Old-fashioned carnival promises timely fun for Castlegar
By Castlegar Source
City council, at its regular meeting Monday night, approved a $500 grant to support an old-fashioned carnival slated for Castlegar’s downtown core Aug. 7, raising money for the Community Harvest Food Bank and giving residents yet another reason to congregate downtown.
Council heard the event will include on old-fashioned spaghetti feed, and ice-cream social, a pie-eating contest and games like potato-sack races, all to be topped off with a public dance in the evening.
The only opposing vote coming from councillor Gord Turner.
Lori Orser, local business owner and volunteer, has been helping coordinate the event, and says it should be a blast for people of all ages.
“Insurance has forced us to scale it back a little – instead of a street dance, we’ll hold the dance on the museum grounds,” she says. “I’m still trying to find the perfect band for the venue, but we’ll announce that as the date gets closer.”
She said a key element in the evening’s success has been the support of the local business community.
“So many businesses have come together to help make this event possible, donating product and time – it’s huge,” she says, adding the commercial community couldn’t have chosen a better horse to back. “The service the food bank provides is so important – there are so many people one paycheque away from needing those services.”
That being said, she also pointed out how events like this are important to cementing the ties that bind in any community.
“I really believe in community-building events like this …that’s part of the reason I jumped in to help organize it,” she said.
