WILKIE — Wilkie’s annual Jump Into Summer kicked off the evening of June 13 with, despite a cool evening, many residents coming out to see the parade of over 30 entries. Activities continued throughout the day June 14 with a show and shine, barbecue and entertainment at the museum, and ball games all day at the regional park for Wilkie Minor Ball Day. Facepainting and bouncy castles for the kids and a beer garden for the adults added to the fun.
With the lights and sirens of the Wilkie Fire Department drawing many from their homes, the parade showcased the best of Wilkie. Vintage cars and tractors were some of the more interesting vehicles to roll down the streets while some of the beloved mascots, such as Charlie the Elk, Hoppy the Grasshopper and a lone Pikachu who brought up the rear of the parade. Kids – and some adults – were enthusiastic to collect the various treats being handed out, even the weeded books from the Wilkie Library.
The following day, Wilkie Minor Ball Day hosted games running from 9:30 a.m. to a final U9 game beginning at 4:15 p.m. between the Wilkie Brewers and Macklin Lakers. Other divisions playing included U11 and U7 competing against various teams from Unity and Macklin, while the U4/U5 event featured the Brewer girls versus the Brewer boys.
Dad Branden Kotzer had three children playing throughout the day, and took in the Oilers game at the beer gardens afterwards. “All in all it was a great Saturday,” he said.
Kids not playing ball – or during downtime between games as some teams played more than once – were able to head over to the huge inflatables which included a teepee bounce house, a large slide and a huge obstacle course.
Also located near the inflatables area was the facepainting station, where three high school student volunteers transformed children’s faces into works of art. The girls reported that this year, Stitch, from the movie Lilo and Stitch, was the top request of the kids who wanted their faces painted.
The facepainting was a fundraiser for the Little Seedlings Daycare.
With the kids having their fun all day long, the evening was for the adults with the regional park beer gardens remaining open until 1 a.m. and the Oilers game being streamed onto a monitor in the tent. For Oiler fans, however, the evening ended with disappointment as the Edmonton team lost 5-2 in the fifth game of the Stanley Cup final round, putting them behind 3-2 in the seven-game series.
Recreation director for the Town of Wilkie, Lori Fenrich, said the tent was full for the game “and it was great to see.” She added, “The weather turned out great and I was thrilled we didn’t have to cancel anything.”
Meanwhile, back in town during the day, the Wilkie Museum hosted its show and shine, complete with a barbecue and the Eagle Valley West Band played for almost two hours. Museum representative Phil Heilman said the barbecue went over “extremely well,” estimating they made over $1,000.
Entries were down at the show and shine this year, which Heilman attributed to another car show in Lloydminster and storms in the Denzil and Kerrobert area which would have deterred some owners from bringing out their vehicles.
Although June 14 started out on the cool side, the sun came out for the afternoon for a fitting addition to Wilkie’s Jump Into Summer events.
