It’s June in the South End and for those of us involved with the South End Community Association that means preparations for the 22nd annual Miner’s Heritage Picnic, Saturday, June 21st in Deverill Park, are well underway. The association held its monthly general meeting last Wednesday and we spent some time sharing our favourite stories from past picnics. It was a fun exercise and reminded us all of the event’s importance to the neighbourhood and the pleasure it brings to the many children and families who attend.
A number of people cited the Pet Parade as their favourite part of the picnic. It’s quite amazing how popular this event is and each year I am quietly astounded that we manage to pull it off. Quite suddenly around 1pm the park fills with owners and their pets, (mostly dogs), and out of a glorious kind of chaos emerges a long line of proud owners and straining pets who proceed in disorderly fashion to march around the park. Usually the parade is accompanied by the song, “how much is that doggie in the window…ruff ruff..” but one year we had a military piper lead the way which caused mayhem in the ranks as the dogs cowered at the wailing pipes!
This year’s parade will be bittersweet because its founder and long time organizer, Signy Gauer, passed away earlier this year. Signy was a long-time resident and member of our association and was a very special person indeed. She had an abiding love of all living things and was passionate about the natural world and her desire to live responsibly in it. I remember one picnic years ago when Signy spent an hour retrieving paper plates and plastic knives and forks from the pancake breakfast garbage so that it could all be recycled.
I had a chance to visit with Signy a couple of days before she died. I think she was really pleased to hear that from now on the parade will be called, “The Signy Gauer Pet Parade” in her honour. We’ve bought a special banner to proclaim it so and we’re hoping that her daughters, who are attending this year’s picnic from the states, will join us in celebrating Signy’s life and lead the pet parade around the park.
Douglas Hardie is a member of the South End Community Association and can be reached at dhseca@gmail.com
South End Community Association 