2016 Slab City Prom

Prior & Current Year Prom Queens

Prom King Jordan & Prom Queen Andra

This year's Prom Night Under The Stars at The Range at Slab City was a great success. Everyone appeared to have a good time. The annual Prom at Slab City was initiated about 12 years ago by Robin (Builder Bill's girlfriend) with her friend Shannon. There have been newspaper and magazine articles about it, especially in the last few years given the popularity of social media, even here in the "off the grid" community out in the middle of the desert.

An event like the Prom Night Under The Stars at The Range at Slab City does not happen by magic. There is lots of hard work put into it each year and this year was no exception.

A little history: Prom Night Under The Stars started as an event at the end of the Snowbird season to give the residents and long time inhabitants at Slab City an event that would cap off the year and be an opportunity to go to a Prom Night, no matter how old you are, no matter your relationship status, whether or not you had a date, or a fancy dress or suit. It was aimed at all those that did not have fun at their own Senior Prom in high school for whatever reason.

At Slab City, there is a relation of social rules of engagement. This relation means that you can come and have a good time even if you don't have a date. You can come by yourself, with friends or a date. You can come dressed to the nines, or come as you are. Your choice.

To give people options, residents and snowbirds shopped the thrift stores for dresses, suits, shirts and ties during the year. These were brought out a week before the Prom for people to choose a dress. There were no rules about the dresses, just a suggestion that if you wanted to keep it at the end of the night, you brought another one back to replace it. Now, after 12 years, we don't have to shop so much any more. We get lots of donations. These are often the only fancy dress some people at the Slabs have worn.

A few years back, we started to take pictures. For free. We do a little fundraising before hand, put out a tip jar for the photographer and his helper. The fundraising helps with the cost of the paper and ink for the printer.

We usually help decorate The Range for the night. Sometimes a new coat of paint. Last year, it was new floorboards for the stage. Lights are strung up, sometimes beads. It will often depend on the weather. We were lucky this year. No wind. It rarely rains in the desert on Prom Night, but it can be windy.

Flip Cassidy & The Junkyard Gospels

Neil Malik & Barry Wayne

Megan Bee

The band is by donation. This year in addition to the Slab City Band, we had Flip Cassidy and the Junkyard Gospel. They were all great!






So, thanks to everyone who helped out.


With the decorating, getting the flowers, the crowns, the lighting, the photography, the music, the great audience and all levels of participation!

Have a great summer, and take care out there in the world!


Slab City 2016 Prom Pictures (pictures were taken by Bob Zahn

Builder Bill & Robin being photographed by Bob Zahn

If you want to know more about Slab City, visit our website www.sccgi.org
If you want to ask about Slab City, go to this FaceBook page: Slab City

and of course, if you want to make a donation (US tax deductible) go to our GoFundMe page.

BC Homelessness

Homelessness in BC is in the news... must be an election looming...

The BC Liberals have decided to arbitrarily change the definition of “homeless”. They are doing this without so much as a “by your leave” with anyone, especially those with a vested interested in providing assistance to the homeless.

Why?

The election of course.

So they can bandy about numbers to support their blatant inaction in dealing with the issue of homelessness. Inaction, except in changing the name of course.

The Ministry of Housing & Social Development, has now issued their definition of homeless.

Couch-surfing is no longer part of the definition.

Sleeping in a doorway is no longer part of the definition, unless you have been there for more than 30 days.

Next, will they be changing the definition of 30 days? Will it be consecutive days? What about weekends?

If you are homeless for 30+days, will a stint on a friend’s couch for a weekend mean that you are not homeless any more?

Transition houses, houses without adequate or running water and no heat, second stage housing in shelters are all considered “housing”. So those living in these circumstances are now “housed”.

Tents?

Shacks and lean-to’s?

Looks like they mean you are now "housed" and not "homeless".

Here is a good article about this specific issue: http://thetyee.ca/News/2009/03/30/HomelessNumbers/

Also, on April 19, Pivot Legal Society and SFU are jointly presenting a day long film review and discussion about homelessness ($3 -$5) Doors open @ 11:30 a.m., SFU Harbour Centre (see poster here: http://www.pivotlegal.org/comingevents.html)

Here is the Ministry directive (have a look, it will likely disappear in the next week or so): http://www.gov.bc.ca/meia/online_resource/program_administration/homelessness/procedures.html#1