Raymond hosts reverse parade for Canada Day

UNIQUE CELEBRATION: With a clever approach to social distancing, Raymond's July 1 parade featured a stationary parade and the viewing audience on the move. Parade entries lined up along Broadway while vehicles traveled up and down to enjoy the entries. The local Rotary Club featured a colourful entry while final adjustments were made to entries just prior to the event rolling out to a steady flow of mobile parade goers. WWN PHOTO SUBMITTED

By Greg Bobinec
Alta Newspaper Group – Lethbridge

With COVID-19 halting almost all Canada Day events throughout southern Alberta, community organizations found ways to keep communities connected for the nation’s celebration.

The Rotary Club of Raymond celebrated with just town members for their annual Canada Day parade. This year, organizers had to change the plan of how the parade was going to function for social distancing, and decided to do a reverse parade where floats sit in the middle of the road, and townfolk drive around.

“Everybody likes everybody here, it’s a great town to raise your family in, everybody likes to do things together,” says Robert Bisett, Rotary Club event organizer. “We decided to not have the spectators close together and they will drive by in their cars, so it is a reverse parade. We do have an incentive for people to participate by giving them a little cash to help with their decorating costs.”

Whether it was bringing communities together, or celebrating together as one, southern Albertans found ways to show their Canadian spirit in their own unique ways.