Small town Saturday night

Adelle Ellis
Times Reporter

 

Sitting at the bottom of the polls is not how the Strathmore and District Agricultural Society hoped to be represented in the Small Town Saturday Night competition presented by Big Valley Jamboree (BVJ).
“We (were) languishing a bit. The results are a little disappointing but we (were) hopeful,” said Herb McLane, general manager of the ag society.
Earlier this year the ag society partnered with the Town of Strathmore to enter the contest which would permit the winning town to hold an indoor concert with country musician Gord Bamford.
The contest, which is a part of the 25th anniversary of Big Valley Jamboree, will see the town with the most votes hold a mini jamboree with Gord Bamford headlining an indoor concert.
If Strathmore won the contest, the proceeds from ticket sales would go towards the ag society and would be reinvested into community facilities on the ag grounds.
Unfortunately, Strathmore wasn’t able to break from the bottom of the list with under one per cent of total votes going towards Strathmore. The town never made it into the Top 10 towns for the final voting to determine who wins the mini jamboree.
“Some communities (such as the ones at the top of the polls) just have a way to get engaged and get involved,” said McLane. “We (needed) to find a way to catch fire. We (had) a little flicker of a flame but we (couldn’t) catch fire and grow this thing,” he said.