Just after noon on Saturday, Lainey Sloan sat at a table on the Quyon fairgrounds, face already painted, decorating a paper flower she planned to add to the Giggles and Greenery Garden that was growing on the fence behind her.
The Quyon Community Day was only an hour in, and Sloan, who had traveled from Bryson for the event, was not wasting any time digging into the festivities, which were set to last well into that evening.
Once her flower was complete, her aunt and event volunteer Connie Clarke-Sloan helped her attach it to the garden of paper flowers set up to welcome the 400 or so attendees who would join the party over the course of the day-long event.
It was the town’s third annual Community Day since the event was picked back up by the Quyon Community Association (QCA) in 2023.
“This was an event that was originally started off by the Quyon Lionettes, and then prior to covid it kind of disappeared, so a couple of years ago the QCA said, ‘Let’s bring it back,’ and that’s what we did,” said Brenda Clarke, one of eight members of the QCA committee.
“It was to try and bring the community back, put some life back into our town, get events going again, and just have fun.”
This year, the town’s party also celebrated Quyon’s 150th anniversary, which meant the all-day event included special features such as three lumberjack demonstrations from the Great Canadian Lumberjacks, a ball tournament, and a drone show after the sun had set.
The entire day’s activities were paid for using money raised in the community.
“It’s 100 per cent funded by the citizens of our community – regular folks,” Clarke said, noting regular raffle draws helped raise money needed to put on events like these.
The Quyon Community Association was not alone in its efforts to create a day filled with fun for all ages. Quyon Sports and Recreation organized a ball tournament alongside the community day, and the the Quyon Lions Club cooked up a roast beef dinner for the masses, for which they sold 215 tickets.
“The lineup was there at twenty after four, so we started it then this year, and it virtually continued until we sold out,” said Lions member Bob Young, noting the roast beef dinner is a long time tradition for the club.
“It goes back many years, where Mona Mackechnie put on the community day and we put on the roast beef dinner for her,” he said.
“We very much appreciate this new community association group. They work hard at it. They fundraise to make the day a relatively inexpensive day for all of the community, so just one hundred per cent kudos to them.”
Live music rocked the stage beginning early in the afternoon, with local musicians Rolly Bernier, Lorne Brady, and Kerry Young joined by Kirk Warren kicking things off.
Their set was followed by several more from a suite of Ottawa Valley artists, with Quyon native Gail Gavan taking the stage before Chicken Fried, which has become a Quyon regular over the past year or so, closed out the evening.
