Langdon’s 69th Annual Langdon Days commenced on July 18th and ran through to July 20th. These three days of fun-filled activities was organized by the Langdon Community Association (LCA) as a fundraising event to generate money for community initiatives. Last years’ event was instrumental in raising money for the playground that was built in Langdon Park this past spring. Langdon Days is planned and run by hundreds of volunteers – well done Langdon!
Friday’s activities began at 6 pm with the first games of the weekend-long Slow-Pitch Tournament and the opening of the Beer Gardens; a very welcome respite for the hard-working souls who managed to make it to Friday. Beer Garden tickets went for $15 and included a live performance by "Quentin Reddy", a rising star in Canadian country music.
Saturday’s festivities began at 8 am with a free pancake breakfast and it ran until 10 am – something that the adults who stayed up late on Friday night were doubly thankful for. By 10 am parents and children were crowding along the sides of Main Street, armed with hats, camping chairs, and goody bags, anticipating the beginning of the parade. Floats of all sizes and shapes cruised and clopped down Main Street, tossing out candy and in several instances, water – lots of water. But the residents of Langdon were not helpless in the face of this soggy onslaught; they had their own super soakers and buckets of water and they weren’t afraid to use them! And, after the near drowning of her camera during the Indus parade, this reporter wisely brought an umbrella which she whipped out whenever the camera was threatened. There were several wistful looks cast in her direction.
Now to address the candy toss discrimination – why should candy only be thrown to the children? Every adult has an inner child clamoring for sweets but it is socially frowned upon for them to scramble for the candy among the kids. So, next year, could a few pieces of candy make their way to the adults standing on the sides?
As soon as the last floats rolled away the crowds began the migration to Langdon Park for the Children’s Festival; wristbands were $10 per child. There were bouncy houses, wagon rides, pony rides, face painting, caterpillar striker, batter up, mini full court, petting zoo, hydro blaster, and a toddler area. Synergy youth activities ran from 12-4 pm and the horseshoe tournament kicked off at 12:30 pm. RE/MAX even had free balloon rides in the works but until the wind died down they were unable to risk taking anyone up in the air.
Evening entertainment in the Beer Garden cost $20 and featured a live performance from "High Steppin’ Daddy", one of the members is local Langdonite Glenn Baker. Unfortunately the fireworks had to be canceled due to the windy weather yesterday evening but they are hoping to reschedule later in the year.
Sunday started off at 10 am with a church service in the park. New this year was a skateboard tournament that showcased the local talent and started at 1:30 pm and a little overcast weather didn’t stop them. Registration for the skateboard tournament cost $3. The skateboarding tournament started strong but unfortunately the afternoon’s thunder showers ended things earlier than anticipated. The tournament will be moved to another date as we are looking forward to seeing the rest of the entrants from the tournament this year. This was a new addition to Langdon Days and they were very happy with the turnout and how the tournament started out, too bad it had to end early; nobody can control the weather. The Car Show and Shine had a number of pretty cool cars; it was neat to move through history by looking at cars from past decades that have been beautifully restored. Also on display were vehicles that have been modified with spectacular additions such as custom sound systems, engines and paint jobs.
A few words from Sarah Reuangrith of the LCA Communications:
‘Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate with us this weekend. It was beautiful weather (up until Sunday afternoon) and I personally really enjoyed spending the weekend with my fellow Langdonites. A big thank you goes out to the volunteers, this type of events requires a lot of them and we couldn’t do it without them. We look forward to celebrating in 2015. Mark your calendar for the third weekend in July. We hope to see you then!’
