Stratford’s Roger Hathaway is once again using signs from across the city to spell out a special message and support mental-health and addiction services in the community.
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Having previously designed both a poster and a greeting card that features portions of Stratford signs that spell out “To Be Or Not To Be,” Hathaway has recently released his Signs of Stratford Festive Edition holiday card featuring Santa’s familiar laughter: “Ho, Ho, Ho.”
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“I just saw the festive possibilities,” Hathaway said of his efforts to find and photograph 12 local signs that featured those letters together.
“It’s had some favorable responses so far,” he added. “A lady bought five cards, I mailed them to her and she sent me a comment saying they’re a great starter for a real conversation. …I think that is what’s quite nice with the card and the poster. When I show it, people go, ‘Where is that (sign)?’ They stand around and they look at it and they point.”
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With several local businesses selling, or set to sell, the festive edition cards this holiday season – many of which are those featured on the card itself – Hathaway is once again planning to donate proceeds from the sale of the $5 cards to the Huron-Perth chapter of the Canadian Mental Health Association to support mental-health and addiction services in the community.
“This is important to me because someone close to me has a lot of challenges. … We have more people coming into Stratford and … counselors and psychiatrists have not increased in their numbers proportionate to the number of people who need help. …I like going around to businesses and taking these photos and, in the end, if people recognize and appreciate it, it makes me feel a little warmer that something will go back to a good cause,” Hathaway said.
Hathaway says he has plans in the works for other cards, posters and even T-shirts featuring his existing designs, as well as some other designs he’s working on, including a Signs of Stratford Selfies Edition card that will feature portions of signs that spell out “Me, Me, Me” and some themed around the Stratford Festival’s slate of productions next season.
To order festive edition cards or the original Signs of Stratford posters and cards, email Hathaway at [email protected].
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