WE could be looking at the end of a North Vancouver tradition that has lasted more than 100 years.
After years of exhausted pleas for more help, organizers of the Canada Day parade have called it quits and no one is stepping forward to take their place.
We can't say we blame them. It is a Herculean task to get just a few people co-ordinated to move in one direction, let alone a whole parade of them.
It's a pity, as every year we have more new Canadians we'd love to celebrate with. Short of the Stanley Cup being held aloft by the Canucks (also not scheduled for this year), it's about as Canadian a display as we could ask for.
Is this a sign of dwindling Canadian patriotism? Probably not. More likely it is just that everyone has filled the 364 other days of the year with so much stuff, it's hard to set aside one more to volunteer.
It's not just the handful of remaining Canada Day celebrations in the Lower Mainland that struggle for lack of donated time and energy. Every year we report on many worthwhile and much-loved causes and organizations that are running out of steam.
But there is a glimmer of hope, oddly enough, not on the horizon but in the past.
The event has skipped a beat a few times in the past. Perhaps by having to look elsewhere for Canada Day revelry this year, a few folks or a committed organization will decide the tradition is worth reviving.
