With the West Coast fall harvest in full swing, local community service groups and business associations are joining forces to celebrate.
The Ladysmith Family and Friends Resource Program (LaFF) has partnered with the Ladysmith Downtown Business Association to host a fundraising dance inspired by the community dances of days gone by.
LaFF and the LDBA will co-host their inaugural “Harvest Moon” dance at Aggie Hall the night of Saturday, Sept. 21. The night’s festivities feature music from Sunwest DJ service and the event is restricted to adults aged 19 and over.
According to the LDBA’s website, “All money raised will go back into LDBA community events and to LaFF programs.”
The fundraiser is one of several community-oriented, harvest-themed events planned for that week, said Jacqueline Neligan, LaFF’s executive director.
LaFF plans to host a pair of “harvest parties” at the Ladysmith Community Gardens Friday, Sept. 20.
A kids-oriented harvest party is scheduled from 9:30 a.m. to noon at LaFF’s garden plot, Neligan said, and students from local elementary schools have been invited to participate.
Children will help harvest a crop of beans, beets, carrots and kale before dicing up a portion of the harvest to build and race their own veggie-mobiles, Neligan said.
A second family-oriented harvest party is scheduled to take place that evening from 5:30 – 8 p.m., Neligan said. The Friday-night event is open to the public and features music, lights, dancing and a host of homestyle crisps and pies for consumption.
“If anyone has apples or pears or berries to donate, they can drop them off at Aggie Hall weekday mornings,” Neligan said.
LaFF’s harvest parties are free events hosted at the Ladysmith Community Gardens, located at Second Avenue and High Street.
Tickets for the Harvest Moon dance, meanwhile, can be purchased in advance from Salamander Books, 49th Parallel Printers and the Ladysmith Chronicle for $15 apiece or at the door the night of the dance for $18 each.
Doors open at 7 p.m.