It's that time again - a time for music to shine.

Hours and hours of preparation will result in public performances in friendly competition.

Well-qualified adjudicators will rank the competitors and give valuable advice and encouragement.

The Grey County Kiwanis Festival of Music, now in its 76th year, was the brainchild of Kiwanian T. Stewart Cooper in the early 1930's. He planted the seed with local music teachers in the Meaford area and the idea took root and blossomed into a festival that now runs for two full weeks and requires nine adjudicators.

Georgian Bay Secondary School will hosting the orchestra competitions of the Grey County Kiwanis Festival of Music for the third year in a row.

It became evident in recent years that entries in orchestra classes were coming mostly from the Meaford - Thornbury area. Three years ago, it was decided to hold these classes at GBSS with the assistance of Patrick Delaney and Sandra Pedlar. This will happen again this year on April 10th, beginning at 7 p.m.

The one ingredient that is often overlooked is the importance of an audience. It is so sad to see competitors, who have worked so hard, performing in an almost empty hall.

There are three distinct groups of musicians: a small group who create or compose it, a larger group who perform it, and a huge group who listen to it. Each of these groups is vital and can't function well without the other two.

Young performers need and deserve an audience. Take a morning, an afternoon, or an evening and treat yourself to some delightful music presented by our budding musicians. For a timetable and location of events, go to the festival's website, a link to which is provided.

It needs to be said that this festival could not exist without the dedicated support of its many volunteers. Besides the 12-person volunteer board which prepares the many facets of the festival operation, it takes nearly 200 people to man the venues which include four churches and two schools.

Three people are needed at any given time, a Hall Manager who works with the adjudicator, a Platform Manager who organizes the flow of performers and a Door Manager who controls the entry of the public, sells programs and takes donations. The recruiting and organizing of the volunteers is a huge task.

In the early years of the festival, plaques, cups or trophies were often awarded as prizes, especially for groups. Nowadays, all "Awards of Excellence" are monetary and given exclusively on the recommendations of the adjudicators. The Awards Committee of the Board establishes the amounts, based on available funds in any given year.

The festival is dependent on donations from the public for both awards and for its operation. Each year the Kiwanis Club of Owen Sound makes an extremely generous donation to be used for awards. A few years ago, a special awards fund was established where donations would be invested and the income used for awards. An award is named in perpetuity for donations of $5,000 or more.

Currently the fund is administered by the Community Foundation of Grey Bruce.

Donations can be made at any time to: The Grey County Kiwanis Festival of Music and sent to Box 456, Owen Sound, N4K 5P7. The festival is a charitable organization and so a receipt will be issued for income tax purposes.