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Turner Valley hosting first celebration amid pandemic

Turner Valley's Back Together Celebration will feature a dance party, pool party, barbecue, bounce houses, petting zoo and face painting in Millennium Park on Aug. 14.
SA - Discovery Days6
Leah Turner, of Black Diamond, gave a loud "roar" while looking at her reflection during a previous Turner Valley Discovery Day event. The Town's Back Together Summer Celebration on Aug. 14 will feature similar events, including face painting, after Turner Valley Discovery Day was cancelled this year due to the pandemic. (Western Wheel File Photo)

A small-town dance party, community market and children’s activities are among items on the itinerary for Turner Valley’s first community-wide celebration since the COVID-19 pandemic hit Alberta.

Although a small-scale event, the Town’s Back Together Summer Celebration is about bringing the community together after many residents spent months away from friends and family during the global pandemic, said Monique LeBlanc, community services manager and the event’s lead organizer.

The celebration takes place in Millennium Park on Aug. 14 from noon to 4 p.m.

“It started off with council’s encouragement to be able to present something to the community once it was deemed that public health measures would allow it,” said LeBlanc. “We’ve been monitoring the situation and, at this point, we are still planning as we go because there wasn’t a lot of time to put it together.”

LeBlanc put a call out to service clubs, community groups, non-profit organizations and businesses with hand-made and locally produced or sourced wares to participate in the event. More than a dozen signed up for the community market and others have until Aug. 12 to register.

“We’ve had some great support from the local community organizations,” she said. “Several of them have expressed their desire to participate as vendors and supporters. It is an opportunity for them to promote their organizations, recruit new members or volunteers and to fundraise, should they wish.”

Activities also include a dance party hosted by The Eagle 100.9, Foothills Lions Club barbecue, bounce houses, petting zoo, face painting and a pool party at the Dr. Lander Memorial Outdoor Swimming Pool with games, prizes and an inflatable structure.

Speeches will be made by Black Diamond Mayor Ruth Goodwin and Turner Valley Mayor Barry Crane at around 2 p.m. and an acknowledgement will be given to the Stoney Nakoda people, who will perform a traditional dance.

The Royal Canadian Legion Turner Valley Branch will serve a pancake breakfast before the event from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

For more details about the Back Together Summer Celebration visit turnervalley.ca

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