NAKINA – The community of Nakina in the Municipality of Greenstone kicked off its 100th anniversary celebrations on Friday.
Friday's events consist of a lunch followed by tours of the Nakina Museum throughout the day, and a tour of Nakina Lumber Inc., which has a long history in the community.
The day's activities will be followed by a dinner at the complex hall, a local talent show, and entertainment by Mike Lynch.
Michelle Ferraro, chair of the 100th Anniversary committee said volunteers have put in a good deal of work to pull the celebration together.
“Our meetings started last year around this time and we just can't believe it's actually here now,” she said. “A lot of residents have been going up and above making sure that their yards are tidy, garbage is picked up. Our local municipality workers have been working hard to clean up all the ditches and cut the grass and just making us proud.
Saturday’s events consist of a breakfast and parade followed by words from Greenstone Mayor James McPherson and Nakina Ward Councillor Matthew Donovan.
Nakina’s sister community, Aroland First Nation, will also hold a traditional opening ceremony and will provide a bannock taco lunch. Ferraro said that seeing the support from Aroland, not just for this event, but for much of the history of the community has been truly amazing.
“We really value our relationship with all of our community members, especially our sister community Aroland,” she said. “It's just wonderful to have their supports and it's wonderful to be of support to them if they ever need us.”
Sundays events will feature another breakfast, plenty of children's activities, and a few entertainment shows, followed by a fireworks show that Ferraro said will definitely make up for the one on Canada Day that was cancelled due to the fire restriction.
“It's going to be the biggest one yet because we had a fire restriction on Canada Day, so we weren't able to utilize our fireworks there,” she said. “So, it's going to be twice the show happening it's going to be a great way to close out our wonderful weekend.”
For the full schedule of events, visit the Nakina 100th Anniversary Facebook page.