It was a small gathering but the Community Consultation regarding Canada Day and Summer Sizzler on Sept. 21 opened up the dialogue of how the city can make their two biggest events better.
Community and Leisure Services Director, Michael Ulriksen, says that normally these two events are planned by Leisure Services staff and they wanted to make sure the community had an opportunity to weigh in on how the 2017 events went.
“They can shape the events if they come to the table and want to be part of it. If you have an organization and you want to be involved in some degree or another...we’ve got a spot for you.”
While only six people attended the meeting, besides Mayor Rob Muench, councillors, and Leisure Service staff members, members of the community already part of the planning process, including the JCIs, Humboldt Business Improvement District and the Humboldt and District Chamber of Commerce also joined the discussion.
While these were important people to have join the discussion, Ulriksen says he wished they could have seen the flip side and spoke to people who had concerns.
“I want people to phone me and say I didn’t like this for this reason and then we can have that dialogue and we can shape our events to accommodate that.”
Canada Day was done much differently than previous years with the city cancelling their usual Water Ridge Park concert to offer cheap or free recreational activities for families.
This was not what people expected, especially for Canada 150, says Michelle Stevenson, Recreation Program Coordinator.
“The expectation was that it was Canada 150 and we go all out,” she says, but considering the city did not receive any additional funding from the federal government for their celebration and the keenly felt impacts of provincial funding cuts from the budget in April, the city had some decisions to make.
While there was a lot of feedback before Canada Day on social media, not all of it was positive, says Ulriksen, there was notable success in how the city did celebrate Canada Day and many positive comments after the dust had settled, says Ulriksen.
“People who took advantage of what we had to offer really enjoyed it and thought it was a nice change,” he says.
Summer Sizzler was another success for 2017 and the city has not received as much feedback with an exception to the lack of food at the Midway.
During the meeting, Ulriksen did say that the Sizzler is drawing people from further away because it is cheaper than Saskatoon.
That says a lot about the quality of the event, but more can always be done, says Ulriksen.
“The Sizzler has gotten to the point where people like what it is, they like the consistency, and it’s just a matter of tweaking here and there.”
With so many different organizations involved, Ulkriksen says meetings like this one help iron out details and make the event better.
Considering the JCIs involvement in Summer Sizzler, President Amanda Klitch says it was important for her to come the consultation meeting.
“Listening to what may need to be better for the Sizzler and our organization and also having a voice too is really good...more communication is better to make a better event.”
With the JCIs transitionning their demolition derby from Centennial Park to the new location out by the airport, Klitch says the JCIs faced some unique challenges this year, especially considering the weather.
“We get rain every year but this was a large amount of rain and so that effected the ground work that was fresh and not packed down yet.”
The new location also caused problems because they are no longer in the thick of things and people will have to travel away from the events at the Uniplex to take in the derby.
When three events are going on at the same time, that means people will have to choose where they go. Attendance would be way better, says Klitch by having those events with a smaller amount of over lap.
Whether the derby’s low numbers were because of one or both of these factors, they do not know, says Klitch but they were very willing to have conversations with the city on making the derby better for next year.
“At the end of the day, we still look long term at that location being a success.”
A lot of work goes into the Summer Sizzler Parade and Executive Director Stacey Poss says that they are lucky to have good summer staff to help out.
However, there needs to be more consistency, she says.
“For us this year it was a learning curve. If we can find more people to get involved in the whole parade piece of it.”
With the amount of work that goes into the parade, Poss says the Chamber Board is looking at whether it is worth it from their end to be in charge.
“To do the parade entirely by ourselves, it is a lot of resources and a lot of time.”
Considering the impact the Sizzler and Canada Day has on the region, Poss hopes that more organizations will see the benefits of getting involved.
“If people want to get on board and give us a hand, it will just make it that much better.”
For those who could not make it to the meeting and still have concerns or for organizations looking to get involved, Ulriksen says he is still available to discuss public concerns or bring more organizations to the table.
