This summer, Dorset social service groups are joining forces to celebrate community volunteers and attract visitors to the hamlet.
The Dorset Community Partnership Fund (DCPF), a local community charity, is joining with the Dorset Lions, Dorset UCW, Dorset Fire Department and local business to host a family-centred musical evening with the Shipyard Kitchen Party July 22, at 5:30 p.m.
Collin Reaney, a board member for the DCPF, said the Shipyard Kitchen Party, with American heart and East Coast soul, blends strong storytelling, vocal harmony, and crowd–pleasing love of entertaining into a fresh take on the singer-songwriter genre.
“They’re Gordon Lightfoot having a dram too many with Great Big Sea, Stan Rogers crossed with Who’s Line is it Anyway. With traditional instrumentation, catchy pop hooks and sly humour, they get the audiences stomping their feet, laughing and sometimes shedding a tear.”
The event will be held at the Dorset Pavilion Park. The park was developed more than 12 years ago by the community as a DCPF project.
The Dorset Lions will do a summer BBQ from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Proceeds will go towards the Dorset Community Health Care Hub, related programs such as Food Security (Dorset UCW), the pharmacy support program, and park upgrades (Children’s Park and Cedar Narrows).
The Dorset Fire Department will have volunteers to help out. At the intermission, they will be honouring multiple community volunteers.
Reanney said, “Dorset has had a couple of years of depressed tourism activity due to a number of factors including COVID, less travel to the community, and fewer visitors.”
An anchor feature, the SS Bigwin, was not sailing due to a major investment in repairs and refurbishment, but will be sailing this season. Robinson’s General Store was also closed for several months.
“Now under new management, we want to call out loud and be clear – we are open for business,” Reanney said. “We are re-engaging our community volunteers and working to build hope and pride in our community. This will go a long way to instilling community pride and social responsibility going forward.”
He said that is why the project is dubbed “Declaring Dorset a Vibrant Community. “We want to encourage visitors to witness all of our unique attractions, like our nature trails and the Dorset Tower. We want to profile all of our community amenities as we have done in the past.
“We see this event as a celebration – a demonstration that the community is strong and welcoming to visitors. We want to sustain the emergence of this community momentum.”
