It was a wet May Day parade in Fort 91原创.
It got underway beneath grey skies and a light drizzle, and ended with a downpour that drenched performers and audience members at the maypole dance.
At the traditional morning breakfast put on by the Fort 91原创 Lions, there were only a few occasional sprinkles.
Jack Debad was flipping pancakes with practised ease underneath a sheltering awning outside the Lions clubhouse at Glover Road and 88 Avenue.
Debad estimated he鈥檚 been cooking at the May Day breakfast for about 20 years.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a lot of pancakes,鈥� he said.
For the 97th annual parade, Jim Mair, the president of the B.C,. Farm Museum Association, was piloting a 1902 Case tractor.
Mair said the antique tractor hadn鈥檛 been out of the museum since 2002, thanks to a broken boiler that can鈥檛 generate steam.
For the Monday parade, the Case was towed along the parade route by a newer tractor, emitting convincing puffs from the smoke stack.
鈥溾�漌e鈥檝e out a smudge pot in the smoke stack,鈥� Mair confided.
Most of the thousands of spectators who lined the streets came prepared, wearing rain gear and packing umbrellas.
But by the end, only a few hundred remained for the maypole dance at Fort 91原创 Community Park.
Pipers escorted the new May Queen, Anna Meads, and the royal party to their seats before soaking-wet maypole dancers from Coghlan and Willoughby schools began circling around two poles, wrapping them with ribbons.
鈥淚鈥檓 proud to be a part of this tradition,鈥� Meads said.
Her father, Jonathan Meads, was carrying a large zoom lens to capture the moment.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a proud dad day,鈥� he said.
Princess Grace Young, who had the task of talking about volunteerism, noted that there are 鈥渇ewer and fewer鈥� maypole dancers than there were when she was a participant.
鈥淭here were up to six schools [when I was taking part],鈥� the 11-year old said
At the end of the event, the pipers from the Correctional Service Canada pipes and drums assembled around the nearby cenotaph and played 鈥淎mazing Grace鈥� in memory of the fallen.
More photos of the parade can be viewed .
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Email: dan.ferguson@langleyadvancetimes.com
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