Celebration of Canada's 142nd in Guelph Special

Today was Canada's 142nd anniversary as a nation, and the cool wet weather in Guelph didn't keep anybody back! At least a few thousand people came out to Guelph's Riverside Park to take part in festivities.

The weather in Guelph today was the best so far this week. Although overall tending to be cool with continuing cloud cover, the rain held off for much of the day and there were actually brief breaks with sunshine! Guelph's Riverside Park is the oldest in the city, established in 1905. It is a fitting place to hold celebrations feting Canada's union. The 80 acre park follows along the Speed River (on both sides) for about two kilometers. It is home to a still-running antique carousel, although the carousel did not come to Guelph until the 1960s. Riverside Park is a lovely stretch of park, with enabling gardens, picnic areas, a playground, three ball diamonds, a bandshell, a lot of trees, and of course, the Speed River.

Stephanie Dearing

A photo depicting the home of Guelph's carousel.

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Here's a picture of some of the horses on the carousel:

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A picture of some of the carousel horses

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The celebrations were well attended, with at least two thousand people at the park today. One of the most popular activities was the petting zoo.

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People at the Canada day petting zoo.

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This little one was doing her best to get a peek at the chickens:

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Tot looking over a fence trying to see chickens.

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There was music, provided by the band Uncle's Spark, which played old and new rock classics, such as Led Zeppelin, to a reserved but attentive crowd:

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The band, Uncle's Spark, playing under rain shelters.

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There was a small midway this year, but two rides very popular with the teen set were available:

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The "hang glider" ride.

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The most popular event (while waiting for the fire works to begin later) at Guelph's Canada Day celebrations remains the show put on by Mega Mutts. This year was their 11th performance at the Canada Day party. Here are some of the crowd that turned out for the show:

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Audience for the dog show.

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The star of the show, Timmy:

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Timmy

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Most festivities in Guelph now have a water truck, and if you have a refillable non-plastic container, you can get free water fill-ups:

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Filling up a reuseable water container.

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There were many other activities, popular with a certain age set, such as checking out the inside of the fire engine:

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Checking out the fire truck.

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Here is some of the line-up for the miniature train ride that you can take at Riverside Park:

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Some of the line-up for the miniature train ride.

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Some of us party-goers got tired out a little too early and missed the Citizenship Ceremonies and fireworks!

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Tired out pup

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