“We call it paradise…”
Westside Daze is a great weekend for little children, for teens, adults and everyone who still has a little kid inside. The classic elements of a small town celebration are assembled each year by a team of hardworking volunteers, and the results are thoroughly enjoyed by hundreds of Westside residents and their guests. It’s the largest free celebration in all B.C. !
“We call it paradise, and to celebrate our good fortune, we’ve cancelled all rain activity and banished all mosquitoes to the other side of the lake”, crows the Westside Daze website (www.westsidedaze.com) for the event this year. The lineup for Westside Daze 2006 is stunning.
Bathtub Racing – water and guts
New this year is a Bathtub Racing Grand Prix, an event that’s had the adrenaline running for thousands of the fans of this rowdy nautical sport for decades. In tiny but powerful speed boats originally adapted to genuine cast-iron bathtubs, the “tubbers” will be competing for the points and glory that will put them ahead for the next stage of this summer’s world competition in the founding city.
In Nanaimo, BC, located next to the sea on Vancouver Island, Bathtub Racing has been an institution. Racers have often endured a gruelling trek over all 24 nautical miles of the choppy, whale-infested and ferry-routed Georgia Strait.
Several competitors will not survive the wild foam-water start, and the bone-crushing punishment that bathtub boat racers often take is legendary.
Big blue Lake Okanagan is a great place for a demonstration you and your friends will remember.
There’ll be plenty at stake this weekend for the bathtub racers at our own Gellatly Bay – the next set, over in Nanaimo, is “The Worlds”!
Share the fun!
Tell us about your favourite moments during this year’s Westside Daze, and about the activities most enjoyed by the kids in your life, too. Email us and we’ll put it on the website for the whole community to enjoy. Send your story to: cindy@experiencewestbank.com or deborah@experiencewestbank.com.
If you have a nice, crisp photo and you can give permission to use it, let us know who took it and who’s in it, we may be able to publish that too if there is room.
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The Perennial Parade
No matter how bizarre the weather might be, the parade route is lined with bodies, chairs and sun umbrellas by day. At night, the lakeside beaches at Gellatly Bay are covered in blankets. Hundreds of people are there with upturned faces, watching the fireworks across the sky and reflected in the water.
“The parade gets better every year,” says longtime Westside resident and business owner Elaine Ophus - “it was great eleven years ago, and it’s even better now. And I love the fireworks- they’re excellent. Westside Daze is another of the very special events that pulls our community together. Everything is free - it’s great for families. It’s another reason that the Westside is the Bestside. ”
This year is another of the Westside Daze that will feature a movie, viewed under the stars on the soft green field next to Johnson Bentley Aquatic Centre: the popular all-ages flick about abandoned sled dogs, Eight Below.
Let them eat cake!
Master Baker Peter Klein, an active and multiple-award-winning Rotarian as well as a skilled baker, is creating another gigantic, delectable cake for Canada Day. Past Canada Day cakes baked by Peter have been so large, it took several people to carry them to the table. Creamy and delicious, Peter’s is no ordinary cake- come and taste some for yourself at 3 PM on Canada Day.
Button one on - your toonie is a big help, and you can win!
Look for the sun over the mountain logo on Westside Daze ‘Community Booster’ buttons at these Westside locations:
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The UPS store in Towne Centre
- Ace Hardware
- The Bank of Montreal
- Cooper’s Grocery Store
- JK Schmidt Jewelry Store
- Pharmasave
- Quality Greens
- TD Canada Trust
- Westbank Legion
- Matterhorn Bakery
- Lordco
- Big O Tires
- Vintage Hills Golf Course
- Remax
- Sunshine Pets
- Westwood Retirement Resort
Each time you buy a Community Booster Westside Daze button, you’re supporting the celebration AND becoming eligible for special prizes. Each purchase gives you an entry for the draw for a fine man or woman’s watch, donated by JK Schmidt Jewelers, four day-passes to the huge big-name Rock n’ Ride concert at The Bluffs, a $100 gift basket from Pharmasave, and a host of other great prizes.
“The parade is great,” say two local dads, business person Danny Kacic and auto technician Roy Scheidegger.
“We’ll be taking our little ones there this year,” says Kacic, “even though one is afraid of clowns!”
Who’s in?
Past years have seen the parade participation of a variety of organizations such as the Westbank Museum and enthusiastic community service groups. The parade has featured people on horseback, floats, fire trucks with ‘refreshing’ hoses, and themes such pioneer days and gold panning. This year’s theme, since Westside Daze for 2006 is so big and so full, is Images of Canada. Bring your water, your sun umbrella and a chair and see what the float designers came up with !
You can get there without a car
Even if you live in Rose Valley or Glenrosa, you can leave the car at home.
Use your legs or take the bus to get to anywhere that Westside Daze celebrations are going on: to the Westbank Community Hall on Main Street, to Johnson Bentley Aquatic Centre and even down to the Gellatly Bay beaches.
Keep in mind that on Sunday evening, the road to Gellatly Bay will be car free before the fireworks, and available only to those with feet instead of tires.
When Westside Daze is over, you might want to explore the Westside’s many beautiful parks and trails, go paddling on one of the clear lakes, or even cross the bridge to stroll in downtown Kelowna. Transit buses connect you to Kelowna, and travel the Westside to many of our most beautiful parks and to two of our fantastic local wineries. The buses are air conditioned, and can carry two bicycles. If you have a small dog that will travel in a crate, it can come on the bus, too.
Young ones big and small
Sunday morning’s parade is just one of a wide range of things for young people to enjoy during Westside Daze. From Saturday until Monday, there’s much to do with and for children- there’s a fair on the soft green field next to Johnson Bentley Aquatic Centre with one tent after another sheltering activities, food and entertainment.
Look for the giant Remax hot air balloon and take a tethered ride into the air, enjoy face-painting, concessions, bicycle decorating and music. Check the Westside Daze website for times and the day for each of the special events.
Entertainment: Music in the air and a movie under the stars
An entire roster of tribute acts will fill the air with music on Sunday, following Saturday’s array of performances and amusements. There are “Show and Shines” for cars and motorcycles; a 50’s dance and even limbo, twist and jive contests.
Pancakes and Welcomes
The Westbank Rotary Club is at the heart of many of this community’s best projects and activities. On Sunday morning, the club will feed you pancakes and introduce our local dignitaries to kick off the parade.
Celebrate Canada and Westside Daze with Fireworks on July 2nd.
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The Westside of Lake Okanagan: Land of Art and Vineyards
Sculptures on the sidewalks and vineyards on the hillsides - the Westside offers a feast for the eyes. If you’re traveling along the main highway, stop for a few minutes, and look up.
The views unfold as your eyes move upward: sweeping vistas of meadow and forest, fruit-filled orchards, and acres and acres of grape-bearing vines adorn the lowlands and the mountainsides in our part of the world. Down below, at the foot of either end of the Boucherie or Gellatly Road bows stretches long, long Lake Okanagan, sparkling beneath the sun by day and the stars at night.
On July 2nd, the Westside Daze fireworks light the sky over Gellatly Bay, reminding us again of how much we have to celebrate in this beautiful Valley.
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