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Grounding a Community – Pam Carter

Born and raised in Orillia, Pam Carter has spent her entire life in her hometown and has worked among the local community for decades. One of the main ways she’s stayed active in Orillia is through her involvement with the Mariposa Folk Festival.

Red-toned Mariposa Folk Festival booklet cover features a generational collage of musical artists's performing. A mature maple tree sits bottom left, sun-themed logo bottom right accompanies title

Generations of musical artists blend together on the cover of the 2010 Mariposa Folk Festival booklet, celebrating “50 Years of Mariposa”, a milestone that Pam helped to coordinate.

 

Community is, in Pam’s opinion, incredibly important to maintain and is one of the aspects that makes Orillia so unique.

Who is Pam Carter? (captions available in both FR and EN). Enjoy this video with a transcript (En)

Pam began working with the Mariposa Folk Foundation as a Volunteer Coordinator after the festival returned to Orillia in 2000, and was eventually promoted to Festival Coordinator, later joining the Board of Directors, and eventually landing the role of President of the Mariposa Folk Foundation.

Pam Carter – Mariposa Folk Festival (captions available in both FR and EN). Enjoy this video with a transcript (En)

The Mariposa Folk Festival was founded in Orillia in 1961 by Ruth Jones, her husband Dr. Crawford Jones, and Pete McGarvey (grandfather of Amber McGarvey-Moreland). In 1964, the festival moved to the Toronto area, having been banned from Orillia due to disturbances caused by an overwhelming crowd of festival-goers in 1963, but in 2000, the Mariposa Folk Festival finally returned to Orillia and has been operating here successfully ever since.

Pam Carter – Community Impact (captions available in both FR and EN). Enjoy this video with a transcript (En)

Despite the decades-long separation from Orillia, the Mariposa Folk Festival remains an integral part of Orillia’s community: from frequent headliner and fellow Orillian, Gordon Lightfoot, to the name and logo – both homages to Stephen Leacock’s Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town. The Mariposa Folk Festival has paved the way for many up-and-coming musicians, and Pam is at the centre of it all.

Pam Carter – Change in Orillia (captions available in both FR and EN). Enjoy this video with a transcript (En)

It’s that sense of community
that makes Orillia so special.

Embracing a Community – Fran Carpino Connecting a Community – Marci Csumrik