Our Regatta

This weekend I dropped by our annual Loon Lake Regatta.The purpose of my short visit was to check it out and to compare it to regattas I remembered from decades ago; and perhaps meet some old friends.

While there wasn’t the speedboat races in the first bay that defied all the safety precautions of today; there were canoe events that were more than a sensible replacement and certainly in step with our enjoyment of nature.

The children’s events that I watched near the river mouth reminded me of the almost identical games that used to be held!

A major difference I noticed was that the food concession wasn’t being toiled over by almost exhausted volunteers from the lake community but was being run by our own Haliburton Lions Club. A very wise change!

While I cannot address everything that happened, because I was only there less than an hour, I will mention something that I cannot ignore.

Decades ago, there was a very strong sense of community at the regatta. While friends and family would station themselves in little groups around the property, they always intermingled and were friendly to each other and even “strangers”.

I mention “strangers” because I noticed that there were a lot of younger generation people attending this year and there were some people I didn’t even recognize!

As I expected! 

This weekend, I saw that the strong sense of community was perhaps even more prevalent and that there seemed to be fewer separate groupings of people. People seemed to know each other and were very friendly to others.

What I saw is all very positive and I believe reflects on the strength of our Loon Lake community. A strength that certainly hasn’t diminished and in fact seems to have grown.

I’m glad I dropped by!