A giant yellow chicken that closely resembled former Osoyoos Mayor Stu Wells handed out candy along the 2014 Easter Eggstravagana parade route. Helping him was retired Councillor Michael Ryan. The 2015 Easter Eggstravaganza will continue, but there won’t be a parade.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Costs involved to organize small parade no longer viable, says board chair
The board with the Osoyoos Festival Society remains excited about the annual Easter Eggstravaganza even though they have decided to cancel the parade that has been part of the event since its inception 20 years ago.
“We’ve decide to cancel the parade,” said board chair Nancy Katerenchuk. “We’re in desperate need of volunteers and we weren’t getting a lot of people interested in the parade, so we made the decision that the event will proceed, but without the parade.
“It costs a lot of money to hold even a small parade when you factor in security and safety costs and we just didn’t feel like it was money well spent, so the parade won’t be taking place.”
This year’s event will take place on Saturday, April 4, the weekend before Easter.
The first annual Easter Eggstravaganza was held in 1994 and since that time this event has been a wonderful way to create a sense of pride and connection for the community, said Katerenchuck.
The highlight of this year’s event will be the easter egg hunt, where dozens of local children search for hundreds of hidden easter eggs on the playing field near Osoyoos Elementary School.
The board would consider bringing the parade back into the event next year, but new volunteers would have to come forward, she said.
“We might try and bring it back next year, but it’s really hard to say with that being so far down the road,” she said. “It is becoming increasingly hard to find people to help out.
“I’ve ran into people who have told me they’re not happy that the parade won’t take place this year, but with permits, policing costs and getting special permission from the Department of Highways to close down Main Street for a couple of hours, we felt we had no choice but to cancel the parade.
“We will see what happens next year. The good news is we still plan on having an outstanding event with a lot of people involved.”
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
