News Leader News for May 22, 2007
THE ARTS ARE FLORISHING IN THE SIMILKAMEEN
Arts and cultural activities are growing in Princeton area. Princeton & District Community Arts Council heard reports of both past successes and future plans during the May 16 meeting.
Monica Klein reported on the huge success of the first play done by Princeton Performing Arts. She added that Sue and Chelsea Turner are looking for a suitable comedy play for next season, as well as dinner theatre for this summer. A local restauranteur has asked whether the group would consider presenting a show or two in his restaurant.
Mary Bedford gave a glowing report of two art workshops hosted by the 35 member Vermilion Artists. She stated there will be an art show at the Goldion building on Racing Days weekend and a drawing workshop in the autumn.
Princeton Concert Society member Joan Kelly told everyone of the upcoming concert on May 27 featuring Haley Simons, a renowned pianist, who will perform at the Baptist Church at 7:30 PM. This follows the great success of the Concert Society in bringing Kelowna Ballet to Princeton. The ballet will be back next year.
Joseph Dubé said Princeton Writers Group is now very small but they are putting together a play.
Princeton Community Band will hold a concert at the secondary school, and will be part of Music Under the K this weekend. Band members will be participating in Racing Days activities.
Bunchgrass Quilters have made more than 30 small quilts to give to children in crisis. Rosemary Woodruff brought some quilts to the meeting to show the work being done. This week, they go to Ridgewood Lodge to do hand sewing with interested residents. This is in addition to doing members' own quilting projects.
Nick Mills reported that the museum has been closed due to lack of volunteers to do tours. The museum opens this weekend. The Museum Society had hoped to be able to hire a university student with help from federal government funding, but it has been denied this year. Fortunately, Weyerhaeuser is giving a grant to hire a secondary school student. He said there is a possibility that Katimavik will return to Princeton to help out next year.
Vermilion Forks Field Naturalists reported a highly successful workshop on Swan Lake, and is still hoping to have the government designate it as a wildlife preserve, in order to ensure this land is not sold to developers. The little lake set in a basin surrounded by grasslands is unique, and is a great attraction to visitors. The society is putting on a bird identification course May 26 and June 2, as well as participating in the Meadowlark Festival.
Rika Ruebsaat gave a report on the Sounds of Our Heritage festival to be held Racing Days weekend. The festival will feature music performances related to Canada's history as well as traditional music and dance from immigrant groups. A special feature will be traditional British village dancers. Four of these groups are coming to Princeton from Vancouver and Oregon. Look for them on Saturday, June 30 and Sunday, July 1 from 1:00 to 5:00 PM in front of the Welby Stage building next to the museum.
Arts Council members welcomed Sue Alton, who is going to assist Vermilion Artists in making a proposal to have the Arts Council purchase display grids on which to hang paintings during art shows. These grids would be useful for displaying quilts and old photographs. Members agreed the grids could be rented to various groups. Vermilion Artists will make their proposal at the June 13 meeting.
IN PRAISE OF VOLUNTEERS
In general terms a volunteer is a person who freely gives of their time to a group or organization for no pay.
There are many volunteers in our community many of whom wear more than one hat with more than one organization and when you think about it, there are numerous celebrations and activities that take place up and down the Similkameen Valley that would never take place without volunteers.
Have you ever considered what our community would be like without the contributions made by those who volunteer? There would likely be no minor sports activities, or sporting events of any kind.
Churches and church activities would suffer.
Rodeos, horse racing, Fall Fairs and other cultural events and celebrations would not take place.
Community service organizations would not exist. It would be a pretty sad, dull place to live.
If you know us at all, you know we've done our share of volunteering as have most of the people we know in Town. If you've read this paper for any length of time you will also be aware of the fact we have written about the importance of volunteers in our communities many times before.
This time around I want to share a few stories about volunteers. Not what they are doing specifically, but a little about their affect on others and the way some people view our community.
The most recent examples I can share came from the Princeton Pro Rodeo and Bull-A-Rama event held during Mother's Day weekend.
As a Rodeo Club member I've seen a few changes in how the Pro Rodeo is put together and know that it takes a lot of money to put on such an event. If you've never volunteered for anything, one of the first things that may surprise you is the amount of money organizations spend to function. Especially those who host events such as a rodeo or a fall fair. Sometimes it's scary the amount of money that has to be spent on an event that organizers can't even be sure will break even when you depend on attendance and weather to be favourable.
It's really quite a gamble.
Most everyone associated with the event outside of the organizing committee expects payment in advance or a hefty deposit. That money has to come from somewhere and often it means asking local businesses for donations.
As often as businesses get 'hit' in an average year for cash donations, prize donations or a discount on their products or services, many local businesses do not hesitate to chip in.
They deserve a pat on the back for being so community minded and the next time you attend a local event and find a long list of names in a program with the words 'thanks to our sponsors' remember these people are supporting volunteers and volunteer activities and deserve our support in return.
Where am I going with this?
The Bull-A-Rama and Princeton Pro Rodeo reminded me of what kind of affect volunteer organizations can have on others around them.
Let me tell you a little story. This one comes from the Friday night Bull-A-Rama.
I'm in the 'VIP Section' leaning on the steel rail overlooking the rodeo arena with a 1,800-pound snorting and very annoyed bull not five feet away. I'm thinking that I'm grateful for the solid construction of the chutes.
"You gonna get some photos tonight, are you?" Jerry Cadwell, officially identified as Arena Director looks at me flicking a toothpick around his mouth with his tongue.
I answer with a yes and tell him why I'm there.
We share pleasantries and then he says it.
"This is an amazing Rodeo Committee here."
He tells me he's been coming to Princeton's Pro Rodeo to be the Arena Director for the six years the local group has been presenting CPRA events.
"Just look at this," his meaty hand hits my shoulder as he motions to the VIP building behind me and then gestures to the platforms built behind the chutes a recent addition in the past couple years.
"There's no other rodeo in BC with that," he says. "And the best improvement lately is the announcers booth," he again gestures with his hand. "That used to be pretty cramped in there."
Cadwell tells me I should stand where I am for some photos and gives me suggestions of other great vantage points, as he tries to be helpful. He makes it clear he likes it at Princeton's Rodeo because, "You guys treat us great."
Then he shuffles off the do his Arena Director job and I get the feeling this is just the beginning of what I later decide should be a story about those unsung heroes in our midst: volunteers.
Another conversation takes place the following afternoon when I'm standing over by the Rodeo Clown's trailer. I'm actually scouting for places to take photos when he sees me and comes over to see what I'm doing.
Mark Vantienhoven isn't in make up yet as it's still about thirty minutes before the rodeo and we get chatting as if we've known each other forever.
"The people here are so friendly," he tells me more than once.
He calls Airdrie, Alberta home, but spends most of the year on the road except for a weekend off to squeeze in his wedding.
He tells me he's going to participate in the Golf Tournament planned following the Rodeo for riders, organizers and others.
He's pumped about being here and tells me he can't believe how nice we are in Princeton.
It makes me think we have an asset to our Valley we haven't figured out how to market.
Something like 'Come to the Similkameen. We're so friendly you'll want to come back' only not as wordy and a little more to the point.
I'm not sure how I'm going to weave this into a story until a few days later and Solana comes into the office to bounce off her latest article idea. She wants to do an upbeat piece about what a few local organizations have done for the community. It gives me an idea about those hard-working volunteers.
It also makes me think Town Council should 'give back' a little more by recognizing volunteers in some public fashion. Maybe a huge 'Volunteer Appreciation Dinner' once a year in the off-season so all those hard working helpers get a little of the attention they deserve for doing so much for the community.
So you didn't go to (pick a local event) because of (whatever your reason). Fair enough, maybe you don't see or understand the value of supporting local events. There's nothing wrong with that. Although you are missing out on why volunteers do what they do.
It is our experience in Princeton, Tulameen, Hedley, Keremeos and all points in between that the volunteers who step up and get involved are doing so not for what they are getting out of it (although there are positive benefits to volunteering) but because they want to do something to 'give back' to their community. Some feel it's their 'civic duty' and others do it to meet other like-minded people.
These are all good reasons for pitching in. Sometimes there's a personal or family connection to an organization or event, which in turn becomes the reason.
For example, Brenda and I currently volunteer time at the annual Pepperfest (Similkameen Sizzle) each September in Keremeos. We've made some great friends there and even got married at the event.
For us, it's a pretty special local celebration that we will likely be connected to for many years. Even if the celebration were to one day stop taking place, we know we have experienced something special as a direct result of being volunteers.
Sometimes that's all you need to realize we live in a pretty special place filled with pretty special people doing some pretty special things for free.
Other times it takes a rodeo clown to remind us that even if attendance is down and a lot of people didn't bother to go to the event, there are people who are part of the event who appreciate our volunteers just the same.
In fact, they depend on them as much as our community does.
