Richmond Hill Winter Carnival draws a crowd to Mill Pond

Yorkregion.com
February 3, 2020
Kim Zarzour

It was almost perfect weather for this year’s Richmond Hill Winter Carnival -- mild with a light sprinkling of snow.

The two-day event at the Mill Pond, “created by the community for the community,” was successful again this year, said Richmond Hill councillor David West.

For more than 50 years, the event has celebrated neighbours and winter, this year with maple taffy, lumberjacks, vikings and a “Monkey Gym” bus.

“Attendance might have been a little lower this year, but it’s not really necessarily the number of people who come out to the event, it’s the people who come out year after year,” West said.

He refers to 11-year-old Alexander Petrenko, who has been working on his Carnival buttons collection display for three months.

“It's kids like that sitting always at the front of the stage smiling their brains out and having a great time both Saturday and Sunday, having fun and building memories,” he said.

West has been involved in the Carnival organization for eight years and has been attending since high school when, as a 17-year-old volunteer, he met and fell in love with his wife, Michelle Deaust.

They married and their own son carried on the tradition.

“There are people that spent their childhood here, then their children came to the carnival every year and now their grandchildren are coming. These are the things that memories are made of.”

Plus, he adds, “it’s a fantastic good reason to get out of the house in February.”

GOOD TO KNOW:

Winning button numbers for Winter Carnival 2020:

01900 -- four-day pass to Canada’s Wonderland prize

02777 -- Richmond Hill skating, swimming and Performing Arts Centre tickets

02738 -- two-night stay at the Royal Harbour Resort in Thornbury

01886 -- $500 gift certificate for Code Ninjas