WHITEWATER REGION (Cobden) — Summertime fun has arrived with Whitewater StreetStrut.
There is plenty of fun for everyone at this year’s event, said Jordan Durocher, community services manager for the Township of Whitewater Region.
The afternoon is geared towards children and family, he said. There will be balloon twisting, face painting, a bouncy house, Little Rays Reptiles, Junkyard Symphony, a petting zoo, horse drawn wagon rides and so much more.
“And it’s all free,” he said.
For those who want to listen to some tunes, Smooth Country will be playing inside the Cobden Legion from 2 to 5 p.m.
The evening’s entertainment begins at 7 p.m. with local bands – Black Water Brigade, Station Hill and The Riley New Band – taking to the stage. This will be followed by the main attraction – Big Wreck.
Ian Thornley from Toronto is the leader singer of the band. In 1994, Big Wreck was a Canadian-American rock band. They disbanded in 2002 and Mr. Thornley went on his own. In 2010, Mr. Thornley and Brian Doherty reunited. The band released its latest album Grace Street on Feb. 3, 2017.
Tickets for the evening’s event are $25 in advance, up to 5 p.m. the day of StreetStrut, and $35 at the gate.
“Sales have been really good so far,” Mr. Durocher said.
He’s expecting this year’s StreetStrut to be as much of a success as it was last year, especially since Mother Nature is once again co-operating.
“Pure sunshine,” he said. “The weather forecast is looking awesome.
“When it’s a nice day, it’s adding to the turnout.”
Last year there were about 3,000 people who attended throughout the day, and with changes made to the venue but the same concept, there should be just as many people in attendance if not more, he suggested.
Little Rays Reptiles will have a live performance in front of the municipal office as will the Junkyard Symphony.
“It’s a bunch of people who make music with junk,” he said.
Mr. Durocher said organizing this year’s event was a bit easier than last year, because there was more time to organize it. As well, more organizations have come on board to offer assistance, including the Cobden and District Civitan Club and Whitewater Region firefighters.
He expects as the event grows each year, and moves from community to community, more organizations will volunteer their time as well.
This year, social media was used as much as possible, including facebook, Instagram and the township website.
“We have lots of great things and hopefully it will be a success,” Mr. Durocher said. “It’s always a kind of a bit of stressor. You want to see something good happen.”
He said last year was such a success that some of the profit was put into reserve for future years and the rest was split between three community groups – Cobden Civitan club, minor hockey and Muskrat Watershed Council.
“We tried to support the community groups that supported us,” Mr. Durocher said.
He’s hopeful the reserve will climb again this year, as well as money donated to various community groups.
Mr. Durocher said he was “very surprised” at the success of last year’s Whitewater StreetStrut, because the event is costly to put on and generating revenue can be difficult.
“We were hoping to generate a little bit of money to donate to some organizations, so we exceeded our expectations,” he said.
