Actually, Wallaceburg Ontario, (pop. 11,000) celebrated Canada with gusto and a real sense of patriotism.
Appropriately, the festivities started early in the morning with a fishing derby for kids sponsored by the Wallaceburg Royal Canadian Legion (branch 18).
The fish were barely counted when local radio station CKXS fired up the grills and started handing out free hot dogs. General Manager and Morning show host Greg Hetherington did the grill honors with Production Manager and Mid Day host Dana Treacy sporting her new GI Jane hairdo. For those who haven’t been following the news, Dana donated all her hair to “Locks of Love” June 24th at Wallaceburg’s first annual “Relay for Life.”
At 1 o’clock, 100 kids lined up for Wallaceburg’s first annual Canada Day kids parade, highlighted by a special guest appearance of the Tiger Paw Martial Art’s “Sabres & Lynx” (youth division) Demo Squad.
And that was how the day started!
By 3 o’clock the Kinsmen Park and AA Wright school park were filling with people. Some rode in on the ‘around town shuttle’ while others walked or rode in. Vendors were on hand with traditional fare served with smiles and very reasonable prices!
There was Karaoke, train rides for kids, and the Optimists Club hosted ‘Canada Day Olympic Games’ for the kids including such fun sports as Frisbee toss, football toss and baseball toss to name a few.
Local bands started up at 4 o’clock on stage on Argyle Street, and the Wallaceburg Minor Lacrosse Association opened up their beer tent on Elm. The music was great!
By this time, the attendance at the two parks surpassed 1,000 participants, and they just kept on coming! There was Playdough and bubble making fun for the kids as well as tunnel crawls and miniature golf. TJ Stables had pony rides for the kids, and there were the inflatable bouncing castle to climb and Spiderman’s lair to explore. As this is Wallaceburg, we couldn’t forget the Classic Cars.
The “Wallaceburg Flying W’s Gymnastics Club” set up and wowed crowds with their outdoor acrobatics. For two hours, this group entertained in the heat to the delight of Wallaceburg residents and visitors. During their infrequent breaks, the Tiger Paw Martial Arts “Sabres and Lynx” demo squad took over and showed off their award winning synchronized routine and self defense techniques. The real fun started at 6 when the two teams took to the mats together and taught each other some of their moves! The Flying W’s president Mandy Markham shocked herself and her team when she became the first to break a 1 inch thick pine board with just a single punch! Way to go Mandy! The “Wallaceburg Flying W’s” then helped the “Sabres and Lynx” learn a few new tricks as well! This was a real crowd pleaser!
By 8 o’clock, the kids had their faces painted, their stomachs full and ready to watch the “Canadian Cowgirls.” At this point, the crowd had grown to over 3,000 people, and the nationally famous horses and riders simply put the icing on the day of great events sponsored by the Wallaceburg Knights of Pythias.
The weather was perfect, the sun shined on Wallaceburg, the food was great, it was a perfect day.
Wallaceburg, where we live and play was perfect on July 1st 2011!
Oh, and yeah, we had fireworks!