In my last column I talked about some of the things that have happened in Golden City Days past—but for the past two years the events have happened around the arena.
Back before the construction of Main Street all the events were around town (hence the name Golden City Days).
But for the last two years the events were outside of the arena, and the parade was on Second Avenue and not the traditional Main Street route.
From now on I am calling our September celebration “Rossland Arena Days” until it returns to normal, because the current event shows off the arena and not our beautiful downtown with heritage buildings.
The reason why I am bringing this up is that I been talking to people who are older than me and they think that the event is now “bovine droppings.”
To me, the weekend is mostly for Rosslanders and for the families with kids. But where are the events for the youth and young families now? Most of the events were adult, tourist-oriented events.
We must keep the most of the adult festivities for the Winter Carnival and showcase Rossland to tourists with kids.
In my previous column I brought up some good ideas to have during Rossland Arena Days, like a soapbox derby and an anime convention (which a friend is working on by himself for going on four years).
The parade itself is getting smaller and smaller every year and I don’t know why. I remember the time we had floats from Castlegar and Colville, among other places. Where are those communities now?
Some non-profits, like the local radio cooperative, were not in it and they should have been to drum up support to keep on going. Heck, I remember we even had a hockey team in the parade back in the day. Why didn’t the Trail Smoke Eaters have an entry to drum up support from the Rossland hockey fans and do something like have two hockey games in Rossland during Golden City Days?
The Roller Derby finals are a new staple here for the festivities and I think every year, why not have them in a different spot each year—similar to the Grey Cup for the CFL, or Super Bowl for the NFL—with a tailgate party to get people psyched for them?
Since the late 1980s, early 1990s the events for children have been dwindling and, for the past few years, only the inflatable fun area put on by the Credit Union is for children. There should be more than that for our youth.
How about a movie double feature shown somewhere or have a band or DJ playing at the Miners’ Union Hall?
It was raining for most of the weekend and most outdoor events might have been cancelled, like the Rubberfest Mountain Bike Festival. On the pamphlets or flyers it should have said “Weather permitting for some events,” or “In case of rain, the events will be inside a certain location.”
But there was nothing posted like that.
On the Saturday night, which is an awesome night to get your dancing shoes on and have a night out with your other half as a date or a night out with your friends, there were only two places that had bands out and they had flyers promoting it out for a week. If you want to make money for your establishment during a festival, have flyers out for at least a month.
Maybe, like during the Winter Carnival, one of these places can have the personalities of Rossland Radio come in and DJ their own music that they play on air for the night to get the young people in.
The final reason why I wanted the “September Staple” to return to normal is because the residents surrounding the arena might be tired of the congestion during the Saturday portion of the event. If they try to get out of their garages and drive, they might hit a parked vehicle, a tourist or a pedestrian.
With the Main Street and Washington Avenue having new sidewalks and pavement, why not have the standards (parade and Sourdough Alley stage) back on it, and add some new events, like the Running of the Rosslanders from the LeRoi Mine/museum and court house to town square?
It is a good question to consider as the planning begins for next year.