MAIDSTONE — Canada Day 2024 in Maidstone was celebrated in style. The morning started off with a pancake breakfast by Maidstone Bowling Alley with lots of volunteers and a good turnout. Thanks to Aaron and Melissa Paton for use of their grill and Walter Kohuch for his turkey cooker. MT Owens won the 50/50 and made a generous donation to the bowling club.
The slo-pitch tournament was organized by Maidstone Kin Club as a fun event and went all day. I'm told some team names are newspaper inappropriate but they added to the fun of the sport. With no declared winners, players and spectators just enjoyed some good old ball games.
The parade took off at 10 a.m. with the RCMP and Maidstone-Waseca Fire Department leading the way. Parade winners were: floats, Village of Waseca – first, Maidstone Kin Club – second, Keranda Industrial Supply – third; bicycles, Ben Henderson – first, Makayla Graham – second, Karlie Henderson – third; scooters and carts, Irene Olson – first, Joyce Orange – second, Jackie Gerbig – third; tractors, Vince Gerlinsky – first, Albert Duhaime – second, Bill McLaren – third.
Thank you to Parade Marshall Bill Foster for all the ribbons and work he’s put into the parade for over 20 years, and to Judges Betty Dekker, Cindy Hogan and Verna Donald who are always faced with some tough choices.
After the parade, tractors formed an impressive lineup in front of the museum in anticipation of races organized by Richard Meynberg. William Crocker of Vermilion came from farthest away. Winners were: under 2 mph, William Crocker (JD620) first, Richard Meynberg (JD2010) second; over 2 mph, Bill McLaren (JD70) first, Vince Gerlinsky (IH15-30) second, David Valliere and Brody Bohn (JD-A) third; garden tractors, Richard Meynberg first, Foster Boys second, William Crocker third; barrel rolling, David Valliere (JD40) first, Albert Duhaime (IH Model A) second.
Following the races, Vince Gerlinsky provided tractor-pulled wagon rides through the park all afternoon.
Jackie’s Pie Shack did a booming business and unfortunately ran out of pies by early afternoon. Thankfully my granddaughter snagged a piece of black cherry pie for me and it was amazing!
The kids’ scavenger hunt got underway at the Canada Geese near the pond in Delfrari-Victoria Park at 1 p.m., with 74 children participating along with adult assistance. Fifteen items (flags, beads and ribbons) were hidden along the pathway, proving to be an easy search for some but quite a challenge for others (young and old alike). Every child got a small prize bag with five names drawn for bigger prizes: Amber Schempp, Dima/Mazen Halabi, Lacey Johnston, Katie Mosher and Maddie Smith. Thank you to Saidai Mosher for helping me with this event and to Maidstone Museum Kids Account for funding it.
On the museum grounds, Maidstone Library set up a storyboard walk in the front yard in conjunction with the Summer Reading Program. Cliff Metherell provided an interesting telegraph demo in the CN Building. Greg Rigden fired up the coals to demonstrate his skills in the blacksmith shop and the Yellowhead Ramblers performed their music to a good toe-tapping crowd. Thanks to Henry and Joan Sawatsky and Garry Taylor for their awesome vocals.
Children’s races started at 2 p.m. in the museum backyard with potato sack, egg-on-spoon and sprint competitions in different age groups. Then came the Straw Stak Scramble with plenty of fun rummaging through the straw for goodies and coins.
Maidstone Museum drew their raffle winners at 3 p.m.: $500 Diamond 7 Meats voucher – Crystal Rosenthal and Currie Agro $500 fuel – Angeline Deschambault and Gorilla dump wagon – Dennis Maertz. Thanks also to AG Foods for doing up some awesome Canada Day toy/treat bags which were handed out on the CN Building deck by a museum volunteer. The museum concession saw a brisk business, selling out of a few items but managing to keep everyone satisfied till 3 p.m.
Maidstone Kin Club ran the beer gardens tent from noon to midnight with snacks till 3 p.m. and the grill going once the museum shut theirs down. They had a full house at times with everyone visiting and enjoying refreshments. The Kin Club raffle draw was made later in the day with the following winners: Travis Hutchison – two weekend passes to Dog Patch Music Festival, cooler of fun, set of camping chairs ($1,500 total value) and Nora Aldred – two weekend passes to Dog Patch Music Festival, homemade afghan ($700 total value).
The rain which had been forecast from early morning held off until 4 p.m. so it didn’t dampen the day’s activities and it cleared off in the evening in time for another awesome fireworks display provided by the Town of Maidstone. A few zealous residents also set off their own fireworks as the day came to an end.
Much appreciation is extended to all the volunteers who worked hard to bring us another memorable Canada Day in Maidstone.
