Arts council celebrates 40 years of culture and entertainment

Kenneth Brown
of The Clarion

Several musicians from the Kindersley area have graced the stage at an event to help the Kindersley and District Arts Council (KDAC) celebrate its 40th anniversary.

The KDAC 40th Season Gala Celebration was held at the Norman Ritchie Community Centre on Sept. 30. The event featured afternoon and evening performances. A modest crowd joined the event in the afternoon while a larger crowd turned out for the evening performances.

In the afternoon, the performances featured local singers, musicians and dancers, so there was a range of performing arts for people to enjoy. In the evening, each performance featured singers and musicians. There were up to eight people on stage at one time during the evening performances.

Kathy Strutt, a longtime member of the arts council, served as master of ceremonies for both performances. She welcomed people to the venue, and thanked them for coming to the group’s 40th anniversary celebration.

She mentioned KDAC’s upcoming Stars for Saskatchewan performing arts series that starts on Oct. 21 with Laila Biali, a renowned Canadian jazz singer and pianist. She said people could win a free season’s pass if they purchased season tickets before the intermission. There was also a draw for a quilt donated by Michelle Vold.

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“We are in for a special treat,” Strutt told the audience before the evening performance, adding that there would be several performers on stage at different times. “We are blessed to have all these wonderful musicians in our community.”

The Kindersley chapter of Beta Sigma Phi has been providing snacks at KDAC concerts for several years with proceeds supporting its charitable activities. Carrie Howie, a member of the group, spoke on stage before the show began. She said the chapter is closing and she thanked the community for its support over the years.

Marion Olson has been a KDAC member for 40 years, but she was not the only founding arts council member on hand. Gene Aulinger, who also played a saxophone for several numbers during a Dixieland ensemble, is a founding member who lives in North Battleford.

Olson, who lives near Laporte, said nothing was going to keep her from attending the arts council’s anniversary celebration. She noted that she served on the planning committee and its work started back in January.

She said helping to plan the event and being able to attend has been a “big thrill” for her because the day featured local musicians she has come to know throughout and “it’s just been a wonderful time.” Olson said it was a super event.

The longtime KDAC member said she and her husband always enjoyed music and the arts. When they first moved to Kindersley, they discovered it was a challenge to get to the city to see performances by orchestras or other artists, but they were just out of university and didn’t have a lot of money. Olson said she also had children, so she and her husband began to consider what to do.

“We did everything we could to bring the arts to Kindersley, to us and to everybody else here,” she said. She heard a group was trying to form an arts council and jumped at the opportunity to get involved. She’s been involved ever since.

Olson said she has several great memories from her 40 years on the council. She recalled working with former member Eleanor Smith, who was the visual arts co-ordinator at the time, and they cleaned up vacant buildings and spaces in town to use as venues for visual arts displays. Other favourite memories include working to raise money to purchase the NRCC and when the Canadian Brass performed in Kindersley.

Aulinger, who moved to Kindersley from Wisconsin in 1974, said he moved to town to teach. After being in Kindersley for a year, he contacted Mealey, a fellow resident of Wisconsin who had attended the same university, and Mealey joined him in Kindersley where they both taught for several years.

Aulinger said he met a woman in his first year in town and never left Saskatchewan. Not only did he help to found the arts council, but he also helped to start the band program in Kindersley with Mealey’s help.

The founding KDAC member said it was nice to be involved at the inception of the council and to see that contributions of founding members have been carried on to the present day, but also to know people felt the council was important enough to keep it going.

“It’s amazing for me to see that all the work that people put in 40 years ago is still here and still respected and still appreciated, and that people still look forward to the events that are going on here,” he said. “We worked hard to get started.”

Aulinger said the list of volunteers since the council was established in 1977 would be quite long. He added that a favourite memory from his time on the council is when renowned jazz flutist Moe Koffman played in Kindersley, a privilege not likely possible without an arts council.

Melissa Hynd, a lifelong musician and music teacher, said it was awesome to be asked to perform at the 40th anniversary event. She was taught by Mealey and they often perform together, so for her, the event brought her full circle in a way.

She noted that, as a teacher, it was great to have Aulinger and Mealey together on stage because they were the backbone of music programs at schools in Kindersley. It was through their band programs that she developed her knowledge and love for playing music.

As a celebration of the arts and music in the community, it was great for her to be able to perform alongside fellow music teachers from the area, Hynd added.

The arts council’s organizational meeting was held on Oct. 26, 1977, and the group has presented a wide variety of concerts and art show over 40 years.

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© Kindersley Clarion