LITTLE CURRENT—It’s Haweater Weekend and this year the Little Current Lions Club hope they have a little something for everyone in their jam-packed schedule of events on the eve of the famed weekend’s 50th anniversary.
“The Lions have worked tirelessly since August of last year, immediately after last Haweater Weekend, to come up with an events schedule that we think will make people very happy,” said Lion President Bruce Burnett.
“While we have our old favourites, such as the cardboard boat races, horse pull and baseball, we’ve brought in some more acts to complement this fun-filled weekend,” Lion Bruce added.
New this year is the Ultimutts Stunt Dog Show, with performances on Saturday and Sunday at the Little Current United Church Hall, close to downtown on Robinson Street. Audiences will be amazed as these adorable rescue dogs, and one cat, perform fun tricks.
The Lions are also pleased to host Treehouse TV’s Splash N Boots for a great song and dance-filled family concert, on both Saturday and Sunday, upstairs at the recreation centre hall.
Back by popular demand is Little Ray’s Reptiles, and this year Ray is bringing with him the show ‘Animals Down Under,’ which features a red kangaroo and so much more! This event, as always, is held at the Little Current Public School gymnasium.
The Lions Club is also pleased to welcome back Chris McKhool for a fantastic kids’ concert on Saturday afternoon with his adult group, Sultans of String, bringing world rhythms to Little Current on Friday night following the opening ceremonies downtown.
Music is the name of the game this Haweater Weekend, with live shows to be found all weekend long, both downtown and at the Low Island ball field. There are also big changes coming to the dances this year, with Pynx Productions putting on a not-to-be-missed neon glow teen dance Friday night followed by a double dance Saturday night at the arena: two dances at the same time! The curling rink side will feature a hot new country video dance party while the arena offers up Top 40 and requests complete with a video screen too. The cost of the event is just $12 in advance with tickets found at The Expositor Office and Boarderline, both in downtown Little Current.
New this year is the Haweater Paddle Challenge on Sunday afternoon where paddlers will take to the water in various age categories to prove their supremacy as well as an exhibition soccer game, also on Sunday, between Espanola, Little Current, Elliot Lake and Wikwemikong.
Be prepared to bounce around this Haweater as a plethora of inflatables, for young and old alike, will be on offer, including a 36-foot high log jam waterslide! A day pass for ‘bouncies’ is available.
There are so many more wonderful activities too, like the much-anticipated car show and Hot Wheels racing downtown on Saturday, pony rides all weekend long, Ashley Manitowabi’s Manitou Magic show, beach volleyball, kids’ games, the firefighters’ picnic, horse show, parade and, of course, the mammoth fireworks display Sunday night.
There are two items that have not been mentioned in this roundup that appeared on all of the Lions Club advertising and that were crucial pieces to their fundraising venture toward their good community works as well as next year’s 50th Haweater Weekend: the voluntary bridge toll and Vegas Night at the Manitoulin Hotel and Conference Centre.
Rules have changed under the Safe Streets Act, meaning that the Lions cannot ask for donations on a road that has a speed limit posting of 80 km/hr or over, which is the case at the north side of the bridge. As past trials have dictated, fundraising on the south side of the bridge is dangerous, with well meaning drivers throwing money from their window to Lions on the roadside.
Vegas Night had to be cancelled due to a clerical error, but the Lions still hope to bring this event forward in future, perhaps at Winterfest.
“We were really hoping to make some money from both of these fundraising ventures to help cover the added cost of all of the new acts we are bringing in this year,” Lion President Bruce said. “We never thought that both of them would not come to fruition in the end. This leaves us in a bit of a bad spot, so we really hope that people, as always, give generously to the Lions when they make their way around on the night of the fireworks, or any other time you see a Lion this weekend. We could definitely use your help.”
For the full list of Haweater Weekend events, please see pages 8A and 9A.
Happy Haweater!
