We are privileged to live in a stunningly beautiful place, and on a weekend such as the one just past, it would have been tempting to do nothing more than sit back and enjoy the gobsmacking scenery and splendid sunshine.
Fortunately, thousands and thousands of people in Greater Victoria did not succumb to that temptation. The weather and scenery were eclipsed by the mind-boggling array of events that involved huge numbers of people as volunteers and participants. It was a weekend that dispels any stereotypes of Victoria as a staid and stuffy place where sipping tea is considered the ultimate in excitement and culture.
Oh, there was undoubtedly some sipping of tea, given that the weekend included the 53rd annual Oak Bay Tea Party, which usually draws about 10,000 people.
Oak Bay鈥檚 annual celebration is far more than a tea party, though 鈥� it included the Mad Hatter Fun Run along the parade route, then the parade, with two days full of things to do and see, including a busy midway. The stage was kept busy with entertainment from noon to dusk each day. Water-based activities included a demonstration by the Oak Bay Sea Rescue Society, a bathtub race and the Mayor鈥檚 Challenge Floating Teacup Race, featuring awkward but entertaining giant teacups.
Meanwhile, out on the Peninsula, Brentwood Bay held its annual festival Saturday, with a pancake breakfast, a parade, live music, kids鈥� entertainment and vendors.
For the nautically inclined, Sunday offered the opportunity to see the start of the second leg of the Race to Alaska, a 1,200-kilometre race for wind- and human-powered vessels. A field of 51 started out Thursday on the qualifying run from Port Townsend to Victoria; 29 qualified and were slated to leave Victoria at noon on Sunday in a race to see who could paddle or sail to Ketchikan and claim the $10,000 prize.
For those more interested in pedal power than paddle power, there was a day of cycle racing Sunday in the form of the newly renamed Accent Inns/Russ Hays Grand Prix. The Grand Prix events were part of the Robert W. Cameron Law Cycling Series weekend, which was kicked off Friday with the Western Co-op Sprint Challenge at Western Speedway and included the Cheemo Perogies Cycling Classic road race in Metchosin on Saturday.
About 2,200 women registered for the various events of the fourth annual Victoria Goddess Weekend in the Westshore, culminating in the three main races of the Victoria Goddess Run on Sunday 鈥� the 5K, the 10K and the half-marathon. While the goal of the event is personal achievement, it also raises funds for the KidSport Active Girls Program, the Victoria Sexual Assault Centre and Victoria Women鈥檚 Transition House. It has raised a total of $130,000 over the past four years.
The weekend also saw PGA Tour Canada golf in the form of the Bayview Place Island Savings Open at the Uplands Golf Course.
The HarbourCats season opener drew a record crowd of more than 4,000 baseball fans to Royal Athletic Park Friday evening, with the HarbourCats beating the Kelowna Falcons 9-2. The Falcons got even with a 5-2 win Saturday and an 8-3 victory in the deciding match of the three-game series on Sunday.
If anyone was bored on this or any other weekend, they have only themselves to blame.
Climate and environment contribute to the Island鈥檚 quality of life, but they are only part of the equation, the other part being thousands of energetic volunteers, sponsors and organizers who aren鈥檛 content just to sit in the sunshine and enjoy the ocean breeze.
