06/30/2022
That’s a wrap on the 20th Annual Summer Solstice Festival d’été! We are so grateful to the many participants, performers, and sponsors who made all the marvelous festivities possible. The Solstice Board would like to take up a moment of your scrolling time to list everyone who contributed to the success of this year’s festival.
Let the credits roll!
First off, the festival would not have been possible without our sponsors:
Town of Gravelbourg
Southland Co-op Ltd.
Multicultural Council of Saskatchewan
Kingside Investments & Insurance
Acfg Gravelbourg
Neighbours
Gravelbourg Chamber of Commerce
Collège Mathieu
E. Bourassa & Sons
Judy Reiman Accounting
Saskatchewan Parks and Recreation Association
Wood River Inn & Studio
Styles ForHome
Cornet Agencies Inc.
Gravelbourg Family Pharmacy
Carrobourg Accounting
SaskEnergy
Gross Electric
Gravelbourg Home Hardware Building Centre
Great Western Brewing
Outlaw Trail Spirits Distillery
Thank you for supporting arts and culture in our community!
And thanks to our generous sponsors, we were able to invite all these fabulous performers to share their talent with you at 4 different venues:
Jeffery Straker
The Alley Dawgs
Dynamic Dawn Suchoboki (www.funtazm.com)
Tavria School of Ukrainian Dance and Ukrainian Folk Dance Ensemble
Kim Soo Goodtrack
Terrance Littletent & the Kawacatoose Boyz
Devin LaRochelle
Jim Morkill
Denita Morin & Ron Carrobourg
Morgan Robertson
Thomas Chevalier
The Local Group
Kings & Renegades
Special thanks to the “June is Parks and Recreation Month” grant from SPRA and Richard D**e of Dimension Audio (https://www.dimensionaudiosk.com/) for providing 9 hours of awesome sound at Soucy Park.
What’s a festival without food? We know many people were disappointed the International Food Festival took on a different form this year, but we are so grateful that our local restaurants were able to provide special “Solstice Snacks” for all the hungry visitors on Saturday:
Cafe de Paris
Neighbours Kitchen & Bar
Rollin Rock Bar & Grill - Gravelbourg
Wheatland Pub & Eatery
Heritage Place Hotel and Dining Hall
Snack Shack
Special mention: If you were lucky enough to attend the Jeffery Straker kick off concert at the Convent, you got to experience the awesome spread prepared by Jackey Kang and Chef Dave. The Board acknowledges the many hours spent in the kitchen preparing those fantastic appetizers. And thank you to new owner of Neighbours, Owas Khan, for joining the Solstice fun your first month in town. Welcome to the community!
Did you enjoy the parade? So did we! Thank you, Chris McIvor and Nanette Hamon, for helping to coordinate the event, Ron Grosenick, for inviting your fellow car enthusiasts to be a part of the fun, and Nutrien for sponsoring those magnificent Edwards Clydesdales
Thank you to the local businesses that participated with promotions and sidewalk sales and to all the vendors who made the trip out to Gravelbourg for the Epic Street Fair. For al full list of vendor information, go to https://www.facebook.com/events/319362086881666/?active_tab=discussion
We were proud to include so many events and activities on June 18: the Legion Pancake Breakfast, the St. Joseph's Hospital/Foyer d'Youville Foundation Inc. Jail ‘N Bail fundraiser, the Musée Gravelbourg tours, the Styles ForHome Carnival and Bouncy Castle, the Gravelbourg Artisan Co-operative and Crafts Tent, the Chinook Gravelbourg Library Board Canteen, the Gravelbourg & District Early Childhood Coalition / Moose Jaw Literacy Network tent, and Windy River Ranch & Barn Yard Petting Zoo. Thanks for being a part of the magic!
Hats off to the Public Works crew who worked hard throughout June to make sure Gravelbourg looked its best—Solstice banner and all! The Board is particularly grateful to Shel Filson, Ron Gall, Payton Pilgrim, and Gerry Silzer for all their help bright and early Saturday morning setting up tents, hauling tables and chairs from the rink, and helping out wherever they saw the need. And to Justin Hebor who stuck around until the wee hours to help us stack tables and chairs at the college. You guys are the best!
Many thanks to Mayor Stefiuk, Trena Fox, and assistants for helping with the park tear down and making sure the tables, tents, and chairs all made it back to the rink.
We are grateful to the École Mathieu de Gravelbourg and its facilities staff for being so patient with us and making sure we had air conditioning, fresh ice, and plenty of room to store the libations for our rockin' Afterparty.
Thank you to the Legion for providing its Red Nose Service and getting those in need home safely.
And finally, thank you to the Solstice 2022 Board for working tirelessly to put together a multi-venue festival in less than 4 months. We survived!
Maria Lepage
Melissa Prefontaine
Jobi Nichol
Trudy Piche
Laura Webb
Ryan Kierdrowski
Leanne Nichol (Sports, Culture & Recreation Manager, Town of Gravelbourg)
Ariel Haug (Economic Development Office, Town of Gravelbourg)
If you’ve made it this far, thank YOU for supporting the festival not just this year but for the past twenty. Whether you were a former board member, volunteer, performer, or just a fan, we thank you for being a part of this wild ride.
Summer has arrived! Now get out there and enjoy it!
