The Town of Donalda donned its party colours to celebrate Canada Day with various events throughout the day, the mainstay being the afternoon parade on Friday, July 1.
The celebrations in town goes back to the 1990s according to Bruce Gartside, president of the Donalda Community Promotion Society (DCPS) and Village of Donalda councillor.
Although Gartside has been in the town for only eight years, he said that the DCPS was formed in 2009 and took over the organization of Canada Day events that same year and continues to do so.
“We get a lot of community support for the parade which is great to see and makes all the events possible,” said Gartside. “The highlight for the parade though was four years back in 2012 when we held Donalda’s Centennial, but this year the parade ran for almost an hour and that is pretty huge for a small town.”
The parade was a representation of local businesses and community organizations in Donalda mainly, with the County of Stettler participating in the parade as Reeve Wayne Nixon and his wife waved to the crowds and CAO Tim Fox who drove the float distributing candies to the kids who had lined up.
Also in the parade was the Stettler Fire Services.
Donalda started its Canada Day celebrations with brunch at the local church, followed by pie/ice cream and coffee at the Donalda Coulee Friendship Centre.
There was also a coin pit with $100 in it for the kids with local entertainment for everyone as Loose Change played some numbers and kept the crowds engaged.
There were kids’ games organized by the Donalda Library with prizes, while Donalda Museum sold hot dogs and ice cream and even held a market.
Later in the evening there was supper on the Main Street and the people of the town watched a fantastic display of fireworks to end their celebrations.