Preparations continue for the July 1 Centennial Canada Day celebrations in North Battleford.
A memo was submitted from Tammy Donahue-Buziak, chair of the North Battleford 2013 Centennial Committee, on the plans for Canada Day, as well as centennial activities since the year began.
Centennial Canada Day celebrations begin at the exhibition grounds at 8 a.m. The plan is for a pancake breakfast, various food booths, beer gardens, wagon rides, children's activities, a vintage auto show, craft and artisan tables, along with the Amazing Race that will see participants compete for a grand prize of $20,000. There are also are plans for all-day musical entertainment.
The preliminary schedule for the day's activities on the main stage calls for the pancake breakfast to begin at 8 a.m., opening ceremonies at 9 a.m., and the Amazing Race kicks off at 9:30 a.m.
The entertainment lineup beginning at 11:45 a.m. starts with Poppa Bluez, followed by Charles Zielke, Cunning Men, Harry Startup, Thick as Thieves, Threez-a-Crowd, Sherman Doucette and Sound-Wave - Ed Bajak. The Barons of Buckingham with Dale Cameron and Gord Hildebrand end the day at midnight.
The ground stage will feature family-oriented programming including Battlefords Blend, Twink-elle the Clown, Aboriginal Youth Group, Ukrainian Dancers, Paul Hyunbai Jai (tentative) and Battle River Cloggers.
As well, a petting zoo, balloon animals, face painting, inflatable activities and water park will run from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. A dog show is set for 1 p.m.
Fireworks are scheduled for 11 p.m. to highlight the day of activities.
Teams continue to be accepted for the Amazing Race event with teams of four competing in a day-long race to test their mental and physical abilities. Four members per team will compete with an entry fee of $200 per person.
Donahue-Buziak also gave a written report on the previous centennial committee efforts, including a Centennial Proclamation Birthday Party in Central Park May 1.
The afternoon event was attended by dignitaries including Lt.-Gov. Vaughn Schofield. Festivities shifted to the Dekker Centre that evening for a dinner and a theatre performance with participants encouraged to dress up in period costumes. The Lieutenant-Governor was in attendance for that event as well.
The theatre performance included opera selections featuring North Battleford's Lisa Hornung and her colleagues, with attendance estimated at 200.
