Every year after the snow has melted and the flowers blossom, Beaver Valley comes alive with the anticipation of another May Days event. This year is no different.
The annual event, which is in its 101st year, has added a few new wrinkles to the schedule, which kicks off tonight.
New this year is the 5-10 km walk run that begins at 8 p.m. tonight. It starts in Haines Park and ends in the park, just before the fireworks begin at 9 p.m.
“It is a whole new concept this year. We’ve done it as a Sunday morning thing before, and we’ve had maybe 30 people go,” explained David Chartres of the organizing committee.
“This year it will be on Friday night. Candy Schroder has put in a real effort to make it a success. It is a dedicated 5km and 10km walk. The 5km walk will start on Molnar Rd and end in the park. The 10km walk will start at the park and go to Blue Bird Corner and back along the highway to town and back to the park.”
At 5 p.m. tonight, Skewers mobile restaurant and Confusion Taco mobile restaurant will also be on site, to add some new flavours to the already favourite Hot Dog extravaganza.
“We’ve never had vendors here before, it has always just been hot dogs and greasy hamburgers,” Chartres chuckled. “This year we’ve turned it up a few notches. Both vendors will be staying open late and right through the fireworks event.”
The Citizen of the Year event will be held at 7 p.m. tonight, the nominee this year is Craig Horsland.
“Usually we hold that event in the park, this year we’re holding it at the curling rink,” Chartres pointed out.
The fireworks display will begin after dark at around 9:30 p.m. There may be a few surprises this year and the fireworks might be the best that the village has seen, with an extra $500 added to the budget.
The guided tours of the Waneta Dam expansion start at 10:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Saturday. “There are a few problems with this event,” Chartres explained. “The problem lies with the Columbia Power Corporation not having enough tour guides for the last two trips. Last year we had four trips down there and all were full. This year we made it so that one of the trips was for seniors only and that tour has completely sold out.
There will be at least one more trip after that for the general-public.”
Worth noting is the showcase of the performing arts on Saturday.
“It is a new event that we have added,” said Chartres. “There will be ballet dancers, some classical guitar, a pianist will be playing, and general things like that, with a bunch of different people coming to perform.
“It will start at around 1 p.m., and we hope to keep that going until 8 p.m. The Kootenay Jack band will be playing in between performances,” added Chartres. “It is a totally new event with many surprises.”
The iconic kiddie car rides have also been repaired thanks to Ken Stephenson, and Willy Wagner.
“They have both worked hard on getting them up to par,” said Chartres. “They spent all winter repairing them.”
Also added to the festivities this year is the Dig Dirt Day taking place on Saturday from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. at the arena, there will be big pile of sand for the kids to play in. The village’s equipment will also be on display, with tours allowed for the kids.
“There will be plastic trucks, and toy hard hats, and shovels for the kids to dig and play in the sand with, it will keep the kids busy,” said Chartres.
“There will also be a teen’s only carnival in the arena starting at 1 p.m. until 2 p.m., with music and activities for the teens, at a cost of $1.”
This year’s 3-3 street hockey event is lacking registration and there is a call out to all those wishing to participate.
“It is the second year this event has been run and last year we had enough participants. So far this year there hasn’t been any. We need people to know that the event is taking place this year too, and that all those wanting to participate should get registered.”
May Days highlights
Friday4 p.m. to 8 p.m. – Slo-pitch5 p.m. to 7 p.m. – Liberty Foods hot dog extravaganza7 p.m. – Beaver Valley Citizen of the Year at the curling club.7 p.m. – Family run-walk at Haines Park.7:45 p.m. – Ladies cast-iron pan throwing at Haines Park.Dusk – Fireworks
Saturday8 a.m. – Antenna Trail hike in Montrose8 a.m. to 11 a.m. – Lions’ Pancake Breakfast8 a.m. to 6 p.m. – Baseball8 a.m. all day – Slo-pitch10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. – Guided tour of the Waneta Dam10:30 a.m. to 4:20 p.m. –Train ride leaves from Pole Yard Lane at 10:30 am, second train at 1:00, 1:50, 2:40, 3:30 and 4:20 pm. Call Dianne to reserve tickets 367-955911 a.m. – Rotary barbecue.Noon – Parade starts downtown and ends at curling rink.1 p.m. to 2 p.m. – Teens only carnival in arena.1 p.m. to 5 p.m. – Dirt Day, village equipment on display1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. – Bingo at curling rink.7 p.m. – Texas Hold’em Tournament at curling rink
Sunday8 a.m. to 11 a.m. – Lions Pancake Breakfast10 a.m. to noon – Bocce at Mazzochi Park2 p.m. – Watermelon eating contest at Haines Park.