Music festival keeps STARS flying high

By Miriam Ostermann, Associate Editor

Since its inception, after the devastating 2013 Alberta floods ripped through the southern part of the province, the Southern Alberta Music Festival continues to attract local talent and gain momentum with bigger crowds and more dollars being collected to support a vital emergency service – STARS Air Ambulance.
Now in its fifth year, the two-day country, blues, and rock and roll event continues to grow in popularity exponentially.
While the official tally is unavailable for several more weeks, this year’s festival numbers appear to have exceeded last year’s turnout of roughly 200 individuals. Furthermore, the proceeds being donated to the charitable, non-profit organization are estimated to be in the ballpark of $10,000, an increase from the $7,000 contribution in 2016.
“Every year it gets bigger and bigger,” said Rochelle Watt, marketing manager with Aspen Crossing which hosts the event. “It’s our way of giving back to the community and showing support.
“Without community lives would be lost. It’s something that people don’t know about until they actually need that service. A lot more people need to know about it.”
Once organizers Larry Vannatta and Jason Thornhill set the festival in motion in 2013, proceeds were donated to High River in the first year, and to STARS every year since. The event attracted the likes of Standard’s Drew Gregory and Gleichen’s Broken Smoke band that, together with 21 other Albertan musicians, completed the lineup in support of raising money for STARS.
“To put it bluntly, we rely on donations and community support,” said Megan Thomson, manager of events for STARS.
“In our more than 30 years that we’ve been around, we truly are here because of the community funding and support. The rural areas, that’s where people are going to need us, and the support from our allies and partners is really critical to our success and to us continuing to serve the community.”
STARS Air Ambulance was founded by Dr. Greg Powell in 1985, more commonly known back then as the Lions Air Ambulance Service. For more than three decades, the emergency service has grown to include bases in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta.
Last year alone, helicopters took to the air for a total of 1,529 missions in Alberta. As the average flight costs $5,400 – costs the patient does not recoup – fundraising efforts, such as those of Aspen Crossing, play a pivotal role in the organization’s operations. Eighty per cent of STARS funding comes from fundraising and donations with approximately $10 million required to run operations per base. The non-profit organization currently has three bases in Alberta with a total of six bases in Canada.
“The really important thing for us is how grateful we are that communities and people do this and support us, and that the organizers take the time and energy to put it all together,” Thomson said. “We really wouldn’t be around without that. We understand that you can’t support everything and it really is a choice.”
The Southern Alberta Music Festival took place last weekend, Aug. 11-12.