Busy Canada Day planned for Rainy River

By Ken Johnston
Editor

Things are shaping up to be just ducky on Canada Day in Rainy River!
Rainy River KidSport is bringing back the Rainy River Kenducky Derby to the day marking Canada’s 143rd birthday! A limited number (320) of tickets are on sale at the Rainy River Legion and Wood’s Quality Bakery. If all of them sell the winning duck will fetch a top prize of $800! That is a 50/50 split with KidSport which will use its money to help kids participate in sports locally.
Canada Day activities will begin at 11:30 a.m. at Hannam Park with the 3rd Annual Teddy Bear Picnic. It is geared towards kids ages infant to ten years old. Kids can bring their teddy bears to the park and either pack a lunch or purchase concessions from the kiosk at the Government Dock. The concessions are being run by Rainy River Playschool Inc. for the day. There will also be other activities for older kids at the park. RR Rec. Director Meghan Shanks said, “We know many families come together so activities like bocce ball, croquet, badminton and volleyball will be available for older kids while the little ones have a picnic.”
At 12:30 p.m. the annual Youth Canada Day Parade will start to get organized as kids decorate their bikes. Shanks said that while it is called a “youth parade” anyone with a bike that wants to decorate it can do so and ride with the kids.
The parade will begin at 1 p.m. sharp and will go from Hannam Park up Main St. to True Value. It will then turn east and then south on Third St. and return to the park.
At 1:30 p.m. a full afternoon of family activities for all ages will begin at the park. There will be games, races and other fun things like shoe scrambles. “We have lots of great prizes for participants,” said Shanks.
At 5 p.m. the concession stand will close for two hours while the RR Volunteer Fire Dept. holds its annual pig roast in the park!
Then at 6 p.m. the duck race will begin when the ducks are dropped in the Rainy River upstream near Miller’s Creek! First one to cross the finish line at the dock will win the grand prize!
From 8-10 p.m. at the RR Arena, providing the humidity goes down enough to get the ice surface dry, there will be roller skating and roller blading there. Shanks said this will be the kick off for roller skating and blading every Tuesday throughout the summer. “People need to bring their own skates.”
Then the grand finale for a great day of fun will be at 10:15 p.m. when the RR Volunteer Fire Dept. blasts off its annual fireworks at the park! $5,000 has been invested in the show and it promises to be a good one!
Making Canada Day activities possible this year are the RR Vol. Fire Dept., RR Rec. Board, RR KidSport, RR Playschool Inc. and the RR Best Start Hub.