The La Ronge and District Chamber of Commerce hosts the downtown Christmas tree lighting and installs festive lights to power poles every winter. (Facebook/La Ronge and District Chamber of Commerce)

By Derek Cornet

community

Christmas lights install risks cancellation without Chamber of Commerce support

Oct 29, 2025 | 4:14 PM

There could be a lot less Christmas cheer in the tri-communities this upcoming holiday season if the La Ronge and District Chamber of Commerce can’t find more residents to sit on its board.

“A lot of people look forward to the lights being installed every year and without us being able to approve a contractor or somebody to install them, then we are in a position where someone either has to volunteer their time to install them or they don’t go up,” said Chamber President Matthew Maurer.

“Ideally, the best situation would be for people stepping up to join the board and us having the numbers available to meet our bylaw requirement of so many votes to approve contractors and approve cheque payments.”

Maurer sent out a warning to the community on Wednesday stating there have been ongoing challenges in filling board positions following the annual general meeting in the spring. Despite efforts to recruit new members, several positions remain vacant and additional resignations have occurred due to work and professional commitments.

The Chamber not only hosts multiple community events every year, but acts as an advocate for local businesses and a promoter of economic development. The Chamber recently had to cancel its Tri-Community Awards Gala due to a lack of volunteers and support.

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“I think it’s not just with the board, I think it’s happening throughout all of the community,” Maurer explained.

“Just chatting with other people throughout the community, they are seeing non-profits having trouble filling board positions, and then also programmers not seeing as many people going out to their programs they are putting on.”

The current board consists of Maurer, who himself recently moved to Calgary, as well as Daina Lapworth and Karli Carr. They haven’t held a regular meeting in months and need at least five or six more members to have proper voting procedures.

This is not the first time the organization has faced such challenges. In 2012, the Chamber came close to disbanding due to a lack of participation, but thanks to renewed community engagement at the time, it was successfully revived. The current executive hopes to see that same spirit of collaboration return.

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com