A new central events committee was launched in the lakecity last week.
The committee’s roll will be to collaborate and network with existing community groups and organizations to track events on a year-round basis, say acting chair Sue Lachance and vice-chair Betty Turatus.
They say the Cariboo has an extensive list of events which take place all year long, but there is nowhere for all of these events to be consolidated in one place for residents and visitors to find this information.
The committe’s goal is to have a one-stop information service for all groups and organizations to get their message out in an organized easy to find way.
The committee is also looking forward to working with local area governments, First Nations and the business groups in the region.
One of the committee’s first tasks will be to gather a list of all current service groups and events in the area.
This will then be used to implement an event calendar which will be available on line, year round.
In addition, the committee which will be registering as a non-profit organization, will actively fundraise to help existing community groups which need a helping hand and give financial support to some new events, say Lachance and Turatus.
Some of the new events that are being discussed could include the expansion of the existing Performances in the Park program to include a provincial battle of the bands, a city-wide winter carnival including ice fishing derbies and snowmobile racing events, a summer fishing derby and several other exciting ideas which will be examined as time goes on.
“One of the things that the Cariboo and particularly Williams Lake is missing is a way to organize all of the wonderful activities that are taking place in our community,” Lachance said.
“So often we hear folks comment that they simply don’t know when and where events are happening. Currently, each group or event has to advertise independently of each other. We hope that this new group of volunteers will be able to solve part of that issue.”
She said the committee hopes to make Williams Lake the events capital of B.C.
For more information or to volunteer with the committee call Lachance at 250-267-3284. The next meeting is Wednesday, Sept. 10 at 5:30 p.m. at 72 Oliver Street.