Great weekends in Morinville are not hard to come by. It seems like there is something going on here all the time. But really great weekends aren’t hard to find here either, and we just had another one.
Really, there are no words to express how blown away the Morinville Festival Society was at the turnout to this past weekend’s Snowman Festival.
Everything from the Farmers’ Market to the Community Lunch and Cribbage Afternoon at Higher Grounds kept people moving up and down 100 Avenue where ice sculptures and street hockey mixed to make an awesome afternoon.
Adding to the Town of Morinville’s already successful Family Skate and Snowman Contest was a partnership move that allowed us to strengthen the community activities over the Family Day Weekend, and the response from those who took in all the stuff was pretty amazing.
Tonnes of times over the weekend we couldn’t help but smile at seeing families enjoying the town together on a weekend that is set aside to celebrate families.
Organizing the event is something our committee cannot take all the credit for. The Town of Morinville’s Community Services Department are to be thanked for working behind the scenes as they always do to make sure things go smooth. Sometimes they are so behind the scenes that you don’t even see them. Particular thanks to Tyler Edworthy for all the efforts setting up things like road closures; Ryan Telford for being up in his booth running sound during the family dance and movie night, and cultural centre maintenance worker David Bruce for his extra efforts on Saturday helping us out.
Right behind the Town working behind the scenes, but in a more visible way, are our many sponsors. We put their logos right out front and centre because it is their dollars working behind the scenes to fund the events we put on. The Town is one of those sponsors.
Great community business support has never been a struggle in Morinville and our sponsors are there to help in many ways besides monetary.
Answering the call for this festival, we thank Champion Petfoods, The Morinville News, the Town of Morinville, Servus Credit Union, Artic Therm, Smith Music, The Morinville Fire Department, Home Hardware, Infinite Event Services, Noah’s Ark Pets and Supplies, Higher Grounds, Posh Weddings, Kelly’s Deli and Bakery, and The Green Bean.
No festival would be possible without behind the scenes organizers and behind the scenes funders, but no festival would be possible without the front line volunteers.
I am privileged to work with an amazing committee of volunteers who are there day and night to plan, organize and put everything in place.
Zipping right along with them are the members of the community who step right in to help when they see a little extra lifting needs to be done. The Lions Club were instrumental in making our Family Dance a success by providing us additional volunteers for an event that pack 250 parents and children into the cultural centre.
Everyone working together is what makes Morinville an excellent place to live. We see this in our festivals and special events and we see it when one segment of the community needs a helping hand from the other. Whether it is fundraising for a church steeple or filling a bus for the food bank, we get it done.
Resident participation is what makes Morinville’s slogan – Growing Together – a reality, and we have seen that as long as people know what is happening in town, they will come out and participate in it.
Morinville News’ is to be thanked for their coverage of the festival, for their platinum-level advertising sponsorship that allows us to get the word out online, in print, and through a special festival mailer, and for simply being there with more than one camera covering the different festival events.
Years of experience from a lot of different professions combined this past weekend to put on something special for the Town of Morinville.
As Festival Chair of the Morinville Festival Society, I am truly grateful for the continued support for our vision to bring this community a Festival For All Seasons.
Someone said if you want something done, give it to a busy person. We have some awesome busy people in this town already planning the next festival.
See you all during St. Jean Baptiste Festival 2013 this June.
Paul Smith
Chair, Morinville Festival Society
A wonderful weekend, thank’s to all, and the fireworks was beautifuj.
From one Paul to another.
Way to go Paul
Kudos to you and all the volunteers for the dedication and hard work a sign of more great things to come.