Feature Article June 19, 2002
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No Canada Day celebrations in Sydenhamby Wilma KenneyThere will be no Canada Day celebration in Sydenham this year. For the last ten years, the Canada Day committee has provided a lively mix of entertainment, food and fireworks. Pop bottle races in the creek included the sudden lowering of the dam by the Conservation authority to give a dramatic surge of water; Wheatly Street was closed and lined with straw bales for soap box derby races; there were ball games, cow-patty bingo (if you cant guess, dont ask), musicians on the stage, ball games, performing police dogs, great food at the canteens, and a finale of spectacular fireworks over the lake after dark. Why no more? There seem to be two main reasons. One, its a lot of work for a lot of people to pull off a day like this, and volunteers get worn out. The second reason seems to centre around the food and fireworks. Fireworks cost money; food makes money. In order to pay for the evening fireworks, the Canada Day committee needed to be able to operate the two concession stands on the Point for the day. The Loughborough Recreation committee, which managed the point, would not agree to a one-day re-assignment of the canteen space. Council intervened, overriding the recreation committee, but the problem recurred each year. Dave Linton and Gerry Hazeleger, co-chairs for last years Canada Day committee, resigned, and explained their decision in the following statement: Canada Day Celebrations in Sydenham were of an idealistic nature, i.e. all should be able to afford to attend and enjoy. There were no admission fees and many childrens activities were free or subsidized. Keeping this an inexpensive celebration brought the crowds out, and eventually we were able to finance the current years celebrations with the previous years profit. Maintaining the level of this surplus allowed us to plan responsibly, have cash flow on the day and pay expenses in event of a dreaded rainout. Monopoly on canteen profits for just this one day gave us the financial viability that allowed us to preserve the idealistic nature of the celebration. Profits covered the cost of $3,500 of fireworks. Not having this monopoly meant we would need to extract more money from the community, ask local businesses or individuals for greater financial support, or petition council for local tax dollars. These options were not acceptable to us. We deeply regret that we were unable to convince our District Parks and Recreation Committee of our need for a (one day) monopoly on canteen profits. Even a policy that summer operators of the ball diamond canteen would keep that building closed on Canada Day would have been acceptable. Unfortunately without support from Parks and Rec. we may have appeared to be against any other volunteer group wishing to run a canteen. This of course is an invalid perception. Last year, we gave up on the struggle to procure use of canteens, paid expenses from the reserve, made a $2000 donation toward the park bandstand enhancement (benches, lighting, paint) and closed the bank account. With much sadness we announced our retirement from the Canada Day Committee at that time. Without canteen revenue, we felt we could not preserve the idealistic nature of future celebrations. Working with so many caring people on Canada Day over the years has been an honour and a privilege. The support from community organizations, individuals and businesses has been fantastic. From the Mayor and council to our volunteer fire department, all have been supportive. This and the army of willing community volunteers who showed up on the day have made our Canada Day Celebrations a showcase of community pride. Thanks to all who have helped put a smile on a childs face. Democracy allows us difference of opinion and promotes diversity of thought. Our retirement offers opportunity for others with fresh perception and new ideas to come forward and serve on future committees. Future Canada Day Committees in Sydenham will now fall under the administrative stewardship of our District Parks and Recreation Committee. We wish them the community support you have given us.
