♬ “Me oh, me oh my…Wasn’t That A Party!” For those of you too young to remember, that’s a quote from the Irish Rovers, a group of immigrants that formed a band in the 60’s in Toronto and are beloved around the world for their music and goodwill. Think green alligators and unicorns. Fun Fact: Pierre Trudeau actually phoned the lads and told them that he liked their music but if they were going to represent our country, “don’t they think maybe they should be Canadian citizens?” The next day, in Vancouver they were told to be down at the courthouse at noon where they proudly received their citizenship papers.
Anyway, I digress. Canada Day 2015 in Glen Williams was one rip roaring good time, one worthy of bawdy and whimsical folk song lyrics. By all estimates, there were over 6,000 people at our Glen celebrations on July 1st. Remarkable to me is that this party was organized and overseen solely by volunteers, gathered and shepherded by our very own Glen Williams Town Hall Board. They worked for months leading up to the event to get things ready so that everyone, young and old, would have a great time. And they did!
Canada Day has taken many forms over the years, with dedicated and energetic folks adding their special touches to the festivities and making the celebration into what it is today. This year’s party had all the fixings; a delicious pancake breakfast, baseball and bagpipes, face painting, fishpond, food and fare, a strawberry social, songsters, art and ardour, a dog show, a duck race and everything in between. The icing on the cake, St. Alban’s fireworks show beside the river concluding with a spontaneous and rousing rendition of ‘Oh Canada’ and witnessed by the Man in the Moon himself. Perfection.
The highlight for me this year was the naming of Glen Williams Citizen’s of the Year, Dale & Dave Cox (featured in the April edition of this magazine). Dale & Dave’s lives are an example to the rest of what it means to be a good citizen. Not only through their good deeds, and they are many, but by what they instill in our children, with whom they have a special connection. Pretty cool when kids find out you had a hand in creating Inspector Gadget, Franklin and Scaredy Squirrel to name a few. My daughter identified this special couple to be worthy essay material in public school (13 years ago) when asked to write about Super Hero’s in her community. She saw then, as now, how much of their time and gifts Dale & Dave give to others.
I don’t know about you, but Canada Day left me feeling very proud. Proud of my country, but even more so, proud of this humble hamlet. With generous determination, the hamlet created an occasion that left all who attended (local and otherwise) happy and heartened and I’d say it doesn’t get much better than that. Nice job everybody!
Janet
