When Brittany Wasstrom moved to Lac La Hache eight years ago she immediately got involved in the community.
Her motivation initially started with plans to fix up the old sign declaring Lac La Hache to be “the Longest Town in the Cariboo.” The sign had been installed by her grandfather Ture Wasstrom and part of it had fallen down.
“As soon as we got up here I wanted to get involved. My grandfather was part of the Lions Club and I was always told he was involved in the community a lot,” said Wasstrom, who lives in her grandfather’s house with her two children. “I wanted to make him proud.”
But there was a hitch. Wasstrom quickly learned the old sign had been installed on private land in the ‘80s that had changed hands. If she wanted to put the sign up again, she’d need permission from the new owner. Rather than do that, she decided to move the sign onto the highway itself.
To get it done, Wasstrom teamed up with the Lac La Hache Community Club. Not long after she became a director of the club and helped out wherever she could.
She brought a huge list of ideas, which is common for new volunteers. She said the club’s older members had seen a lot of people come fired up with new ideas but then leave before following through. Wasstrom was determined to go the distance.
“I just kept coming and showing up and eventually became a director,” she said. “In the beginning, I was really gung-ho but of course, you burn out a bit after a while.”
When longtime president Larry McCrea stepped down, Wasstrom replaced him as president because she was the only one available. She took on helping her fellow club members run the Rolf Zeis Memorial Arena, the Lac La Hache Community Hall, the Lac La Hache Thrift Store and the maintenance of the Garlic Festival Grounds. During that time she got the community hall and thrift store signs restored.
Now she’s filling another big pair of shoes after the club’s longtime treasurer, Jeanette McCrea, retired from volunteering last year. At the club’s annual general meeting earlier this month, Wasstrom was elected to fill the position. As she works as a bookkeeper, she said she is used to working with numbers, but it’s still intimidating to take on.
“One of my goals is to update things as far as technology goes. We have been pretty old school with forms of payment at the club. We just recently got a debit machine set up at the thrift store and with the arena we got an e-transfer set up,” Wasstrom said. “I’m just hoping to get things updated as far as technology goes.”
Wasstrom said she hopes to inspire other young Lac La Hache residents to get involved with the community club. Right now she said they have a “skeleton crew” of committed volunteers, but several are considering stepping back.
“We’re open to other things so if people show up and want to get things going I’m available to help out but I’m not necessarily spearheading it,” Wasstrom said. “We encourage people to volunteer and we’re always willing to back them if they need support. There’s a lot of potential to do more, so it’s just a matter of coming up with your ideas and nine times out of 10 we’ll support them.”
As Lac La Hache grows and brings in new people, Wasstrom said the club and town must change with it. Even though she loves the slow pace of her community, she believes new services and activities are key to its long-term success. She hopes to see a new playground built in the community or a public dock that everyone could access.
“It’s a massive community, everybody knows everyone. There’s a lot of ‘I’ll help you with your roof if you help me with your garden’ kind of thing,” Wasstrom said. “It’s a good place for kids to grow up.”
patrick.davies@100milefreepress.net
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