Canada Day Rekindled

I still have a difficult time calling July 01st “Canada Day.” I am not sure why, but “July 01st” means a day of celebration while “Canada Day” means something political. I think the reason is that July 01st always represented the first real official day of summer holidays. It was the day we were truly set free from the prison of school and our freedom was celebrated by a parade and a carnival and a day of swimming in the sun. When Ottawa gave it a name, it was about the time all July 01sts became cold, windy and rainy. It lost its magic.

Of course that corresponded with about the time I finished with high school and began to work for a living. July 01st was a day of flying from dawn to dusk. Those Turkeys from down South had no respect for this sacred Canadian day off. They wanted to go fishing and no Canada Day was going to stop them. From then on I lost my enthusiasm for our childhood day of celebration. Since then I’ve spent all of those days working far away from my home town and usually far away from Canada. 30 years later I found myself in my home town on July 01st. I decided to see if I could rekindle my lost feelings from days past.

My wife and I decided to take in as many of the planned events as we could starting with the parade. One of my traditions when I was in school was to take pictures of all the beauty queens so they could have at least one good image of themselves as a keepsake. (Most people in those days had dismal cameras with resulting dismal pictures.) So my wife and I walked down the highway from our house to find a place on the parade route to see what we could see and take some pictures. What better place than under the shade of our town’s welcoming sign?

The Canada Day parade was surprisingly well organized and there was a visible and welcome effort from some of the participants. (Some of the entrants, however, were dismal.) There was the usual RCMP, the Scottish Bag Pipe Band, and the Royal Canadian Legion veterans.

The main theme of the 2006 Parade, however, was Aviation as Lac du Bonnet was home of one of Canada’s earliest and busiest floatplane bases starting shortly after WW1.

Sadly missing was my father who is a veteran and a bush pilot from Lac du Bonnet’s early days. We were not sure where he was that morning, but at 81 I am not sure he knew where he was either.

Some of the float entrants at first glance appeared to be stretching the concept of “flying” a little. Considering most Jesus freaks are reformed drug and alcohol abusers, however, I guess the theme was not so far fetched.

The horse before the cart entrant wasn’t strictly aviation, but with the “let your dreams take flight” tie in and the fact that both Crissy and her husband, Dave, are bush pilots, and the fact they put some thought into their presentation, I would say they were right on the mark.

Miss Pine Rock Stables didn’t win the Miss Minnawawa Contest but she certainly looked heavenly enough to become airborne.

My selection of “Most Genuine Smile.”

Now here is an aviation entrant of note. At least it is a bush plane.

I am not sure who this chick was or why she was in the parade, but she had a great smile and a beautiful car to match.

Again… I am not sure who these gals were but they were certainly into the spirit of the parade theme if not into the spirit of some medicinal marijuana.

Miss Casey’s Inn followed by a Stinson of sorts.

Natural Resources borrowed a half helicopter (sans engine and main blades) which I found out later is one of the two helicopters I will be using to set up a helicopter training school in Lac du Bonnet at the end of this year.

A cool car.

How do tires tie in with an Aviation theme??

Oh, yeah… the Goodyear Blimp.

Here comes James Moran. Somehow he looks the same in costume or out. Just a big happy bear.

Kids of all sizes enjoyed the parade.

Mopping up the parade were the fire trucks and the RCMP.

Another feature of the Canada Day Celebrations was the “Shine and Show”. I can’t help but admire the guys and gals who spend their time and money in keeping these classics roadworthy. That is what keeps us apart from the rich of the non-western world who collect luxury cars and keep them locked away in their mansions. In America and Canada it is the middle class (wealthy collectors like Jay Leno are really just middle class workers in values if not in income) who keep our heritage alive and enjoy sharing their hard work and dreams with the rest of us. Shine and Shows are the heart of America (i.e., Canada and the USA.)

And the Winner is….. My choice of the best Car in Shine and Show. Got to love it.

And of course what would Canada Day be without the Carnival where we caught up with Logan who was doing the rides with his high school friends.

And the Winner of Miss Minnawawa 2006 is….

The rest of the day was made up of swimming, canoeing, beer gardens, the Strong Man contest, the Miss Minnawawa contest, beer gardens, swimming, BBQ ribs, and of course the grand finale… the annual Lac du Bonnet Fireworks are known as the best in Manitoba. The conditions were perfect with a warm mosquito-less night and a glass of Kelowna red wine. The end to a beautiful day. Canada Day is not so bad after all.