VIDEO: Big turnout for Community Day in Langley City

Thousands filled the streets around Langley City’s Douglas Park on Saturday, June 18, for the first Community Day since the pandemic.

Councillor Rosemary Wallace, chair of the City Community Day committee said it was the largest attendance ever recorded for the event.

“I was overwhelmed, actually, with this turnout,” a delighted Wallace told the Langley Advance Times.

“I thought the day went very well. It was a party to be had.”

Wallace praised the volunteers, City staff and committee members who worked hard to organize the all-day festival.

“It’s such a positive thing to have this after a couple of years of COVID,” Wallace commented.

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Community Day was started 27 years ago by then-mayor Marlene Grinnell, who was to be acknowledged as the founder on the day of the event, but was unable to attend owing to a family responsibility.

Wallace, an artist, created an image of Grinnell “in her famous red jacket and holding up a Community Days Sign,” to be presented later.

Among the attractions were a rock climbing wall, free games, and the return of the Langley Fire Department practice for kids, that included donning turnout gear and hitting a target with a fire house.

There were more than 40 community booths, the most ever, including the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, which was raising funds for Ukraine relief, Encompass Support Services and the Langley Animal Protection Society (LAPS), which was visited by Brookswood resident Bob Schwartz and his dog, Evelyn, a 10-year-old rescue that he adopted from the LAPS shelter.

“It’s nice to be back in action,” Schwartz observed, “good to get back into life.”

Mayor Val van den Broek opened the day by giving thanks.

“It’s been a long couple of years and we are so super happy to have everyone here again,” van den Broek sad.

READ ALSO: Langley City’s Community Day will go virtual

More than 20 food trucks were serving everything form min-doughnuts to burgers, and the main stage was host to a wide range of acts.

Performers included the Country Cuties dance team, Langley Chinese Arts and Cultural Association, Quintessential Jazz Band, Langley Community Music School, and Krystle Dos Santos.