St. Marys welcomes everyone 'home' this weekend as grads and tourists gather
The town of St. Marys is celebrating this long weekend with a party five years — and a pandemic delay — in the making.
It is Homecoming-Heritage Weekend, and that means plenty of activities and memories in Stonetown.
Already complete, a parade and fireworks show on Friday. But the main events are scheduled for this weekend.
Ongoing Saturday, a carnival atmosphere downtown, featuring bouncy castles, displays, food trucks and sales from local merchants.
A parade enters the downtown of St. Marys on July 1, 2022. (Sean Irvine/CTV News London)But the key event is an all-years reunion at St. Marys District Collegiate and Vocational Institute, the local high school, where thousands of former students are visiting the school to reunite with old classmates.
Organizers have set up displays for each decade of graduates in different rooms of the school, stretching back to the 1940s.
1960s graduate, Nancy Bickel, said it is wonderful to see old friends, and added with a smile that she still knows her way to the principal’s office.
“Definitely! Yes, we had a lot of fun and we learned lots of things and made a lot of friends here,” she said.
It turns out, that Nancy was eyeing up a friend's brother throughout high school. But she did not "get serious” with Clare, her husband of 48 years, until after graduation. The pair attended the reunion together.
Nancy and Clare Bickell, as seen at their old high school, St. Marys DVCI, during an all-years reunion on July 2, 2022. (Sean Irvine/CTV News London) “I used to think he was pretty cute, but he was a year or two younger than me,” Nancy told CTV News London.
Meanwhile, St. Marys Mayor Al Strathdee is thrilled to see so many visitors in town.
“It’s so funny, because almost every time you see someone, you say, ‘Oh I haven’t seen you since, oh yeah, pre-COVID,’” he said.
The St. Marys Homecoming-Heritage weekend concludes Sunday with a church service and front porch reunion show.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NEW From yearning for a change to cost of living, why some Canadians have left or may leave the country
For some immigrants, their dreams of permanently settling in Canada have taken an unexpected twist.
NEW Capital gains tax change 'shortsighted' and 'sows division' business groups tell Freeland
Forging ahead with increasing Canada's capital gains inclusion rate 'sows division,' and is a 'shortsighted' way to improve the deficit, business groups are warning Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland.
Minister said 'hundreds' of Canadians might use Gaza visa. More than 7,500 applied.
An immigration lawyer in Toronto says new figures from the federal government show just how 'grudging' Ottawa's efforts have been to rescue Canadians' family members from the war in the Gaza Strip.
Police handcuff man trying to enter Drake's Toronto mansion
Toronto police say a man was taken into custody outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion Wednesday afternoon after he tried to gain access to the residence.
Canucks claw out 5-4 comeback win over Oilers in Game 1
Dakota Joshua had a goal and two assists and the Vancouver Canucks scored three third-period goals to claw out a 5-4 comeback victory over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series Wednesday.
U.S. presidential candidate RFK Jr. had a brain worm, has recovered, campaign says
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his brain more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.
What is whooping cough and should Canadians be concerned as Europe declares outbreak?
There is currently a whooping cough epidemic in Europe, with 10 times as many cases compared to the previous two years. While an outbreak has not been declared nationwide in Canada, whooping cough is regularly detected in the country.
Florida deputies who fatally shot U.S. airman burst into wrong apartment, attorney says
Deputies responding to a disturbance call at a Florida apartment complex burst into the wrong unit and fatally shot a Black U.S. Air Force airman who was home alone when they saw he was armed with a gun, an attorney for the man's family said Wednesday.
'A beautiful soul': Funeral held for baby boy killed in wrong-way crash on Highway 401
A funeral was held on Wednesday for a three-month-old boy who died after being involved in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 in Whitby last week.