Hot on the heels of my column last week which advocated for fireworks at Canoe Beach for this year’s Canada 150 celebrations, I can confirm there will be a public party at that location during the evening hours.
The well-known and well-loved Salmon Arm Children’s Festival will continue as the premier daytime activity on July 1, but this will be followed up with an evening Red and White Picnic Party at Canoe Beach.
Coun. Louise Wallace Richmond, the chairperson of the Canada 150 committee, confirmed the event, which is still in the planning stages, as a way for the community to come together right here in our own town. For many years, Canada Day events in Salmon Arm have ended in the afternoon, with residents having to travel to Blind Bay or Sicamous if they wanted to continue the celebration.
But as to fireworks… That’s still up in the air.
“Fireworks could be a part of the celebrations, but we really want it to be something more, an inclusive memorable evening, not just people getting in their cars and driving up for a fireworks show and then going home,” says Wallace Richmond. “I think if there are fireworks, we want them to be the candles on the cake, not the cake itself.”
She recognizes there are a diverse range of opinions on such a celebration, especially on the fireworks issue. There are those concerned with both the budget and the environmental impacts of explosive festivities. Some type of laser light show with Bastion Mountain as the backdrop had been considered; however, this was outside the event budget.
“I’d love to have some fireworks, some light show, some dance music, karaoke. Let’s have fun,” she says. “I know for me, some of the most fun of a party is planning it, so right now we all in this whole community have a chance to be party planners.”
Many ideas for the event are being tossed around – story telling, entertainment, dancing, a mass sing-along. While the budget is far from unlimited, ideas for the event can be.
Wallace Richmond is encouraging people to contact her with opinions and suggestions.
She can be reached by emailing lwallacerichmond@salmonarm.ca, by calling 250-833-5554 or through Facebook on the Salmon Arm Canada 150 Committee page.
“We’ve got a whole bunch of people with different wants and needs. My hope is we can come up with a compromise and end up with something we can all remember.”