When it comes to the annual Langdon Days festival, Langdon Community Association (LCA) chair Chrissy Craig did not mince words when talking about her frustrations dealing with Rocky View County.
Craig recently announced the LCA would be cancelling Langdon Days this year as a result of increased costs the association has to pay, mostly due to the County’s heightened security requirements. It took an emergency meeting from an RVC council committee on Aug. 3 – and their decision to allocate $5,264 in additional funds toward the event – to ensure Langdon Days would be able to go ahead later this month.
According to Craig, organizing Langdon Days has been an increasingly expensive and stressful headache throughout the last six years. In a public letter to RVC, she blamed the “ever-changing standards and processes imposed by the County” for the frustrations, and said the LCA and other volunteer groups in the county often feel intimidated or dismissed by administration.
“There is a systemic problem within the RVC administration that stifles community involvement within our county,” she wrote. “We have spoken to other volunteer organizations within RVC that have given up running events of any size due to administration actions.”
While the financial support provided by the County will allow Langdon Days to move ahead this year, Craig called the assistance a band-aid solution, arguing a more long-term solution needs to be found.
The obvious fix – which members discussed at their Aug. 3 committee meeting – is to revisit the County’s Special Events Bylaw. After the meeting, Langdon-area Coun. Al Schule told us he feels RVC needs to have separate policies for when an event is privately held, versus when an event is meant to be a fundraiser for a non-profit group or community association, such as Langdon Days.
Hopefully, RVC can figure out a solution to its special events bylaw soon, so that beloved community events like Langdon Days can continue to brighten the county’s summers.
