For the sixth year in a row, the Rotary Club of Washago & Area - Centennial is encouraging local residents to celebrate the Summer Solstice and the arrival of summer. The club is proposing a fourth annual community wide vigil for the evening of Thursday, June 21st, 2012, the longest day of the year. Residents can participate by lighting small flames such as candles, and tea lights on their docks and properties along the Green & Black Rivers and the Severn River. Local residents are also encouraged to get out on the rivers in small craft such as canoes, kayaks, and other paddling craft to burn the midnight oil. Club president Janet Stead says, "The Summer Solstice Vigil is something that seems to have really caught on in Washago. Last year just about everybody decorated their shorelines with lights and we had people from as far away as King City paddling the rivers to enjoy it."
The Solstice Event has been growing as more people get into the idea. Many residents and visitors alike decorate their canoes and kayaks with various forms of light and paddle the rivers en masse. Paddlers enjoy meeting new friends as the various bands of paddlers meet up with each other.
The Summer Solstice is the one day in the year that the sun is highest in the sky and Solstice celebrations go back centuries. June 21st has the longest period of daylight during the year and marks the beginning of summer. The Rotary Club of Washago hopes to continue making The River Solstice Vigil a distinctive annual celebration in Washago by building a sense of community among those who live on and around the extensive river system. Everyone is welcome to take part in the event. Members of the club will be on the river the night of the event to take photographs and video for potential media exposure. Even those who do not own a paddle craft or dock can participate by viewing and/or taking photographs or making paintings of the event from the many public bridges that span Washago's picturesque waterways.
Rotary past president Janet Stead says "This event fosters a greater sense of community in Washago & Area. Washago thrives on summer tourism and our club believes that all residents and visitors can celebrate the coming of summer without cost by lighting a small flame or other form of light and getting out to enjoy our biggest asset.. our river system."
Please contact Janet Stead for more information.
