May 28, 2018 meeting
Callie Hermanson
Lakeside Leader
Trade show recap
Chamber vice president Josh Friesen said this was the first year for the new board to learn how to put the trade show event together. He said the board did not have any documentation to work off of and said he felt what they had accomplished in such a short time period was impressive.
Friesen said they have already learned from some mistakes for next year. He said the committee is already created and they are going to start working on next year’s trade show right off the bat.
One issue that they had this year was with volunteers. Friesen said it was difficult enough to get people to run the trade show. Three people on the committee made it all happen, and he said it was very challenging.
Another challenge they faced was working with businesses to register early on.
Friesen said the board is going to try to market the event earlier on that way they can plan and budget accordingly.
The board is also looking to move to a Saturday and Sunday format, because a lot of businesses said it was hard to get staff to work during that Friday hour.
Riverboat Daze
Children’s festival
Riverboat Daze starts on Friday July 6 and goes until Sunday July 8.
On Saturday morning the children’s festival will take place at EG Wahlstrom Elementary School from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Ali Mouallem, a member of the Chamber, said last year’s festival was an absolute success. He said a ton of businesses donated prizes and funds and approximately 300 to 400 people were there.
There are lots of community groups who would like to get involved this year, including the fire department, which came out last year with a fire truck.
The Kinettes are sponsoring the petting zoo, and St Francis of Assisi Catholic Academy has come forward to help out.
Mouallem said the children’s carnival ran out of prizes last year, so he wants to make sure there are enough this year. The Rotary club has stepped up to donate some of the loot.
More volunteers are also needed to run this event. Mouallem said last year his wife put the games together in their garage a couple of days prior and his son and daughter were running game booths.
The festival will be targeted to children aged four to eight.
Sandblast
The Sandblast (sand sculpture) competition will also be on Riverboat Daze Saturday down at Devonshire Beach where the boardwalk and ramp are located. Friesen said he has talked to Alberta Parks and there are going to have to be some changes made this year to make sure they are happy.
For example, organizers are required to get more volunteers for trash pick-up at the end. He said one downfall is the chamber can no longer charge for parking at the park because the beach is free for all Albertans to visit; this means this year the Chamber is in need of a little more funding.
Friesen said the chamber had gotten little lucky this year as GFL and Black Tiger Fuels donated $1,000 each.
The chamber is still looking for one more food truck and once they find that there will be enough food and vendors.
Registration is available on the chamber website www.slavelakechamber.com along with volunteer forms.
Friesen said it is essential to support Sandblast, because it promotes tourism around the beach which is one of the biggest assets for the region.
Sandblast begins with registration at 11:00 a.m.; the building continues until 4:00 p.m., with judging to follow.
Block Party
The parade registration is online and this year’s theme is ‘summer lovin.’ Registration is free.
Chamber of Commerce President Frankie Giroux said there is a route change this year. She said there were some safety issues last year; the parade went up Main Street past Re/Max and kept going . Giroux said the chamber had loaders moving barricades off of Main Street for the parade to continue through the blockaded street, Several children were running in front of and around the equipment.Despite the number of volunteers they still were not able to ensure the safety of kids and avoiding accidents.
The route is only taking a slight shift, and instead of going up Main Steet it will turn behind Main Street and go down 2nd street and come out around the post office.
Giroux said last year the parade was changed from Saturday morning to Friday night, which some people were not happy about. Despite that, she said, the parade will remain Friday night.
The parade is still going to Start at Vanderwell Heritage Place.
Giroux said the regular Friday farmers market is going to be downtown on Main Street during the day to satisfy those vendors.
Once those vendors leave if the registrants for the block party want to set up early, they can do it from 3:00 p.m. on, but cannot start selling until 7:00 p.m.
Registration for the block party is online on the chamber website at slavelakechamber.com ; there is a fee based on space for members and non-members of the chamber.
The Landon Persson Memorial Fund has sponsored a band that is going to perform on a lowboy outside of the Servus Credit Union in the parking lot.
The task for the block party was to go bigger and better, Giroux said, adding “it’s going to be very exciting.”
Midway and fireworks
Giroux said the chamber has made arrangements with the midway (rides, etc.) to make that run smoother than it has in years past.
The midway will be set up beside the Dodge dealership in the Legacy Developments field.
Finally,Vanderwell Contractors is sponsoring the fireworks. These will be held at dusk on Friday July 6, after the block party at approximately 11:30 p.m. at the Slave Lake airport.