The West Coast Railway Heritage Park will reach a significant milestone on July 10, 2004, as the park celebrates 10 years since first opening its gates to visitors. And, what a 10 years it has been! Over 250,000 guests have now visited the Heritage Park, and the facility has become the second most visited railway heritage facility in all of Canada.
July 10 will be a very special community day at the Heritage Park, and everyone is invited to part of the festivities. Admission will be complimentary all day (donations will be accepted, of course), and there will be special ceremonies and activities throughout the day.
Official ceremonies to mark the occasion will be held at the Mac Norris Station in the Heritage Park's town centre at 10:30 a.m., and the cake will receive its first cut to get things under way.
Things will get rocking and rolling in the afternoon with the first of two special fundraising concerts under the "big top", as the hit show ABBA-Cadabra appears on stage at 2 p.m. Then in the evening, there's another special show for music fans, as we present The Shania Experience for all to enjoy. Tickets for the shows are value priced at just $15 each or both shows for $25, and all proceeds go to the Royal Hudson Preservation Fund.
So, come out and join us for any or all of the day July 10, and help us celebrate our first 10 years.
We couldn't complete this column without a special thank you to all the many volunteers and people in the community who came out and helped us with our Day Out With Thomas event in June. It was by far and away the largest event we have ever held, and it presented us many challenges as well as many great moments.
The statistics are very significant - the ticketed attendance for the six days of the event was 17,243 with the highest day being Sunday, June 20 at 3,424 - a new Heritage Park one-day record.
To all of you in the Squamish community who attended, or who helped out in any way, our most heartfelt thanks.
