Yarrow Days

Our town is made up of smaller villages. Just like Paris. Not really.
To the far east of our valley is Rosedale. We used to have a separate township of Chilliwhack (with an extra 'h'). We had Reeves who are kind of like Mayors. I live in Sardis, south of the Number One Highway which follows the old path of the Vedder River to Vedder Crossing, the past home of a very large army base. Past Vedder, to the west, you travel along the mountain where you can choose to go up to Cultus Lake, or continue along Vedder Mountain to the small town of Yarrow.
Most of these are still farming communities.
Yarrow has managed to keep its community hall and a branch of the Fraser Valley Regional Library. Now there is an Eco-Village, kind of co-op housing, mixed with cutting edge "green" building. Most of those are new neighbours, but it looks as if they are being incorporated into the best shops (deli, gifts, ice cream) and celebration of the town.

 The park had vendors of hand made soap, imported textiles and local youth groups. There are 4 big churches on the main road.

 Both sides of the street were lined with families and friends. It has been a long time since I have seen bare foot children in too-big hand me downs. And they were running around without a parent in tow.
The Deli is really great for sandwiches on the go. The Vedder Mountain Grill serves home made perogies with breakfast. Until a few years ago, there was a working dairy farm right in the centre of town.

 We always begin parades with Mounties and veterans.

 And then the pipe band. This one is ours. It is growing and inviting pipers from all over the valley whose bands have dwindled. For such a broad group, they have a pretty good sound. I am probably going to join them and play bass drum again. They are having fun and don't want to compete, but play in parades and give back to the community.

 On the far left is my DH, the pipe major.

 We still have a few mixed kilts, but are working on distributing the stores we have.

 There were vintage cars, including a model A. But I liked this french car with the sweet labradoodle.

 You gotta love a decorated tractor. Along with fire engines, they were the most of the parade.

 The sign says red neck water slide. The hay bales and tarps worked pretty well.
The corn is 6 inches tall. The strawberries fill the air with sweetness and the blackberries are blooming. It feels like summer is starting.

I used to take my kids to Yarrow Days because their school Jazz Band played in the park. Everyone is greeting each other as friends or relatives. I could ride my bike there in 40 minutes, but I feel like a stranger.
In Sardis and Chilliwack, you can play "six degrees of separation" with me at the centre. Our graduates walked a cross the stage this week to accept their high school degrees. We are so proud of the grads from Sardis. We graduated from there, as did our kids. It's rare to open the local "Progress" newspaper without seeing pictures of people we know, taken by our friend, Jenna Hauk, the photographer.
We are casting on baby sweater sets for the fair which will be donated to the hospital. We call it Fair Share. In addition to the ribbons and cash prizes (up to $5), we collect gift baskets to be drawn for all the entries.

There has been knitting in the garden. And steeking. We plan to yarn bomb the "other" class at the fair with tea cozies!
Let the summer celebrations begin.