Canada Week Memories from Paris Past

Canada Day, formerly known as Dominion Day, has been celebrated in Canada since 1867, when the British North America Act was passed, creating the Dominion of Canada. For many years, Paris, Ontario had one of the best Canada Day celebrations in the County of Brant. The festivities in Paris began a week or so before Canada Day with the annual garden party at Sacred Heart Church filled with events like square dancing, bingo, strawberries and ice cream, hamburgers, crown and anchor games for the adults and lots of games and prizes for kids. The week-long celebrations in Paris included a Miss Canada Day pageant held at the Paris Optimist Club hall, a three-day bicycle rally, many sporting events such as the annual Canada week golf tournament, a pet show and a soap box derby race down Broadway street hill. The celebration culminated in a huge parade that started at the Paris High School parking lot and marched down Grand River Street to the Syl Apps Arena for fireworks.

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I remember it was always perfect weather, thousands of people lined the streets of Paris to watch the Canada Day parade, a tradition since 1973. The parade included antique cars, horse-drawn carriages, the Blue Knights Motorcycle Club, the Miss Canada Day Princess & her runner up, an antique pumper from the volunteer fire department. Ontario Treasurer Robert Nixon rode in a fancy car, Smokey the clown was always the highlight as he was well known from the demolition derbys at the Paris Fair and he would hop on and off the hood of his derby car, he was such a character and he delighted kids and parents alike! Other crowd-pleasers were the Galt Kiltie Band, the Brant County Junior Farmers' float, and the Shriners Club of Brantford always had a float with a dozen characters making music in a very colourful float, one of them waving a big menacing sword nearly missing the artificial palm tree. Children were treated to free candy, balloons, & flags to wave and many parents took their children to watch the event Adults also came out for the fun, many loved seeing the sports teams and classic cars The parade lasted about an hour and ended at the Paris arena, where spectators were entertained by the St. John's Drum and Bugle Corps and the Ayr-Paris Band. The festivities ended with incredible fireworks display out over the river downtown.

Over the years, the Canada Day celebrations in Paris grew in size and scope, attracting visitors from all over the area. However, in 2007, the Paris Canada Day Committee announced that it could no longer afford to organize the event due to rising costs and declining volunteer support. As a result, the parade and fireworks were cancelled, marking the end of an era.