Last night, (June 24) the Sooke Bike Club held its Annual General Meeting, and our first ever mountain bike film festival at the Prestige Hotel here in Sooke. Apart from Darcy Turenne’s film, which was shot in Bali, almost all the movies shown were filmed either here in Sooke, or elsewhere on the south island. Lots of talented Sooke riders were featured in these films, as Sooke somehow seems to breed the toughest, most skilled riders of any place I’ve been. Similarly, the skill shown by the film makers was extraordinary, and a big tip o the hat to Pelle Gustavs- a Sookie- whose fresh perspective and bright vibe was a real highlight of the evening.
The Sooke Bike Club has been registered with BC as a non profit society for the past 4 years, and this is the first time we’ve been able to hold our AGM somewhere other than the bike shop. It was a really big deal for us. It feels like the club is finally coming of age, and the venue which Prestige provided us was just the kick start we needed to bring our efforts to the next level. There are currently plans underway to hold a mountain bike festival in Sooke, and the Prestige will no doubt play a crucial role in that.
I just wanted to give a shout out to Bonnie Sprinkling and the District of Sooke staff who not only supported the club’s effort to start a mountain bike film festival, but who handily facilitated our effort to secure the Prestige venue. A huge thanks as well to the Prestige Hotel, and particularly to Krista and Jacob for ensuring that all our needs were met, for providing the space free of charge for our society. They went to great lengths to ensure that we had everything we needed, and when we found that we were lacking a cable to make the sound work, Krista jumped into her car and bought us one at Home Hardware. In fact, I think she cleaned them out, buying any cable which looked like it would work!
It was personally important to me that our event was attended by a Sooke council member. David Bennett is a progressive, forward thinking, open minded individual, and he really seemed genuinely excited about the club and what we are striving toward. It was great to have you there Dave, thanks so much for coming out and showing your support for what we’re about.
If anyone reading this is interested in finding out more about The Sooke Bike Club, please visit our website at www.sookebikeclub.com, and/or friend us on Facebook.
Our film festival and AGM went off great, and we’re very excited to grow this event into something that will gain wide recognition. With the ability to use such a scenic and well supported venue, which the Prestige offers in spades, it’s easy to imagine how big and cool this will become in the coming years.
Lorien Arnold
Sooke
