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Groups hope to cash in on Small town Saturday Night contest

Three local non-profit groups are hoping to rally the community and garner support online where a unique contest is taking place.

Three local non-profit groups are hoping to rally the community and garner support online where a unique contest is taking place.

Each year, thousands of Albertans flock to the Big Valley Jamboree in central Alberta, to take in a weekend of country music. But leading up to the event, one rural community in Alberta will be given the unique opportunity to host a mini Big Valley Jamboree.

While the event will no doubt offer a day of first-class entertainment, the BVJ Small Town Saturday Night event also offers the host community a change to fundraise thousands of dollars through ticket sales and other venues.

“For 25 years, Big Valley Jamboree has enjoyed the support of hundreds of thousands of loyal fans from across North America,” says the BVJ website. “A major part of that support comes from rural communities throughout Alberta.

Big Valley Jamboree will award one of the qualifying communities with “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

Country music star Gord Bamford will be this year’s highlight entertainment for the STSN event, along with emcee Danny Hooper. The STSN event will take place in the winning community on April 29.

The St. Paul Animal Shelter is hoping that its entry in the STSN contest could lead to a happy ending in a tale that has been ongoing for many years.

The shelter has been actively fundraising for a new facility for a number of year, but when a rainstorm hit the area in the summer of 2016, the urgency for a new shelter become much more real.

The previous shelter facility was located on the west side of St. Paul, near the RCMP detachment. The building sustained water damage in the storm, making it unsuitable for staff members to work, and animals to be kept in.

So, the shelter moved its operations to an office space, placing animals in other shelters or foster homes, and attempting to continue the work it does in the community, as a reduced capacity. Over the Christmas holidays, the office space also flooded, due to a pipe bursting in the building.

Although repairs have been made to the office space, the shelter is working toward raising the last $50,000 needed to build a new facility, which will be located a few miles west of St. Paul.

“The reason I decided on putting St. Paul and the animal shelter in for the contest is we never really get a chance to have this kind of opportunity,” says shelter manager Krystal Cardinal. “So, I decided to jump on it. Something like this doesn't come around very often.”

Cardinal says she believes St. Paul “deserves this, and so does the animal shelter. If we make it that far in this contest, it will not only benefit St. Paul as a whole . . . but will also help fundraise for the St. Paul Animal Shelter’s new building.”

She adds, “Why not have fun and help fundraise a good cause at the same time, right? It’s definitely a win-win situation.”s

The Ashmont Ag Society is hoping to use the STSN contest to enhance its facility (the Ashmont Agriplex) and the community.

“We are always looking for different fundraising opportunities so that we can enhance our facility and our community,” says Melissa Weinmeier, a volunteer with the Ashmont Ag Society. “In the case of winning, we are also giving half the profits to the Ashmont Elementary School for a new playground at their new school.”

Right now, a new K-12 school is being built in the small community of Ashmont, which will replace the aging Ashmont Elementary and Ashmont Secondary schools that exist.

“I guess it’s not just a different fundraising opportunity, but we like hosting events and people often forget about us, so to hold a bigger name event would be great to get more people to our community,” says Weinmeier.

The Ashmont Ag Society celebrated its 25th anniversary in November of 2016, reaffirming that it is a long-standing staple in the community.

The Glendon Ag Society has also decided to throw its name into the contest. The Ag Society has been actively raising funds for a new ice plant for the Glendon Arena, a busy facility in the small community.

“The Glendon Agricultural Society (run by community volunteers) assessed the operation of our ice plant and determined that this original 1974 plant will need a full replacement,” says Sandy Sandmeyer, Chairperson - Fundraising Committee, Glendon Agricultural Society.

The replacement cost is quoted at $461,500 from the supplier. The group will need to place the order for the replacement ice plant very quickly in order for manufacturing purposes and a summer (off-season) installation, she explains.

Local and municipal assistance has netted the group $216,000 towards the project, leaving a $245,500 shortfall.

“Our arena is a huge benefit to Village, being the only public recreational facility in the winter months. The arena is utilized by Glendon Minor Hockey, Glendon Figure Skating Club, Glendon School, Ladies Jaguars, Glendon Jets, Glendon Old Timers and public skating attendants,” says Sandmeyer. “And the ice plant operates the Glendon Curling Club. In total, over 800 people are impacted by the condition of the arena’s ice plant, so we are exploring every avenue to raise these funds.”

Getting involved with the Small Town Saturday Night contest is a great way to rally the Glendon troops, she adds.

“It would also be like adding the bacon bits and sour cream to our Pyrogy Village - Beer, pyrogies and Gord Bamford. Yum!”

Round 1 voting is underway. Visit www.bigvalleyjamboree.com/stsn to cast a vote, once a day. Voting closes Feb. 15, and the top 10 finalists will be determined after that.


Janice Huser

About the Author: Janice Huser

Janice Huser has been with the St. Paul Journal since 2006. She is a graduate of the SAIT print media journalism program, is originally from St. Paul and has a passion for photography.
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