St. Raphael Catholic Elementary Life Skills students competed at the Kiwanis Music Festival this year. Living Rhythm, the name of the group, won a gold medal for their performance of the percussion ensemble piece “Earth Happiness” written by their musical director Jeff Stewart. They were notified recently that the group was also recommended for a second award. On Monday, April 14,2014, at the final concert of the Kiwanis Festival, they were given the Muriel E. Holford Memorial Award, a $75 award in the memory of Muriel E. Holford.
Muriel was a piano teacher near Ottawa in her younger years and staunch supporter of music festivals throughout her life. In the 1960s she played a huge role in the coordination of the Onaping-Levack Music Festival. She was always a strong supporter of the Kiwanis Music Festival in Sudbury. Her children all participated in the festival and, when she passed away she left a large sum of money to be given as yearly awards to the Kiwanis Festival. Mrs. Holford’s daughter assured the group that her mother would be very pleased to know that Living Rhythm won this award.