7.02.2006

canada day, mississauga edition

When I stepped out into yesterday's humidity, suddenly the Mississauga Waterfront Festival seemed like a long walk for very little. I often want to attend events like that more in theory than in practice.

My next-door neighbour and Cody and I, walked over to Port Credit's Canada Day celebration, which featured a Chinese dance performance, a huge Maple Leaf cake, and the inimitable Hazel McCallion, Mississauga's mayor. We missed Hazel, but we did get a piece of cake. Cody (wearing her Maple Leaf bandana) was very happy about all the cake bits on the ground. It's still weird to have a dog that I can go to public places with. It's easier and it's fun... but damned if it doesn't make me miss Buster.

Port Credit didn't have fireworks this year. I've heard that past Canada Day fireworks could be seen from all over our section of Waterfront Trail - which would have been super convenient and fun for us. But apparently other business owners in Mississauga complained about Port Credit getting all the holiday traffic, and I can't say I blame them.

So, on a tip from Next-Door Neighbour, Allan and I drove up to Streestville, another area of Mississauga that has a little main street and village feel. Like Port Credit, Streetsville was an independent town before becoming subsumed into Mississauga. It seems like a nice little town, not as wonderful as Port Credit, of course - but then, we have the Lake.

In Streetsville, volunteers were handing out little flags and Maple Leaf fake tattoos. A bagpipe group led the crowd in a parade from Main Street to a park, where thousands of people gathered for fireworks. I love fireworks - I love the shared public experience of fireworks. Typical for Mississauga, the crowd was a true United Nations. It's amazing how diverse it is here - another reason to feel good about Canada.

Here's Port Credit's cake from Canada Day 2005:

canada day cake

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