Celebrate Summer

I had an incredible time at the Canada Day celebration at Stride Place, organized by the amazing team at the Portage la Prairie Community Revitalization Corporation (PRRA). The day started with a delicious pancake breakfast that drew a huge crowd. But that was just the beginning of the fun! Families enjoyed a wide range of activities, including awesome live performances, exciting games, bouncy castles, and even face painting. The PRRA team's dedication was clear in every aspect of the event, creating memories for everyone involved.

It was all smile at the MacGregor fair this past Saturday.

The kids had a blast bouncing around in the bouncy castles, playing with the coloured sand and visiting all sorts of animals in the petting zoo. The baseball tournament was a real highlight, with teams from the community putting on an amazing show and creating a friendly and competitive atmosphere.

The 69th Lundar Ag Fair kicked off today, captivating attendees with its lively atmosphere and a wide array of attractions. This year's fair saw a remarkable increase in turnout, which can be attributed in part to the introduction of a new ride company that brought in fresh visitors. 

The Vintage Cruisers car show on the island this past Sunday was a first for a visitor from Winnipeg. Olha Herasii recently moved from Ukraine and shares her excitement.

“We never had these kinds of cars back home,” says Herasii. “So, for me, it's very interesting and entertaining to see the cars here. I saw them in movies, but to see them in real life, this is just breathtaking.”

The Portage Vintage Cruisers organized a grand display of cars, new and old, on the Island in Portage la Prairie this past Sunday. Participants and visitors alike would not have a complaint to make about the perfectly beautiful day it turned out to be for the show. 

President Brad Sanderson had four of his own vehicles.

“We had 225 registered cars and about 75 unregistered cars,” notes Sanderson. “So, about around 300 cars we had here today. It was a beautiful day for it.”

The 3rd Annual North Norfolk Bull Bash was another hit this past weekend, as attendance appears to be up from the previous year. In 2022, organizers believe more than 700 people went through the doors of the Stride Centre. According to Chris Leckie, one of the organizers, it was basically sold out this year.

Hi, I’m Robert Voesenek, your Celebrate Summer host! I’ve lived in the Portage area my whole life and have been glad to be a part of the Portage Online team throughout high school before COVID. Now I’m back on the team and ready to travel all over the region and attend all the summer events I can possibly get to.   

I am very excited to have the following events on my schedule already and I will be broadcasting live on our three radio stations and posting all my adventures and photos here on Portage Online!  

• The Macgregor Fair on June 23rd   

Today I had the opportunity to go to Our Farm Greenhouse for their Fun with Family Day. At the event, they had something for everyone to enjoy. They had bouncy castles, a face painter, a bunch of businesses selling their product, and a battle of the bands with lots of local artists. I could not be more thankful for all the amazing volunteers, organizers, and community members for such an amazing day. Thank you to everyone who stopped by and said hello, grabbed some water (to stay hydrated in the heat we had today) and entered our Celebrate Summer Draw Box.

Today Celebrate Summer went to the Stonewall Quarry Days. They had many rides in the midway, lots of food trucks, an abundance of vendors selling their products, and free quarry rides for anyone attending the event. It was a great event with many amazing things for the entire family to enjoy. You might have seen the Cruiser in the parade blasting country music for everyone to enjoy, or you could have grabbed some Blue Moon Water on this scorching day and entered your name in our draw box.

After a two-year hiatus, the Portage Potato Festival is back. This year it was clear that people were waiting for this as they came from all over the province for free fries from McCain and Simplot. Lineups for the fries and the other vendors were insanely long, some wrapping to the road. This year was the first year that Plappy got to show off his new look. He swapped the crown and cape for a tie. Some would say he looks very professional.