“It started at 11:00am, but they started to come in at 10:00. When you have a car show, they bring in their own people. They milled around, and stuck around for most of the day.”
The touch a truck had children climbing all over vehicles like a backhoe, fire truck, go-karts and combines. Some vehicles were brought in for the day by local implement dealers. There were also three bouncy castles and face painting for the kids.
There were tours of the school, church and the new Mini Mustang Corral daycare. One of the interesting events was the opening of the time capsule, which had been loaded up with items from the 100th anniversary in 1998. There was a list of grain prices, a Recorder from the time, a Coop grocery flyer and poems from the grade 4-5 class plus much more. Joye said they are busy preparing items for a new capsule, similar to the 25-year-old one, for the next celebration.
If any response seemed overwhelming, it was for the dinner. Joye said they were selling tickets ahead of the event, which was served by J & S Meats from Souris, and he said he was hoping to have 150-175 people enjoying the meal. However, they pre-sold 280 tickets, and in the end had 311 for dinner. Joye said J & S took it in stride and was able to serve everyone.
A band featuring Terry Sprott, originally from Minto and Tom Maxwell, originally from Boissevain, called MidLife Crisis performed at the street dance. After they left the stage, the night continued with a DJ. A fine fireworks display from CanFire of Winnipeg closed Saturday. Sunday saw the ball tournament continue.
“Everything went off really well. I never heard a bad comment.”
by PAUL RAYNER, Recorder staff
Joye said there were plenty of people who originated in Minto and came back for the event. There were also plenty from the surrounding communities like Boissevain and Souris. Overall, he stated, they benefitted from the spirit of Minto.
“Our town is small enough, we have no trouble getting volunteers. Everyone knows you have to help out and they always do. We had to turn away volunteers.”
He added Minto is in some ways in a challenging position. They are in the middle between Boissevain and Brandon, and so cannot always sustain some businesses like a grocery store. On the other hand, some who work in larger communities choose to live in Minto, and there have been new houses built there. Celebrating events like the 125th helps keep the town vital.
“The world is smaller now,” Joye explained. “You have to keep people interested, keep them excited so it does not become a ghost town. You need events like this.”
He added there has already been speculation about the 150th, but joked someone else will have to head that one up. Overall, it was the perfect summer weekend in Minto.
“We were very pleased with it, everyone pitched in. I was very happy with that.”