What it means in the city

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/07/2008 (6303 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s clunkier than the paper flags most Winnipeggers were waving Tuesday, but Derek Schroder knows the perks of brandishing a flag taller than he is on Canada Day.

“I’ve had people follow me. I’ve had cars stop in the middle of the intersection to let me pass,” laughed the 22-year-old, who lugged along his oversized, six-year-old flag at the Osborne Village Canada Day festival Tuesday.

The order of the day for Winnipeggers during Canada Day festivities was to wave the flag while finding a way to keep cool in brilliant sunshine and temperatures that reached 30 C.

In the cool of the morning, about 1,000 runners and walkers lined up in Assiniboine Park for a 10K run, 3K walk, and 1K kids run, raising money for Canadian athletes going to the Olympics, Pan-American, and Commonwealth games.

“HBC have pledged to raise $20 million across Canada,” said Patrick Riddell, the race director. “And they give bursaries to 200 Canadian athletes of $5,000 each year.”

At lunchtime at The Forks, one vendor said Canada Day business was booming.

“It’s crazy,” said Sarah Martin, a vendor at the Two Rivers store. “We get three times as much business as we do on a normal day. But we’re excited and ready for that. We’ve got all the staff working today.”

“We brought in blenders and smoothies and we’re going to be making non-alcoholic drinks for all the workers to keep us cooled down.”

A couple of the most popular items Tuesday were Canada baseball caps and umbrella hats to keep the sun off, Martin said. Canadian flag tattoos and balloon sculpture hats were big too, judging by many kids in the crowd.

Ken Jansen, Kari Macklem, Denis Picton, and Janelle-Marie Emond came to The Forks at lunchtime to hang out and check out the shows. The group of friends knew it was Canada’s birthday but weren’t sure of the country’s age.

“141 years old,” Macklem said when told. “We’ll all gotta age, don’t we.”

Chris Mckinney and Melissa Beaulieu brought their two-year-old daughter Tiara to The Forks to walk around and see Canada Day at the market. Tiara was having her face painted like a pink-and-blue butterfly.

“It’s exciting,” Mckinney said of Canada Day. “It gives my daughter new things to explore.”

Thousands of Winnipeggers swarmed Osborne Village to check out bands and shop the vendors market at the annual street festival, with Osborne Street blocked off to traffic from River Ave. all the way to Confusion Corner.

“We’re proud of the country we live in, and glad to have the country we have,” said Sandy Cheadle, strolling hand in hand with Guy Sanfacon and wearing matching red floppy hats.

Despite the heat, Paul Deonaraine suited up in goalie gear for a Battle of the Bands street hockey match, which featured a prize pack including studio recording time for the winners.

“I’m sweating,” admitted the 23-year-old, who was rooting for his two-month-old band, Evil Dave and the Breadstick Monkeys, to take home the prize.

In the festival’s kid zone, nine-year-old Maya Janzen furrowed her brow over a chess match with cousin Tanner Kornelsen, using oversized game pieces arranged on the sidewalk.

“They seem very serious,” smiled Maya’s mother, Michelle Janzen, watching from the shade.

Gerry Laferriere from St. Boniface was cycling between Canada Day festivals across the city when the Free Press caught up with him at The Forks.

“For me, it’s a proud day to be a Canadian, that’s what it’s all about,” Laferriere said. “I do like the way everyone gets out, too.”

Jerrit and Chris Shemeluk and their two children had a spot staked out on a hill near the stage at The Forks, waiting for the fireworks. For them Canada Day was an outing and a chance to get together with buddies while staying cool under a large umbrella.

“We dragged all of our friends and their kids with us too,” Chris Shemeluk said.

In the afternoon, the Winnie The Pooh bouncy house at Assiniboine Park kept two-year-old Oakley Laronde out of the sun.

“It’s really great that they do all this,” said Oakley’s father Jason Laronde. “The city always does the free zoo, and they do all this for nothing. You can drive around all day and spend a dollar on a bottle of water.”

Michael Henderson strolled in the sun at Assiniboine Park wearing a Canadian flag as a cape, and with a Canadian flag stuck into his beret. He was taking in the park and supporting Canadian Olympic athletes. Canada Day is about unity and honour, Henderson said.

The sunshine kept one vendor at Assiniboine Park particularly busy.

“Sales are brisk,” said Darrell Hebert, selling sunglasses at a stand in the park. Two of his popular sunglasses had Canadian flags on the lenses.

For Shelley Warkentin and Gerald Chartier and their son Liam, Canada Day was about celebrating Canadian identity.

“It means celebrating our multiculturalism,” Warkentin said. “Celebrating who we are as Canadians. It’s a nice day for everyone to come together.”

will.tremain@freepress.mb.ca