Organizers for Canada Day are sounding the alarm after learning they will have to do more with less this year.
鈥淚鈥檓 feeling various shades of disappointment,鈥� said Pattie Pavlov, general manager for the Jasper Park Chamber of Commerce.
鈥淲e were unsuccessful on the federal grant application and we have just been advised that we were unsuccessful on the Canada-Alberta Canada150 application.鈥�
The committee has one application that is still outstanding, however Pavlov said she isn鈥檛 very optimistic it will pull through.
鈥淭hey said six to eight weeks to let us know and it鈥檚 been over eight weeks now so my hope on that one is beginning to fade.鈥�
According to Pavlov it usually costs approximately $25,000 to pay for the day鈥檚 events, however this year the Canada Day committee only has about $13,000 in its coffers.
鈥淎t this point what we鈥檙e relying on is community donations and volunteers. Over the years we鈥檝e been able to pay some groups an honorarium for coming out and doing their duty, so to speak. This year I don鈥檛 know if we afford to do that so we need as many people as we can possibly get.鈥�
Compounding problems, she said she expects upwards of 40,000 people to visit Jasper on July 1 to mark Canada鈥檚 150th anniversary of Confederation. Last year she estimated approximately 30,000 visited Jasper.
鈥淚鈥檓 gravely concerned that we鈥檙e not going to be able to put on the kind of show that people have become accustomed to and pay homage to the 150th anniversary on top of that,鈥� said Pavlov.
Despite the funding short fall, she said the annual firework display will still take place.
鈥淭here will be fireworks. We expect to have at least the show we normally have. How much more we can put into it depends on how much comes in in terms of donations.鈥�
To try and raise some money she said the Canada Day committee, which is entirely made up of volunteers, is hosting a few jam nights at the Legion over the next month and a pub crawl.
Municipal council has also decided to allocate the money it collects during its annual pancake breakfast at Centennial Park on July 1 to help the organization.
Parks Canada has also offered its support and Pavlov has begun approaching some of the bigger players in the community to ask for financial support.
She said it takes about 60 volunteers to make the event a success.
鈥淚鈥檓 confident at this point that we will get the full cooperation of the community and organizations,鈥� said Pavlov.
To volunteer visit www.jaspercanadaday.com.
Paul Clarke | [email protected]
