Interview with the Mayor - March 30th, 2026

Monday, 30 March 2026 11:12

Mayor Acchione talked about Woodstock's Community Grants program and the proposed list of recipients for spring 2026.

WOODSTOCK - Woodstock City Council is about to sign off on the next round of community grant recipients.

Mayor Acchione says the city does this twice a year, using funds from the OLG for hosting Gateway Casinos.

"That money gets dispersed in many different ways, but it is used primarily for the grants, with $154,000 put towards it. We're giving away about $81,000 in the first intake."

The remaining $75,000 will be awarded during the fall intake of community grants later this year.

The Community Grants Committee has to go through a list of about 23 applications, and decide which ones to fund and how much money to provide. Mayor Acchione says its a hard job to do, and there's a lot of debate.

"Some organizations might have asked for $10,000 and we gave them $7,000 because that's what we want to help with, it's our focus, and it's the part we're doing. We'll specify to them what we're giving the funds for."

You can find the proposed list of community grant recipients for spring 2026 below, and you can read more about their plans for the funding online here.

- Operation Sharing ($20,000)
- Big Brothers Big Sisters of Oxford County ($15,700)
- Woodstock and District Developmental Services ( $10,000)
- Indwell ($9,800)
- Woodstock Wildcats Girls Hockey Association ($7,210)
- Woodstock Rotary Music Festival ($5,000)
- Oxford County Pride ($5,000)
- Woodstock Minor Ball Association ($3,080)
- Focus on Nature ($3,000)
- KidsDu Organizing Committee ($1,000)
- Land to Loom ($1,000)
- Oxford County Branch of Ontario Ancestors ($805)

This Thursday's City Council meeting will begin at 1:30 p.m. and it will be livestreamed on the City of Woodstock YouTube page. You can also find the meeting agenda online here.

Mayor Acchione also discussed the following during his interview this morning:

- The Woodstock Navy Vets PJHL playoff run. He won his bet with Norwich Mayor Jim Palmer and he has another one going with East Zorra-Tavistock Mayor Phil Schaefer.

- United Way Oxford's Community Celebration that was held last Thursday. He congratulated United Way on another successful campaign.

- The municipal campaign information session that was held at the Oxford County Administration Building last Thursday.

- Why he decided to enter municipal politics and the challenges he faces in the job.

- His plans for the Easter weekend.

You can listen to the full interview below: