It was a homecoming of sorts, motivated by faith and family.
After growing up in Niagara, then attending university and working for decades in the Kitchener-Waterloo area, Craig Frere and his wife Kim decided that a move back to their roots made sense a couple of years back.
“I grew up on the family farm in the St Ann's-Silverdale area,” said the 53-year old Frere, “and attended Beamsville District High School, where I met my future wife. I went on to study sociology at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, and then joined the church. I've been a pastor most of my life, while Kim has been a teacher and singer.”
Frere, the Fonthill Kinsmen president, is currently doing interim work at the Vineland United Mennonite Church, but his career in the church started off 30 years ago in Tillsonburg, then New Hamburg, and finally Drayton, which is in Wellington County north of Elmira.
“I was a member of the Drayton Kinsmen Club, which was a really good experience. I was president there one year as well. When we decided to make the move back to Niagara, I knew I wanted to continue with the Kin Canada organization,” he said. “It's important for us to be involved in the community where we live. It takes time to get to know the area and the community and find your place in it, and being part of Kinsmen is definitely helping us to do that.”
The Freres call Welland home these days, close to their extended family. The couple have three grown children, living in St. Catharines, Toronto, and Windsor. The Freres are also involved with some local social outreach efforts in Welland, volunteering with Beyond the Streets, a program which addresses the needs of people who are struggling with homeless, or who are “precariously housed.” Food insecurity is another social flashpoint in the Rose City.
"Homelessness and hunger are issues are in Pelham as well"
“It’s a more obvious problem in the bigger urban centres in Niagara like Welland, Niagara Falls, and St. Catharines, but homelessness and hunger are issues are in Pelham as well,” Frere said.
The Fonthill Kinsmen Club is in good shape regarding membership, he said, with a number of eager younger guys having come on board recently, bringing the total strength of the club to 30. Kinsmen meetings are the first and third Tuesdays of the month, alternating between the Fonthill Legion on Highway 20, and Pelham’s Old Town Hall on Canboro Road. Prospective members are always welcome to attend.
“We had big attendance numbers at this year’s craft show, held at the MCC last month, which is one of our major annual events, along with the home and garden show in April,” said Frere. “We’ve got the Citizen of the Year Award, which is always much-anticipated, as well as different ways of supporting local charities like Pelham Cares. We also participate in the national effort by Kin Canada supporting research in cystic fibrosis.”
The Kinsmen Club of Fonthill and District was founded in 1951, and has regularly supported the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Pelham minor sports, Special Olympics programs in Welland, Niagara Children’s Safety Village, Pelham Cares, Wellspring Niagara, local high school scholarships, and the Welland Hospital. Some 9,000 members now belong to 623 Kin clubs from coast to coast.
