About Us

I had been a member for only a few weeks, when the President of our club said “Gary, have I got a job for you! We want you to chair and organize our annual car rally.” I said, “You want me to do what, Rob? I’ve never run anything in my life, I can’t chair this.” “Oh yes you can, it will give you character and make you a better person.” (Sounded like my Dad talking!!) Then Rob said “Besides, you’ll have lots of help from others who have been involved previous years.”

He was right!!! Despite my lack of talent in running an event and my misgivings, the rally was a big success and every one had a great time…and I learned a valuable life lesson. You can do anything you put your mind to as long as you have a clear vision of what you want to accomplish, plan it well and have plenty of help along the way. So the next time someone approaches you and says, “I want you to do…” Remember the young man (me) who said, “I can’t do that!” and go ahead and give it a try. There is plenty of help out there for you.

Here’s a great example of “You want to do what?” I know a service group that became involved in a festival over 15 years ago. At first they said no, then a member came along and said, “I’ll do it.” and he did. The group now earns in excess of $100,000 per year for a three-day event and has been doing this for over 5 years! Their success did not just happen overnight. It started with an idea, a clear vision of what the festival could be and large group of individuals who said that they would do it!

So the next time someone says, “I want you to…” you’ll know what to say!

Mr. McWilliams has been creating and participating in planning festivals and events for over 35 years. As a volunteer, he co-founded (and later chaired the central festival board) Cobourg’s Waterfront Festival. As a business executive he and his wife created (which he later sold and managed) a business that created and produced products for Canadian and USA Wildlife Conservation Organizations. Mr. McWilliams is considered to be one of North America’s top designers of fundraising art.