It used to be that every weekend of the summer the Pilot photographers were kept busy travelling to cover community days. These events would sometimes include a parade, decorated bike contests, games of chance and lots of food.
People living away who call these communities home would often schedule their holidays just so they could be there to partake in the celebrations. It was a time for people to reconnect with each other. Even though some of the communities may be smaller in terms of their total population, busy lives mean that neighbours don’t get to stop and chat with each like they used to. A community day was something that you didn’t want to miss.
About five years ago we began to notice that the calls for coverage of these events were starting to decline. Now they are almost non-existent.
There may be a variety of reasons why communities don’t hold specific community celebration days. It may be a lack of interest from residents, or the volunteers who are essential to run these events are just not available to dedicate the time required. There are also communities who celebrate together on other occasions such as Canada Day or during a winter celebration.
Community days are the types of events where memories are made. Children will remember dunking their fire chief at the dunk tank or the parade float they were so proud to show off to the community. Adults will remember the smiles on the faces of the children and the great meals of fish and brewis, moose burgers and cold plates that are a staple for any community day celebration.
It’s sad to see the community days fade into the background. Last week the Pilot welcomed photographs sent to us from the Horwood community day celebration. We encourage organizers of such events to contact us at 535-6910 or editor@pilotnl.ca to arrange for coverage of your community events, or for submission of photographs. Here’s to a great summer and we hope to be able to feature photos from your festivities in a future issue of the Pilot.
Community connection cheer
While not on the issue of community days, residents of Lewisporte came together recently to show their support for Special Olympian Mike Austin as he competed in the Special Olympics Summer Games at a national level.
Mike received a motivational send-off and a hero’s welcome when he came back with a gold and two bronze medals. Even if he hadn’t won a single medal, you can be sure the response would have been just the same as Lewisporte threw their support behind Mike “Awesome”. Look to page 10A for more coverage from Mike’s Special Olympics journey.
— Karen Wells
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