By Cecilia Nasmith
The Downtown Business Improvement Area invites you to kick off a wonderful new season with their family-friendly Welcome To Summer event Friday and Saturday.
The timing is perfect, DBIA Administrator Carleigh Hunter said, with summer on the way and Friday being a PA Day for local elementary schools. Besides which, she added, COVID is finally ramping down (or at least we are learning to live with it).
“What better way to celebrate than a family event,” she declared.
The plan is to close Second Street from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days to make room for vendors, activities, music - “lots of fun stuff,” Hunter said.
This includes a jumping castle, face painting, rock painting, a community art project organized by the Art Gallery of Northumberland and some story times organized by Let's Talk Books.
And don't forget the music. Four buskers from Cobourg Collegiate Institute (two sisters and a couple of their friends) will perform Friday from 9 to 11 a.m., followed (from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.) by Douglas Greenwood and Time Out playing jazz and pop. On Saturday, catch young guitar phenom Carl Cotton playing from 1 to 4 p.m.
And if you're in the mood for a little wellness, try one of the yoga and Zumba classes – Friday at 2 p.m. and Saturday at 11 a.m. for the yoga, Friday at 3 p.m. and Saturday at noon for the Zumba.
Another fun family activity might be a stroll through the downtown to catch up on the Paddle To The ‘C’ project, which has resulted in 40 paddleboards being painted by local artists and on display in a number of storefronts. These will be auctioned off at the end of July (as part of the annual DBIA Sidewalk Sale), with proceeds going to the Red Cross to support Ukrainian-relief efforts.
So take advantage of what promises to be the most enjoyable summer in a couple of years with Welcome To Summer June 10 and 11.
“We encourage people to get out, do some special stuff and get back out in the community again,” Hunter said.
