National and World Fiddle Day May 16
—by Ralph Price
On the Saturday afternoon of May 16 at the Eady Community Hall in Oro-Medonte Township, the place was filled to capacity and the “joint was jumping and wagging”.
It was an absolutely tremendous day!
We did it, we surpassed our goal of $6000…did we ever!
We raised $8,964.40!
Sandy Price and her husband Ralph live in Oro-Medonte. Sandy plays “old time” fiddle and Ralph is a square dance caller. They organized the Fifth Annual, Fiddle Jam/Dance/Square Dance event to celebrate Fiddle Day (the third Saturday in May) and rather than charging admission they asked attendees to make a donation for COPE Service Dogs. Each year they arrang for COPE to bring dogs to the hall and an enthusiastic group of fiddlers, other musicians, dancers, square dance callers and listeners come in numbers. People came and went throughout the afternoon this year, and the total attendance is estimated at over 125.
Now for the important part—how much money did we raise? In year 1, we raised $2,300. In year 2 we raised $3,000. In year 3 we raised $4,500. In year 4 we raised $5,530. This year we raised $8,964.40. This gives us a 5-year total of $24,294.40. As it takes $30,000 to raise and train a dog, we have funded just about 81% of a dog. If we do things right next year, hopefully we can fund a whole dog.
At the end of the day on May 16, we had a total of $8,300, when the cheque picture was taken. Since then, more donations have flooded in, bringing us to the total above.
There were six service dogs there, together with their handlers/trainers from COPE. One of the attendees was Alexa Wehby and her service dog “TJ”. Alexa has Cerebral Palsy and she did a “show and tell” of what TJ does for her and she explained the profound and positive impact TJ has had on her life. Her impactful presentation moved some people to tears. Having the dogs and Alexa there was an important part of the day, as it allowed the attendees to see where their donations go.
At the mid-point of the day, we got the dogs and their handlers lined up in front of the stage for a “photo shoot” and then we did what we call the “dog parade or dog dance”. A lively fiddle tune is played, and the handlers can then parade their dog around the room or get them up on their hind legs and dance. When they do this, the dogs enjoy it immensely as you can tell from the vigorously wagging tails, and the audience loves it.
For 2026, we have had a special fiddle tune composed by our friend and well-known fiddle composer Bill Guest in Halifax, Nova Scotia. It is the “DOG DANCE JIG” and it will be the “theme” tune for all future Fiddle Day Fundraisers.
We need to thank all the attendees who came and donated so generously as well as those who donated through the COPE website. The following is a listing of all our Corporate donors (not in any particular order). They donated a total of $4,100, in amounts ranging from $100 to $750.
| Red Shed Supply Company | Oro Station |
| Orillia Nissan | Orillia |
| Simcoe County DKI (Formerly R & F Construction DKI | Orillia |
| McLaren Equipment | Phelpston |
| D. C. United Roofing | Barrie |
| Golden Girl Tenders | Barrie & Orillia |
| Tire Depot | Barrie |
| L. Beamish Contracting Ltd. | Horseshoe Valley |
| Signature Memorials Limited | Orillia |
| Huronia Tree Services | Port Severn |
| John Lawlor Real Estate | Barrie |
| Essa Homes & Contracting | Utopia |
| Think Feet | Orillia |
| Craighurst Crossing New Home Sales | Craighurst |
| Anonymous | Orillia |
A GREAT BIG THANK YOU TO ALL OUR DONORS, BOTH CORPORATE AND INDIVIDUAL
A lot of people besides the donors contributed to the success of the day and we must thank them as well. They are far too numerous to name, but they were fiddlers, other musicians, our back-up musicians, people from COPE and the dogs, Eady Hall Board members, square dance callers, dancers, listeners, people who donated the auction items, the ladies of the Craighurst Women’s Institute (the producers of those legendary egg salad sandwiches; the day is a fundraiser for them as well) and the general helpers.
We also need to thank CTV Barrie for coming and covering the event.
Further, we need to thank North Simcoe Life for publishing this wrap-up report and the article prior to the event.
A great big thank you to all who made the event so successful!
It is not too late to donate, if you couldn’t be there, but feel inclined to donate now, you can still do so through the COPE website at www.copedogs.org.
Click on SUPPORT, Click on DONATE, Enter FIDDLE DAY in TRIBUTE and then complete the rest of the form.
If you weren’t there, you missed a tremendous time.
Put May 15, 2027, on your calendar, as all being well, we shall be holding the 6th Annual World Fiddle Day event.
