Pipestone Flyer
An early morning thunderstorm on the day of the Warburg Heritage Day celebration on June 28 threatened a cancellation of the parade. Fortunately, by the time Village Council and the Administrative staff had served 250 pancake breakfasts, the storm had dissipated enough for the parade to go ahead as scheduled.
The parade began at 11 am west of the Arena with a light sprinkling of showers. Piper Cody Grinder of Sylvan Lake followed behind the RCMP lead car. Les Nemeth served as Parade Marshal and this year’s entry judges were Diana Bachand, Councillor Kevin Maine, and Donna Tomaszeski.
The Party in the Park was scheduled to open at noon, but because showers still threatened, the venue was changed to the Community Hall and Curling Rink—AKA Pioneer Recreation Centre (PRC). Four local students - Ocean Anderson, Levi Bengtson, Kodie Chapman, and Ayden Robinson - sang a lovely rendition of “O Canada” to get the party started. A special entertainer from Edmonton, balloon artist and magician extraordinaire, Phileas Flash, amused both kids and adults.
Numerous local non-profit groups offered food items for sale; Grade 11 Concession, Warburg Legion #205 Beer Gardens, Warburg Historical Society (Museum) with their delectable homemade pies, Warburg FCSS featured cotton candy, Power Off Predators Foundation (POPF - a group that educates the public about the child luring practices of internet predators) offered Sno-Cones, games and a candy basket raffle. POPF Presenter and Board Member Jessica Strathern said the group has a Youth Board to help keep the adults in the loop of what is current and trending online and where the predators are likely to be lurking.
In the curling rink, Warburg Cultural Society (WCS) sold piping hot perogies, sausages and cabbage rolls, and sundaes. WCS President Linda McLaughlan said Oktoberfest in November will be hosted by WCS on November 8. Be sure to bring your best ‘Schuhplattler Shoes!’ The annual Art Gala will be held on September 27.
Kids migrated to the south end of the curling rink to enjoy the Leduc County sponsored bouncy castle, face painting, glitter tattoos and the special duck fishing pond. According to Leduc County Summer Program Coordinator, Nicole Harrish, the large inflatable bouncy castle couldn’t be used indoors, but the smaller castle fit to allow just enough headroom.
Throughout the day, various baseball teams played at Blue Willow Park. After the dance, the crowd enjoyed a fireworks display sponsored by Capital Power.
The 9th Annual Demo Derby co-organizer, Leslie Fortier, reports there were 19 full size cars, 7 mini cars, plus one raffle car in this year’s derby. Fortier said they also considered cancelling the morning of the event because they weren’t sure the rain would stop, but the show went on to the delight of all 2500 attending. Brought to the derby by friends who wanted to show him a genuine, “red neck experience” for the first time, an unidentified Edmonton man won the raffle car draw and placed a respectable fourth. Fortier said the buy-back round gave the Big West 4H Club $156. The Sword and Helmet Raffle brought in $550 for the Stollery Children’s Hospital.
The following sponsors and donors helped make the day a success: Warburg Colony donated the eggs for the Pancake Breakfast, and Elizabeth Szepesy hand made cabbage rolls for the WCS dinners. Bathtub race sponsors: Dale and Audrey Miller, APECS, Vortex, Apollo/Alsike Construction, Warburg Corner, Highway 39 Café, Leduc Cinema, Leduc Walmart, South Edmonton Common Cinema and ‘Dam Foxy Designs’. Show and Shine trophies were supplied by Liba Racing. A BIG thank you for a successful Heritage Day event goes to Pioneer Ag Society, Village of Warburg, FCSS, Leduc County, and Leduc County Rec Board.
Pictured: Aahh-oooooo-gaaaa! Warburg 2014 Show and Shine People's Choice 1st Place Award goes to Carl Maciborski on his1928 Model A Ford. Maciborski's entry also took the 3rd place 2014 Heritage Day Parade Award in the Antique Tractors and Vehicles category. Photo by Linda Steinke