New events spring up to replace Lily Festival
- Details
- Published on Thursday, July 30, 2015
By Kate Jackman-Atkinson
The Neepawa Banner
There may have been no Lily Festival in Neepawa this year, but thanks to the efforts of local organizations and businesses, there was still lots to see and do. Last weekend, a loose collaboration of events offered something for everyone.
The activities kicked off on Thursday with a Mid Summer’s Eve in Neepawa, a shopping and dining event put on by Beyond the Garden Gate, Brews Brothers Bistro, Herbs for Health, It’s Time Fashion and Gifts and Kerreen’s Clothing. The participating businesses stayed open late, offering customers a chance to shop and dine into the night. There were also a number of in-store draws, sales and promotions, as well as a scavenger hunt, featuring Neepawa area attraction, to encourage customers to stop at all five businesses.
Mark Mitchell, of Brews Brothers, said that the event went extremely well. “It was one of our best days of the year,” he said. He said that they saw a mix of new and existing customers.
Maureen Turner, of Kerreen’s, said that it was a fun day. Turner also took the occasion to celebrate the 15th anniversary of her business. “We [celebrated] with a great one day sale, a gift with purchase, a door prize draw and cake and iced tea for everyone!” she said. Turner added, “I think we are unique and very progressive in that we as independent local businesses can get together and execute a promotion such as this. We were pleased that so many people came out.”
Ginny Collins, of Beyond the Garden Gate, said that the event went really well. She said that the event was beneficial and added that with each ones, they build momentum.
It’s Time’s Ineke Mack also said that the event went really well. “It was nice to see so many people out,” she said. Mack said that she mostly saw local residents taking passing through her doors.
The group plans to continue hosting these events at least twice a year.
On Saturday, the 15th annual Runway Drags, held at the Neepawa airpot, offered lots of action. Yellowhead Roadrunners Auto Club president Bert de Koning said that the event was “excellent”. He said that they attracted about 47 cars and between 400 and 500 spectators.
While the drag races offer spectators a chance to see lots of high performance race cars, it’s not just about fast cars. The drag races are open to all cars, down to the family sedan. The goal is to offer drivers a chance to test out racing without needing a purpose-built race car.
To help create some more excitement, de Koning explained that they held time trials in the morning and used those times to set the starts for the races. With each lane having its own start, those driving slower cars got a bit of a head start to make it closer at the finish line. “It’s more exciting for the racers and the crowd,” he explained, adding that it made the races more inviting for outside people to come and try.
De Koning said that they are planning to host the races again in 2016 and added that they still have a few member events coming up this year.
Far from the high octane environment at the airport, the Viscount Cultural Centre hosted the inaugural JamFest. The event featured music, art, as well as farmers’ market.
Rrain Prior, the VCC’s director of Programming, said that the event went well. She added that while they would have like more people to come, the feedback was positive, “Everyone said it was wonderful.” Prior added that the jam tasting and art show were very popular.
Prior did note that there was some confusion, with some people in town expecting to take part in the Lily Festival.
JamFest made use of the facility’s new stage and the event closed at 9 p.m., with eight musicians jamming. “The stage was exactly what we hoped for. The space worked out well,” said Prior. She added that at 7 p.m., the yard and stage were full. “It looked wonderful,” she said.
Prior said that based on the event’s success, they are planning to host the event again next year. “We want to continue, this was a test year,” she explained.
At the Lily Nook, south of Neepawa, Lily Daze was in full swing. Nigel Strohman said that it went really well and that they had about 2,500 people through their property. Visitors came from across Canada, as well as a few Americans and one British visitor. He added that many of them were people who come back year after year.
While they didn’t have any bus tours, as they did during the Lily Festvial, Strohman said that they are on track to have 5,000 visitors in the month of July. He added that having fewer visitors has allowed more time to talk to people.
The Strohmans also quickly arranged a lily show, which attracted five exhibitors, showing 31 stems and four arrangements. Once Strohman’s commercial entries were included, there were 61 displays.
Based on the event’s success, Strohman said that they plan to host both Lily Daze and the show again next year. Next year’s show will be run in conjunction with the Manitoba Lily Society and they plan to add more to Lily Daze.
“There was a good vibe from the people who came,” said Strohman.
Historically a busy weekend for the town’s restaurants, at Dairy Queen, owner/manager Pam Brown said that they had a very busy weekend. She added that there was a good mix of old and new faces and the heat was of benefit to them. “It was very good for the ice cream business,” she said.
Further to the west, Dean Tremaine, owner of Chicken Corral, said that they too had a good weekend. “It was a really good summer weekend,” he said, noting that they usually get quite a bit of highway traffic.
Without the Lily Festival, Tremaine said that they missed the large rush. “We usually got slammed right after the parade,” he said. He added that some customers came in asking about the festival and he directed them to the VCC or the Lily Nook.
