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The woman behind the "Guitars on Parade" is Orillia's Citizen of The Year.
congrats to Leslie Fournier! Her next project sounds amazing too.
http://www.orilliapacket.com/Article...aspx?e=2911365
Fournier city's best
Local News
By SARA ROSS, THE PACKET & TIMES
Updated 3 days ago

Leslie FournierSEANNA KREAGER Submitted photo - at link

From her Mississaga Street storefront window, shop owner Leslie Fournier dreamed of a vibrant downtown Orillia, bustling with people.

Tapping into the talent of local artists, Fournier began the Festival of Banners, which grew into a Streets Alive! celebration and this past spring, she rolled out Guitars on Parade. Fifty-seven-foot-tall guitar sculptures adorned Mississaga Street all summer, attracting residents and tourists into the core.

For bringing life to downtown Orillia, Fournier has been named Orillia's 2010 Citizen of the Year.
Fournier was nominated by Susan and Bruce Waite, Gini Stringer and Bill Cook.

"Through the Festival of Banners, and this year, the Guitars on Parade, Leslie's group has given the downtown a renewed vibrancy. For six months, these giant and colourful guitars were the talk of Lake Country. Leslie has captured and captivated the spirit of Orillia's arts community, which grows in size and stature every year," the Waites wrote in their nomination letter. "She has added greatly to the promotion of Orillia as a "must-visit" destination.

Fournier, who owns Jack and Maddy A Kids' Store, founded the Festival of Banners in 2007.

In the inaugural event, 150 banners depicting the Sunshine City through the eyes of people who live here, hung from down-t ow n street posts for all to admire.

"This caught on beyond the wildest dreams of some — exactly as Leslie had imagined it would — and could — and should be," the Waites wrote.

Through the successful banner festival, Fournier created Streets Alive! in 2009. The event is an annual weekend-long celebration of art and entertainment to kick off the annual Festival of Banners.

The most amazing aspect of Fournier's dream is the way she keeps the festival funded, wrote Cook.

"She does it not by begging the city for funding, but by hustling sponsorships to get the ball rolling and then after the mission is complete, she organizes an auction to raise more money to make the next year even more eventful."

Pleased with the success of Guitars on Parade last summer, Fournier's next endeavour will be themed Sixty Sails.

The concept is similar to Guitars on Parade, in that the sculptures will be painted by local artists. But the new project is expected to be bigger and better -- bigger, for sure.

Each sailboat sculpture will be about eight-feet tall (a foot taller than the guitars) and there will be 60 of them (10 more than the guitars).

"Leslie is as vibrant and brilliant as the guitars themselves," Stringer wrote. "Leslie Fournier is a thinker, a visionary, an innovator, and definitely, a doer! Our community is blessed to have her as one of our citizens."

In closing, Cook wrote "Leslie is an amazing inspiration to all, that where there is a will, there is a way."

sross@orilliapacket.com