Archive For The “parade” Category
Two women dressed as suffragettes hold a Canadian flag during the Canada Day parade in Kitimat, July 1, 2016. The theme for the parade marked one hundred years of the woman’s vote in Canada. (Robin Rowland)
The parade began in heavy rain. (Robin Rowland)
Mayor Phil Germuth wields water guns during the parade. Everyone was soaked anyway in the pouring rain. (Robin Rowland)
A cartoon by Kitimat resident Gerry Hummel celebrates the suffrage movement in Canada. (Robin Rowland)
Another float also celebrates women’s suffrage. (Robin Rowland)
A woman marcher also celebrates women’s suffrage. (Robin Rowland)
The Spirit of Kitlope Dancers. (Robin Rowland)
Councillor Rob Goffinet marches in the parade. (Robin Rowland)
A small boy with Canadian flags rides a pony. (Robin Rowland)
The Unifor float. (Robin Rowland)
A boy in a soapbox race car. (Robin Rowland)
A large float urging approval of the LNG Canada project represents an LNG tanker. (Robin Rowland)
The District of Kitimat and Mayor Phil Germuth honoured former Kitimat Daily editor Walter McFarlane for his 10 years of service to the region as a journalist. (Robin Rowland)
Phil Germuth granted former mayor Joanne Monaghan with the Freedom of the District of Kitmat. (Robin Rowland)

This is one of the my favourite photographs. The Bluenose II sailing off Sydney, Nova Scotia, on July 11, 1984, thirty-one years ago today. I like it because the Bluenose hasn’t set the ships tops’ls and that’s something that you don’t see that often at least in most photographs
After a controversial $19.5 million refit, earlier today the restored Bluenose II arrived at Lunenberg, Nova Scotia to begin it’s summer touring season. You’ll find the sailing schedule on the ship’s official website Bluenose II: Nova Scotia’s Sailing Ambassador.
I had visited Sydney back in 1984 as part of a summer vacation trip to Nova Scotia. The international Parade of Sail celebrating the 450th anniversary of Quebec City, also visited Puerto Rico, Bermuda, Portsmouth, NH, Gaspe and Halifax.
The tall ships tied up at the dock at Sydney, July 10, 1984. (Robin Rowland)
Technical Data: Minolta X-700, Minolta 135mm prime M mount lens or 50mm prime, Ektachrome colour film. No record of exposures.
The Bluenose II tied up at Sydney, NS on the evening of July 10, 1984. I converted some images to black and white either because the original slide was rather dirty and couldn’t always be completely restored with digital cleanup or because it looked better and more historic in black and white.
And that’s me, July 10, 1984, on the deck of one of the tall ships that was open for touring. It was just starting to rain.
The Bluenose II leads the United States Coast Guard training vessel USCG Eagle out of Sydney harbour, July 11, 1984. (Robin Rowland)
The Columbian training ship ARC Gloria, leaving Sydney harbour, July 11, 1984. (Robin Rowland)
Some of the smaller sailing yachts, from both Sydney and from the sail “in group” saying farewell to Cape Breton. (Robin Rowland)
In some ways, this photograph could be more than a century old, rather than just 30 years. (Robin Rowland)
The then Soviet training ship, Kruzenshtern, under power, followed by the Gloria, a full square rigger with sails set. (Robin Rowland)
The Kruzenshtern and a second unidentified tall ship heading out to sea from Sydney. (Robin Rowland)
A tall ship (possibly the Gloria) disappears on the horizon. (Robin Rowland)

The winning float in the 2015 Kitimat Canada parade from the Community Supper Club. (Robin Rowland)
Staff Sergeant Phil Harrison who is retiring from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police leads the Canada Day parade. (Robin Rowland)
Kitimat Fire and Rescue. (Robin Rowland)
Kitimat Marine Rescue Society (Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue SAR 63) still affectionately known as “Snowflake Responder” (Robin Rowland)
Mayor Phil Germuth. (Robin Rowland)
Rio Tinto Alcan’s Gaby Poirier leads the RTA entry in the parade. (Robin Rowland)
Kids enjoy the parade. (Robin Rowland)
The Haisla Nation Spirit of Kitlope Dancers. (Robin Rowland)
(Robin Rowland)
(Robin Rowland)
The gymnastics club. (Robin Rowland)
Handing out goodies to spectators along the parade route. (Robin Rowland)
The Canada Day cake at Riverlodge ready for cutting. (Robin Rowland)
Later on the afternoon of Canada Day, a wildfire broke out on the hydro transmission corridor near the Rio Tinto Alcan smelter. It was contained a couple of days later. (Robin Rowland)
Fireworks. (Robin Rowland)
Fireworks. (Robin Rowland)

July 1, 2013, marked Kitimat’s 60th anniversary, so the theme was “Pioneer Days.” The float from the Riverlodge Summer programs took first prize for best float. (Robin Rowland)
A girl celebrates Canada Day at the beginning of the parade. (Robin Rowland)
The RCMP and other first responders lead the parade. (Robin Rowland)
A boy and a fire truck. (Robin Rowland)
The Kitimat Museum and Archives Museum Kids contingent. (Robin Rowland)
The Child Development Centre also celebrated Kitimat pioneers. (Disclosure: I went to Grade One and Two in the long demolished Smeltersite School celebrated by the float) (Robin Rowland)
A boy on the float. (Robin Rowland)
The entry from the Kitimat Dynamics Gymnastics Club (Robin Rowland)
The winning float from Riverlodge Summer Programmes. (Robin Rowland)
A couple of young cowboys on the Riverlodge Summer Programme float. (Robin Rowland)
A girl in a Renaissance costume. (Robin Rowland)
A flamenco dancer at the stage show.
Fireworks at Riverlodge finished off the evening.
Fireworks explode with the mountain at dusk as a backdrop. (Robin Rowland)
The fireworks finale. (Robin Rowland)

The Royal Canadian Legion and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police lead the Canada Day parade in Kitimat, BC, July 1, 2012. (Robin Rowland)
The Kitimat Marine Rescue Society’s Snowflake Responder in the Canada Day Parade. (Robin Rowland)
Bechtel, which is building the Rio Tinto Alcan Kitimat Modernization Project had a small fleet of golf carts in the parade. (Robin Rowland)
A young drummer in the Rio Tinto Alcan dragon boat. (Robin Rowland)
Members of the environmental group Douglas Channel Watch march with blow-up Orcas, as Kitimat mayor Joanne Monaghan follows in a convertible. (Robin Rowland)
Kitimat mayor Joanne Monaghan (Robin Rowland)
Nathan Cullen, NDP for Skeena Bulkley Valley, and NDP House Leader waves to spectators while marching in the Kitimat Canada Day parade. (Robin Rowland)
The International Peace Day contingent in the Canada Day parade. (Robin Rowland)
Two girls, part of the Terrace Riverboat Days float, run to distribute candy to Kitimat’s children. (Robin Rowland)
A guad from the Kitimat Rod and Gun Association (Robin Rowland)
Stop, Drop and Read (Robin Rowland)
The Canadian Auto Workers float in the Canada Day parade. The CAW is currently in tough negotiations for a new contract with Rio Tinto Alcan. (Robin Rowland)
Girls and dogs march with the Kitimat Humane Society (Robin Rowland)
Children on horses conclude the Canada Day parade (Robin Rowland)








The environmental group, Douglas Channel Watch, took the prize for the best overall float in the 2011 parade.

A dog enjoys the view from the pickup truck hauling the Douglas Channel Watch float.

David Venman holds the Coy Cup in the Canada Day Parade. The Kitimat Ice Demons of the CIHL won their fourth Coy Cup in six seasons in 2011; the B.C. Senior Men’s AA provincial championship. (At least one of the hockey teams I support won a cup this year).

How do you photograph wildlife without leaving the house? Live where the wildlife comes to you.
After I took early retirement from my job as Photo Editor for CBC News, some of my friends were wondering why I chose to move back to my home town of Kitimat, British Columbia (on the northwest coast). There were a whole lot of reasons, financial (I could buy a house for cash); I have plans to start a wilderness photo workshop studio here, But most of all I love the outdoors, the wilderness, the clear air.
For the past three weeks, I have pretty much been stuck in the house. (I did get out to shoot one assignment). The movers who gave me an optimal delivery window of August 23 to 24 and who were carrying much of my gear actually arrived on Saturday, September 4. (I am still unpacking). Waiting for the delivery of my new furniture and my new computer. Waiting for the tech to fix my snail speed internet connection to the high speed it is supposed to be. Waiting to get the car.
As I waited, the wildlife came to me.
Last Wednesday, September 1, a hawk was soaring over my front yard.
The hawk then swoops down over the parkette across the street, hunting for prey. the lead photo in this blog.
The next day, Thursday, September 2, the ravens came.
One pair of ravens kept together in a display of tandem, precision flying.
The two reminded me of the close tandem aerobatics I shot at the Toronto International Air Show on previous Labour Day weekends.
Sunday, September 5, was cold, cloudy and rainy.
This bird was busy in the rain, grabbing berries from a bush that grows on my back fence.
This little bird puffed himself up against the cold as he stopped on one of my fence posts.
This bird also took shelter on my fence.
A stellar jay likes to hang out on my the posts of my back deck. Finally managed to grab the shot on Monday, September 6.
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