Photo: The streets were lined as the annual Colonial Days parade kicked off the always popular weekend of activities at the Lloydminster Exhibition Grounds.

By Katie Ryan
Even if it the clouds threatened to rain on the parade, the inclement weather didn’t keep the crowds away.
Lloydminster’s downtown streets were lined by residents while the Colonial Days Parade snaked through the city yesterday morning, boasting over 100 float entries and kicking off the four-day fair. At the helm was honourary parade marshall Kurt Price, who said the crowds were full of  “enthusiasm” as he waved to them.
“I’ve driven in it before, I’ve walked in it handing out candy but this is the first time I have ever been pulled around in a beautiful carriage by great horses. I had the pleasure of waving to everybody and smiling. It was pretty easy to do because everybody out there seemed to be smiling too. I think it’s going to be a pretty good Colonial Days,” he said Wednesday afternoon to the Source.
At the reception to kick off Colonial Days, Price was surprised and honoured to receive a plaque congratulating his position as honourary parade marshall. It was the first of its kind to be handed out in the history of the 106-year-old fair added Price.
“I don’t know if it’s true or not, but Larry Olynyk thought I was the youngest parade marshall by about 30 years too,” he chuckled.
Not one to miss a parade ever, Olynyk, who also coordinates the judging of the parade floats, said this year’s entries were impressive. The floats are judged in five categories, however, the float that ranked the highest overall – the hottest ticket in town – was Servus Credit Union’s.
“It was a no-brainer,” he said of Servus’ work. “It was the float that obviously took a little more time and bit more money was put into it than the average.”
Colonial Days Fair will be in full swing until Saturday, wrapping up with a fireworks finale at 11:30 p.m.