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(cont1d) -2 - by the community. The total cost was estimated at $453,000.00, which meant $151,000.00 had to be raised by the people of New Dundee. From the beginning Community support for the project was generous, with the Optimists, the Board of Trade, and the Women's Institute raising $20,000.00 even before receiving any commitment for public or government money. The Women's Institute held a raffle, and a beef dinner in April of 1987, and raised $2,500.00 for the project. The next step was to acquire suitable land'; for the new Centre, with consideration given to accessability, drainage, and room for future expansion. A ten-acre parcel of land on Queen St. South (at the corner of Queen and the township line) was purchased from Mrs. Ruby Poth. Wally Jutzi and Martha Hofstetter,in the meantime, had been travelling around the countryside to different Community Centres, asking questions and taking notes on their findings on the good and bad aspects of each building. As a result, they came up with a building design, featuring a large, central kitchen, with walk-in cooler and separate bar area, a main hall with seating for 260, a smaller hall (which could be closed off from the larger one) with seating for 60, and a smaller meeting room with seating for- 12 to 15. A large lobby with ample coat storage was also planned. With a few changes by a professional architect, this design was used for the Community Centre, and seems to be very functional. A Community Canvass, spearheaded by the Optimists, was held, with good response from Community businesses, and villagers, and in the spring of 1988, construction on the building was begun by Nith Valley Construction of New Hamburg. It was good to see the months of sometimes very frustrating work take shape and substance. Because of the nature of the soil in the area, a very expensive septic system had to be installed, and this cost, plus escalating costs of building material and labour brought the total building expenses far beyond original estimates. The