WESTLOCK — It may not have looked or felt like summer, but that didn’t stop Clyde and area residents from welcoming a new season during the Clyde Summer Solstice June 18.
The annual event, presented by the Clyde and District Ag Society, took place at the Clyde Curling Complex and featured a parade, trade show and market, car show, barbecue, and activities for kids.
“We were definitely not too sure how the turnout would look because people have been away for a couple of years, but we were happy with the turnout,” said event organizer Kelly Patry. “We had our pancake breakfast and then we moved into our parade, which I feel was still a fairly good turnout even though the weather was the way it was.
“We did sell approximately 160 wrist bands so that means 160 kids for sure went through our activities that day.”
Several families and area residents lined the streets to watch the parade noted Patry, who said it was great to see people out enjoying themselves despite a couple of event cancellations this year due to the inclement weather.
“Because the arena was so wet with rain, it just wasn’t safe to proceed with the horses so we did cancel the Gymkhana a couple of days prior because we knew it wasn’t going to be dry enough,” she said. “The mutton bustin’ we did only cancel the night before, that’s because the forecast still looked bad.”
Activities were moved indoors where possible to accommodate for the poor weather conditions. There was also live entertainment and activities for kids including balloon animals, glitter tattoos, a bouncy castle, inflatable games, and floor games, and a last-minute addition to the annual event as well.
“It was a very last minute addition to include a show n’ shine,” explained Patry. “It was just a test this year but we’re really hoping to expand it next year and have (different) classes of vehicles.”
Patry said she was thankful for all the volunteers, donors and sponsors for the event and noted that money raised helps cover expenses this year, with a portion of it going towards planning the next summer solstice.
“It’s just to help keep it going so that we can provide this to the community and keep costs low,” said Patry.
