Vulcan Concert Series. Who would have thought that would be a name people would recognize? We started out like a lot of ACE groups do, knowing that we wanted to make a difference in our community but just lacking the direction and combined efforts to make it happen. But ACE got us rising to the challenges we put before ourselves and we have certainly “come a long way baby”.
The words that were banded about the community before were that there is nothing to do in Vulcan, if we want entertainment we need to go to the city. Now it is “Did you see the concert last night it was great, who knew we could get such good entertainment here in Vulcan”. Yes, the tables are turning for Vulcan in entertainment.
We started by finding people who had a passion for the arts and asked them to get involved and boy did they ever. We are very fortunate to have a husband and wife who are part of our community and are very involved with the arts scene. Steve Coffey (Steve Coffey and the Lokels) and Barbara Moore (Past-Prima Ballerina of the Alberta Ballet and now, Barbara Moore Dance Academy) are the ones who have stepped up and have put 110% effort into making our Vulcan Concert Series a go. They have lined up great talent to bring to Vulcan each season and have begun to line up our 3rd season.
Response from the community at large has been great. We have sold out almost every concert. We now have performers contacting the Recreation office to become part of our series. Past performers have commented that they had heard about the concert series before they were asked to be part of it and has said the feedback is very positive. We are very happy that we ACTively pursued the goal of having a visible cultural element in our community. But that is not all the Concert Series has to offer oh no, at each concert different artists are asked to share some of their talents to adorn the wall at the hall in which we host the Concert Series. It truly is a night full of culture for young and old alike.
Also at our first ACE meeting the community wanted to get a community calendar going. This is another area in our ACE adventure that we decided to put some effort after all, if you have fantastic entertainment or events happening that nobody knows about what is the use in doing them. So we put our call out again to anyone who have interest in creating a community calendar to come and meet and plan how our calendar would work. We had some very CREATIVE people come out and give us suggestions. It was great and from there we created our first community calendar. Over the period of a year it has taken on a new look and we have Vulcan Innovation Project who with their tech backgrounds have moved this calendar into what it is today. The Vulcan County Events Calendar ( http://www.vulcancountyevents.com/) has taken off. Many different groups have submitted events for the calendar. We even have spotlights from our concerts that are recorded and put on the site.
Everyone and organization is able to add to the calendar any event that is happening.
These two ACE projects would have never gotten off the ground if we didn’t have great community members who took the time to become ENGAGED in the community. Even though you see only a few names of people and organizations that have helped get things going, it has taken many more people behind the scenes to make these things a success. What had begun as a hope for the community has now become a reality and a jumping off point for other possibilities such as our Fall Fair and New Years Family Events to name two. Thanks to ACE for providing a framework for what is possible when a community talks and acts on their wants and needs.
Bonnie Ellis
Director of Vulcan and District Recreation.
