The search for new board members, how to raise funds, and what events and activities the community wants are up for discussion at an upcoming Cowichan Lake Arts and Culture Society open house.
“When COVID hit our community, we concentrated on the structure of the Cowichan Lake Arts and Culture society. Now that restrictions have been relaxed, we are looking forward to creating more community activities,” said CLAC president Kathie Fielding. “Because we understand that people’s lives have changed, we are asking for input on the type of events our community wants.”
To enable this open discussion of ideas, CLAC is hosting an open house on Oct. 23 in the Cowichan Lake Curling Lounge from 1-4 p.m. There will be ideas to vote on as well as the opportunity to add in your own ideas on what would be best for the community.
“We don’t have a lot of money, so we need to be creative with how we spend our funds,” CLAC treasurer, Loretta Puckrin, explained. “However, we can always put in applications for additional funding for major projects, in fact part of our objective is to get funding for two events beyond our current budget for 2023.”
Currently the organization receives an annual grant of $5,500 from the CVRD and raises additional money through registration at its events and workshops. A fair portion of the budget is committed to the Summer Concert series as it has received a lot of support from the community.
In addition to ideas, CLAC is looking for new board members. Many of the current board have been in place since its inception and they would like to get new input for the society. They also subscribe to the theory that ‘many hands make light work’ and would welcome any volunteers.
“You don’t have to commit a lot of time or regular amounts of time,” said CLAC vice president Rosemary Danaher. “We find many people are more comfortable in volunteering for a specific event or a finite length of time. Every hour helps.”
The current board consists of five people. Cassy Emmerson is the board representative in Youbou and supports by donating space in her coffee shop for workshops. Lee Simmons is a board member who lives in Duncan but believes in the group enough to work outside of where she lives.
Any of the board members are available to talk to you about ideas and all will be at the open house. You can also contact CLAC through email: info@cowichanlakeartsandculture.org or message them through their Facebook page.