Centennial party one for the ages

The theme was “Fun Galore in 2004” and it certainly lived up to the billing.
The Municipality of La Vallee threw a party last weekend to mark 100 years of history and, in the process, may have made enough history for the next century.
“Fantastic,” was how centennial committee member Joyce Witherspoon summed it all up. “All the volunteers were great and everybody who came out had a great time.
“If they didn’t, it was their own fault,” she quipped.
“All I can say is it was a wonderful weekend,” echoed an exhausted Freeda Carmody, a fellow committee member who acknowledged she was too busy helping things run smoothly to see much of it herself and had to rely on second-hand information.
“All the comments I heard were positive,” she stressed.
There would seem to be a lot of truth in that since the weekend was jam-packed with a variety of activities.
The fun began on all three days (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) at 7 a.m. with a cross-country walk/run at Crossroads School, followed by breakfast at the Devlin Community Hall.
As well, there was an antique/memorabilia display at the school throughout the weekend.
On Friday, there was a heritage tour of many of the oldest homesteads in the municipality as well as other places of interest.
For the younger set, there were children’s activities all afternoon at the Country View Child Care Centre while a musical jamboree kept the toes tapping for the older crowd at the Devlin Ball Park.
After a buffet supper at the community hall, entertainers Tom and Lori Neufeld of Roland, Man. performed under the tent while a “chem-free” dance scheduled for the community rink at Crossroads was moved to the community centre when the skies opened up.
Saturday opened with another run/walk, followed by breakfast at the community hall, but the real show was on the road—literally.
Hundreds of vehicles of every description—from go-karts to horse-drawn buggies to antique tractors—assembled at Crossroads School for the centennial parade while hundreds of people lined the roads in Devlin to take it all in.
After the parade, spectators had the chance to view an impressive display of classic and antique cars and trucks at Universal Enterprise, as well as vote on their favourites.
Then things moved to the ball park, where Reeve Emily Watson—wearing a period dress—accepted greetings and congratulations from dignitaries and officials from all the municipalities across the district.
Also on hand were newly-elected MP Ken Boshcoff and MPP Howard Hampton, who offered their congratulations and best wishes, too.
At 1 p.m., six teams took to the diamond for five innings of baseball while LuLu and the TomCat (Lola Neufeld) provided entertainment in the tent.
At the same time, there was a logger/farmer competition going on, so there was something for everyone all conveniently located in one place.
The Kiwanis Club later held a steak fry at the community hall to fuel people up for a dance back at the ball park, featuring “Legacy.”
Sunday began with another breakfast at the community hall, followed by an inter-denominational church service under the tent. Then it was off to Mud Lake City for a pork roast dinner with all the fixings.
And this wasn’t just any pork roast, either.
The guest of honour was “Hamlet”—a 150-pound hog that came all the way from Dryden and was roasted whole on a spit for 12 hours. Hamlet declined any interviews, but many of the 205 people who had tickets for the event gave him rave reviews.
Meanwhile, Vern Silvers and Lawrence Bellamy from Atikokan kept the diners entertained with a collection of classic and original country and bluegrass numbers, including several that were written specifically for and about Mud Lake City.
All in all, it was a memorable weekend despite the weather, which varied from broiling hot to intense downpours. Months of planning went into it but judging by the turnout, it was well worth the effort.