With Labour Day long weekend behind us, we can collectively breathe a sigh of relief.
Another summer has come and gone, and now Jasperites can finally exit their hiding places and repatriate our beloved streets.
The town is again ours for the taking鈥攁t least for a little while, anyway.
With more and more events popping up in the shoulder seasons, these short moments of silence seem to be getting shorter and shorter each year. Compound those events with the recent floods in Southern Alberta and the many upcoming anniversaries鈥擬armot Basin, Jasper in January, Jasper Tramway, Visitor Information Centre鈥攁nd it appears the chances are good that Jasper鈥檚 quiet time will be brief this year.
Coming up first, of course, will be the Jasper Folk Music Festival, which will bring new life to September by turning Centennial Park into a rockin鈥� party full of good music and good people.
Then in October we have the third annual Dark Sky Festival鈥攁n event that continues to grow with each year that passes. In fact, this year Tourism Jasper is working on turning the entire month of October into 鈥淒ark Sky Month.鈥�
A week or two later, we鈥檒l see the opening of Marmot Basin, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this season.
For the non-skiers, there will also be the Canadian Rockies Snow Battle at the end of November, bringing teams together to sling snowballs for a couple of days of high-intensity fun.
Come December, we鈥檒l start seeing our usual ski bums and bunnies making their weekly or monthly trips to the hill, keeping Jasper busy on the weekends, and then before we know it it鈥檚 Jasper in January again鈥攖he 25th anniversary no less.
This filling of the shoulder seasons, as Tourism Jasper has set out to do, is what will keep Jasper鈥檚 businesses viable all year long, ensuring the community鈥檚 sustainability into the future.
Of course, this is an important endeavour, but it鈥檚 also important鈥攅specially after a long summer of smiling at and sharing our favourite spaces with millions of tourists鈥攆or Jasperites to 鈥渞emember to breathe鈥�, just like our visitors have been encouraged to do while enjoying our town.
That slogan from Travel Alberta can鈥檛 just apply to the tourists who visit our town; it has to apply to locals as well, otherwise, why live in this beautiful place and work so hard all summer long?
After a busy summer of driving the same streets and highways or seeing the same attractions or trails, it鈥檚 easy to stop seeing Jasper for all that it is. We put our blinders up and just get to work.
So now, as the town quiets down for a few weeks, it鈥檚 time to reconnect.
Put down the phone, close the doors to your store, take a day off and just breathe.
Seeing as fall and winter are quickly filling up, if you don鈥檛 take the time now, you might not get the chance.
So take it; reconnect, open your eyes, explore and rediscover the Jasper you鈥檝e been too busy to enjoy all season long.
See you out there!
