Businesses invited to help with festival

Restaurants and retail stores are being invited to help with the August 21 “Celebrate with Maple Creek” festival.
They have been asked to consider setting up outdoor seating, organizing sidewalk sales, partnering with other businesses, erecting kiosks or pop-up tents, and putting on specials like those offered during the Taste of Maple Creek.
Local businesses have also been approached about sponsoring or hosting activities, and promoting giveaways, such as “swag” for draws.
Gillian Moch, the Town of Maple Creek’s economic development officer, reached out to the business community last week via email.
“Let’s celebrate our community!” she said.
Meanwhile, more information has been released about the proposed event. Tentative ideas, which are subject to change as details are finalized, include:
• 8am: Pancake breakfast at the C.M. Glascock Building, put on by the SW Saskatchewan Oldtimers’ Museum & Archive;
• 10am-11.30am parade, which will take in Jasper Street;
• Farmers’ market (from 12 noon onwards), Fire Department demo/activity, two food trucks;
• Horse rides, Nekaneet dancing, and a dunk tank;
• A booth run by the Maple Creek swimming pool fundraising committee;
• Old-fashioned children’s activities, games and attractions, such as bean bag toss, three-legged race, pedal tractors, egg toss, gunny sack races, and balloon animals;
• Live music on a stage between the Post Office and the BMO (Bank of Montreal), and cowboy poetry; and
• 9pm movie, “The Apple Dumpling Gang”, a 1975 American comedy-western film directed by Norman Tokar and featuring the duo of Don Knotts and Tim Conway.
The Jasper Cultural & Historical Centre will also be a part of the celebrations.
Donny White, the Jasper board chair, said the Centre would be holding a huge flea market, a barbecue with picnic tables, an auction and a book sale.
“We are still in the planning stages,” he said last Saturday. “More details will be released later.”
White added that the Centre had originally hoped to hold an outdoor concert in August. This would probably be held indoors in mid to late September.
“It will be a harvest concert/dance,” he said.
White said the Centre was pushing ahead with plans for the Creek Classic’s 20th Annual “Show & Shine” will take place in the grounds on Saturday, August 14. The event will run from noon to 4pm, with registration starting from 10am.
The “Celebrate with Maple Creek” initiative is the brainchild of Savannah Mass, the Town’s communications and tourism manger, and comes as COVID-19 pandemic restrictions ease after 16 months of social distancing and mask-wearing.
She hopes the community celebration will be in similar to spirit to the Taste of Maple Creek and the Heritage Festival.
Mass said an event planning meeting would be held in the Town Hall on Wednesday, July 21, starting at 7pm. It was open to the public.
“Everyone is invited to attend,” she said. “Anyone with an idea for the event should come along.”

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