Photo courtesy of Noah Fallis
A well-known Juno Award-winning artist will soon be strumming up some chords in the midwest.
Corb Lund will be headlining the Paradise Hill Summer Bash on Aug. 12 at the Paradise Hill arena, along with Nice Horse.
“There is a ball tournament all weekend, so Friday to Sunday. There is a cabaret on Friday night—it’s all-ages. Nice Horse is playing on Friday, and then they are opening for the main event on Saturday and closing as well, and Corb Lund is the headliner,” said Brett Novlan, Paradise Hill Rec Board member.
In the past, proceeds from the Summer Bash helped build the Paradise Hill Community Centre, but now that it’s paid off, organizers have a new goal in mind.
“The Paradise Hill Community Centre Board hosted the event previously. As of last year, they reached the goal of paying off the loan and the community centre, so they’ve handed the Summer Bash fundraising event over to the Paradise Hill Rec Board,” said Novlan.
“A group of young people in the community, from different areas—like ball, hockey, curling, skating, and the rec board is now hosting the Summer Bash. The big goal is to raise money to replace our ice plant, which is around half a million dollars.”
Neil MacNab, director of the Paradise Hill Community Center Board, says he feels good about passing on the torch.
“It’s great to turn it over to a new group of individuals. You know, we did this for 14 years, so there’s possibly a little burnout there, so it’s good to get some fresh people in to keep the event going and get new ideas from them,” said MacNab.
“It’s just great to have some new, generally younger, people taking it over, and they’re full of piss and vinegar so they’ll do a great job with it.”
MacNab, who has been involved in the Summer Bash since it began in 2009, says it has become part of the village’s identity.
“It’s a real Paradise Hill thing now and it’s something that has developed into the character of Paradise Hill, so we definitely built up something really good and there’s still needs in the community,” said MacNab.
“We (the community centre board) took a lot of fundraising dollars out of this town that maybe would have gone to other non-profits, so now they can use the Bash and take the revenue from it to service the needs of all those non-profit organizations in town.”
MacNab says it’s been great to see the progress in the community and to be involved in planning the Summer Bash. He recalls in 2010 when Gord Bamford came to town.
“When he came in 2010 he said he wanted to be the first guy to play in the new facility, and when we opened it in 2016, Gord came and did a show in the fall in the community centre,” said MacNab.
“He was true to his word and we had him back to open the facility, so it was really good.”
When they first got funding to build the community center in 2015, they had projections the funds may take more than 15 years to repay, but they were able to pay off the debt in roughly half that time.
“It’s a good cause … and I think everybody saw the need was there, so when you have a need and a good project that supports the community, I think that’s the main reason it’s been successful,” said MacNab.
“We’ve got a great community, and it’s not just Paradise Hill, it’s the extended community, neighbouring communities.”
