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History
Violet Burke-Sharpe was a vivacious, generous, kind hearted
and extraordinary woman. Freddie first met her when she took
a guitar class he was teaching at the Emma Lake SCES Fiddle
Camp. They quickly became friends. Extremely independent
in her 70's, she was the first person to sign up for our very
first camp in 2002.
Vi has two grown children, Donna and Bruce, was widowed and
lived on a farm outside North Battleford, SK. She was also a
winter visitor to Arizona and loved her life there. When
Freddie and I started performing in this area in the winter
months she did whatever she could to help us, showing us the
sights (she was a very knowledgeable tour guide), finding us
a place to stay and like all great friends, was just always
there for us. We played close to 20 shows that first year and
she didn't miss one. But Vi was more than just a fan of our
music. She was an inspiration and we admired her zest for life,
her eagerness to always keep learning and her ability to see
good in everyone and everything. She sadly passed away in
June, 2003. We have so many beautiful memories of Vi and
miss her dearly.
When we were designing our yard to fit the trailers that we
rent to participants of the camp, we fenced a treed portion
of it and named it the 'Violet Burke-Sharpe Park' in her
memory. Since then many participants who see the sign ask
us who she is, so we get to reminisce and talk about her
often.
In 2005 the week 3, August 8 - 11 participants presented us
with a gift of money and the idea to use it in Violet's memory
to send a youth to camp that has a strong desire but maybe
not the funds to attend. We know Violet would have been moved
to tears as we were, by this very kind and thoughtful gesture.
Our heartfelt thanks go to Dawn MacTavish, Shelley Cridland,
Armande Kilden, John Perrotta, Kevin deMedeiros, Robin and
Kerstin Pelletier, Don Sinclair, Susan Carr, Ron and Joel
Blechinger, Peter Hooge, Earl Ballard, Elaine Borden-Ballard,
Mel and Margaret Downing, Roman Bergerman, Lowina and Gordon
Moar, Mark Rittenger, Craig Lytle, Bob and Benjamin Palinka,
Amanda MacDonald, Spuddy Dean, Monroe Kinloch, Dick Braidek,
Paulette Atchison, Aaron Santiago, Tyler Shymanski and Vera
Sinclair. Your generosity will never be forgotten and we
will do whatever we can to keep this vision alive.
Application Form as a Word.doc
Application Form as a PDF
BURSARY APPLICATION DEADLINE IS: May 30th, yearly
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO DONATE TO THE BURSARY to help send
a young musician to camp, you can send a cheque to:
Violet Burke - Sharpe Bursary
Box 648
Birch Hills, SK. Canada
S0J 0G0
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