The Sundre Pro Rodeo's traditional parade route has been slightly altered to account for changes over the past year.
Event co-organizer Heidi Overguard told Town of Sundre officials recently that the motivation behind the decision was to include the residents at the new Mountain View Seniors' Housing complex in the southwest.
The former route was designed with a consideration to accommodate seniors at the Foothills Lodge. But organizers wanted to adapt the route now that the building sits vacant since last summer's opening of the new campus of care in the southwest part of town.
Whereas the eastbound parade once turned north off of Main Avenue onto Second Street North before winding around First Avenue North back down south on First Street North, the new route will now lead the procession to instead turn south off of Main Avenue onto Second Street South, and loop its way around to Fourth Avenue South headed west to get roughly back to the starting point.
Organizers looked at trying to get the parade route to go around by the new facility, "but it's logistically impossible at this point," she said, adding the procession will nevertheless come close to the new lodge.
"If we do it this way, then we'll have an area set up for the seniors at the new facility," she said.
Otherwise, the rest of the parade remains par for the course.
"Setup is the same ó everything else is the same ó it's just we're not going to be turning at Swamp Donkeys there where we normally did," she said.
"It also is great because it frees up the traffic lights," which should to an extent facilitate the flow of traffic, she said.
"It makes a lot of sense."
But as with any changes to long-running community events, the new route might take some getting used to for residents who had grown accustomed to watching the parade from a certain position.
"Some people have the same spot they've sat at for 30 years, so they're not going to be thrilled about that," but the changes will be advertised, she said.
"In the long run, if people understand we're trying to accommodate our seniors over there, they'll be pretty good."
Council has approved the proposed changes to the parade route as well as a request to assist organizers to install barriers as well as to provide traffic control.
Some of the highlights lined up in this year's parade, which takes place Saturday, June 24 starting at about 10 a.m., include performances by the Calgary Round-Up Band ó the biggest marching band ever to appear in the local parade ó as well as the Red Deer Royals, the Innisfail Pipe Band and the Sundre High School Band, said Overguard.
"It's shaping up to be a really great parade and we're pretty excited."
