Challenge Grant Will Help Village Plan for its 150th Anniversary
CLAYTON — The Cary and Janet Brick Riverside Foundation, a Northern New York Community Foundation affiliate, has provided a challenge grant to the Village of Clayton to help plan its 150th anniversary celebration.
A $1,000 grant was recently awarded to encourage additional contributions to support planning efforts that kicked off earlier this month. Incorporated on April 17, 1872, Clayton will commemorate its sesquicentennial in 2022 with a historic celebration featuring a symbolic theme relating to its rich history: “150 Years — Where the Tradition Continues.”
“It is our hope that imaginative out-of-the-box creativity will provide yet another jewel in the crown of the Thousand Islands as the village celebrates its past and turns the page to the next chapter of its glorious history,” Mr. and Mrs. Brick said in making the grant. “Our own experiences in the village lead us to believe that there can be enthusiasm just waiting to burst throughout the community as it awakens from the scourge of COVID-19.”
Established in 2017, the Brick Riverside Foundation is a geographic-specific charitable foundation that provides support for St. Lawrence River-area programs and institutions to enhance the quality of life in the Thousand Islands region. It is designed to have broad impact in perpetuity.
The Brick Riverside Foundation gift to support the celebration of Clayton’s storied history is the latest from a Northern New York Community Foundation-affiliated fund.
The Bricks challenged local businesses and seasonal residents from more populated areas to match the grant and help make Clayton’s anniversary celebration a rebirth of the village and the islands as an international year-round playground.
“We hope the celebration will be a yearlong effort to encourage the participation of both the year-round residents and the tens of thousands of summer people who for generations have come to adopt Clayton as their second home,” Mr. and Mrs. Brick said.
The Bricks are active supporters of Clayton and the River community. Mr. Brick served as a fire commissioner and Mrs. Brick was Clayton Town and Village justice. Last year, the Brick Riverside Foundation awarded a grant to support the Thousand Islands Emergency Rescue Service and its ongoing EMT educational program.
The Community Foundation has a long history of supporting the region’s history, and the Riverside Foundation’s grant to help the Clayton celebrate its 150th anniversary is another great example of a Community Foundation affiliate continuing a more than 90-year record of helping Northern New York preserve its past for generations to come.
About the Northern New York Community Foundation
Since 1929, the Northern New York Community Foundation has invested in improving and enriching the quality of life for all in communities across Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties.
Through partnerships with businesses and organizations, charitable foundations, and generous families and individual donors, the Community Foundation awards grants and scholarships from an endowment and collection of funds that benefit the region. Its commitment to donors helps individuals achieve their charitable objectives now and for generations to come by preserving and honoring legacies of community philanthropy while inspiring others.
The Community Foundation is a resource for local charitable organizations, donors, professional advisors, and nonprofit organizations. It also works to bring people together at its permanent home in the Northern New York Philanthropy Center to discuss challenges our communities face and find creative solutions that strengthen the region and make it a great place to live, work, and play.