The weather in the morning was a tad sketchy, but when it was all said and done, the Village of Clyde’s centennial celebrations and Summer Solstice festivities were a hit.
As the parade took to Main Street at 10 a.m. on June 21, it was cloudy, windy and cool. But once the final float had winded its way back to the festival grounds, the weather steadily improved to the point jackets had come off and sunscreen wasn’t a bad idea.
However, it’s not like the weather was going to keep people away from such a big event.
“We had a fantastic turnout,” said Centennial Committee member Linda McCoy. “There was a great number of all ages. It was a total mix of young and old.”
But how many people exactly came out to the festivities is a difficult question to answer, she said.
The pancake breakfast at the seniors’ centre before the parade drew 500 people, while the dinner and dance sold out its full complement of more than 400 tickets, but besides those two events, no one was out counting bodies.
One place where bodies weren’t counted, but vehicles were, was the parade. It was perhaps one of the biggest parades Clyde has seen, with 48 entries making their way along Main Street in what McCoy called a tight fit.
“It was pretty big,” she said, adding there were tons of kids along the route vociferously collecting the candy thrown to them.
Back at the ag grounds, it was hard to say which part of the day was the most popular, she said, with kids and their trailing parents constantly on the move from one station to another.
The three bouncy castles and inflatable laser tag arena, all looked after by members of the Golden Sunset 4-H club saw regular visitors.
A couple metres to the west, the petting zoo proved adept at drawing in the kids, some of whom went absolutely gaga over the bunnies and baby goats.
Then there was the Find the Sun contest, where visitors to the village were tasked with locating the 100 laminated suns hidden around the community, with each sun worth a ticket for an iPad.
“That was really successful; most of the suns were found,” McCoy said. “The kids really enjoyed that.”
What also drew people to the festivities was something that had nothing to do with the village’s centennial at all — the pee wee and bantam girls softball tournament on the ball diamonds.
Although it was a separate event, McCoy said it brought families out to see the village and really made the community seem more alive.
“It was a great feeling to have all of our facilities in use,” she said. “It really promotes the community.”
With a successful event in the books, thoughts turn to what to do in 2015.
Or do they?
“Maybe we’ll get started on that soon,” McCoy said. “We’ll need a couple days to unwind.”
