A change in vantage point can really alters one’s perspective of an event.
For the better part of the last decade, every single July 1 I could be found in Atwood entirely in a work capacity. I had my routine down pretty quickly that I generally followed to the letter every year; I would park at a buddy’s place in the north end of town, and make my way south down Main Street for the initial pass, gathering photos of locals and visitors alike decked out in their red and white to mark Canada’s birthday along the way. Once the parade started, I would backtrack to the middle of town, getting shots of floats, walkers and attendees in order to maximize some (hopefully) excited expressions and just the overall variety of my photo catalogue.
After the parade’s conclusion, I would attend the children’s games, ball tournament, band performances and general semi-drunken patriotic merriment of the crowd intermixed throughout. After about three hours, I had typically collected a solid array of photos that would accurately represent the day in the next edition of the Banner.
This year was very different for me. Since 2014 I had merely looked at Canada Day in Atwood as another task to complete. It’s difficult to soak in much of the revelry when you have a job to do; for the most part I’d be looking to get in and out of the town as quickly and efficiently as possible before I was either burnt to a ginger crisp or thoroughly soaked – there seems to be no happy medium when it comes to the weather on July 1.
After booking my holidays in the early spring, I told Mike that I’d be handing off the Atwood reigns to someone else in 2023. My holidays fell directly around Canada Day this year, and it only made sense to opt out. One would think that actually having my first July 1 off in a decade would see me as far from Atwood as possible simply for the sake of variety, but no, I wound up on Main Street at high noon on Saturday anyway, this time merely as a spectator alongside my family unit. And what a nice change that was.
It was nice to simply chat with friends and enjoy the day; nice to sit with my wife and kids and actually take in the parade before rushing off to get the next photo. Nice to have a conversation with someone I hadn’t seen in a while before having to cut them off mid-sentence because I had a schedule to keep.
Viewing this event through the lens of a regular attendee also made me appreciate how much planning and work goes into such a spectacle. In my opinion the Atwood Lions Club doesn’t get nearly enough credit for everything they do and the causes they support. For nearly seven decades, this organization has been putting one of the best Canada Day parties in Midwestern Ontario, and they do it with fluidity and modesty.
These guys have ensured that Atwood has a tremendous park for kids to play in, a pool to swim in, and a rink to skate on in the wintertime. Peripherally, the Lions don’t discriminate either, supporting causes on a broader scale throughout the municipality and beyond. A few weeks ago I was invited to a cheque presentation where they didn’t think twice of sending twenty grand MAP59’s way. It’s a Listowel-based project, but it’s obvious they can recognize its importance to the North Perth community.
Seeing the great work the Lions, Kinsmen, Kinettes and Ag. Society (among many others) do annually also makes me feel extremely guilty – guilty that I’m not overly involved in my community in some sort of volunteerism or service organization aspect. The way I look at it is my kids are still pretty young, and my time of service will come.
How the folks with kids the same age as mine – or younger – still manage to step up into these roles is beyond me. Probably has something to do with them being 10 years younger and having more energy than I’ll ever know again. Barring that, I really don’t have any further legitimate excuses.
In any case my hat goes off to all of you, and please know that your efforts don’t go unnoticed. They certainly didn’t by my family this past Saturday, so thank you to all involved.
Thanks for reading and I’ll see you back here in a fortnight.
***
This is a bi-weekly opinion column; for question or comment contact Dan McNee at dmcnee@midwesternnewspapers.com.
