Our History

The Valens Community Centre was originally a two-classroom school built in 1955 and opened in 1956 to replace an 1868 one-room schoolhouse just down the road. Valens Public School served students in the area until 1976 when it closed. In 1982 the Township of Flamborough purchased the building and the Valens and area community came together to help finance and renovate the school into a community centre. The Valens Community Centre officially opened on Oct. 29, 1983.

Letter Proposing A Community Centre

Booklet From The Official Opening

The Grand Opening

Plaque in honour of the Valens Community Centre Building Committee

The one-room schoolhouse that the two-classroom Valens Public School replaced

Building Committee
Members

Valens Community Centre Newsletter – November 1983

Our official opening October 29^th 1983, and the dance that night, were both a huge success.

The afternoon ceremony filled the hall with residents of all ages, from babes in arms to seniors. Members from all tiers of government were on hand to wish us well, and the whole affair went very smoothly, as you no doubt saw from the press. All are agreed that we can be proud of our Community Centre.

We have had all sorts of good vibes about our first dance, and want to thank all of you who turned out to make it such a tremendous success. With such encouragement, we have decided to hold a Gala New Year’s Eve dance, even though it is getting late and many of you may have already made plans. Perhaps we can persuade you to change them. It seems a lot of people these days don’t like to go too far from home on New Year’s Eve, due to the stricter driving laws and high costs of entertainment establishments. Home parties with neighbours and friends have become very popular, but we are hearing from people that with the Community Centre being so central and handy, they would welcome a New Year’s Eve dance for a change, perhaps having a short get-together at home before coming to the dance, which, incidentally, will start at 9:00 p.m.

Anyway, with all the good feedback, the New Year’s Eve party is definitely on and we are going all out to make it a fun night and bring the New Year in right. So, bring your friends and join the festivities. There will be door prizes, party favors, noise makers, a late cold buffet supper and, of course, a cash bar.

We will have the same disc jockey we had at the Rockton dance (too late for a band) with a selection of music to fit the occasion, so, you can dance out both your shoes on our new floating floor. Tickets will be $12.50 per person due to higher food and music costs New Year’s Eve. Be sure to get your tickets early, so as not to be disappointed like some were last time, and for which we are truly sorry.

Chairman,

Valens Sub-Committee

Subcommittee suggestions for possible fundraisers

(as per the minutes of the Nov. 28, 1983 minutes)

Lobster dinner, oyster party, pig roast, fish fry, etc.
Put up a toll gate for one day in a busy area. Police to cooperate. For us it would be on a busy weekend at the approach to Valens Conservation Park.
Hot air balloon rides.
Car raffle or other vehicle in demand in the area. Limit the tickets and raise the price to increase chances of winning. Give prizes for selling winning ticket, most tickets. Elimination draw with limit on ticket sales is also good.
Auction off vacation packages. Airlines and resorts have vacant time, a deal can be struck, so in effect, you auction off vacant time which can be purchased at a good price.
Sunday brunch. Hold it in a barn, or the community centre. Somewhere novel can be a drawing card.

Valens Community Centre
logos

The Valens Community Centre subcommittee held a contest shortly after the new centre opened. Students at Seaton Public School were asked to draw a logo for the centre, with the student drawing the winning logo design being awarded a prize. At left is the winning logo.

The logo was updated in 2023, incorporating many of the elements in the original design.

Ad for fitness classes in the 1984 Flamborough Community Services brochure

Other events held at Valens in 1984/85:

New Year’s Eve dance with 85 people attending.
Monthly euchre nights
Spring Fling dance with DJ and buffet lunch
Spring fashion show
Pancake & sausage breakfast, $3
Garage sale
Beef barbecue
Teen dance
Teen drop-in evenings
Table tennis nights
Square dance group

Valens participates in Ontario Heritage Days

Beef barbecues were held annually for “good old country food and socializing!”

See our Past Events page for more beef barbecue photos.

Other events held by the Valens subcommittee included volunteer appreciation dinners, breakfasts with Santa & youth volunteer awards

Construction projects

The pavilion and playground were built in approximately 1997. This project was headed up by Glen Reeve and was completed in record time by volunteer labour. Thus, the cost was far below estimates from builders. This showed staff at the Town of Flamborough the capabilities of a community to manage and complete their own projects and it gave the Valens Community Centre subcommittee the courage to tackle a much larger kitchen project (see below) with volunteer labour.

The parking lot was also expanded by one-third about this time. Three farmers with loader tractors stripped the topsoil and leveled the donated gravel. Volunteers did a lot of raking and installed the donated marker posts.

Building a new kitchen at Valens Community Centre

When Valens Community Centre first opened it had a small kitchen located in what is now the coat room. A lot of debate occurred regarding whether that kitchen should be enlarged or if a new addition should be built for a much larger kitchen. The latter option was chosen, and in 1999 the new addition was built. Flamborough councillor Dave Braden was building energy efficient homes at the time and he volunteered his expertise and headed up the project. Dave asked local businesses to donate gravel, cement and other building materials and was able to get permits approved in record time. Many volunteers turned out to work bees organized by Walter MacNeil.