By Adam Prudhomme
Staff Reporter
Red and white will be prominent throughout Lennox and Addington and Deseronto July 1 as communities come together to celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday.
The fun gets started early in Greater Napanee as the town’s Emergency Services department hosts a pancake breakfast at the Strathcona Paper Centre from 7:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.
At 9 a.m. the Napanee Valley Cruisers will roll in for their 17th annual show and shine. The party really picks up from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with face painting, wagon rides, an air castle, music, games, scavenger hunt, 4-H display, cake and Emergency Services interactive displays. The day will be capped from 7 p.m. to dusk with music and dancing with DJ Digital Mike and a fireworks display on the lawn of the SPC.
In Tamworth the local fire department will host a pancake breakfast from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m at the fire hall. At 4 p.m. the judging will be held for the decorated bike contest with the parade through town commencing at 4:30 p.m. from the Hannah Funeral Home parking lot.
Music with DJ Mike Cowan begins at 5 p.m. at the ball diamonds with an air castle, face painting, kids game and classic car show with judging and awards for the classic car show taking place at 7 p.m. The fireworks display by the Stone Mills Tamworth Fire Department will light up the sky at 10 p.m.
Bath’s events get started at 10 a.m. as buskers roam the village, showing off their talents. The parade will get started at 1 p.m., departing from Finkle Shore Park and working its way through the village to Bath Public School.
Activities throughout the day will include a pickleball demo, Bath Artisans show and sale, Tai Chi demo, helicopter rides, Frontenac Military Vehicle Association display, horse drawn wagon rides, petting zoo, flag raising, a Loyalist settlement camp and kids activities.
The action will shift to Centennial Park at 5:30 p.m. for a full line up of live music, with folk, country, blues, pop and rock among the many genres that will be features. Fireworks will be set off around 10 p.m. A free bus shuttle will be runnings from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. to help cut down on the amount of traffic into the heart of the village.
As for Deseronto, they’ll start their jam packed day with a very Canadian activity: a ball hockey tournament. That will take place at the Deseronto Community Rec Centre.
At noon, the Barefoot Players will perform Toque’s and Tales, a fun French-Canadian folklore play. From 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. in Centennial Park there will be live music, games, stories, crafts, balloons, face painting, food vendors, obstacle course and scavenger hunt. New this year will be a special outdoor presentation of the classic family movie Honey, I Shrunk The Kids at 8:30 p.m. followed by fireworks. Families are encouraged to bring a lawn chair and blanket to the park.