It began as it always does with a dance. That perennial June 30 event not only kicks off Snow Lake's premier summer celebration, but offers more than a bit of foreshadowing of the good times yet to come. This year it was pretty special; a band called Face to the Sky, featuring former Snow Laker Cathy Denby and her niece Rikki Mclean Hampton, performed at the event. They were outstanding! They had a great repertoire, some exceptional players, and Mclean Hampton has a fabulous voice!
The following day, folks who had headed home early, or those who weren't quite as resolute in their revelry, joined others who continued on through the early morning hours and assembled at the Senior Centre for the annual pancake breakfast.
Following breakfast, the setup began for a fun-filled day of races, contests, draws and excited celebration. People arrived at the Sunset Beach venue with the parade, which winds its way along the lakeshore from the uptown and concludes at the beach. The parade featured a wide variety of floats chased by an even broader assortment of children. Treats tossed from former eventually ending up in the possession of the latter.
I'm sure most would agree that the Town of Snow Lake's float was the surprise entry of the event. Although they usually have something in the parade, they went all out this year in celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the discovery of gold in the region.
Once the parade ended and its participants gathered in the beach parking lot, people made their way to the center of the beach where the flagpole is situated. At noon, Second World War veteran Ben Foord, 94, raised the flag, while two red serge-attired RCMP officers, the Royal Canadian Legion colour guard, parade marshal Rene Lamontagne, and junior rangers from Snow Lake, Lynn Lake, Gillam, and Winnipeg stood at attention and led all in attendance in the singing of the national anthem. Once finished, the hunt was on for a knife, as next on the agenda was the cutting of the Canada Day cake. Mayor Clarence Fisher and EMT Velma Yates cut and passed out the cake, while Alexandra Hornyak handed out ice cream on behalf of United Steelworkers Local 7106.
Following cake and ice cream, the kids races began with a flourish, as did the money dig (cash in plastic bags hid in mounds of sand) in another area of Snow Lake's spacious and well maintained, albeit wet, summer gathering place. Shortly thereafter, beach volleyball, face painting, a fishpond, and a bouncy house, got underway in another areas of the beach. In still another area, mini-golf and horseshoes went into full swing.
The beer gardens and a food booth (specializing in perogies and cabbage rolls) were both popular spots and a dunk tank kept some entertained; while the beer garden talent show garnered almost everyone's attention. We witnessed some prime performances from Rocky McLeod, Tara Semaniuk, Angel Cann, Terry Hornyak, Cheyenne Tandy, Carly Brew, Hailey Proulx, Skylar Plante, Scott Booth, Annette Lamontagne, and Dane Armsworthy. Over around 6 p.m., the beach was blocked off and taken over by Snow Lake's Volunteer Fire Department, as they put the finishing touches on the fireworks setup that they worked at all day.
Finally, as darkness settled in, people began to gather at the beach for the firefighter's annual display. Over the past decade or so, former fire chief Ivan Ward has directed Snow Lake's much heralded display. This year, he let others step forward and take a lead role, while he sat back and just watched. He was no doubt as impressed as everyone else with Fire Chief Cory Anaka and the Snow Lake Fire Fighter's show. I'm certain that I have used every glowing phrase and complimentary explanation that I know in recounting the department's talent and their display each year and I have no doubt repeated myself on numerous occasions. Nevertheless, this year their talents were unsurpassed! They not only put together an unbelievably artistic display that lit up our northern sky, they were called out to a fire just as the appointed hour of the display was to begin. They rushed to a nearby residence (leaving several members to guard the display), put out a backyard fire that was left unattended and had ignited a nearby fence, then returned to the beach and got the show underway! Just an unbelievable job guys on both the fireworks and the fire suppression many thanks on behalf of all Snow Lake!
