The fireworks committee is thrilled with the outcome and turn out of the Canada Day festivities in Wallaceburg on Tuesday.
Tom Cogghe, one of the organizers, said about 5,000 packed in for the fireworks.
“With a town of our size, we had half the people out there, which is great,” he said.
Cogghe added the “main event” was spectacular.
“The fireworks is what our focus is and the festival is something to make it better to lead up to it,” he said. “Nothing else happens without the fireworks.”
Cogghe added: “The last few years when I’ve gone with my family, when you walk away and you hear cheering and and everybody saying how awesome the fireworks show was … that is really where you judge it. This year was no exception, they were great. People were asking in the crowd ‘is this the finale’ and then they would go another five, ten minutes. To see people get excited, the ones close to you and the strangers you don’t know from the community, it’s a great feeling because you feel that success and what you put in to it. At the end of the day, that is what it’s about. It’s about everyone coming together and enjoying it… hearing those responses, it’s all worth it.”
Cogghe said they received some great feedback from the community.
“This was our first year coming together and working on it,” he said. “With anything, there are always a few little things that you run into. We were able to persevere and we were able to get everything done and everything ran pretty smoothly. From the comments we got everything was pretty much positive. A few constructive comments, which is good. We’re looking to not only be successful but to make it better every year. We’re going to sit down in the next couple weeks and review everything that happened, take a look at the comments from the community and try to make it bigger and better, get more of a crowd out and have a lot of fun with it.”
Through their various fundraisers before the event, they were able to cover the costs of the Festival.
“The night of we were selling the glow sticks and the stand with the Gatorade and freezies, plus just donations from people there… just on the night of the fireworks alone, we were able to raise just over $1,000,” he said. “We have a good kick start for next years festival. We’re hoping to make it bigger and better, that depends on fundraising and grants and donations from businesses in the community.”
Cogghe said the entire committee wanted to give a big thanks to each of their families for their patience and support during the fundraising time, as a lot of time and effort was spent working on the Festival.
In case you missed it, here is our coverage from Canada Day:
