ELK POINT – Following a visit from Elk Point Municipal Library manager Daphne Schnurer, who was seeking input for the library’s upcoming five-year plan of service by visiting groups and organizations across the community, much of the November meeting of Elk Point and District Chamber of Commerce focused on the upcoming Christmas Extravaganza.
Extravaganza committee chair Shirley Harms outlined the progress made to date in preparations for the Friday, Nov. 24 event, which will start with the light up of the Forest of Lights on the Iron Horse Trail staging area at 5 p.m., with the Lions Club on hand to serve up hot dogs and hot chocolate. A few minutes later, lineup will begin for the Winter Wonderland parade, which will start up 50 Street at 6 p.m. and will follow the usual route, passing Parkview Long Term Care, Buckingham House, Heritage Lodge, Elk Point Healthcare Centre and Fort George Manor on its way back to the starting point.
The chamber has obtained permission from the Town of Elk Point to block off 50 St. from Railway Ave. to 51 Ave. from 5:30 to 9 p.m., and is still discussing if the southern two blocks, from Railway Ave. to 50 Ave, will remain closed following the parade. Public Works will provide barricades for the parade route, and will also bring over the firepit ring used at many previous Extravaganzas.
Hay rides, visits with Santa and yet to be named activities at the Elk Point Curling Club are also planned for Nov. 24, which is also the beginning of the Elk Point Avalanche U 15 hockey tournament, which will start its first game at 7 p.m. with a Teddy Toss in support of Santas Anonymous. It expected that the tournament will bring families from across a large area to Elk Point, which will also benefit F. G. Miller High School’s 30th Annual Crusader Craft Sale on Saturday, Nov. 25.
Late night shopping will return to Extravaganza this year, with Harms reporting that a long lineup of stores and other businesses will be open until 9 p.m., and that from 4 p.m. until 9 p.m., shoppers will be able to collect stamps on Extravaganza bingo cards in hopes of winning cash prizes from $50 to $300, tickets to the following week’s Allied Arts dinner theatre and other prizes. A shop local promotion will also be underway, starting at 9 a.m. on Nov. 24 and continuing until Friday, Dec. 8 with shoppers receiving draw slips at participating businesses to enter for a range of prizes ranging from a 65-inch smart TV to tickets to the Lennon and McCartney Majic of Christmas show and passes to Elks Hockey home games for the balance of the regular season.
Harms was happy to report that donations toward Extravaganza are coming in and said her husband Glenn is “getting really good response” from the businesses he has visited in the industrial area, many of which haven’t been approached for sponsorship in recent years.
“What we need now is volunteers,” she noted, adding that anyone who would be willing to help out on Extravaganza evening could call her at Lakeland Realty.
