On May 3, the whole community will come together to celebrate 85 wonderful years of our beautiful city! I am a proud resident of the Cariboo-Chilcotin and Williams Lake is truly the centre of our great region.
We are a vibrant community. With the world famous Williams Lake Stampede, the Indoor Rodeo, the Harvest Fair, an emerging arts and cultural scene and great economic opportunity on the horizon in mining and LNG developments in northern B.C., Williams Lake is truly one of the best places to be in British Columbia.
Community events are already planned with the fun starting bright and early at 8:30 a.m. at Boitanio Park for a pancake breakfast which goes until 10:30 a.m., then family games and activities until 1:30 p.m.
The Cariboo Memorial Complex will have a lunch starting at 1:30 p.m. with a dinner starting at 5:00 p.m. hosted by our local Rotary Club, at 7:00 p.m. with a birthday cake cutting and finally capping off the celebration with a family dance from 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
This is a great opportunity for everyone to show off our Williams Lake pride with our neighbours, family and friends. I will be attending the community supper on Saturday night to listen to the incredible stories of some great Williams Lake residents past and present.
In these celebrations, let us not forget that we are very fortunate to live in such a great community with an extraordinary small-town spirit. It is an honour to represent Williams Lake.
Everyone in Williams Lake is proud of our heritage and of our great future ahead. I am looking forward to continue to work with everyone in our community to build an ever stronger and vibrant Williams Lake for many decades to come.
Happy Birthday Williams Lake! I hope the next 85 years are just as spectacular.
Donna Barnett is the Liberal MLA for Cariboo-Chilcotin.