Summerlude weekend lineup

July 22-24, Invermere –

One of the highlights of summer in the Columbia Valley is Summerlude, an entire weekend of events centred around family fun. Summerlude 2010 promises to be the best ever.

The weekend begins with two evenings of ‘PyneStock’ on July 22nd and 23rd that promise “two hours of peace and music” down at Pynelogs Cultural Centre in Invermere. This highly successful annual summer concert brings together about a dozen local young musicians who improvise and create unique and original musical compositions. A little classical, some rock and whatever else their creative juices come up with all add up to great entertainment. The doors open at 7:30pm and the music begins at 8pm. Tickets are $12 and they are available at Pynelogs, Essentials and One-Hour Photo in Invermere.

Friday evening the 23rd, come on over to the empty lot across from Eddie Mountain Arena, next to the curling rink for the 12th anniversary celebration of Bull Riding in the Rockies. Presented by the Columbia Valley Rockies Hockey Association, this event really rocks! From 5-6:45pm, it’s beef, beans and biscuits for dinner. At 5:45pm, bid in the live and silent auctions, then it’s Mutton-Bustin’ for the kids and at 7:15pm, watch world professional bull-riders and bull-riding clown, Dennis Halstad, do their stuff. And if Mexican Poker is to your liking, have at ‘er. The grand finale will be a family dance with ‘Mardi Gras’ at the curling rink. Tickets are available at Home Hardware and Selkirk TV (“The Source”) in Invermere, Brisco General Store and Mountainside Markets in Radium and Fairmont. Adults are $27, students and seniors are $17 and the Cowboy Dinner is $8 per person.

Bright and early Saturday morning (the 24th) head on downtown in Invermere to the 23rd Annual Valley Appreciation Day from 9am to 1pm. You can enjoy a free pancake breakfast, live musical entertainment, a logging show, a Bounce Castle for the kids, and the regular Saturday Farmers Market will be selling their beautiful fresh locally-grown produce, as well as jewellery, arts and crafts, fresh bread warm from the oven, jams, jellies, local honey, home-made soaps and so much more. This is our way of saying thank-you to all the thousands of visitors who come to our valley each summer.

In the afternoon, wander down to Kinsmen Beach, where from 2-6pm you can watch sailing, swimming and canoe races on the water, all part of the Lake Windermere Regatta. This year marks the return of the regatta after many years and is thanks to the Lake Windermere Ambassadors who are commemorating the completion of the Lake Windermere Project (a 5-year project to ensure the ecological integrity of the lake through science and education). There will be water skiing and rowing demonstrations, sand art, beach volleyball and ‘love your lake’ photo contests with locally-crafted prizes for the winners. A show of art called ‘Celebration of Water’ will be on display at Pynelogs Cultural Centre, where you can also learn about stewarding Lake Windermere. It’s all free fun for the family.

What a weekend! You want to be there!