Kincardine youth advisory council set to host first Beach Bash Aug. 12

The Kincardine Area Youth Advisory Council is ready to host its first event, a Beach Bash, Saturday, Aug. 12, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., at Station Beach, Kincardine.

Held as part of National Youth Day, the bash is free and features lots of contests and prizes, food and drink, a live DJ, and lots of fun.

This is just one of the exciting initiatives begun by the youth advisory council which was formed in March and brought its first update to Kincardine council at the committee-of-the-whole meeting, Wednesday night, July 5.

The role of the advisory council is to keep the community informed of matters affecting youth, to act as a positive advocate for youth, seek input from youth on important matters, provide leadership experience for youth, and enhance the image of youth.

It is a spin-off of Kincardine Youth Waves, a non-profit organization that works with, and mentors, youth in the community.

Brooklyn Lampi, 14, of Kincardine, a member of the youth advisory council, said she loves to help out in the community and has been doing so since she was 11 years old. At the end of July, she was off to India to work with a youth program there.

Andrew McKay, 13, of Kincardine, also a member of the youth advisory council, said he wants to advocate for youth and bring forward opportunities for youth to be involved in community activities, such as the Kincardine Scottish Festival.

The youth advisory council meets once per month for two hours, developing working groups and sub-committees for special projects and events, hosting guest speakers, learning about advocacy and leadership, and engaging its purpose and vision.

It has developed a terms of reference and learned about, and conducted, SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) exercises, as well as goal-setting, action plans, and consensus-building.

The group has participated in a one-day workshop on youth leadership and advocacy, hosted community stakeholders for guest speakers (information exchange and brainstorming), learned about best practices, developed effective presentation skills, and begun to plan for a trip to Queen's Park hosted by Huron-Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson.

The advisory council posed questions to council members, asking them to state in one sentence why they make awesome councillors, to state the greatest strength and weakness for youth in the community, and if they could envision a safe, staffed youth drop-in centre in the municipality.

The responses focused on a love for the community and concern about what happens in the municipality.

Mayor Anne Eadie said that Kincardine has received a high rating as a great place to live, with many recreational facilities, clubs at school, 4-H clubs, and church activities.

As for a drop-in centre, deputy mayor Jacqueline Faubert, a member of Youth Waves, noted that this is one of the group's long-term goals.

"You should look at the history of it in Kincardine," said Eadie. "We used to have one but the problem was in staffing it."

Council did not have any questions for the youth advisory council which will report back in the fall.



Making a presentation at Kincardine council, July 5, are Kincardine Area Youth Advisory Council members Autumn Lake (left), Kirsten Jackson, Andrew McKay, Justin Noakes and Brooklyn Lampi