For its 10th anniversary, Cordova Bay Day is expanding its venues and bringing in a bit more of everything for its community celebration.
The party this year is split between the St. David By the Sea church and a few blocks south, Cordova Bay Plaza.
The church hall and grounds will host about 25 crafts tables and non-profit displays, while the plaza will be the base for a vintage car show, food and live music.
“We thought because it’s the 10th anniversary, we’d do it a bit bigger,” said Larry Gontovnick. Gontovnick, Sylvia Burkhardt and Randy Otto, all with the Cordova Bay Association for Community Affairs, are the three-person volunteer crew organizing Cordova Bay Day.
Organizing the day – wrangling vendors, food, musicians, an appearance by the Saanich fire department – is a lot of work, they say, but its a community worth supporting. And someone needed to step up.
“We’ve been at it consistently for the past few months, but the last few weeks have been hectic,” Gontovnick said.
“We’re doing it because we want to give back to the community,” Otto said, “and some of us at the Cordova Bay meeting put our hands up.”
The celebration expects to draw 30 or 40 vintage cars from a number of eras, and people can expect an afternoon of live blues music and a brass band. Gontovnick said the event is always appreciated in the community, but the amount of people that attend is largely dictated by the weather.
The event helps to highlight the Cordova Bay Association, which most recently has donated students at Claremont, Haliburton Farms and the Cordova Bay Seniors 55 Plus Association. Otto stresses that fundraising plays a small part of the day.
“The mandate isn’t to make money, the purpose is to provide a community celebration for Cordova Bay, where neighbours meet neighbours,” he said. “The goal (for the association) is to break even and put on a good day and a good celebration.”
Cordova Bay Day is Saturday, June 22, at the St. David By the Sea Anglican Church (5182 Cordova Bay Rd.) and at the Cordova Bay Plaza (5142 Cordova Bay Rd.) See cbasn.com.
editor@saanichnews.com