As the sun rose on the Peninsula on Tuesday, hundreds of residents were getting ready to celebrate Canada Day in Sidney.
For the next 15 hours, the often quiet seaside town would welcome an excited sea of red and white for five, family-friendly events.
For many, the first of these was at the Mary Winspear Centre, where volunteers and members of the Sidney Lions Club doled out free breakfast, which included hefty portions of fluffy pancakes, sausage links, strawberry sauce and plenty of syrup.
Mary Winspear employee Dennis Lindquist was one of the hard-working team members who helped set up the early-morning event. He explained that, despite the hour-long line for food, the atmosphere there was positive.
“Everybody’s smiling and talking even while they’re standing,” he said.
Elizabeth May was also one of the folks there to ensure everyone got some grub. The Saanich-Gulf Islands MP, who has volunteered at the free pancake breakfast annually since 2009, said the opportunity affords her a chance to connect with her constituents.
“I love chatting with people,” she said, pausing to pour strawberry sauce over one attendee’s pancakes. “It’s a great, celebratory, happy day – all day.”
Later, hundreds flocked to downtown Sidney to catch the annual Canada Day parade, which began on Resthaven Drive, travelled down Beacon Avenue, turning right onto Second Street and ended at Ocean Avenue.
Marching bands, bag pipers, lacrosse teams, vintage cars, emergency and military vehicles, semi-trucks, clowns, choir singers and dressed-up dogs were just a few of the dozens of acts, paraders and floats that kept onlookers entertained.
Sidney resident Sharon McIntyre, who often attends the town's Canada Day parade, said this year she’d seen “more Canada flags than ... in a long time."
“For a few years, we were a bit unsure about how to best express our love for our country, and I think we’ve galvanized around some things that we’re against but also some things that we’re for,” she said.
The woman also spoke to the significance of parades like this one.
“We’re a teenage country," she said. "We’re just growing up, so we need these important moments ... to move forward.”
The afternoon brought with it more family-friendly entertainment at Iroquois Park, where a fair boasted games, food vendors, face painting and live entertainment for folks of all ages.
Just a few blocks away at Beacon Park, others were prepping for the Build-a-Boat Challenge, where teams had four hours to construct homemade vessels using a select number of materials – all provided by Slegg Lumber.
“They’ve put their hearts into building these boats,” said the race’s announcer Kenny Podmore.
Hundreds poured onto Glass Beach just before 4:30 p.m. to watch the teams race around two buoys, then back to shore. As the crowd cheered the contestants on. All but one boat completed the race.
The three teenagers on Boats and Bros finished first. They were later awarded trophies for their efforts.
"I feel that Canada is so patriotic this year," said Podmore. "The crowd that we’ve had have been nothing short of amazing.”
Later that evening, the shoreline filled up again – this time with folks there to close out Canada Day with Sidney's annual fireworks show.
