Picton library expansion ‘dream come true’ celebrates Bake family

Administrator | Aug 11, 2024 | Comments 0

Story and photos by Sharon Harrison
It was a joyful celebration Saturday amongst a bustling downtown Picton Main Street as friends and supporters of the Picton Branch Library gathered for the official expansion opening – offering some fine words, acknowledgements, a surprise or two and a special nomination.

Devon Jones, library board chair

“The dream became a reality,” said Devon Jones, library board chair, “one in very large part due to the dedication and commitment of Alexandra Bake, the chair of our capital campaign.”

Gathered outside, the large crowd gathered included volunteers, friends, donors, supporters, board members, extended Bake family members and some just strolling by paused for a while, inquisitive to what was about to unfold.

“After several years of Herculean effort, we gather for the official opening of the newly-expanded Picton Carnegie library made possible by many, many people whose efforts enabled our residents and our visitors to enjoy the services and amenities that the library provides,” said County mayor Steve Ferguson.

Jones recalled three years ago in August 2021, when the library held a ground-breaking ceremony.

Watching Dahlia Donovan, 6, complete the ceremonial first dig for the Picton Library expansion and renovation with fundraising chair Alexandra Bake (and Chico), are: Devon Jones, library board chair with CEO Barbara Sweet, Peter Knudsen, Joe Andrus, site supervisor and Brian Clark architect. – Sue Capon file photo

“A young lady named Dahlia, who was six years old at the time (and had contributed over $500 raised from her lemonade stand) formally broke ground for the project,” said Jones, adding that they thought at the time it would take 18 months to two years for the project to be completed.
“It took a little longer, and actually, it cost a little more, as COVID had intervened.”

Dahlia Donovan returned to the library, this time sharing ribbon-cutting duties with Bake to “celebrate a dream come true”.

The afternoon came with gratitude and thanks, acknowledgements and dedications. Bake was presented with an artist’s rendering (shown above) of the original library building expansion vision, but there was more.

Unveiled at the side entrance door to the library was the name “Bake Entrance” (above the door) – a surprise for Bake that Jones said was testament to the generosity of the Bake family.

“No longer will this be the side door, or the children’s entrance, but will be known as the Bake Entrance in recognition of their contribution,” said Jones. She went on to elaborate how the entire Bake family has been supportive, adding that once they adopted Prince Edward County as their home, Alexandra’s parents became staunch supporters of the library.

“Alexandra, her sister and brothers have continued their tradition, and we honour them today with our gratitude.”

She described how Alexandra has told the story of how her mother started a library at a local English school in Spain to provide English language reading material for the English-speaking community and of how her father spent many hours reading to Alexandra and her sister and brothers, books and stories by his favourite authors, and they got books for Christmas.

But there was still more.

Ferguson spoke to acknowledging and celebrating those individuals who have made a contribution to the community and have exemplified the spirit of Prince Edward County. He spoke to the importance of family, of unselfishly giving back to community, and of the Bake family in particular (Alexandra, her sister Victoria, her two brothers Chris and Michael, as well as their parents), where he went into some detail of his personal history with them, dating back some 40 years.

“They proved themselves then, as now, to be an extraordinary family,” Ferguson said. “I have on several occasions mentioned to Alexandra how important I think it is how they all collectively gathered to celebrate what it means to be a family.”

He added Picton Main Street would look nothing like it does today without the involvement of the Bake family.

“Not just investing in properties themselves, but also the investment in the exacting detail of building or renovating to ensure that those structures fit into the heritage landscape of this town,” he continued, expressing his gratitude, “for what you all have done for our community, for truly demonstrating what is possible. I learned from the Bakes that nothing is impossible, to believe in what is possible and to make it happen.”

CEO Barbara Sweet

His lengthy speech concluded by sharing news that Alexandra Bake had been nominated for a Prince Edward County civic recognition by the library’s CEO Barbara Sweet. The news was being shared Saturday as the Bake family members were present, but the recognition is to formally occur at a future council meeting.

Sweet’s nomination told of how, for four years, Bake worked tirelessly for the library fundraising, arranging dozens of events, meeting with donors and enlisting help for the committee.

“It is unheard of that a community supports a library build for over 80 per cent of the total cost. Alexandria and her committee raised close to $3 million. The result of those efforts is a beautiful addition to Main Street Picton and Prince Edward County. This building is used for many purposes by many people, daily.”

Ferguson quoted a donor describing Bake’s involvement: “There is one person who has performed yeoman service, Alexandra Bake, with tenacity, imagination, determination and charm and got us to this exciting new library building. It has been a long road with a lot of bumps and she never detoured and here we are. How do you thank someone who has done so much, I simply don’t know, but Alexandra, your contribution will not be forgotten”.

A helper holds down papers from a strong wind while Alexandra Bake, holding Chico, addresses the crowd.

An emotional Bake spoke to dreams coming true as the completion of the “collective community dream”, many, many years in the making, came to fruition to be celebrated on this day.

“It has resulted in the creation of an extraordinary community hub in the heart of Picton which is welcoming, inclusive and also inspiring,” said Bake, who mentioned the “extraordinary generosity” of each and every donor, from the $5 donor, to the $5,000 donor, to the $100,000 donor. “Every penny went right into making this building what it is today.”

Jones noted how Alexandra “built a strong team of enthusiastic volunteers and they used every tool in the fundraising bible to raise over $3.8 million. That is an incredible achievement for a community of 26,000 people.”

Bake touched on the challenges that were overcome to raise enough money to renovate and expand the historic Carnegie building, which had housed the Picton library virtually untouched since 1907.

“Many of you have shared that daunting journey, over 80 volunteers and a handful of really hard-core committee members – thank you,” she said, speaking of the tireless work throughout where they had to pivot several times, facing overwhelming challenges.

“Through it all, we held onto the dream, as did our donors, our supporters and our friends, and it is as a result of our collective tenacity, your generosity and faith that we stand here today at this ribbon-cutting ceremony and celebrate this newly-renovated and expanded Picton library.”

Jones acknowledged Alexandra’s steadfastness.

“We’re here today with our dream realized and we have a token of our unending gratitude to celebrate her enormous contribution,” added Jones, “What a well-deserved honour for our campaign chair and fundraiser extraordinaire.”

While a bubble-making machine spewed bubbles outside, the party continued inside the library for the afternoon with live musical entertainment and refreshments, as well as children’s activities (where attendees were also encouraged to explore the entire library), but not before a further ribbon-cutting ceremony took place, this time inside the library to officially open the new children’s active play room, “a place for children to move, jump, stretch and play”.