New Ribfest Activity - A Family Fun Event
In our meetings with the community, bringing back the Cass Lake Days was one of the desires discussed by the Talking Circle members. Stories abounded of the fun and feeling of community spirit the festival engendered. What the final outcome of talks with the City Council and the City’s Chamber of Commerce was a melding of the Cass Lake Days with the Cass Lake Rib Fest. And two of the events that were deemed do-able in the short time available are the Cass Lake Idol and Talent Show (one event) and a Slam Poetry Contest.
I was put in charge of organizing the talent show. My first thought was to get people on board with me that had some inkling of an idea of how to run a talent show. Nadine Chase sits on the Cass Lake Community Family Center and had regaled Sharon Mitchell and me with tales of other talent shows she’d participated in, so I called her to pick her brain and get some ideas for the event. Having seen Jim Allen perform, I asked him to M.C. the event and I knew he had equipment we could utilize.
Sharon and I had already decided that we would use the Cass Lake Community Family Center as the site for the event. Tom Blackbird, the director, was all for it. He was with Nadine and me for the first organizational meeting held back in May. Then, we had to have a meeting with the city council so that they could approve barricading the streets around the family center. When that was achieved, I began work on the flyer for the show.
One of the ladies that completed the Leadership Plenty Training has been invaluable. Her name is Amanda Burnette. She has volunteered her time and transportation in hanging flyers and wants to be involved in other projects such as building the Indian Village. As time goes by, more and more people are expressing an interest in what the Cass Lake Horizons is up to in this community, and more important, they want to get involved. After all, this is one of the things Cass Lake Horizons is all about: getting the community involved.