The Watershed is keen to introduce some of the Lions Bay volunteers who work behind the scenes to make village life a little better for us all. Today we begin with the village Events Committee, co-chaired by Riley Darr and Ryan Bruce.
Riley took a little time from her busy schedule to answer our editor kc dyer's questions, and to allow us to spotlight some of the fun activities taken on by this energetic pair.
kc: Thanks for chatting with us today, Riley! Can you tell us a bit about why you and Ryan took on the challenge of co-chairing the village Events Committee?
RD: With each of us having young kids in the village, we felt it was our turn to take the torch and continue an amazing tradition in the village for this new batch of kids.
kc: Is the committee looking for volunteers? Do you need more helping hands?
RD: Yes! We always need more hands. We've been lucky to have help with the Canada Day, Halloween and Polar Bear Swim events. Some require more help than others to execute, and often people can commit to only one event per year (which is still amazing!) but it does leave us looking for more help at each prep phase. We appreciate as much (or as little) help as someone is willing to offer. If that means helping on the day of one event, that's awesome. And if it's helping to plan a specific area of an event (leading up to it, and then helping to execute it on the day) that's great too!
kc: What are the committee's plans for 2023?
RD: We plan to continue with the main traditions, and are brainstorming some other new events, as well as re-vitalizing some old favorites. Coming up next is our Easter Event . Details coming soon!
kc: Do you have any stretch goals?
RD: Our current goals are to get through Easter and have a full year of major events under our belt, in order to really streamline the planning and the teams for each event. Our goal is to make sure everything can be accomplished most efficiently from a time, cost, and effort perspective. We recognize that the group of parents who have kids in the 1-10 year-old range often have both parents working outside the home, and their time is incredibly valuable and in high demand. We're looking for ways to throw incredible events for the village residents of all ages in the best way possible.
kc: How is the committee funded? Are you looking for donations?
RD: The committee is 100% volunteer based and we rely solely on sponsors and donations. In past years, the Village has supported the events committee with grants, and we are in the process of working with them for 2023 to see what grants we are able to receive. From there we reach out to businesses and individuals who may have a vested interest in the village and are happy to see the community thrive and come together for fun events. This past year we've had the generous donations of CCS: Combined Comfort Services, which is a fantastic company that supplies heat pumps to many families in the village; as well as support from realtors Thyra McKilligan & Kim Taylor.
We also had some amazing donations of goods and services. Red Couch Bakery provided an amazingly huge cake for Canada Day, as well as a number of companies who donated wonderful gift baskets for the adult portion of the Halloween Event.
We rely on this help completely to be able to continue. So if anyone does have the ability to sponsor or donate funds to the events committee that would be amazing!
Also, if anyone has a company that might be able to offer gift certificates or products to one of our events, that is also very much in need! Please reach out to lionsbayevents@gmail.com if you can help us out.
kc: Anything else you'd like villagers to know? How can people best help over the coming year?
RD: Well first, we'd like to extend a big thank-you to everyone who has reached out via email or in person at events around the village. We appreciate your kind words, and support as we take on this new role and learn what has been done historically, while also helping us to bring in fresh perspectives and plans. We're always looking for ways to improve, and for great ideas for upcoming community events.
Really, there are two ways to help:
1. Reach out to lionsbayevents@gmail.com to help plan, or help with execution on the day of the event, and
2. Come and attend our events. This is a critically important piece! These events are for everyone to enjoy, and we need your support by attending these events, so we can demonstrate their success, and bring new sponsorship into the mix.
kc: Thanks so much for chatting with us today, Riley. And Lions Bay -- now you know who to reach out to when you have a little community spirit to share.
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