O'LEARY, P.E.I. — Under the shade of a tree, David Lewis watched with a smile on his face as his wife Jacquie and their daughter Summer rolled down a quiet street while seated in the front of a fire truck.
Fire truck rides formed part of the festivities on offer Saturday afternoon at the annual Potato Blossom Festival in O’Leary.
“There’s a small-town feeling here and it’s exactly what we miss about P.E.I.,” said David, who moved from Kensington with his family to Alberta two years ago.
“It’s very friendly, outgoing, and we miss that terribly. There are friendly people in Alberta, but it’s just not the same. There’s a community feel on P.E.I. and money can’t buy that, so we’re trying to decide if we should move back, but we have the summers here to enjoy,” he said, acknowledging they own a summer cottage in Glenwood.
The family watched the Potato Blossom Festival parade in the early afternoon and continued the fun with Kid’s Day located at the fire station.
“We’re going to enjoy the bouncy castles and barbecue, but there’s a lot of exposure to many events,” he said.
“And there is such a sense of community spirit,” added Jacquie about the lively entertainment.
“Even a few people that we met earlier this week, such as the librarian, said, ‘Hello Summer,’ as she was walking along in the parade.”
Jason Greenan, the deputy fire chief of the O’Leary Volunteer Fire Department, said every year the fire station hosts the Kid’s Day festivities as a “way of giving back” to the community.
The first Potato Blossom Festival was celebrated in 1968 and O'Leary has honoured the Island's most valued cash crop ever since.
This year marked the 51st anniversary of the festival, which takes place each year in July to highlight the time when the potato plants flower.
For more information, visit www.peipotatoblossomfestival.com.