It was a fusion of colours as people came out early in drones to West Stettler Park on Wednesday, July 1, to celebrate 148th Canada Day. With the weather keeping up well, it was easily among one of the biggest attendance the park had had.
With the band Loose Change playing, it was just some plain old fun in the sun, and that seemed to be just fine with the community.
“It has just been a great day with the family,” said Mary Yanitski, who was visiting from Edmonton with her two girls. “The weather’s been great and we are looking forward to the music and fireworks later today.”
People had come out with blankets, lawn chairs, and other seating arrangements to enjoy the long hours at the park. There were two food trucks that had parked, doing brisk business.
Kids scaled the hills in the park, and skateboarded and biked along the paths. Children had a field day as they played games and had cupcakes, which was a part of the celebrations.
Loose Change, part of Entertainment in the Park, had Jeff Lee as lead vocal and on rhythm guitar. Wayne Carstairs was on guitars and background vocals, along with brother Dave Carstairs, who was playing bass. And Scott McKnight played drums and was lead and background vocals.
Although the band was on stage from around half-past-six, warming up, they didn’t begin their performance till eight. Starting with soft rock numbers, they also played requests from the crowd, including classics and old numbers.
As the sun set more people strolled in and the park transformed into a place of community, culture, and music.
“We love playing in Stettler, although we have played in neighbouring towns and cities like Calgary and Edmonton,” said band member Wayne Carstairs.
This was Loose Change’s third time playing at Canada Day celebrations.
“We know the town loves music and we are going to play a wide variety,” said Jeff Lee before the start of their performance. “Some country, some classic rock to old numbers. Maybe even some heavy metal.”
With night descending gradually, people started getting ready for the fireworks, and moved towards the water across which the fireworks would be launched. Around quarter past 11, the fireworks lit up the sky with a deluge of colours and for the next 10 minutes held the crowd in rapture with a spectacular show.
Between the sounds of fireworks and the appreciative silence that filled the air, Canada Day had come to a beautiful end.