Gearing up in Steveston Community Centre Recreation (Pool) Room - radio net control location for 2014 parade.
Briefing before heading out to assigned positions along parade route. Members eager to try out recently acquired (hi-vis) safety vests. (2013 photo)
6:00 AM load up at the Steveston Salmon Festival Hatchery (Salmon Shed) to set up for arrival of parade entries at Garry Point Park. (2017 photo)
July 1st, 8:40 AM. No need to be the first to arrive to get a front row seat here. (2013 photo)
Anything will do to get to the parade assembly area at Garry Point Park. (2015 photo)
Pre-parade patrol on bicycle. Volutneer t-shirts are in blue for that year instead of the usual red because of sponsor's corporate colour. (2012 photo)
RARC carried out net control operations using Richmond EP trailer situated at east end of Steveston Community Centre parking lot adjacent to RCMP Steveston Community Police Office. (2012 photo)
Bill (VE7VBI) and Randy (VE7RNG) at Garry Point Park 'hearding the cats to line up' before official GOG Cannery steam whistle to signify start of parade at 10:00 AM.
Final briefing before clearing the route for the foot race, the children's bicycle parade and the main parade. (2012 photo)
'Spirit of Steveston' Salmon Festival float in assembly area on Seventh Ave. outside Garry Point Park. (2015 photo)
Radio net control for the parade was coordinated from a simple table set up in the Steveston Community Centre's recreation room until alternatives were found the following year. (2013 photo by Carole, VA7QCE)
The Children's Parade is always a great way to kick off the day's activities before the main parade. (2017 photo)
Things started moving at Garry Point Park once the 10 o'clock steam blows at the Gulf of Georgia Cannery. Flag party leading the 70th parade on Moncton St. with GOG Cannery building in background. (2015 photo)
Mayor and City Councillors at front section of parade. (2015 photo)
Branding plan for RARC with designed logo and new signage was implemented in early 2014. Banners at back of net control area was first introduced in March for A.R.I.S.S. event to contact Internation Space Station with H.J. Cambie Secondary. (2014 photo)
Sammy leading the parade - a year before 'Sprit of Steveston' became his ride. (2014 photo)
Members VA7PCB and VA7CPC all geared up on the parade route. (2013 photo)
Delta Police Pipe Band is always a welcomed sight at the parade. (2012 photo)
Blaze from Richmond Fire-Rescue is a popular mascot on the parade route. (2015 photo)
RARC worked alongside REPARS for the 2015 parade. The Richmond Emergency Preparedness Amateur Radio Society was created by City of Richmond Emergency Programs in early 2015 to provide volunteer emergency communications for the city. Many members of REPARS are either present or former RARC members.
City of Coquitlam entry - eye candy floats are few and far between (literally) in today's parades. (2016 photo)
Local St. John Ambulance (not St. John's - that's in Newfoundland) marching unit was a regular sight at Canada Day and Remembrance Day parades. (2013 photo)
Waiting for the parade to begin. (2015 photo)
The New Westminster Hyack Festival float - a consistently well decorated winning entry every year. (2018 photo)
Kigoos Swim Club - bubbles are an eco-friendly way to go with parade floats. (2018 photo)
Vintage and antique cars have always been a part of the parade. Not so eco-friendly but it's a parade. (2015 photo)
Taking a short break after lunch before radio communication assignments for Steveston Salmon Festival activities in the afternoon. (2015 photo)
Richmond is fortunate to have so many Air Cadet squadrons with active marching bands. (2014 photo)
A regular sight in the parade is the group representing Falun Gong. The entry is actually a parade within a parade, consisting of two musical bands and a well decorated float. (2012 photo)
Group shot of RARC/REPARS members before start of 2016 parade. Some RARC members are REPARS members while some REPARS members are former RARC members. And few are also present or former members of VECTOR (Vancouver Emergency Community Telecommunications Organization). We're all into this together. (2016 photo by Norman Kotze, VE7EEH)
GOG Cannery entry in with roofline of the Parks Canada National Historic Site in background. The Cannery Museum usually offers free admission as part of the Steveston Canada Day celebrations. (2018 photo)
Navy League Cadet Corps MJ Miller/RCCS Bicknell. (2018 photo)
The Shriners 'pirate ship' (propane powered) cannon is probably the loudest float in the parade. (2014 photo)
RARC members VE7WXZ and VA7DTT making way through crowded streets back to the community centre for debrief and lunch after end of parade. (2018 photo)
New location for 2019 parade on top of rise (old dyke) at end of Moncton St. Extra elevation at location not only provided better line of sight for VHF simplex radio operation but offered commanding views of parade approaching from Chatham and going down Moncton streets. It was also first year the club's portable, emergency radio go-kit was deployed for net control operations at a public event. (2019 photo)
From the 'knoll' at the GOG Cannery site, parade entries turning onto Moncton can be visually monitored from Third Ave. all the way to No. 1 Rd. Gaps in between entries can be easily observed and readily addressed. (2019 photo)
Rakuichi, bearing a portable Shinto shrine (a Mikoshi), is one of the unique and much anticipated sights and sounds of the parade. (2014 photo)
Rakuichi members warming up after a brief rest before re-entering parade. (2019 photo)
Monitoring crosswalk at Easthorpe in front of Steveston Community and parade grand stand is critical for crowd control as well as traffic control for parade entries. RARC members on foot and bicycle seen holding off spectators while remaining sweeper vehices pass by to indicate official end of parade. (2014 photo)
2016 was only year when the weather threatened to literally rain on the parade. There were a few minor sprinkles but no umbrellas were seen in any of the (now archived) images from the 2016 event. Club member VE7KLZ (in poncho) goes by YVR Striker (fire truck), providing a relative scale to show the immense size of the vehicle. (2016 photo)
Introduction of food trucks in the latter years added to the carnival experience after the parade. (2019 photo)
Taiko drum performance at the stage outside Gulf of Georgia Cannery museum. There are lots to see, do and eat in Steveston after the parade. (2018 photo)
Still marshalling after the parade is over. Bill, VE7VBI walks with sweeper elements at tail end of the parade. (2018 photo)
Parade volunteers hitching ride to entry dispersal area on Railway to help with teardown and clean-up. (2017 photo)
Back to where it all started. RARC members helping other Steveston Salmon Festival volunteers unload at the Salmon Shed. (2017 photo)
Performance stages set up throughout Steveston Village come alive once the parade is over at noon while Sammy mingles with the crowd. (2017 photo)
Another popular stage made good use of the parking lot across from Waves, ironically blocking the big Canada Flag that's painted on the wall of the building behind it. (2017 photo)
Heading over to the lunch room after everything's put away. Another parade in the bag. 2019 was the 74th parade. Who would have thought that we will likely plan our 75th parade on the 76th year! (2017 photo)
THANK YOU FOR JOINING THE RICHMOND AMATEUR RADIO CLUB ON A VIRTUAL RECAP OF THE STEVESTON SALMON FESTIVAL CANADA DAY PARADE. 73
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