Rotary Hosting Volunteer Appreciation Launch for New Downtown Mural on September 17

Courtesy of the City of Williams Lake:

The City of Williams Lake encourages community volunteers and volunteer organizations to place their permanent mark on a new mural nearing completion in downtown Williams Lake.

On Saturday, September 17 from 10 am until 3 pm, the Williams Lake Daybreak Rotary Club and the Rotary Club of Williams Lake are teaming up to host a volunteer appreciation event to put the finishing touches on the new Rotary Club volunteer recognition mural located on the cement wall in the parking lot beside Save-On-Foods.

During the event, both Rotary Clubs are asking any and all volunteers from the City and surrounding areas to stop by to place their handprints on the wall to form leaves on the mural’s tree branches, as well as to enjoy a barbecue and some refreshments.

Work on the volunteer appreciation mural – painted by local mural artist Dwayne Davis – began in July after receiving formal support from City of Williams Lake Council earlier that month. 

It was the first submission put forward by the Williams Lake Public Art Committee since its formation in the spring of 2022. Committee members include the City, the Downtown Williams Lake BIA, the Community Arts Council of Williams Lake, the Central Cariboo Arts and Culture Society, Williams Lake First Nation and the Cariboo Chilcotin Coast Tourism Association. 

The committee was formed through a Memorandum of Understanding between the City and Downtown Williams Lake BIA to ensure a fair and impartial adjudication process to evaluate art proposals. The City and Downtown Williams Lake BIA have a three-year commitment to fund art projects to enhance the City’s public art collection and have allocated up to $10,000 annually.

“The City is pleased to be able to support and help establish a process for creating annual calls for public art from local artists,” said Williams Lake Mayor Walt Cobb, noting the City provides a $5,000 grant annually through the committee for an art project within City limits, with the Downtown Williams Lake BIA also providing an additional $5,000 each year.

“We have countless numbers of volunteers who help keep this community ticking and it would be great to see everyone out on September 17th for Rotary’s volunteer appreciation event.” 

A big shout out to our volunteers

Courtesy of the City of Quesnel:

Editor's Note --  this week's Quesnel City Council News column is written by Quesnel Mayor Bob Simpson.  He can be reached via e-mail here

Over the past few months I’ve spoken with a significant number of people who’ve recently relocated to our fair City. All of them have commented on how friendly and welcoming people are here and many noted how much they’re enjoying all of the opportunities our region affords them to be out in nature … even in the winter.

The Wonderland Trail system is now used extensively for winter dog walking, snowshoeing and hiking. The Hallis Lake x-country ski and snowshoe venue is also heavily used, and their rental shop has been kept busy this season as more people discover and try out these great outdoor activities. Troll Ski Resort is enjoying another busy season as they celebrate their 50th anniversary. And, of course, our entire region is a playground for snowmobiling and other backcountry activities. 

Like most of our summer activities and events, the majority of these winter venues and the activities they enable are the result of the hard work of volunteers. Despite a decline in volunteerism over the past decade, most communities still rely heavily on volunteers to enhance the daily lives of residents. We all owe a debt of gratitude to these community-minded individuals even if we don’t use their services or participate in their activities, because their hard work and commitment makes our community a fun, interesting, and supportive place to live in and to attract new people and entrepreneurs to. 

Even Troll Ski Resort relies heavily on the volunteer community to enhance this family-owned and operated private business. This was evident at this past weekend’s 50th Anniversary celebration when the many volunteer organizations and individuals who make Troll such a great asset to our region were recognized by the Fossberg family. 

On behalf of Quesnel City Council, I want to thank and recognize the hard work of all of the volunteer organizations and the individual volunteers who work so hard to make our community such a fun and friendly place to live in. Your work does not go unnoticed and is never taken for granted. 

As a City, we are striving to continually recognize the importance of volunteerism to our community. Each month we ask the community on our Facebook page (@cityofquesnel) to nominate a volunteer group for that month’s theme. If we receive multiple nominations, we randomly draw the winner. We feature the volunteer organization on our social media pages and the City website. Learn more here: quesnel.ca/volunteers.

As noted above, while volunteers are critical to the vibrancy of our community, it’s essential that all of us continue to do our part to maintain the friendliness and welcoming spirit that has come to characterize our community, especially during these trying times when some people have lost all sense of self-control and are taking their frustrations out on front line workers across the entire spectrum of our economic and social systems.

To counter the negativity and irrational anger that some individuals are directing at people on the front line (cashiers, servers, teachers, administrators, bus drivers, recreation staff, nurses, doctors, small business owners – everyone whose job requires them to enforce the remaining public health orders) it would be great if we all took a moment to thank and appreciate these workers and counter the anger and vitriol they may be experiencing with some kindness and gratitude. 

We’re almost at the end of this trying time. Let’s continue to get through it together and continue to support one another while maintaining our friendly and welcoming spirit.