The Snow Lake 70th Committee met again early in January 2017 with seven people in attendance. They were: chairperson Penny Roberts, secretary Brittany Hilderman, Canada Day Committee chairperson Margaret Yoder, Chamber of Commerce secretary Peter Purves, members Peter Roberts and Marc Jackson, and observer Keith Scott.
Chairperson Roberts began the meeting by advising that the recent "Paint Night" fundraiser generated $500 in funds for the committee. As well, she mentioned the possibility of reprising the fundraiser, if the committee was in agreement. Members concurred that the event was good for the committee as well as for the community.
In relation to corporate and business sponsorship, the chair stated that letters inviting this will go out in the coming week. As well, there was discussion about sponsorship banners and boards. She said that she had yet to hear back from Hudbay in relation to them sponsoring a supper during the weekend.
A lengthy discussion took place around funds raised and what they will be used for. The committee seemed in agreement that some seed money should be left in an account for the next celebration and that other money should go towards cost sharing for erection of a storage structure for use by groups who hold events at the beach. As well, UV "sails" were mentioned as a possibility to be strung above areas where people could go in order to get out of the sun.
In a discussion in regard to those who had already registered for the event, as of the night of the meeting, there was one, but she had yet to remit the fee. Additionally, the committee discussed whether they should have a webpage in addition to their presence on Facebook. It was decided that a site would be constructed and placed online prior to the next meeting. There will be links to events, registration and sponsorship included on the site.
The committee will take on a fundraiser in the same vein as the Legion’s "Cheer for a Year;" they will call it "Beer for a Year." Tickets should be on sale for this in the coming weeks.
Ms. Roberts confirmed a discussion with resident Adrienne Spence, who is in the process of organizing a mixed golf tournament that will take place on the Friday of the event. The committee will have to supply the prizes, Ms. Spence and others will do the rest.
In respect to the "yard staking" initiative (lawn signage denoting everyone who has ever lived a given address), it was noted that the cost to search a single title at the Neepawa land titles office is $23. Additionally, Town of Snow Lake records are quite limited, so the group made up of Cathy Stabback, Leone Jackson, MaryAnn Otto, Cheryl Turnbull and Sharon Meuse will rely on the memories of our pioneers, as well as posting specific addresses through committee social media and web resources in order to get the names of former residents.
The chairperson stated that she had broached the subject of Main Street Days with the local Chamber of Commerce. Their secretary, Peter Purves, was in attendance and stated that the chamber is interested in getting involved in the celebration and that they could promote draws, sponsorship and other items to their membership through newsletters. It was suggested that they could also be a part of, or involved in, the Main Street Days.
Ms. Hilderman brought up the idea of the committee holding several "Ladies Nights" with a theme, dinner and entertainment. The idea of these would be to get people involved and primed for the 70th celebration. She will report more on the idea as it comes together. The next scheduled meeting will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 6 in the Town Office.
Also of interest, Reader’s Digest.ca has just reported on something Snow Lake’s residents have known for generations – the community has been named one of their “10 Charming Canadian Towns You Need to Visit.” It received the position of number four in the citation and was the only Manitoba community to make the list. The 10 communities are: O’Leary, PEI; Okanagan Landing, BC; Fort Smith, NWT; Snow Lake, MB; Legal, AB; Port Coquitlam, BC; Manotick, ON; Ladner, BC; Williamstown, ON; New Westminster, BC.
“They say good things come in small packages—and that certainly applies to these charming Canadian towns,” the site exclaimed! “You'll want to add these 10 off-the-beaten-path towns to your Canadian travel bucket list in 2017.”
The story that determined the selection was "History Remembered" written by Marc Jackson, upon the urging of Sandy Hawman. It was first published in the November 2016 edition of the Reader’s Digest sister publication Our Canada magazine. The endowment can be seen at: http://www.readersdigest.ca/travel/canada/10-charming-canadian-towns-need-visit/4/
