By Don Urquhart, Times Chronicle
Children’s music performances have returned to Osoyoos after a substantial hiatus of many years, as an extension of the current Music in the Park concert series and with a nod to the original Osoyoos women who organized the concerts in the past.
Janis St. Louis, member of the Music in the Park committee said the one-time event – Kids Day Festival – is “an extension of our current Friday night Music in the Park concerts. I wanted to do something directed towards children, and so I applied for grants.” Her CreativeBC grant application was successful and that kicked off a whole chain of events leading to a nearly half-day festival.
She relates how she was telling Francis Sologuk from Osoyoos Home Hardware about the event because she knew the hardware proprietor had grandchildren and is also keenly involved in children’s events locally. It then emerged that Sologuk and several other Osoyoos women had been organizing children’s concerts for quite some time when their own children were small.
This group included amongst others, Frances Sologuk, Sue Whittaker, Sue McKortoff, and Maureen Potter. “We’re all ex-school teachers and we all got together and said, ‘you know what? If Penticton can have Sharon, Lois & Bram, so can we’, and that’s how it started,” she explains. And in case you don’t fit the right age profile, the trio was a popular Canadian children’s music group founded in 1978.
She says more volunteers joined and carried it on. “We’ve got a wonderful group of volunteers, but we don’t have as many children’s concerts so we’re hoping to highlight that and maybe we can keep this as a yearly tradition,” she said. “I really would like to honour the original ladies that started it – they have a special place in my heart.”
She’s confident it will catch on, noting Osoyoos has the venues, has the volunteers and the number of families with young children continues to grow. And of course, there’s also no shortage of grandparents in Osoyoos, “and they’re the ones that spend the money,” she adds with a laugh.
Noting that Osoyoos Home Hardware is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year Sologuk said she has a number of things planned for the community. “This is our 40th year in business, we’ve owned Home Hardware for 40 years, and I wanted to do a few things for the community, so this is one of the things,” she said in reference to being one of the key sponsors of the Kid’s Day Festival.
The Osoyoos Museum is arranging for volunteers to make popcorn to give away and part of the budget is aimed at cookies for the kids and some cupcakes and water and apple juice. And there will be face painting with four face painters that will be taking turns, games and more.
The event also linked up with The Osoyoos Art Gallery which currently has an exhibition titled “Young at Art,” by students from Osoyoos Elementary and Secondary Schools as well as the Osoyoos/Oliver Homeschoolers.
The Kid’s Day Festival will kick off on Saturday, June 14 at 11 a.m. and run until 3 p.m. at the Town Hall Park next to the Osoyoos Farmers’ Market which will stay open slightly later (3 p.m.) to help keep the parents entertained too and maybe even get a bit of shopping in.
BBQ hot dogs will be served up in front of the art gallery, and music will be provided by Su Claire (11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.), Evan The Juggler (1–1:45 p.m.), and Juno-nominated Will’s Jams (2–3 p.m.). For more information visit Osoyoos Music in the Park.
