Cory Hetlinger and his three daughters love the two rainbow crosswalks in downtown Red Deer, or the “rainbow bridges” as they call it.
The family was in downtown Red Deer for the farmers market Wednesday afternoon, but Hetlinger’s daughters Grace, Sophia and Jeslyn didn’t have fruits and vegetables on their minds.
“Every time we come downtown they see the rainbow and that’s where they want to be,” said Hetlinger.
The rainbow crosswalks at Ross Street and Little Gaetz Avenue are painted to celebrate Pride Week - this is the second year in a row Red Deer has had the colourful sign of unity.
With Grace sitting on Hetlinger’s shoulders, asking him to cross the rainbow bridge, he said the he wants the crosswalks to stay through the entire year so his daughters are happy.
The Hetlinger family aren’t the only ones who love the look of the crosswalks. Red Deer’s Emily Andres said the crosswalks bring the downtown to life.
“I think it’s a beautiful addition to the city and I hope it turns out to be a year-round thing, for sure,” Andres said.
The paint is a little faded and there are tire marks on the crosswalks, almost a week after they were officially unveiled.
“I love the crosswalk … I just made a social media post about how upset I was that there’s skidmarks going across it,” said Andres.
Amanda Plato works in downtown Red Deer so she sees the rainbow crosswalks a fair bit. If making them a permanent fixture to the downtown is what most people want then she’s all for it, she said.
“I have no problem with it being a permanent thing. If people want to make it permanent, they can make it permanent,” she said.
Like Plato, Red Deer’s Faith Carscadden said if others are happy having the rainbows on Ross Street, she is as well.
“I think the crosswalks are absolutely great. I have no problem with them being there all year,” Carscadden said.
Pride Week wraps up this Sunday.
sean.mcintosh@reddeeradvocate.com
