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Shootin’ the Breeze
June 21, 2017
Distributed weekly to Town and MD of Pincher Creek, Crowsnest Pass, Brocket, Hill Spring and Glenwood
Talking Around Town With Tyler Ryan Tyler is the summer intern with Shootin’ the Breeze and a born-and-raised Albertan, originally from Calgary
Right before I came to Pincher Creek, I worked on a project called Rocky Roads, a multimedia website that used videos, podcasts and photography to tell the stories of up-and-coming businesses throughout southern Alberta. The tagline was “Charting the journey from small start-up to success,” and the mandate of Rocky Roads was to focus on local people with local products — no big franchises. The two businesses profiled were the craft gin makers at Raw Distillery in Canmore and Red Iron Labs in Calgary, a videogame company that builds virtual-reality horror games. Over the course of the last week, my travels reminded me of the Rocky Roads project. I had the opportunity to visit Oldman River Brewing in Lundbreck with members of the Pincher Creek Chamber of Commerce and I also sat in on a luncheon with members from the Crowsnest Pass Chamber of Commerce. First, I want to thank the people at Oldman River Brewing for hosting the chamber members and giving us a taste of your beer. To Adam and Brittney Wilgosh and Dan Christensen, you’ve got some wicked good beer and I wish you guys the best of luck. Oldman River Brewing may even get a call from Rocky Roads in the future. The luncheon was a great networking opportunity and I got a chance to swap stories with Crowsnest Pass business owners. Maureen Bevan, who handles advertising sales for Shootin’ the Breeze in Crowsnest Pass, was the only person that I knew who would be there and I was a little apprehensive because I’m not a big fan
of getting tossed into a room full of strangers. However, as soon as I took my place around the table, my worries were put at ease because everybody was very warm and welcoming. I chatted with Donna Bilyk, owner of Artist’s Touch in Coleman, and Courtney Cann, a motivational speaker who would be presenting later on. We swapped tales of our travels through Asia and I learned that Donna is an artist and photographer who holds a master’s degree in fine arts. A few announcements were brought up at the luncheon that deserve to be mentioned as well: First, the Travel Alberta Visitor Information Centre will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., seven days a week. Second, RideCrowsnest will be providing a free bus service throughout the summer, replacing the Town Rounder and Community Transit Service. The program started on March 1 and goes until Aug. 31. Mondays will be dedicated for picking up anyone in any neighbourhood who is going to a recreation or leisure activity. On Tuesdays, the bus will be dedicated to picking up people in Blairmore and Frank. Wednesdays are for the residents of Hillcrest and Bellevue. Thursday is for the community of Coleman. Fridays are an open day, and the bus will be shuttling people anywhere throughout the Pass. For more information, visit the RideCrowsnest web page, and you can also call 403-562-8833 to confirm a bus ride. The Crowsnest Pass Community Pool is expected to open up on July 1. The Alberta Provincial Police Barracks is also having its grand opening on the Canada Day week-
end, starting on Thursday, June 29, at 1:55 p.m., so mark your calendars. After all of the announcements were made, Courtney spoke to the crowd about the power behind the words we use daily. To finish off my column, I’d like to share a paraphrased version of Courtney’s speech. The theme essentially boils down to the belief that if you want to be successful in business (and life in general), you need to be aware of the everyday power of your words. If you’re always negative about yourself or your business, how can you expect to succeed? Negative thoughts will erode your self-confidence and this may lead to the decay of your business as well. Courtney says that if you constantly describe yourself as stressed or tired, you may get stuck in a rut and constantly feel stressed or tired because you consistently describe yourself that way. It’s totally normal to feel these things but your outlook on the world may get bogged down if you always look through the lens of negativity. If you want to be happy, successful or fulfilled, be conscious of using the words that lend themselves to those feelings. Describe yourself positively and good things should follow. Finally, she says to ask yourself “big questions.” For example, business owners should think about asking themselves “How do I make $10,000 over the next six months?” rather than “How do I make enough money to pay the bills?” Courtney says that people who ask the big questions open up more doors for themselves, versus the people who ask the small questions and effectively restrict themselves to small answers.
National Aboriginal Day organizers aim to build bridges By Tyler Ryan This Wednesday is National Aboriginal Day and, for the very first time, Pincher Creek is hosting special events at the Memorial Community Centre Arena to celebrate. Lucille Provost, a First Nations family support outreach worker with the Pincher Creek Family Centre, spearheaded the movement to bring celebrations to Pincher Creek. She started organizing in February and has partnered with 12 groups and agencies in the community, including the Métis Local Council 1880, in order to bring her vision to life. Lucille says she wanted to set up National Aboriginal Day celebrations in conjunction with the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation in order to “showcase our culture, history and traditions, and to network with the town.” The day starts off with a sunrise prayer at 8 a.m., lead by elders from the Piikani Nation. The official opening ceremony starts at noon with speeches from Piikani Nation councillor and master of ceremonies Lowell Yellow Horn. Other dignitaries like Wildrose MLA Pat Stier and MD of Pincher Creek Reeve Brian Hammond will be at the opening ceremony to say a few words and get the day started. After the ceremony, there will be aboriginal stage performances and contemporary singers. While that is happening, other interactive events will take place behind the pool. Lucille says there will be a teepee-raising contest, elder storytelling, and a playspace for kids that includes traditional games. There will also a frybread and berry soup tasting at the concession inside the arena. Marie Everts, the twon’s events, marketing and economic development officer, says there will be a powwow inside the arena at 5 p.m. “All of the other events should be outside, Mother Nature permitting,” she says. Right at 5 p.m., there will be a grand entry ceremony to kick off the powwow. Lucille says there will be hoop dancers, team dancers, children dancers and “all of the dance categories that we generally have when we do our competition powwow.” However, she adds that this is a traditional ceremony and there is no competition aspect to the powwow. At 8 p.m., the day will end with a friendship round dance and closing remarks made by elders and the master of ceremonies. The event is free to the public and both Lucille and Marie encourage everyone to attend. “It’s high time that we share our traditions and our culture and our history so people can understand and acknowledge how rich our culture really is,” Lucille says.