From Twister to Twitter: 30 years of Canada Day fun

You just know it’s going to be a good party when an Asian elephant named Buke is on the guest list and there’s an attempt at breaking the record for the world’s largest Twister game.

There weren’t any Twitter walls or iSnap photo booths at those first Canada Day parties, but thousands of people showed up to see Buke and hear bands playing on the back of a flatbed truck. This year, the University of Waterloo and Federation of Students host the 30^th Canada Day Celebration on Tuesday July 1 at Columbia Lake Fields.

The family fun starts at 4 pm. Later in the evening, there will be musical performances by the Born Ruffians and Canadian music icon Steven Page. The fantastic fireworks start at 10 pm.

Fireworks over Columbia Lake

While the Twister record remained unbroken in those early years, Buke was brought in from the African Lion Safari in Cambridge to be greeted by thousands of people. “The students who organized it back then expected a few hundred people, but thousands showed up,” says Nancy Heide, a long-time volunteer.

From Robert Munsch to Splash’N Boots

In later years, people came to hear beloved Canadian author Robert Munsch read from his children’s books or performer Eric Nagler play music on a washtub. This year the award-winning Canadian duo Splash’N Boots will be at the party.

The beloved author Munsch agreed to come after two student Canada Day volunteers offered to knock on his front door and ask him. “They met his wife, who invited them in for tea, and Bob agreed right there in his kitchen to come to Canada Day!” recalls Dana Evans Laity, another long-time volunteer.

Heide remembers the only year that the fireworks were cancelled: “It was 1999. The weather was awful all day - cold and windy and a lot of rain,” she recalls. “The fireworks were cancelled at 8 pm but the skies cleared by 10 and thousands of people showed up looking for the awesome fireworks display.”

There were also Teddy Bear contests, elegant wind climbers and volunteering at the event was often just as fun as attending. Evans Laity recalls the year that volunteers had just sat down to share some leftover pizza when a truck pulled up and two fire extinguishers fell off, spraying the pizzas. “We lost all the volunteer pizzas,” she says. “It was pretty funny, disappointing and amazing all at once.”

But the volunteers didn't go hungry that year or any other, says Evans Laity. "Our long-time partner, Domino's Pizza, donates fresh, hot pizzas for all our hungry volunteers!"