The Town of Shaunavon will start to celebrate its centennial year right on New Year’s Day with a Christmas tree bonfire in the afternoon followed by outdoor skating and a game of shinny, hot chocolate and a fireworks display after dark.
“We thought it would be kind of fun to have a family kind of day that day to kind of get it all rolling,” explained Wendy Thienes, Chair, Heritage Subcommittee, Shaunavon Centennial Committee.
The bonfire will be held at the sports grounds at about 4 p.m., with trees accepted beginning at 1 p.m. There will be family skating outdoors followed by a shinny game in the rink, with fireworks at 6 p.m.
A comprehensive list of activities is planned for the actual centennial celebrations scheduled for the weekend of July 18 to 21, 2013, but events held throughout the year will also embrace a centennial theme.
“On Family Day (Feb. 18, 2013) we always do an I Love Shaunavon Day, a family fun day, so that will kind of have a centennial flair to it, and then of course the big part of the celebration will be July 18-21.
“That will be expanding on our usual Boomtown Days weekend, but some of the extra things that we’re doing include an Old Tyme Country Fair, where people enter their wares and their goods and crafts and hobbies. We will have some sheep dog demos, chick hatching and a few different animal themes lined up. Then of course the rodeo’s going on that weekend too.”
Opening Ceremonies are on July 18 at noon. “We’re planning a family dance on the Friday night and a Cabaret Saturday night, and the entertainment for that has not quite been finalized yet. Saskatchewan Express will be here on the Sunday.
“The parade of course is Saturday morning, and we plan to have some historic walking tours. There’ll be children’s activities too. Fireworks are lined up for the Saturday night.”
To help fund the activities, the Centennial Committee will be producing souvenirs throughout the year, the first of which include a 2013 Historic Shaunavon Calendar at a cost of $15, as well as pucks, mitts and mugs, in keeping with the season.
“Actually another thing that the Heritage Committee is doing, there’s a group of individuals there that are creating a Heritage Quilt, so that will be something that will stay in the community, but we’ll probably do up a booklet to kind of explain what the quilt’s about.
“We’re working on some other heritage publications, doing some things with old photos we have, and some of our history, doing that up a little bit more in our businesses as well, trying to highlight what has been where throughout the years.”
To date, two Shaunavon High School reunions are also on the agenda for the Centennial weekend: the Class of 1978’s 35 year reunion and the Class of 1983’s 30 year reunion.
Shaunavon unveiled its Centennial Logo and tag line last May 18, featuring the combined efforts of Katelyn Gagnon and Carol Hansvall whose designs were merged to create the graphic.
“We’ve been really trying to encourage early registration by locals,” said Thienes, “and that’s picking up a little bit now. We want to kind of know numbers a little bit, mostly for food purposes, just so that our food conveners can make sure everybody’s on board and restaurants are on board.”
Registration for the Centennial is $10 for an individual or $20 for a family, a token amount to get people to commit that they’re coming, and that price includes one or two tickets for the pancake breakfast.
For more information, visit the Town of Shaunavon website at www.shaunavon.com and click on the Shaunavon Centennial Celebration 2013 link on the left side.
