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Northwest Territorial Days parade in N.B. sees large turnout

Aug 15, 2018 | 12:00 PM

 

 

 

The Northwest Territorial Days parade came through the streets of North Battleford Tuesday evening, officially kicking off the 131st annual exhibition and fair.

Jocelyn Ritchie, general manager of the Battlefords Agricultural Society, the non-profit organization that organizes the event said she was thrilled with the support this year.

“We had a great parade, with a big turnout and over 150 entries,” Ritchie said, adding the total count was up by about 20 entries more than last year.

The only concern she had was that a number of participants in the parade were throwing candy and other handouts to people watching the event.

Ritchie said whether they are in a moving vehicle or walking, no one in the parade should be throwing anything to onlookers, because this can create a safety issue when children run out onto the road to collect the items.

Participants who planned to hand out candy and other goods were asked to walk up to families watching the parade and give them the items directly instead.

“I’m thinking about perhaps not allowing candy in years after this, because people don’t obey the rules,” Ritchie said. “They are still throwing candy and people are running out onto the streets. I think it’s a big hazard. So I believe this will be the last year for candy at the parade.”

Ritchie said the board will be discussing the matter when it meets again in September. She said Saskatoon already doesn’t allow parade participants to give candy and other items to onlookers for the same reasons.

She added anyone with comments about the parade, whether positive or negative, should bring them to the agricultural society office so they can be presented to the board later.

“We want to do the best for everybody and have a wonderful parade for next year,” Ritchie said. “Everything is appreciated.”

The parade route also offered some challenges as it had to travel through a couple of residential streets due to downtown construction. This made it difficult for people who reside on these streets to access their homes. Ritchie said the city decides the route, so the organizers had no choice unfortunately.

“I just want everyone to know that,” she added. “We’re going to be working with the city and try to change it for future years.”

She said other than that the parade went well and received good feedback.

 

angela.brown@jpbg.ca

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