Parade, ball tourney highlight Canada Day in Barwick

When it wasn’t raining, it was great. That pretty much sums up the holiday weekend in Barwick.
Canada Day was celebrated in Barwick in typical fashion Friday with a parade at noon through the downtown and ending at the ball park, where a two-day fastball tournament was taking place.
Dozens of vehicles—many creatively decorated—began to assemble at the municipal yard north of the highway at 11 a.m. Then at noon sharp, the entourage headed into town, where more than 100 people lined the sidewalks to take in the show and the brilliant sunshine.
The timing was lucky, however. Heavy rains the night before left the status of the parade in doubt, as well as its route since the fields at the ball park still were saturated from the earlier deluge.
But Friday dawned sunny and clear, so things went ahead as schedule.
Meanwhile, it was a different story at the ball park, where the Barwick Blue Knights hosted an eight-team tournament.
Tournament director George Oltsher said people laboured from early in the morning with squeegees and wet vacs to make the diamond playable. And despite some delays, the tourney went off as planned.
In addition to the tournament, there also was a brisk business in hotdogs, hamburgers, and beer, as well as a number of games to keep the kids occupied.
On the diamond, the home side came through the round-robin with a 2-1 record, finishing third in its pool. Then in the playoffs, host Barwick nipped Big Grassy 5-4, setting up the showdown with Pinewood on Saturday.
In that game, Barwick came out on the short end of a 7-6 score to finish in second place. Big Grassy, meanwhile, went on to face Rainy River in the ‘B’ final, falling 6-5.
Oltsher said the tournament was great success—despite all the rain. “There were lots of great games,” he enthused.
Oltsher had particular praise for all the volunteers who help steer the tournament between the showers, as well as for the organizers of the annual Canada Day festivities.
“Thanks to all the workers and sponsors who made the weekend a great success,” he remarked. “The parade, the tournament, concessions, refreshments, kids’ games, and clean-up were all great.”