By Mavourneen Varcoe-Ryan
Firstly, on behalf of the Spences Bridge Community Club (SBCC), I would like to express our sympathy to all our neighbours who have suffered loss in the wildfires. Our hearts go out to you all.
And a huge thank you to all the firefighters, first responders, and various volunteers who go above and beyond! It is heartwarming to see that in the face of disaster there are so many caring souls. We are all wishing for the whole fire situation throughout the province to be, if not extinguished, then under complete control in the very near future.
The SBCC does not meet during the summer months, but there are still some events going on. Firstly, there is our Farmers’ / Flea Market on the first and third Sundays of the month (August 6 and 20, September 3 and 17). Come to Clemes Hall from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. to check out great crafts, produce, baking, second-hand treasures, and so much more. Shop local!
The big summer event is, of course, Desert Daze! It all starts on Friday, August 11, when the gate opens at 3:30 p.m., with a traditional Indigenous drumming welcome beginning at 3:45; then five different musical acts take us through to midnight!
On Saturday, August 12 the fun begins at 10:30 a.m. when the stage starts up again, and there will be eleven different acts taking everyone through to midnight! The weekend entertainment has something for almost every taste. Singer-songwriter, folk, world, rock, country: there are a lot of opportunities to shake your booty!
Many interesting vendors will be there selling their wares: great jewellery, clothing, art, and more, so shopping is definitely in the mix. There’ll be lots of food, too, from exciting vendor food to the fantastic firefighters’ pancake breakfast on Saturday morning.
And then there are the workshops, all of which take place on Saturday. They begin with a morning yoga class at 11 a.m. There are also traditional Indigenous arts workshops in beading and cedar bark jewellery, and Barefoot Caravan is putting on a drumming workshop: they supply all the drums, and it is sure to be dynamite!
We’re doing something a little different with the canning workshop this year, and are teaching participants how to make salsa. All workshops are free.
Please go to our website (www.desertdaze.ca) for all the details; there are links to the artists, and the schedule is also posted there. Thanks to all our sponsors, we are able to keep our gate price very low: still only $20 for the weekend! (Day passes are available too, of course, for $10.) Cash at the gate only please.
Want to save your $20? Volunteer for only two hours and you can attend for free. Sign up on the website!
In other SBCC news, bingo will be starting up again on Monday, September 18, and after that will be on the first and third Mondays of the month. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. There’s lots of fun to be had and money to be won, and always fantastic treats to eat at the concession.
Our AGM will be held on September 13. The SBCC mandate is to provide social, recreational, and cultural activities for the community.
We will be holding elections for the executive: please consider getting involved, and putting some time into keeping this wonderful community wonderful by having fun and interesting things to do! The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at Clemes Hall.
