HOME | ARTICLE ARCHIVES | CLASSIFIEDS | NEWSPAPER ARCHIVES | Email Us |
Rain, rain, go away, come again another day. That seemed to be the theme on June 19, when the Park Extension Youth Organization (PEYO) staged its annual start-of-summer celebration in Howard Park. For much of the day, the weather was hot and sunny. More than 1,000 people, especially children, from the neighbouring area turned up to enjoy the sports, games and musical entertainment.
Caught off guard
However, around the middle of the afternoon, the sky darkened with forbidding clouds, and a torrential rain fell, catching some by surprise. Turning up around this time, Papineau Liberal MP Justin Trudeau is reported to have been drenched in the downpour. Park Extension city councillor Mary Deros and Borough Mayor Anie Samson both later turned up when the rain had finally stopped. Laurier-Dorion Liberal MNA Gerry Sklavounos was a no-show. According to a PEYO organizer, he was away in Greece.
While it was a short-lived rain storm, the crowd quickly dispersed and PEYO staffers, at least one of whom was thoroughly soaked, almost seemed ready to call it a day. That’s when the cloud cover broke and the sun came out. The inflatable games, most of which had been taken down by this time, were brought back up. A mini-train — which was ferrying kids around the park until the rain brought the fun to a halt — started up once more. Hundreds of children with their parents streamed once again into Howard Park for the second half of the day’s festivities, which included musical performances into the night.
Family events
According to Deros, organized public events like the Park O Fête are important in Park Extension, where a significant number of parents haven’t the money to take their large families out for entertainment. The Park O Fête is one of at least two big outdoor bashes held in Park Extension each summer. “Most of the families here coming from different parts of the world don’t have the means to go somewhere like La Ronde,” she says.
“La Ronde will cost easily over $100 for a family of four. And then you’re looking at buying food, drinks and so on. It can be costly. This is more important than people realize and it’s local. They don’t have to go far and the parents can let their children come here on their own. They will then come here later on to bring them home. This is so close to their homes. It’s in the heart of Park Ex. And this is something that is looked forward to every year.”
Deros’s picnic in doubt
However, while Deros also holds an annual picnic each year in Jarry Park to which to which everyone looks forward, she’s not so sure it’ll happen this summer. “We may or may not, but the tendency is we will not,” she says. She says her picnic is being downgraded because there are so many other activities planned in Park Extension in the coming months. Instead, she foresees a big celebration next year around this time to coincide with the end of Park Extension’s 100th anniversary.“We now have about a year between now and next year to put together a program that will truly showcase and close the end of the Park Ex centennial celebrations.”