Osoyoos community organizations still have time to book a free table for the community mass registration event scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 10.
“In the past it’s been a great opportunity for service clubs to recruit new members,” said Sarah Dynneson, recreation programmer with the Town of Osoyoos, who is organizing the event. “It’s been a chance for recreation groups like figure skating and minor hockey, dance and ourselves (the town) to promote their programs. It’s a free way to promote your organization.”
Community organizations have until Wednesday, Sept. 3 to book tables and there are registration forms on the Town of Osoyoos website.
The event runs from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Sonora Community Centre.
In past years, there have been as many as 35 tables representing a wide gamut of community organizations, Dynneson said.
In recent years, however, numbers have dwindled and this may cause the town to reconsider the event, she added.
Groups taking part in previous years have included minor hockey, curling, the library, the museum, Rotary Club of Osoyoos, Strong Start, Citizens on Patrol, Dance Oasis, the Osoyoos Festival Society, Kiwanis Club and figure skating, Dynneson said.
Many of these organizations have their own registration days earlier in the summer, but this is a chance to reach last-minute people, those who have been away for the summer, as well as newcomers to Osoyoos, she said.
“I always encourage anybody who is new to the community to come out because it gives them a really good snapshot as to what’s going on in the community,” said Dynneson. “It’s good promotion to reach new people in the community that might not be aware of those traditional events that happen every year.”
In addition to community organizations, the Town of Osoyoos also uses the event to promote its programs, even though registration for the town’s programs opens at 8:30 a.m. that morning.
Among the town programs that tend to fill up quickly are Soccer Nuts, the preschool soccer program, and Crafty Kids, Dynneson said.
The town is also restructuring some of its programs and offering new ones in order to reach more children, she said.
“We would love for everybody to come out and take a look and see what’s going on in the community,” said Dynneson.
The town is doing more to promote the event this year, she said, adding that it could be cancelled or restructured if participation continues to fall.
The event has been held for well over a decade, Dynneson said, attributing the drop in participation in recent years to the number of organizations holding their own earlier registrations.
For more information, Dynneson can be reached at 250-495-4623.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
