I was at Bower Ponds for the Red Deer centennial celebration and I have to say the fireworks were great, even though they were supposed to start at 8 but didn’t start until 8:50 p.m.
But this city needs some help with the organizing of events at Bower Ponds.
The parking was terrible. I had to park up in Fairview, then when walking to Bower the first path down to the ponds was blocked off with a sign that read fireworks in progress; the time was 6:20 p.m.
My five-year-old and I had to walk all the way around to get in the main entrance. How dumb is that?
Why wasn’t the parking to the golf course opened up for this?
The glow sticks are a great idea but to let people have free rein on taking as many as they like off the trees is a bad idea.
I saw one lady with about 15 of them attached to the wheels of her baby carriage.
Some people just don’t get it that it is for everyone.
The one fire pit was so jam-packed there was no way of getting near it.
There should have been eight or 10 fire barrels around the west side of the pond and also more picnic tables along the edge for putting on skates.
Also, there should have been a couple of hot chocolate/cake stands, as the line was very long and wasn’t worth the wait.
Don’t get me wrong; it’s great that the city puts on these events.
It’s just that the planning fell a little short.
James Lennie
Red Deer