New ideas to celebrate old traditions

By Geoffrey Agombar

Spectator

NovaNewsNow.com

For the past 25 years, Bridgetown has celebrated Ciderfest every Fall. For the first 23 of them, naming a Ciderfest princess was an annual highlight. Last year however, organizers encountered a slight hitch: no contestants.

No princess, no problem. With the creative aplomb which seems to have possessed the town of late, Judy Marshall has conceived of something new to fill the void for the 25th edition.

This week, Petra Rafuse, Brianna Shaw, Colin Tanner, and Nancy Ward will compete in the inaugural Bridgetown Youth Ambassador program.

The four contestants are all beginning their Grade 12 year. The winning candidate will receive a Chain of Office and a $1500 scholarship sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce and Town Council, and will serve a term which lasts through his or her senior year.

One might assume the number of princess contestants faded to a trickle because girls saw it as an old fashioned or “sexist” tradition. While that may have contributed, it would seem that the pressures on young people today had more to do with the decline.

Princess contestants had to be 19 years of age, which meant most eligible girls had graduated and left town to attend university. Competing meant they had to travel home during the opening weeks of their post-secondary studies. Should she win, a contestant would then have to commit to attending multiple functions throughout the year, interfering with both school and summer employment. All in all, the crown seems to have become more trouble than it was worth for Bridgetown’s young princesses.

Instead, a little rethinking from Marshall, along with support from Cathy Graves, Bronson Rafuse and an energized town council and Chamber of Commerce, has created a fulsome new program rife with possibilities.

“I do really want to stress that this is a new idea. It is not intended to replace the princess,” Marshall insists. “Many people still love the princess idea, including myself.”

Marshall expressed some surprise at how quickly the town got behind her idea, however. “I expected to meet some resistance from folks who wanted to preserve the tradition. But that resistance never really materialized. People seem genuinely excited by this.”

Marshall describes how the idea came to fruition: “It was such a shame to not have a youthful voice representing the town, particularly for the 25th anniversary of Ciderfest. I was thinking about a local boy [Chad Hudson] who was picked on so much growing up, but overcame that and grew into a real champion of the underdog.” Marshall was impressed when “He became something of a voice for youth concerns in the town, and I thought to myself, ‘How did he get from that, to this? How can we encourage other kids to do the same.’”

So, the Youth Ambassador program was devised to be open to both males and females. Contestants would apply at the end of their Grade 11 year, compete at events through the summer and fall, and the winner would serve his or her term during the Grade 12 year while still involved at the high school and in the community. During his or her term, the ambassador will act both as the town’s youthful voice outside the community, and between organizations and generations within the community.

“Not being connected to the school is one of the things I missed most when my own kids grew up. The high school is such a major local institution, and it is really a rather insular environment.”

A retired teacher herself, Marshall feels that reaching out to the community should be part of every student’s job. “This initiative underscores and promotes the healthy development [of that community involvement] and gives them an opportunity to develop a greater understanding of local institutions and municipal government.”

While her first priority is pulling off the inaugural edition without a hitch, looking forward Marshall see even greater possibilities. “We hope to develop this into a whole program. The winner will work with the Grade 11s and Grade 10s throughout the year to design projects and contribute to the growth of their community in such a way that they can see real results.”

Meet them at Ciderfest

You can meet the 2008 Bridgetown Youth Ambassador Candidates at the following Ciderfest events:

Wednesday, Sept. 17

6 p.m. – Ciderfest Harvest Dinner (Inglewood Community Hall)

Candidates will help with apple pie auction.

8pm – Bridgetown Idol (Bridgetown Regional High School)

Candidates will be introduced by the MC.

Thursday, Sept. 18

8 a.m. – Chamber of Commerce Breakfast Meeting (Lion’s Hall)

Candidates will present their speeches once again (Speeches were previously presented and judged during Canada Day celebrations)

9:30 a.m. – Informal, one-on-one conversations between candidates and judges at a local home.

6-10 p.m. – Evening in the Park (Jubilee Park)

Candidates present, but no formal event or introduction.

Friday, Sept. 19

8:30 p.m. – Queen Street Café (Queen Street)

Official introduction of candidates. Candidates will answer one question, chosen randomly from a list which candidates will have seen earlier in the day. Judges will announce their final decision, followed by a swearing in ceremony and the 2008 Bridgetown Youth Ambassador will take office.

The winning candidate will be present at numerous events throughout the remainder of Ciderfest, including Saturday’s parade.

For more information about the 25th Anniversary Bridgetown Ciderfest, running Wednesday September 17 through Sunday September 21, visit www.town.bridgetown.ns.ca and click on Ciderfest in the left-hand column.