Centennial Celebrations Committee Invite Community Contributions

It's a call to action from the Swift Current Centennial Celebrations Committee.

At a community meeting on Tuesday at the Living Sky Casino, the committee released their vision of a celebration that opens the door for local organizations to partner with one another and the committee to offer events that showcase what they mean to Swift Current.

The committee is planning three major events to mark Swift Current's 100th anniversary as a city. It will start with an extravaganza and reception they are hoping will pack the Credit Union iPlex in January, continue by partnering with Frontier Days for a homecoming weekend in June and wrap up by partnering with the Downtown Business Association to expand the scope of their tree lighting ceremony with a winter festival.

Their vision for the homecoming weekend has changed from one focused on an impressive party to facilitating the community's ability to create the kind of celebration they want.

Interview with Travis Cuthbert"If we can get the buzz from the community and all these different organizations and business to really buy in and want to get involved, this could be what people remember and not the band we bring in on a Saturday night," said Events Coordinator Travis Cuthbert.

They are hoping for something with a much larger scope than whatever events they could organize and run as a committee.

"You see a list of 15-20 volunteers who are on this committee," Cuthbert said. "We can't do it without a heck of a lot of help. We've got lofty goals but we think that Swift Current is the community that can put it together. Our hope is we can manage all the different aspects of things that hopefully will go on in that weekend."

Instead of one small group of people deciding everything that happens and trying to organize, their model could give give the experts in all local fields a chance to present their own vision. If organizations have ideas the committee is happy to work with them to facilitate those plans.

"Our job as the committee is just to make sure who is doing what and where they're doing it and how we market it," Curthbert added. "Really it's a bunch of individual events that are all going to be happening around a bigger event."

The Centennial Committee is also giving themselves a strong base to work with by partnering with existing events like Frontier Days and the tree lighting with an eye towards expanding their scope for 2014. Anyone interested in participating can contact info@cytisc100.ca, visit swiftcurrent100.ca or call Cuthbert at 778-6611.