Where have I been?

Hi!

It has been a long time since I did a blog post, so I thought I would fill you all in on where I have been.

Let's see......I moved with my family from Cold Lake AB to Grand Forks BC in May 2019, for one reason.....My Parents.

We realized there was nothing really keeping us in Alberta anymore and I longed to be near my Mom and Dad, also I wanted my children to have a relationship with there Nana and Grumpa that wasn't only once a year.

So in the summer of 2018 we took a little trip to Grand Forks, just to get away for a week. It was amazing, even though this little town had only 2 months before our arrival went through a devastating flood......we fell in love! When driving home we made the decision that in a years time we would be living there. Well then things started to move very quickly.

In February 2019, my Mom sent me a link to a job posting in Grand Forks. It was a dream job, something I never thought I would ever do.....Events Manager for the City of Grand Forks. So I applied, and in a few months, through phone calls, Skype interviews, multiple emails I was hired......and omg I needed to get my butt out there because my first event was Canada Day and we were in April.

My husband and I made the hard decision to move up our original moving date from July to May so that I could get to Grand Forks and make sure my first event as The City's Event Manager was amazing......and it was!

Canada Day, what a start to my new position. I started contacting everyone I could think of in Grand Forks who could help make the day incredible. I had a lot to prove, since it was a new town, no one knew me and it was....Canada Day!

I learned very quickly what were the staples and traditions in Grand Forks for this day so I made sure that all of that was still very much a part of the day.

I arrived in Grand Forks Mother's Day weekend May 10th 2019 to 38 degree weather, off loaded the moving trucks and tailors into storage and settling our 3 kids, 2 dogs and us two into my amazing parents home.

Now to get down to business, without going into a whole bunch of unnecessary details of what I went through in this City, let's focus on what I accomplished in my short amount of time here.

First year of my 2 year contract with the City of Grand Forks

Canada Day -July 1st 2019 - First event and a huge success, I have been told it was the largest attended one in years.

Party in the Street - July 20th 2019 - This was an interesting event to put together, but I overcame ALL the obstacles that were put in my way. I got to meet the band members of Trama and really got to know a few of our amazing local bans.

Tony n Tina's Wedding Dinner Theater - Sept 28th, 29th Oct 5th, 6th 2019- This was sooooo much fun!!! I got to work with The Boundary Musical & Theater Society, The Wooden Spoon, The Gallery 2, and PV Ranch Adventures. This was 2 weekends of amazing food, atmosphere and laughter. Never mind the cold temps....we still rocked it under the tent.

Monster Bash/ Pumpkin People - October 26th 2019 - It was asked that I do something at night downtown, so what better thing than a dance for the kids?

They dressed up and danced and danced and danced. Wyred for Sound Entertainment was our DJ for the night and they did an amazing job. I loved how they also came dressed up. The Fire Department put on a BBQ fundraiser. So Food and Dance what more can you ask for?

I also announced the winner of the Pumpkin People Contest that businesses take part in. Home Hardware won it with their Plumber and running water display.

Whoville Christmas Extravaganza - Dec 14th 2019 - This was amazing!! I had so much fun creating all the decorations for this event and with the Gallery 2 decorations it went together beautifully. So many people worked with me on this, The Board Room Cafe, Midway/Greenwood PAC, Gallery 2, Kettle River Crafts, Contact Photo Art, BCSS, also Santa. It was a dream come true....and when I say dream I mean I dreamt about everything for months.

Festival of Trees - Dec 14th 2019 - I have always wanted to put something together around the holidays that would do so much good for the community. This was a no brainer because all of the money raised went to the Grand Forks Christmas Dinner, Grand Forks Christmas Hampers and Christina Lake Christmas Hampers. WE RAISED $2400, so each got $800......this is huge and I could not have done it without the businesses who decorated a tree for auction and the community who came out and took home a tree. This one will forever be my favourite event.

Businesses that participated - Buy Low Foods, Pharmasave, Dave Dale Insurance, Needed Bread, Women's Resource Centre, The Rusty Nail, CIBC, Credit Union, Rotary, The Grand Forks Farmers Market, Habitat for Humanity, Sunshine Valley Community Services, Home Hardware, Sunshine Quilters, The Grand Forks Dog Park, Above the Trails Vacation Rental, Whisper of Hope, Community Futures, River Valley Community Church, The Gallery 2, Grand Forks Funeral Home, Events Manager

🥡Appetizers Thank You to Golden Chopsticks

🎸🎤Live music for the evening Thank You Arron Baker

👩‍🎨Artisan Vendors for the evening Thank You Nancy's Shoppe, The Crow's Nest Design Studio, Potterybees, Anita Taylor, Ruth Langland and Creature Comforts

📸Peter Kalasz Photography, as always you capture the magic and my vision perfectly. Thank you

To finish off year 1 of my contract I helped to organize the Family Day Weekend. I hosted Activities Downtown on Saturday and advertised for the other businesses who held something for the community to do with their Families.

This was quite the year, new town, new job, new schools for the kids, new friends. I can't say it was all roses there was a lot of heartache and days of regret, but I think it has made me stronger, it has made my family stronger and we are slowly making Grand Forks and the Boundary our home.

Next blog post....pandemic and year 2. Thanks for coming on this journey with me.