Happy Canada Day to our Lakestyle Family! For many lake folks, celebrating Canada Day marks the official kick-off to summer. On July 1st, Canadians all across the country and around the world are showing pride in our history, culture and achievements and we’ve put together a list of our 12 favourite ways you can celebrate Canada Day at the Lake.
History of Canada Day
Here’s a quick history lesson about the start of Canada Day celebrations. On July 1, 1867, Canada became a self-governing dominion of Great Britain and a federation of four provinces: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario and Quebec. The anniversary of this date was called Dominion Day until 1982. Since 1983, July 1 has been officially known and celebrated as Canada Day.
Celebrating Canada Day at the Lake
What’s a patriotic celebration without a parade? Many little sleepy lake communities come alive on Canada Day, with homegrown parades, pancake breakfasts, concerts, carnivals, festivals, and firework displays. Visit your local municipality’s website or call your local government office and they are sure to have info about all the fun Canada Day activities in your area. As well, check out these 12 ways you can celebrate Canada Day at the lake.
- Learn all the verses to O Canada. While only the first verse is part of the official National Anthem, there are actually three more verses in the original patriotic poem by Robert Stanley Weir.
- Celebrate Canadian junk food with ketchup and dill pickle-flavoured chips, Coffee Crisp chocolate bars, Nanaimo bars and a Caesar cocktail.
- Enjoy a Canadian barbecue with peameal bacon on a bun and maple-glazed salmon. Then eat butter tarts (with or without raisins) for dessert.
- Eat a Beaver Tail, or CANADIAN SEMI AQUATIC RODENT POSTERIOR DOUGHNUTS (because the term Beaver Tail is actually now trademarked!?!).
- Make personalized Canada flag shirts or other Canadian themed crafts.
- Bake maple bacon cupcakes for a uniquely Canadian treat. Lakestyle loves bacon!
- Have a contest to find or create the wackiest poutine combination. Maybe you host a Canada Day Poutine Party and challenge guests to bring their creative recipes. Here are some poutine combinations to get started.
- Make a list of Canadianisms. Be sure to include favourites like double double, two-four, beer store, chesterfield and bunny hug.
- Sample some of Canada’s delicious craft beers. BC is ground zero for micro-breweries, but many other provinces are catching on. See if you can collect a beer from each province.
- Hit your local gourmet shop and find a sampling of cheese from across the country. Here is a great source of info about Canadian cheese.
- Have a maple syrup meal. Glaze ribs with maple syrup, mix maple syrup and balsamic vinegar for a maple salad dressing, sprinkle sweet potatoes with maple sugar and have maple syrup pie for dessert.
- Pick your favourite Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Justin Bieber, Shania Twain and Tragically Hip songs and have an all-Canadian jam session.
Happy Canada Day from Lakestyle!
Lakestyle is a company founded on a desire to help people fulfill their lake lifestyle dreams. By utilizing easy to maintain dock systems and accessories, people are able to spend less time working and more time having fun! Check us out at www.lakestyle.ca, follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @LakestyleCA!