By Mavourneen Varcoe-Ryan.
Ah, these lovely long June days! It’s a little depressing to know that in just a month from now the days will be getting shorter.
However, in celebration of the longest day of the year, the New Horizons for Seniors program is hosting a Summer Solstice dinner. On Thursday, June 21 from 5 to 8 p.m. at the old school, we will provide a tasty dinner of Indian tacos, barbecue chicken, potato salad, and desserts. We hope to be entertained by some young Indigenous dancers, and there will be other fun stuff!
Some of the New Horizons program goals are to increase volunteerism among seniors, and work at community unity. So please join your friends and neighbours for an evening of good food and some laughs. This is a great opportunity to get to know those who we share our home town with.
There are just a few more weeks of soup day left in June, as we will break for July and August. Come to Clemes Hall on Tuesdays at noon to have a meal and a visit, and watch for notices on the Facebook page (Spences Bridge Community Club) for the arts, crafts, and activities that follow the lunch. As we are promoting volunteerism, anyone wishing to take a turn at making the soup or baking some cookies would be most welcome. The grant pays for the supplies.
The Farmers’/Flea Market continues every first and third Sunday of the month—but in a new location! The market will now be held at the old school, and the hope is that being visible from the highway will increase the business. Anyone wishing to book a spot to vend should call Terri at (250) 458-2513.
Bingo is taking a break; the next bingo will be on September 17, and will continue on the first and third Mondays of the month. A huge thank you to Oliva Watson for running these bingos, and of course to all her helpers!
The graveyard clean-up went very well, with plenty of folks chipping in so that we were done in no time! It looks nice and neat and tidy. Thanks to everyone who came out to help!
Our ninth annual Desert Daze Festival planning is well underway! We have an amazing line up of all-B.C musicians on August 10 and 11, including lots of everyone’s local favourites like Nadine Davenport, John Kidder, Billananee, and Jenny and the Gents. The line-up is, as always, very diverse. There really is something for everyone: country, rock, folk, blues, world, and let’s just say “alternative”! Check out the website at www.desertdaze.ca, where you can get a taste of the music and see who is playing.
Our confirmed workshops include Brazilian hand drumming with Dave Dumont, lahal (an Indigenous stick game) with Joe Thomas, beading with Annette Albert, and salsa making with Eugenie Moreira. All workshops are on Saturday afternoon, and all are free! If you’d like to attend the festival for free, you just need to volunteer for four hours: register on the website.
We’re still looking for vendors as well, so if you have something interesting to sell, apply on the website. And one last plug for sponsorships: any businesses or individuals who would like to support this completely non-profit event will get their name on the program and mentions over the mic! Again, details are on the website. Thanks so much to those that have already donated: Second Time Around, Highland Valley Teck, and Community Futures, with grants from Arts Council B.C. and Northern Development Initiative Trust.
The Desert Daze raffle tickets will soon be on sale. Some of the fantastic prizes are a night at Echo Valley Resort, a paragliding tandem flight, a beautifully framed Robert Bateman print, and more! Thank you to Echo Valley, Flic, the Neidigs, and Joe Moreira.
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the Spences Bridge Volunteer Fire Department for their cooperation, and willingness to allow community events to occur at the old school grounds. It is this kind of like-minded community cooperation that will help keep Spences Bridge moving forward in a positive direction where we all work together for the betterment of all.
Our next Spences Bridge Community Club meeting is our AGM in September: please consider putting your name forward for the executive. Help to make Spences Bridge the vibrant, active community where we all want to live!
editorial@accjournal.ca
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