Well, that was a ride – especially for those of you that are hockey fans and took in some or all of the Junior B Provincial Tournament a couple weeks ago. It’s always exciting to see the Community Complex packed to capacity; we had a number of other events happening as well over that time period and you sure notice a positive energy in the building. The actual hockey games had capacity or close to for many of them and we saw an increase in people using the aquatic and fitness centre. It will never lose its magic when you see people from out of town walk in our front doors, look around and go “Wow!”
The impact to the community is a little harder to measure but indeed, it does impact many small businesses such as hoteliers and restaurants; as well I saw many new faces wandering in and out of local shops over that time period. I’m sure with the grace and friendliness the community showed and is known for, we will get repeat visits from some of those folks as well.
This weekend is kind of quiet for us; just a couple of banquets, a small conference and a birthday party or two along with the regular programming but next weekend is the 2017 Home and Leisure Show in the Johnny Bucyk arena which runs Friday, April 28th 2:00pm – 9:00pm and Saturday, April 29th 10:00am – 5:00pm. It’s always a treat to wander around and bump into neighbours and acquaintances so you can block aisles while you yak and catch up following what seemed to be a significantly long winter.
A quick glance at the calendar shows we have a lot happening over the next month – that same weekend we also host the Linedancing Festival, the country and western dance where everyone gets to lead. Following that weekend, we head into Focus on Youth, the return of the Rocky Mountain Cloggers who have been using us as their conference confluence for as long as I can remember, an Arts Council Workshop at Rotacrest, Creston Valley Birdfest and Creston Fiddlers as we wind our way to Blossomfest. Mixed in there is BC Elections on a number of days on top of regular programming and maintenance.
There is no real reason to be bored around the Valley but like anywhere, you might have to do a bit of digging to find events going on out at Wynndel, Canyon, Yahk, up the Lake and all points in between. Think of it as prospecting; you have to poke around a bit to find treasure but a little effort can bring you some big rewards. You may have to access different forms of media whether it is the newspaper, brochures, posters, local radio or social media. There are excellent websites such as www.link2creston.com and www.crestonevents.ca as a starter not to mention individual service group websites which may have info. Most of these organizations are fueled by volunteers who are stretched to the max just putting on an event let alone tackling a public relations campaign so you have to take on some responsibility as well in searching out and supporting what interests you.