Northern Lights recipient – Carolyn Steeves

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Location: Strathmore, Alberta

Carolyn Steeves was just the kind of spark needed to ignite the creativity and empower the youth of Strathmore.

In her role as a piano teacher, Carolyn helped her youthful students hone their creative skills. As president and one of the founders of the Strathmore Performing Arts Festival, she now strives to give those same students and aspiring artists from the region an opportunity to share their talents with others. The festival struck a chord with performers and audiences, and the inaugural event in 2019 attracted more than 200 entries, involving more than 600 children and youth as individual performers as well as members of choirs, bands, and musical theatre groups. Strathmore and areas showed their support with several thousand in attendance over the course of the weekend series of performances. For Carolyn, the festival is more than a showcase for budding musicians, but a way to encourage and empower young people, giving kids an opportunity to build their confidence as artists and as people.

Along with the annual festival, Carolyn helped to strengthen the community’s cultural foundation, taking a key role in establishing Arts on 817, a concert series based in Strathmore United Church that hosts fine arts events to Strathmore and area residents.

While the path to stardom is a long and arduous one, Carolyn is doing her part to prepare those who choose to take on the challenge for the road ahead. That deserves a round of applause for the recipient of Northern Lights Volunteer Recognition honours, Carolyn Steeves.