The Covid-19 pandemic has taken a further bite out of next year’s 100th anniversary celebrations. First it was Kapuskasing District High School announcing it wouldn’t hold its major reunion, and now the recreation committee has recommended to council that the 100 committee change its focus away from large gatherings and go towards more virtual settings. Mayor Dave Plourde says it’s not what we wanted this celebration to be but the realities of the day have changed everything.
“And we have to try and plan things around the situation that we have with covid” he said. “I think the committee has to do what they have to and what they can to try to make Kapuskasing proud of the 100 anniversary. They also need to make sure the community is protected while doing so.”
Plourde says he understands the frustrations being felt by the committee due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“And if something does come around that permits us to have larger gatherings later on and we can try and plan like everyone else is trying to do to have events that the community can feel proud of,” he said.
That move frustrated current committee chairman Julien Boucher who promptly tendered his resignation to lead the group sighting council lack of movement to hire a special events coordinator as well as shelving the hours of work that had already been put in on planning. Boucher was asked to reconsider his announcement of stepping back as committee chair, and said he will provide a further update to council at a later date.
