Councillors in Sechelt have given district staff the OK to continue planning for an alternative Canada Day and a Summer Music Series that can be delivered either online or in some other way that meets any health restrictions that remain in place.
“We are facing a summer where most of our festivals and events that we’re used to having that make our community so vibrant have been cancelled or postponed and even those that are postponed are unlikely to happen in the same way that we’re used to,” arts, culture and communications coordinator Siobhán Smith told council.
The Canada Day budget is $10,000, including a $3,200 grant from Heritage Canada, but Smith said any alternative celebration would likely come in at less than that and that this year organizers would not seek donations or sponsorships from local businesses.
“As compared to prior years, more of the Canada Day budget will be allocated to advertising in local newspapers and on social media in order to notify residents of the changes to the event,” she said in a written report.
No final decisions have been made about what Canada Day celebrations might look like, but some ideas have already been coming forward.
Coun. Matt McLean said he’d like to see “hundreds of smaller gatherings” street-by-street throughout Sechelt to bring the community together. “We can keep the numbers below 50, keep people outside with safe social distancing, but still come together.”
Coun. Alton Toth, who was to have been this year’s parade coordinator, said he was “disappointed that we won’t be going ahead with Canada Day festivities as we’ve known them forever,” but added that he liked the sound of McLean’s idea.
Smith said some of the other ideas put forward by the Canada Day committee have included:
• A coordinated singing of the national anthem, similar to the 7 p.m. salute to health-care workers.
• Neighborhood Association virtual or distanced block parties.
• Encouraging residents to decorate their home or front yard with red and white Canada Day decorations, with some supplies such as paper flags and sidewalk chalk provided by the District of Sechelt, and participants posting pictures of their decorations on social media with hashtags such as #chalkyourblock, #secheltbc and #canadaday.
• Canada-themed colouring contests and trivia distributed as full-page ads in the newspapers.
• Scavenger hunts that can be done while on a solo walk.
