Everybody knows about St. Albert’s whole-hearted dedication to community support. Now the group that is planning the year-long celebration surrounding the city’s sesquicentennial celebration is looking for a few good men and women to help out behind the scenes.
Rendezvous 2011 — the name that refers to the activities happening in conjunction with the city’s 150th anniversary festivities — will feature a black-tie gala, a play about curling and a homecoming among numerous major events. Margaret Plain, the newly crowned Volunteer Citizen of the Decade and chairperson of the organizing committee, said an information fair to be held next week is meant to drum up some critical community support now.
“The demand for volunteers is going to be big as we get closer to the events but right now we need people [for planning committees].”
In particular she discussed the plan for an end-of-summer picnic along the river valley. It’s intended to break the world record for attendance currently set at approximately 8,300 people. The Rendezvous Picnic will stretch along the river valley from Big Lake to Kingswood Park and will be rife with family-friendly activities in 11 different areas. The committee is hoping to bring out more than 25,000 people that day.
Plain hopes to get some good organizers on board to oversee the planning of BMX demonstrations, an antique car and military vehicle show, an artists’ walk, amusement rides, a Taste of St. Albert event, an Aboriginal heritage celebration and various sporting and entertainment events, all capped off with an evening of musical entertainment and fireworks.
At this point, the committee is particularly anxious to add volunteers to the picnic sub-committee. The biggest event of the celebration, the picnic will require volunteers throughout the planning stages as well as at the event itself.
Plain extended a warm invitation for all to come check out how to help out with this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bring a community together.
“We’re strongly encouraging the cultivation of participation,” she said with a sly reference to the city’s new slogan.
Anyone interested in helping out is requested to attend the information fair next Tuesday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the St. Albert Minor Baseball Association clubhouse on Sturgeon Road. To learn more, call the organizing committee at 780-458-4630 or visit www.rendezvous2011.ca.
