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VENUE

The Souris Show Hall is a 146 seat theatre in the heart of beautiful Souris, PEI.

Over the past few years a committed group from the region have been working restore and renovate the building and host a wide variety of events in our historic theatre. 

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HISTORY

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The Benevolent Irish Society (BIS) of Souris built St. Patrick's Hall (now the Souris Show Hall) in 1891 as a venue for meetings and performance. 

There is evidence to suggest that the Souris Show Hall was the site of the first commercial screening of a film when the Lumiere Brothers' Arrival of a Train was screened in the theatre. 

Beginning in 1912 the Hall began screening silent films six nights a week. The building hosted films and performances throughout the 20th century, operating as the Souris Cinema for several decades.

After a period of vacancy, during which the building fell into disrepair, the Souris Show Hall Foundation was formed as a non-profit organization in order to restore the building and re-establish the Show Hall as a professionally appointed performance venue and cinema for the most eastern region of Prince Edward Island. 

The Souris Show Hall is working toward a six year phased plan to overhaul our historic building.

Over the winter of 2025 we were able to achieve major upgrades to our foundation, lobby, and insulation thanks to funding from Canadian Heritage's Canada Cultural Spaces Fund, the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and the Government of PEI's Rural Regional Development. 

These upgrades will allow us to more efficiently heat the building, allowing us to extend our programming into the winter months. 

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FUTURE

THE BOARD

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Judy Burke, BN, LLB, KC

Chair

Prior to her legal studies at the University of Alberta Judy held several management and education positions in the field of surgical and critical care nursing. She articled at the Court of Appeal of Alberta and represented clients at all levels of Court in Alberta prior to her move to PEI in 2020, where she joined Key Murray Law to assist in establishing a new office in Souris. She is currently the Conflict of Interest Commissioner for PEI, appointed in January 2020. She has a long volunteer history including several years as Board Chair of Big Brothers/Big Sisters Calgary and area.

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Mildred McCormack

Vice-Chair

Mildred is a lifetime resident of Souris and spent 25 years working in health care. She is now the long term owner of Second Time Around in Souris. Mildred is dedicated to making the community a great place to live and is a lover of theatre, live music, treasure hunting and quilting.

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Grace Cameron

Treasurer

Grace is a native of East Point, where she grew up and now lives, having returned to PEI in the summer of 2016 after a thirty year career with the Federal Government. She worked with various departments in administration and, for many years, in finance. She has volunteered with organizations such as Search and Rescue Global-1 (Ottawa), the Canadian Company of Pilgrims, the Friends of Elmira Railway Museum Inc. and the South Lake Christian Church. She is a Certified Public Account (retired) and thoroughly enjoys creating spreadsheets and scrapbooking!!

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Joanne Chisholm

Secretary

Joanne is a long term Souris resident and lover of the arts. She is a Registered Nurse and current president of the PEI nurses union. Joanne has fond memories of the Souris Show Hall and looks forward to helping us restore it to its former glory and help make it the foremost cultural centre in eastern PEI.

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Lucy Farrell

Member

Lucy Farrell is an award winning songwriter, folk singer and multi-instrumentalist from the UK. As well as recording and touring internationally for the last 2 decades, Lucy managed a small community venue in Kent for a few years hosting regular concerts, life drawing, community choir, folk club and Morris dance team practice! Since moving Charlottetown 3 years ago Lucy has been working with Childrens entertainers Tunes and Tall Tales and has recently established a couple of community choirs, one at the beautiful Souris Show Hall!

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Alma Fullerton

Member

Alma Fullerton, a resident of the community of Eastern Kings, is an internationally recognized

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Joan Gabriel

Member

award winning children’s author, illustrator and editor. She is the recipient of numerous national and international nominations and awards including a nomination for the Governor General’s award. She is also a motivational speaker and conducts writing and illustration workshops.

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JoAnna (Jo) Howlett

Member

JoAnna (Jo) Howlett (she/they) is an interdisciplinary artist and arts administrator from Epekwitk (Prince Edward Island). JoAnna works year-round for Creative PEI as the project coordinator for the Creative Well-Being Initiative and fishes lobster in the Spring. She is a lover of music and dance and is one of the co-organizers of Spud Fest, a yearly music festival that takes place in St. Catherines. She is passionate about cultivating community and furthering access to arts programming.

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Thelma MacDonald

Member

Thelma was the first female Mayor of Souris and a Member of the Order of Canada for her contributions to this community. She currently acts as the Treasurer of The Silver Threads Senior's Club and has been on the Executive for many years. She's also involved with church groups and everyone knows Thelma. We’re happy to have her as part of our Souris Show Hall Foundation Board.

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Bruce Matheson, CPA, CMA

Member

Bruce is a professional accountant and business owner. He has held Board positions with a number of organizations, including charitable, financial, and community-based.
Currently, he serves as the Treasurer of the Souris Show Hall Foundation after serving many years as Chairperson. Bruce serves as Vice-Chair of the Farm Centre, Treasurer of the Haviland Club and is a Director with Big Brothers/Big Sisters of PEI.

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Erin Turcke

Member

Originally from Kingston Ontario, Erin moved to the island in 2016 when she was recruited for a management position at the Inn at Bay Fortune. Erin is a Certified Sommelier, wine educator and trained chef who side-dabbles in music and gardening. Since her time at the Inn, Erin has branched out on her own and is working towards the launch of Wayfaring Wine and Spirits Co.which focuses on all things consulting and education in relation to the drinks trade and hospitality industry.

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