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Kinsmen looking ahead to new Telkwa bandshell

Kinsmen Club President Leroy Dekens didn’t reveal any big secrets for next year — or even reveal if there were any secrets — but he did mention that they’d like to aim for having a big name concert.However for that to happen Telkwa would have to have a much bigger venue for music. That’s why the Kinsmen are actively trying to break ground on a new band shell for the barbecue grounds.

Coming up on Labour Day weekend is the 99th annual Kinsmen Barbecue and Demolition Derby.

Everyone in the valley and beyond are welcome to come by to support a near-century-long tradition in Telkwa.

The Kinsmen will be putting on another great event for the 99th — there are even four more teams in the baseball tournament — but the real prize is the build-up to next year’s 100th.

Kinsmen Club President Leroy Dekens didn’t reveal any big secrets for next year — or even reveal if there were any secrets — but he did mention that they’d like to aim for having a big name concert.

However for that to happen Telkwa would have to have a much bigger venue for music. That’s why the Kinsmen are actively trying to break ground on a new band shell for the barbecue grounds.

“We would love to build that because we’d love to have a big outdoor concert,” he said.

They have applied for and received grants from the Wetzin’kwa Community Forest and hope to break ground right after this year’s barbecue and get groundwork in before the spring. In the spring they have people who have promised to help them erect the structure.

By the start of next June he said they hope to have the whole thing up and ready.

As it’s a real community benefit he said he would like to see the community rally behind the project when the Kinsmen begin asking for the public’s support and help.

“When the time comes in the spring and we decide to go and ask the public for help, support the local Kinsmen,” he said.

People can get in touch with Leroy at Midway Services in Telkwa or he said if you know a Kinsmen you can ask them how to be involved.

A concert band shell would have been an asset to Telkwa this year as well. When The Trews and Sam Roberts Band contest was won by a group in Telkwa, the band had to be moved to Smithers for logistical reasons. A new band shell would have eliminated that barrier.

“If we get that built ... you could have had 10,000 people there without any problem,” he said.

This year’s Barbecue and Demolition Derby is on Sept. 3, 4 and 5.