I’m really looking forward to this Saturday. Parade day in Okotoks is always so much fun with everyone out enjoying their community.
The festivities start bright and early with the Lions Club Pancake Breakfast at 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. in the Sears parking lot downtown. Donations are collected as the price of the breakfast and all of the donations go to the Okotoks Food Bank. The Sheep River Bandits will be playing at the breakfast and entertaining the crowd.
The parade starts moving at 11 a.m. from the east end of North Railway Street and travels west through the downtown. I am always amazed at the number of participants in the parade and how creative the parade floats and performances are. It will be fun to see what everyone comes up with.
The Children’s Festival starts immediately after the parade at Ethel Tucker Park, which is beside the Okotoks Library. The Great Balanzo will be sure to amaze with a comedy and circus performance. There will be fairy tale performances by local actors, food trucks, concession, face painting, crafts, climbing wall, bouncy castle, bouncy slide, trampoline, life sized games, yoga adventures and balloon creations. This is always so much fun for the kids and such a great place to go after the parade.
The weather forecast looks great and Saturday is shaping up to be a memorable day in downtown Okotoks.
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Recent events compel me to comment on a topic south of the boarder again this week. My heart goes out to all of the victims and their families of the mass murder early Sunday morning in Orlando Florida. I really can’t imagine what would compel someone to carry out such senseless violence.
The other thing in this that is beyond my understanding is how the shooter was able to legally obtain an automatic assault rifle.
My layman understanding of automatic assault rifles is that they are designed for taking as much human life as possible in a battlefield situation. What is the legitimate purpose when a civilian would need such a weapon? Why is there a product legally available on the market that should not be used for what it is designed to do?
I understand the right to keep and bear arms in the USA and how this has evolved since the American revolution against the British monarchy, but where does it stop? Rocket launchers? Tanks? Atomic bombs? If a fundamental reason for bearing arms is for the people to defend themselves from an oppressive government run amok then it could be argued that the people need to have the same level of firepower as the government which would have catastrophic consequences. There must be a better way.
