We attended 9 Community Events in 2025 – the Green Fair, Pride in the Park, 3 local Farmers’
Markets, the Interior Provincial Exhibition, the Recreation Fair, Fieldstone’s Farm & Food
Festival and the Farmers’ Christmas Market. These events provided excellent exposure for us
where we are able to tell people who we are and what we do, sell memberships and T-
shirts/hoodies and raise money for our efforts on Mt Rose Swanson. The big surprise for us was
being invited back to the IPE. THANK YOU for supporting us!!
Interior Provincial Exhibition, Aug 27th – 31st
The theme this year was “The Hobbiest Place on Earth” and we knew that we could decorate
our booth accordingly. There are lots of hobbies that one can do outside such as hiking, dog
walking, photography, geocaching, star gazing, foraging, camping, cycling, horseback riding, bird
watching, X-C skiing, rock climbing, snowshoeing, running… the list goes on and on! Our forest
themed booth along with the equipment for many hobbies received many compliments. We
really appreciate the volunteers who stepped up to ‘man’ this booth for 5 days from 10am – 9
pm!! One member was able to obtain a big roll of newsprint and had the idea of asking kids of
all ages to draw their favourite outdoor activity with crayons. This was a huge hit!
Fieldstone’s Farm & Food Festival, Sept 28th
Many of us have attended this fun, family friendly event as spectators in the past but our
organization has never been asked to attend. In 2025 we were asked to have a booth there as
we were told that they would like to support our efforts on Mt Rose Swanson. This event is a
combination of agriculture and gastronomy in the beautiful countryside of Spallumcheen. From
watching horse-drawn and antique tractor ploughing and a working threshing machine as well
as tasting/purchasing locally produced and crafted food and beverages, this festival is a
celebration of bygone days and natural/organic products. We met so many interesting people
who asked questions about our local area and wanted to support us. A great day!
Farmers’ Christmas Market, Dec 6th
This was our 4th time attending this market and our last event of the year. Held in the Hassen
Hall, people/vendors come from all over and say that it is one of the best in the Shuswap
Okanagan. The hall was full of incredible products for sale and many shoppers. Many people
stopped at our festive booth and supported us by buying a membership, Mt RS hoodie/T-shirt
and entering the draw for the Rancho Vignola gift basket that they generously donated!
Local Businesses who supported us at our PR events in 2025 to raise money to pay for the
Experts we hired (Hydrologist and Biologist) to conduct work on Mt Rose Swanson are:
PV Blvd Coffee – donated 8 large boxes of black Mt Rose Swanson T-shirts and hoodies for us to
sell.
Rancho Vignola – donated 2 gift baskets for draws.
Mikaela Cannon – the ASTS is selling her book “Foraging as a Way of Life’ and she is generously
donating a percentage of the proceeds to us.
A huge THANK-YOU to these businesses and individuals who continue to support us!!