It is surprising that the collective breath of this community earlier this week did not cause somewhat of a windstorm.
When organizers of BC Bike Race, Canada Day festivities and International Choral Kathaumixw looked at their respective calendars and saw the convergence of a race, a birthday party for a nation and an opening concert for a choral festival all falling on July 1, there was a collective intake of breath.
Once the understanding sank in about what it would require to pull off three very large and simultaneous events, the organizers went about putting plans in place. A “let’s make it happen” approach was taken and resulted in close cooperation between everyone.
Kathaumixw’s concert would take place at the Great Hall in Powell River Recreation Complex as usual. The bike race would have its accommodation at Willingdon Beach as usual and Canada Day festivities would move to Larry Gouthro Park.
Host families collected their choir billets. Cyclists were welcomed by hundreds of people and a band at the Wharf at Westview when they arrived, albeit a little later than scheduled. Canada’s birthday, complete with cake, entertainment and games was well-attended in a new location, as attested to by lines of cars on Manson and Bowness avenues and hundreds inside the park.
Volunteers lined up as they typically do in Powell River, filling roles both outdoors and indoors. None of the events suffered from a lack of people willing to help with the multitude of tasks required to ensure each would go on to be a success.
What a week it was. On Tuesday and beyond, the streets were full of people, the trails full of cyclists. Businesses were full of customers looking for something to take home to remind them of Powell River, restaurants were full as staff fed everyone. Grocery stores were busy as shelves needed to be restocked. Host families were transporting their billets back and forth to practices, concerts and barbecues.
The excitement started to build on June 30 and continued until the last tearful farewell on July 6.
Give yourself more credit than ever before, Powell River. We did it and we did it better than ever. It proves what a vibrant, welcoming, giving, caring community we are and that we can pull off large events, even if part of them concentrate on one day.
And there was no damage done as that huge deep breath was released when it was all over.
