanks to the library staff members who did so much to make the evening a success.
In the 2003 James McIntyre Poetry Contest, Ruthanne Foster was the winner of the J.C. Herbert Award, for her poem "After Thoughts". This award is given for "a longer poem about rural or small town life", and honours the memory of J.C. Herbert, who was a teacher and principal at Ingersoll District Collegiate Institute, Ingersoll, Ontario. As she accepted the award, Ruthanne Foster paid this tribute to Mr. Herbert.
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