Peter and Audrey Switzer Trophy Room

Donated By: Mrs. B. Johnson and Miss Lotta Gibson, St. Marys
First Presented: 1963
Criteria: Gr. 4, 5, and 6 Unconducted Ensemble (SA) - highest mark

Mrs. Henry Johnson and Miss Lotta Gibson presented the Gibson Trophy for Rural School Small Ensembles in 1942. Lotta Gibson and Bea Johnson were sisters. While Lotta had competed in the Perth County Musical Festival in 1928 in the piano duet class, it was Bea who went on to have a career in music. She was a music teacher in Mornington Township in the 1930's.

Lotta was a reporter with the Beacon Herald. Grace Severt recalled that Lotta attended the competitions every morning and evening during the Festival period and wrote a report about the results for the paper. Isa Gould described Lotta as a delightful reporter who even wrote poems about the Festival and its inner workings for her. In recognition of her passion for music and the Music Festival, Lotta was made an honorary member of the Ontario Registered Music Teachers' Association from 1956 until 1979.