It would be a sad day in Jasper if there were no celebrations on July 1.
With the announcement that the Jasper Canada Day Committee has decided to step down, this is a fantastic opportunity for new faces to take the helm.
Our Canada Day celebrations are organised solely by volunteers who put in hours of dedicated work to put together the yearly feast of entertainment.
It’s easy to take such a wonderful event for granted and not think about what goes on behind the scenes, but after talking to some of the organizers I can feel their weariness after years of hard work.
They are burned out from years of dedication to this labour of love.
But this news doesn’t have to be negative, and I don’t want to scare you away.
Canada Day in Jasper has been through many regenerations over the years.
In the 1970s and early 1980s there were parades in town on July 1, then called Dominion Day, organized by local clubs like the Pyramid Lake Horse Club.
There were a few years when we had no celebrations due to a lack of volunteers to organize it.
But in the late 1980s Linda Anderson brought Canada Day back to Jasper with a $500 donation from Chateau Jasper.
Since then, it has been community volunteers that have put the day together as part of the Jasper Canada Day Committee. They have been organising the parade and activities and fundraising to cover the cost.
From the late 1980s to 2014, members came and went but key members were Linda Anderson, Judy Adamson, Brian Higginson, Darlene Skehill, Barb Barker, Tamar Couture, Beryl Cahill, Dawson Butler, Laurie Buck, Greg Van Tighem, Doug Rodwell, Lauren Korogans and Becky Koss, to name a few (thank you committee!).
And from 2014 to 2018, Chamber of Commerce took on the project with a team of Pattie Pavlov, Anna Marie Couture, Brian Catto, Warren Waxer, Angie Thom and Barb Dyck.
But after 2019 falling back to the volunteer committee, the current team has decided to step down.
I believe Jasper Canada Day can rise from the ashes of the folded committee and continue to bring joy and community pride to town.
Jasper can throw a great party - the new stage and use of CN Place as a community asset could be just in time for this news.
Our community spirit is strong, we just need a band of loyal volunteers to take the extra step to keep the celebrations alive.
Fuchsia Dragon
