On behalf of the Lacombe Days Association Committee, I would like to express our sincere appreciation to all groups, volunteers and organizations that contributed to another successful year of Lacombe Days.
A great thank you to the generosity of our local business sponsors that allow us to provide a weekend of entertainment to the people of Lacombe and surrounding area at very little if any cost.
Without these sponsors Lacombe Days would not be what it is today!
This year being my first year on the committee, I would like to thank Peter and Lorraine Bouwsema and family for their patience mentoring myself through this past year.
Their heart, pride and passion for their community and their work ethic is what has kept this event going these past several years.
Peter and Lorraine collected a group of volunteers consisting of Val Depauw, Charlie Street, Wayne Rempel, Mark Visscher and recently Ellen Corea.
Thanks to all! Some of these volunteers, because of changes in their lives or employment commitments, will have a reduced role on the committee.
Therefore I would greatly appreciate anyone interested in being part of the committee to call myself, Chris Ross, at 403-357-8810.
For myself it was a very positive experience getting out and meeting the business community not only to hear views and opinions to further enhance Lacombe Days but also hearing all the other positive ideas, such as possibly having the City of Lacombe construct some beach volleyball courts in our parks or playground areas for the teenage groups.
While on the topic of that area, possibly for 2015 there could be ideas such as a road hockey tournament at the race track at Michener or an Amazing Race scavenger hunt theme on the City bike and walking trails and a co-ed slow pitch tournament. But to continue to add events obviously takes groups, organization and volunteers. With the hope of receiving government grants (since we are now a registered association) and continuing to approach local businesses earlier such as November or December to be part of the 2015 budgets, the committee will hopefully have a higher budget to work with in 2015.
Perhaps the committee, through a donation to a group or organization such as UTurn, C4, FCSS or whatever other groups in the community could put their cause back into the community, and could be part of enhancing the whole community at a low cost.
Win-win for all, the bottom line is utilizing all possible resources to make Lacombe Days bigger! The City of Lacombe has a lot of recreational facilities, let’s use them all!
Just a note: the 2014 parade unfortunately didn’t have bands as in the past.
It was out of our control as several were attending a competition in Europe.
As a committee we are event planners, marketers and advertisers. There were 19,000 brochures printed (of which 17,500 were mailed) advertising in the two local papers for two weeks, radio advertising on three local stations, as well as promotions through the web site and Facebook. We try in every way to recognize the sponsors and get all the information out on all events.
The 2015 Lacombe Days will be the last weekend of July after the Red Deer Westerner Days. Hope to see you all there!
Chris Ross
Lacombe