The Athabasca District Chamber of Commerce hosted Moonlight Madness on Nov. 29, and according to chamber president Penny Semashkewich, it went well.
“The mayor had sent an email saying he was really impressed with the Moonlight Madness parade/event,” she explained at the chamber’s Dec. 11 meeting.
Each year, the chamber hosts Moonlight Madness to promote small businesses in and around the Town of Athabasca.
The event begins with a parade and fireworks and carries on as a night of shopping.
“If we want to keep Moonlight Madness vibrant, we have to start promoting it a lot sooner,” Semashkewich explained to chamber members during the meeting.
One thing the chamber thought could be improved was the parade route. At the end of the route there was a backlog of floats, and throughout the parade, a steady pace was not kept.
One member suggested that Santa be at the end of the parade so that people could follow him to the riverfront for the tree lighting and fireworks.
Another suggestion was to fire off one firework before the fireworks begin in earnest to notify shoppers that the show is about to start.
Semashkewich also stated that next year, the Mayor of the Town of Athabasca and the Reeve of Athabasca County would receive letters to be in the parade.
Another issue brought up by shoppers was that Moonlight Madness was hosted on Black Friday. Apparently some shoppers made the trek to Edmonton for Black Friday deals instead of shopping local.
The Athabasca River Runners Snowmobile Club had presented at the last chamber meeting, making the chamber aware of the snowmobile rally planned for February.
The chamber responded to the presentation by offering their services and to sponsor a stopping point along the snowmobile ride.
“We decided that we would sponsor one of their stopping points of coffee and hot chocolate,” Semashkewich said. “It was something that was needed.”
The chamber is currently in the process of updating its 1950s bylaws.
“Our AGM will not be in January or February; our bylaws state that our AGM is to be in April,” Semashkewich stated. “We are going to follow our bylaws until they have been changed.”
The chamber drafted new bylaws in 2008; however, they were never presented at an AGM, so they were never accepted.
Chamber member Noel Major stated the process of rewriting the bylaws was going well.
“The committee has got together and reviewed the old bylaws,” he said. “Then we will get into the modern world and not have to live with what happened in the ‘50s.”
