Drive-in night to support firefighters

DIDSBURY -  At a special council meeting on Aug. 14, councillors approved the closure of 19th Avenue from Fountain Tire to the bottle depot, and the use of green space to the east of the Didsbury Memorial Complex for Didsbury Car Club's drive-in theatre night on Sept. 8.

The special meeting was called because the car club needed confirmation of the road closure and use of the field in advance of the event, said Mayor Rhonda Hunter.

Coun. Bill Windsor asked whether council needed to have a policy outside of the special events policy, "which wouldn't apply in this case."

"Which outlines what the expectation of organizations for making applications for things like this, green space, road closures, because I don't think we have that now," said Windsor. "I think we are being remiss in not having that, so that we aren't saddled with having special council meetings to deal with things that organizations knew about 11 months ago.

"I wonder if it wouldn't be prudent for us to direct administration to come up with a policy so organizations know the timelines required."

Northcott told council he agreed with Windsor that there needs to be changes to the policy for special events.

"On September 5, 6 and 7 when we go into our strategic planning meetings, I think you'll find that one is addressed at the end of the document,"  said Northcott. "There is one place in there we can talk about with community groups. I think that's where we make sure we put that in the strategic plan so we have that already. We can definitely cover that. For sure."

The drive-in theatre is part of a big day for the Didsbury Car Club on Sept. 8, which includes the rescheduled soap box derby, a 100-foot shootout auto event, and a cabaret.

The schedule and location for each event is as follows:

• 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. -- 26th annual Soap Box Derby on Highway 582.
• Noon - 6 p.m.  -- 100-foot shootout on 19th Avenue.
• 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. -- Hook and Ladder Cabaret at the Didsbury Memorial Complex featuring the band Wildcard from Calgary.
• 7:30 gates open, movie starts at dark -- Suicide Awareness Movement Drive-in featuring Batteries Not Included, in the green space east of the Didsbury complex.

Sondra Munn of the Didsbury Car Club said that all proceeds from the cabaret will go to helping with the cost of local Didsbury firefighters attending a post-traumatic stress disorder course.

"There will be an auction and a cash bar," said Munn. "From 8 p.m. until 1 a.m. is the band Wildcard. The food trucks will be there as well."