From fairy tales to fireworks: Rosetown readies for festival weekend
By Ian MacKay
Animals take the stage for the Rosetown Community Theatre’s offering during the Harvest Family Festival this weekend.
The troupe presents two showings of The Fairy Tale Network, on Friday evening and Saturday afternoon, at the United Church.
The festival runs from Friday to Sunday, with most activity occurring downtown on Saturday, starting with a pancake breakfast at the Anglican-Lutheran Church hall.
The parade follows, starting at 11 a.m. The festival market opens in the United Church halls and downtown activities include bouncy amusements, Ol’ McDales petting zoo, face-painters, a ballon twister, “games for all ages” plus vendors tempting people’s taste buds.
Those who donate a non-perishable food item to help “Cram the Van” for the Rosetown and District Food Bank receive wrist bands that admit them to the children’s activities.
The Fairy Tale Network “is about a group of creatures that are trying to put on some shows that will keep the network that they work at going,” director Danielle Hunter said. “They chose some classic fairy tales. It’s pretty funny, we think.”
All ages will find it amusing, Hunter said. “It’s funny for parents and it’d be funny for kids, too.”
The theatre group has several children serving as “the Busy Bees who change the background and bring in certain props,” she said. “It’s really fun to have kids involved. It makes it really special.”
No one actor is a star in this production, she said.
“I feel like a lot of people get kind of equal time,” Hunter said. “There’s not one standout star. That’s kind of nice for everybody.”
The cast includes Jay Porter as the Cat and Dean, Cindy Cerniuk as the First Mouse and Goldilocks, Charlene Krahn as the Second Mouse and Mama Bear, Jan Coffey-Olson as the Third Mouse, Marlene Pollard as Little Yellow Riding Hood, Evolet Welter as the Wolf, the Big Bad Wolf and Stuffy Waiter, Oleh Hrypa as Jimmy, Allan Hettrick as Sausage and Papa Bear and Michelle Hettrick as Mother Pig and Baby Bear.
Everleigh Olson, Freya Nichols, Rowan Nichols, Sofia Hrypa, Matvij Hrypa, Carson Forsyth and Coen Forsyth make up the Busy Bees and Susan Wiebe is the stage manager.
Happening on Friday are the VIP pumpkin decorating contest at the Legion hall, with a barbecue lunch starting at 11 a.m., and the revealing of Rosetown’s citizen of the year around noon.
That evening, the Under the Lights football game stars the Rosetown Royals against the Unity Warriors and the Curse of the Pumpkin Town haunts the museum grounds.
Among the other Saturday events are a new, three-on-three basketball tournament in St. Andrews Park, which continues on Sunday, while the Lions Club’s beef supper occurs at the Elks hall and a fireworks show west of the AGT Centre, starting at 8 p.m., brings the day to a thunderous close.
On Sunday, the first runners leave the Youth Centre for the Harvest Hustle fun run at 9 a.m., going two, five or 10 kilometres, then drivers bounce their Tough Trucks back and forth across the north end of the sports grounds, beginning at 1 p.m.