Well done, Port Alberni.
After nearly two years of planning, Port Alberni’s centennial homecoming celebration had the city buzzing for four days, and the full streets and sidewalks hearkening back to more prosperous times.
While the heat kept some away from Bob Dailey Stadium on Sunday, it wasn’t enough to deter people from honouring our city’s 100 years of history.
Kudos must go out to the centennial committee and its legion of volunteers for pulling off such an ambitious event: with activities spread from Harbour Quay and South Port to the visitors’ centre, the stadium to McLean Mill.
And all the while keeping the heritage aspect at the forefront while finding relevant activities for all.
Whether the festivities made money or not is irrelevant: our community cast off the doom-and-gloom attitude and showed its pride.
While homecoming is put to bed and centennial celebrations take a bit of a breather before gearing up to Alberni’s centennial in January, we get a chance to party all over again this weekend. Thunder in the Valley promises to draw thousands of drag racing and car enthusiasts to our region for the two-day event at the Alberni Valley Regional Airport. Harbour Quay will once again play host to the Valley Street Rods’ car show on Friday beginning at 4 p.m.
We have yet another chance to showcase our community to visitors and residents alike, and prove to them what we are truly capable of.
~Alberni