Happy Canada Day! This year on Canada’s 150th Anniversary of Confederation, Windsor had much to celebrate. 2017 also marks the province of Ontario’s 150th and the City of Windsor’s 125th anniversary of incorporation.
Canada Day in Windsor began with the Canadian Citizenship Ceremony at the Adventure Bay Family Water Park presented by WFCU Credit Union. Mayor Drew Dilkens was honoured to welcome 40 individuals into the Canadian family.
Immediately following the ceremony the City of Windsor unveiled the Windsor125 Public Art Installations that were funded by the Government of Canada’s Building Communities through Arts and Heritage Grant. The installations are entitled ‘Windsor Snapshot’ created by Christy Litster and ‘Yesterday and Tomorrow’ by Alaa Elbarbary and Kristina Bradt. Both pieces can be found on the transformer casing wall at the Chimczuk Museum and the Art Galley of Windsor.
The celebrations continued with the annual Canada Day Parade. This year’s parade was one of our largest to date with thousands of patriotic citizens lining the streets of Walkerville and downtown. Representatives from our sister cities, Manheim, Gunsan, Changchun and Las Vueltas participated in this year’s parade and were overwhelmed by the patriotic crowds and positive reception.
The festivities continued in Festival Plaza with “Windsor Sings”. This first time event featured over 200 local choir volunteers from churches, schools and community groups. With only one rehearsal, the spectacular choir sang O Canada to start the ceremony. The crowd then enjoyed complimentary Canada Day cupcakes, entertainment and much more. It was a wonderful celebration for our country’s 150th.