As a teenager working at Callbecks Home Hardware, Dave MacDonald remembers the whole office coming together and having a lot of fun building a Summerside Lobster Carnival Parade float.
“It used to be a big thing for the staff. They used to get together and they’d come in on their time off to make the floats and try to win the prize. It was something for the staff to get engaged with and get excited about,” said Dave, now co-owner at Callbecks.
In the hopes of recapturing a bit of that community spirit, Callbecks Home Hardware and Summerside Home Furniture have signed on to be the title sponsor for this year’s parade.
The event is scheduled for Saturday, July 14, starting at noon.
Parade entries will be judged and winning floats will take home prizes sponsored by Callbecks. There will be three categories including: best overall float, blast from the past float, and most creative entry. Though they are not ready to announce exactly what those prizes will be just yet, they did say they will be “pretty significant.”
Duane MacDonald, also a co-owner at Callbecks, said the business is happy to help revitalize an event that has been a staple in the community for going on 62 years.
“Hopefully it encourages more businesses to enter and strive to get that prize, like years ago,’ said Duane.
The 2018 edition of the Summerside Lobster Carnival will be the second that Culture Summerside has held the reins of the event.
Lori Ellis, Manager of Heritage and Cultural Properties for the city, said they have been focusing a lot of effort this year reconnecting the carnival with the local business community. By matching enterprises with specific events they hope to instill a sense of ownership and pride in the sponsors that will translate into better events for the community.
“I think our primary objective currently is to build partnerships and build involvement and engagement in the whole event, in this particular situation the parade,” said Ellis.
Marlene Campbell, cultural programming co-ordinator with Culture Summerside, added that their efforts are focused on bringing a sense of excitement and prestige back to the whole carnival.
“We want to make the community have ownership of the carnival again, make the business community really want to be a part of it again,” said Campbell.
Anyone who wants to get involved with or find our more information about the Summerside Lobster Carnival or any of its events can find out more information online at: www.summersidelobstercarnival.website.
@JournalPMacLean
