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Local residents had wide choice of events on Canada Day weekend

From a play celebrating Canada’s history to a T-shirt cannon, there was something for everyone.
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A group of happy Canada Day celebrants at Cache Creek Park on July 1. Barbara Roden

It was a busy Canada Day weekend in Ashcroft and Cache Creek, with many people hopping from event to event during the celebration of Canada’s 150th anniversary of Confederation.

The weekend kicked off in Ashcroft on June 30, with Monster Theatre’s production of The Canada Show. More than 70 people attended the performance at the Ashcroft HUB, in which three energetic actors gave an overview of several thousand years of Canada’s history in 60 minutes. Justin Beaver, Cabot and Costello, William Shatner, Tiny Tim Horton, and Doug and Bob Mackenzie all made appearances, and the closing number—“History in Your Pocket”—reminded the audience that every time you pull a toonie or a $5 bill from your pocket you can learn a little bit about Canada’s history (“The five, ten, twenty, fifty, hundred dollar bills / They’ve all got faces you know so well / Penny, nickel, dime, quarter, loonie, toonie too / This song is here to re-mind you / You’ve got history in your wallet / History in your pants / You can hear that history jingle / Every time you do a dance.”).

On July 1, more than 250 people gathered at the Heritage Park in Ashcroft starting at 10:30 a.m. for face painting, a colouring contest, and a kids’ bike parade, with more than a dozen young participants taking part in the parade and receiving prizes. At 11 a.m. an honour guard made up of members of Royal Canadian Legion Branch #113, the RCMP, the Ashcroft Volunteer Fire Department, and the Royal Canadian Sea Cadets Corp #347 Avengers entered the park.

Mayor Jack Jeyes was there to welcome everyone, and accept the donation of a beautiful glass mosaic depicting the Canada 150 logo, a gift to the Village of Ashcroft from the Ashcroft Communities in Bloom committee. The mosaic was created by Andrea Walker, Patricia Denis, Paché Denis, and Bruce Walker, and the plan is for it to be displayed at the historic fire hall at the north end of Railway Avenue when restoration work on the hall has been completed.

The Ashcroft and District Lions Club provided hot dogs for all, and at noon a Canada Day cake was cut and served up with ice cream. Local musicians provided a musical backdrop throughout the event, with most people staying until the event’s conclusion at 1 p.m.

Several dozen people attended an “Honouring Our Elders” potluck put on by the People of Pukaist at the River Inn in Ashcroft between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. It was an opportunity to honour the community’s elders, reconnect with others, learn more about the land, and trace family trees as far back as the 1850s.

Royal Canadian Legion Branch #113 (Ashcroft) held its annual open house starting at 2 p.m. on July 1, serving up hot dogs and hamburgers, as well as banana splits. There was also karaoke, with several game participants taking part.

At 7 p.m. Cache Creek’s Canada Day celebration kicked off, with hot dogs, bannock, chips, and pop at the concession stand, and DJ Tom Moe providing music, as well as prizes, to those assembled (the T-shirt cannon was very popular, especially with the younger set). Mayor John Ranta welcomed everyone, and shortly after 8 p.m. ice cream cakes supplied by Dairy Queen were cut up and distributed; a welcome treat on a hot July night.

It was a wonderful day of celebration—of all manner of things—and it was good to see so many people taking part.