VIDEO: NO BALING OUT OF THIS CONTEST
HYLO - The Hylo Harvest Days event drew a crowd to the Hylo-Venice recreation grounds over the weekend. With pandemic restrictions lifted, the annual event drew hundreds for the Friday night bench show and supper as well as the all-day Saturday outdoor events that started with a community parade and ended with the annual pig-chase event.
While the 'welcome back' theme of the event was apparent in the parade, so was a political vein. Lac La Biche County Mayor Omer Moghrabi and current councillor and likely mayoral candidate George L'Heureux were joined in their candy-toss parade entries by new Ward 1 candidate Alvin Kumpula, a former municipal politician looking to re-enter the municipal field. A parade entry from the Western Canadian Maverick Party, a new federal party and their Fort McMurray-Cold Lake riding candidate Jonathan Meyers was also greeted with cheers from dozens of people watching from the block-long parade route through the small rural hamlet.
Following the parade, the politics gave way to country fun with children's activities including bouncy castles and ball toss games, as well as a youth and adult King and Queen of the Harvest contest. A beer tent with music from local band Desjarlais & Company also kept the crowds entertained. Several fundraising raffles were held throughout the day, including the chicken 'drop' bingo and a 50-50 draws. The events wrapped up with the annual pig-catch events that saw groups of youngsters to adults dashing to coral small pigs. The winners got to keep the porkers.
The Hylo Harvest Days event is an annual fundraiser for the Hylo-Venice Agricultural Society and serves as a mixer for community members.