Up front: New inspector riding home as Tour de Rock nears Duncan page A3 Spotlight: Living life, one day and one photo at a time page B6
Your news leader since 1905
For all the news of the Cowichan region as it happens, plus stories from around British Columbia, go to our website www.cowichannewsleader.com
Friday, September 27, 2013
Early Child Educator Jessica McPherson plays with Derrek Wilson, 4, on a playground equipment during Growing Together Child Care Centre’s 20-year special milestone celebration last Friday.
Andrew Leong
Cowichan Folk Guild retrenches in bid to make sure Folkfest turns 30 One step back, two forward: Gaming grant scare prompts venerable organization to take a closer look at how it does business
Peter W. Rusland
News Leader Pictorial
H
ard times have hit the venerable Cowichan Folk Guild, sparking a fiscal revamp to pave the way for next year’s 30th Islands Folk Festival. Guild president Bill Levity said the guild’s cash crunch nearly cancelled July’s folk festival — which later soldout. He called the scare a “curse and a blessing.” Still, he was confident next July’s festival will happen. “We’re going through a year of complete restraint, and our approach to financial stress.”
He confirmed the looming departure of Robert McCourty, CFG’s current artistic director, as his contract expires Oct. 1. “It’s become obvious we can’t afford a full-time artistic director, and that’s a reflection of our fiscal standing,” Levity said, awaiting more numbers about the guild’s exact financial health. Instead, the guild will rely on a director on a limited contract to oversee IFF30. That person will be complemented by guild members and board directors helping stage the guild’s various coffee houses and
other concerts, Levity added. The songwriter pinned part of this summer’s festival crisis on unreliable news about B.C. Gaming grants. “They made a major shift, from June to Aug. 31, to let folks know if they’re getting money, and how much.” The guild finally got gaming cash after the Aug. 31 deadline of informing applicants of approval and payouts, he noted. “It was very tense.” So tense, guild brass negotiated deals with various suppliers to reduce festival charges, boost in-kind help,
and other tactics. “You can’t totally rely on (gaming money),” he said of Victoria’s funding pool created to help community groups. But the gaming grant system underwent a restructuring in recent years. Those changes left many groups, such as CFG, annually applying for gaming grants, then guessing if they’d get any dough while planning events. That fog left folk-guild brass scratching for cash in January to host July’s folk festival. “We cut back everywhere we could;
we just squeaked through. But even by the end of August (2013) we hadn’t heard,” he said of the CFG’s Gaming application. He didn’t see any “red flags” on CFG’s books right now, and didn’t foresee a major hop in festival ticket prices. “I think we’re in good shape. We hope to be in better shape by IFF 30. We’ve been edging up ticket prices, but not significantly, to cover costs.” Those bills may be addressed by more festival sponsors, raffles, higher beverage-garden prices, and other ideas, Levity explained. “There are other ways to raise money at the festival.” bchonda.com
2013 Odyssey
WITH THESE PRICES,OUR 2013s ARE MOVING QUICKLY $
MODEL SHOWN: RL5H9DK
2013
Lease for COMES IN 1ST THE ODYSSEY 1.99. % APR* CIVIC LXAS VAN OF THE YEAR
105 $0 Down
$
††
4,000
cash purchase incentive on any Odyssey model.£
£$4,000 Honda cash purchase incentive is available on select 2013 Odyssey models. Honda cash purchase incentive will be deducted from the negotiated price before taxes and cannot be combined with special lease or finance offers. PPSA, license, insurance, taxes, and other dealer charges are extra and may be required at the time of purchase. †† For more information about the Auto123.com Van of the Year award visit http://www.auto123.com/en/awards/finalist-categories ††/£ Offers valid from July 3rd through 31st, 2013 at participating Honda retailers. Dealer may sell for less. Dealer trade may be necessary on certain vehicles. Offers valid only for British Columbia residents at BC Honda Dealers locations. Offers subject to change or cancellation without notice. Terms and conditions apply. Visit www.bchonda.com or see your Honda retailer for full details.
*bi-weekly for 60 months MSRP* $20,140 includes freight & PDI See dealer for details DL#5963
6466 Bell McKinnon Road, Duncan 250-748-5814 BCHD-July-Odyssey-10.306x1.786
www.discovery ††
2013 Auto123.com Van of the Year
Model FG3A4DE
bchonda.com
www.discoveryhonda.com