More than 300 people are expected to descend upon Olds this weekend for the Rotary Club's district conference.
As of late last week, about 300 people had registered and more were expected to do so leading up to the conference, which takes place May 3-5, primarily at Olds College, the Cow Palace and the Sportsplex.
The district stretches from Ponoka south to the U.S. border and from the B.C. border to Swift Current.
Highlights of the conference include a rodeo that will be held Friday night at 7 p.m. at the Brawn Arena at Olds College and a performance by internationally renowned country star George Canyon, along with Doc Walker and Charlie Major at the Cow Palace on Saturday.
Also, Canadian human rights activist and Me To We co-founder Craig Kielburger will deliver the keynote speech at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Sportsplex. He will then undertake programming with youth from across southern Alberta.
Proceeds from the conference will go toward the club's $500,000 commitment toward the new Rotary Athletic Park, under construction just northwest of Walmart.
Also on Friday, Rotarians will be doing lots of other things.
For example, in the morning, some will be building Rotary branded bluebird boxes. Then in the afternoon, they'll install them along the Trans Canada Trail.
Also that day, Rotarians will be helping École Deer Meadow School gardening and landscaping students erect a pergola on the school grounds.
Club president Rick Cowling says normally, Rotary district conventions are held in larger cities like Calgary or Red Deer. However, it's happening here because district governor Dan Doherty of Calgary is open to ideas.
"He is a true leader and he brings tons of energy and positive energy," Cowling says. "He's brought with him a team from his club and some other people from Calgary who have put a tremendous amount of effort into this. "
Planning for the conference started last fall and involved a core group of about 15 people, with assistance from another 20 members, including some in Calgary, thanks to Doherty.
"Never before has Rotary seen a conference like this in our town," a club email to the Albertan says. "This will be one of the best attended conference in recent years; not to mention the inclusion of a country music concert with an artist line-up like we have."
Cowling says the conference should provide a real shot in the arm to the Olds economy with so many people here in town staying in local hotels or motels, eating at restaurants and shopping in the area.
"It'll be a nice influx of cash into our community and exposure," Cowling says. "Any time you've got a little bit of tourism coming to town then we get a chance to showcase our community. We're very proud to be able to do that."
Cowling is really proud of his fellow Rotarians and how they've pitched in to make the event happen.
"Rotary's a fun group to belong to. It does have lots of business people who get together to make things happen," he says.
