Celebrating community: it takes a community!
By Rossland Telegraph
Rosslanders celebrate as a community a few times a year: for example. Winter Carnival, Golden City Days and the concurrent Fall Fair, and the more commercial but delightful “Rekindle the Spirit of Christmas” . . . these are examples of what brings us together as a community to have fun and to celebrate living in this beautiful place.
All of these celebrations are volunteer-driven.
If any of them were to vanish – to die off for lack of engaged community members to take up the reins from those who have guided them into existence each year – Rossland would be a little poorer. A little less fun. Less of a community.
At least one of these celebrations is at risk now. The following plea comes from the fun-loving volunteers who have organized Golden City Days – don’t worry, it’s safe for 2020 – but helping them with this year’s event would be a great way to learn the ropes. And have fun, too.
If you haven’t experienced Golden City Days, take a look at the short video on the Golden City Days FaceBook page. It provides a glimpse of some typical scenes.
You have some fresh ideas for it? Wonderful! You could help it evolve into an even more entertaining and engaging event. Give it some thought.
Here’s what the Golden City Days organizers have to say:
“Golden City Days was originally organized in 1972, as part of the 75th anniversary of the incorporation of Rossland to celebrate the town’s start as a mining camp during the gold rush days. The festival was held annually until 2007, when nobody came forward to run it that year. This resulted in a great many disappointed people! If a few Rossland folks hadn’t stepped up in 2008 to pick up the reins and bring GCD back, it likely wouldn’t have been revived at all. Two of the original committee members are going into our 13th year.
“We know how much Rossland residents and visitors enjoy the annual event, even if it isn’t as large a festival as it was those many years ago. We hear loads of compliments and are thanked often for continuing the traditional celebration of Rossland’s gold-mining past.
“While there are a number of tasks to be covered, before, during, and after the event, we have managed to accomplish everything with as few as 4 people working on the committee. But many hands make the work much easier. We’ve had a blast during the 13 years we’ve been organizing GCD, but our committee members, including Terry Brinson, Coordinator, are feeling kind of old and tuckered out! Golden City Days 2020 will be our last as organizers. It’s time for new leadership and fresh ideas to keep the weekend festival going. We can provide you with contact information to various groups, a list of supplies, and other pertinent records. Don’t let this be the last for Golden City Days! It would be a shame to lose this special event in Rossland.
“If you feel strongly that the Golden City Days tradition is important to Rossland and want to do your part in preserving the celebration of our gold-mining history, please contact us on the Rossland Golden City Days Facebook page.”
