A small Alberta town is once again feeling the brunt of the economic downturn after the cancellation of two popular events.
Home to approximately 7,000 people and located about 130 kilometres southwest of Edmonton, Drayton Valley is a town that relies heavily on the oil and gas sector.
Deputy Mayor Fayrell Wheeler said the town has been through tough times since the economic downturn started in 2014.
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This year, the Drayton Valley Lions Club’s annual tractor pull and the Thunder in the Valley Drag Race have been cancelled due to a lack of funding.
The tractor pull has been around for three years and normally pulls in 1,000 to 1,500 people during the two-day event.
Ray Niles, president of the Drayton Valley Lions Club, said the decision to cancel the event came about two months ago.
“It’s hard to go ask service companies for sponsorship when they’re letting their employees go,” he said.
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The event costs between $20,000 and $30,000 to run and Niles said 95 per cent of that comes from sponsors.
“It hurts.”
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Niles said the tractor pull is a major fundraiser for the Lions Club to support local initiatives such as Santa’s Anonymous and the loss of the event means there is less to go around in the community.
He said that if the economy picks up, organizers will look at reviving the tractor pull for 2017.
However, organizers of the Thunder in the Valley Drag Race don’t think they will have that luxury.
Sponsorship chair Bob Deagle said the 2015 drag race may have been the final run for the annual event.
This year’s September long weekend event was cancelled near the end of the January.
“We could see the condition of our sponsors in the area, which are suffering badly with the oil situation,” he said.
“The folks that we dealt with in the past years, they’ve been very generous to us. [But] it’s simply not there. The money isn’t available to put an event of this size.”
Deagle said the drag race costs more than $100,000 to run and 100 per cent of that came from sponsors.
“We could see things were tight and a lot of the sponsors we had previous, they weren’t able to help us. This year would be just that much worse and to go out and shake them down for money they don’t have isn’t the way we work,” he said.
“[Companies] have wage rollbacks. They have cut their employees’ numbers. How can you go out and ask for support for an event like this?”
Wheeler said the town is coming together to get through the tough economic times.
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Although some hotel parking lots are empty, for-lease signs dot the business strips and real estate signs can be seen around town, Wheeler is remaining hopeful.
“I think we go through ups and downs and we’re in a tough time absolutely. But it won’t last forever and hopefully those events will be back.”
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