The Jasper Pride Festival Society and the Jasper Park Tennis Club each received a grant from the province鈥檚 Community Facility Enhancement Program, May 13.
West Yellowhead MLA Eric Rosendahl was in Jasper to deliver the good news along with the cheques.
The Jasper Pride Festival Society received $50,000, while the tennis club received just over $39,000.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the first time that our society has actually received support from the Alberta government, so that鈥檚 obviously amazing for us,鈥� said J枚rg Michel, the executive director of the organization who was all smiles when he accepted the grant.
鈥淲hen we first got the news it was really emotional. We鈥檝e applied for government grants before, but have never been successful, so this was huge for us.鈥�
With the funding the society plans to grow the annual festival in terms of quality and quantity, said Michel.
鈥淔or many years nobody was interested in what we were doing鈥� it was all very grassroots at first,鈥� Michel said. 鈥淏ut each year we keep getting bigger and we keep working to continue making Jasper an even more inclusive community for everyone.
鈥淭his is our number one mission and this funding will allow us to go on fulfilling that mission.鈥�
Alberta鈥檚 Minister of Culture and Tourism Ricardo Miranda, Yellowhead MP Jim Eglinski and Rosendahl, each attended the 2016 festival.
鈥淲e had a fantastic time and I just think it鈥檚 great that we鈥檙e promoting the society,鈥� Rosendahl said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 also a great way for us to promote inclusiveness throughout our government鈥� we made a commitment to become more inclusive so it鈥檚 very important that we help the society with their functions.鈥�
The Jasper Pride Festival will celebrate its eighth year next March. The 2016 affair involved 24 events over four days and saw more than 1,000 people attend.
As for the Jasper Park Tennis Club, the organization received $39,690. Adam Park, who was on hand to receive the cheque, said the money will go towards resurfacing the tennis court outside of the Jasper Activity Centre.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a really neat surface that we鈥檙e getting鈥攊t鈥檚 kind of like this plastic thing that will sit over the court,鈥� Park said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 durable and will last a lot longer than paint.鈥�
Park added that the new surface is also a lot softer.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be a little easier on the joints, knees, hips and things like that,鈥� Park said.
The club expects work on the court to begin in June.
鈥淲e just kind of applied for the grant and hoped for the best,鈥� Park said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e really happy to be able to go forward with this.鈥�
Rosendahl also said keeping sport facilities up-to-date is a real benefit to any community.
The municipality will match the funding dollar-for-dollar bringing the total investment to nearly $80,000, according to Jasper鈥檚 communications manager Christine Nadon.
Once the tennis courts are resurfaced, additional lines will be added to accommodate pickle ball.
Kayla Byrne
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