Delta is a great place to live year round, but there's something about this time of year that makes this place extra special.
Yes, it's a heck of a lot warmer, and drier, than it is in January, but it's more than just the weather that we've got to be thankful for as spring gives way to summer. This is the best time of year because we've just begun festival season.
It unofficially kicked off two weekends ago when Ladner Pioneer May Days, a tradition in these parts since 1896, returned to Memorial Park for three days packed with family fun. Last Sunday it was the Tsawwassen Shrine Club's turn to take centre stage as it hosted the 45th edition of its annual salmon barbecue at Ladner Harbour Park.
This weekend features the much-anticipated opening day of the Ladner Village Market's 2014 season as well as the 10th edition of Ladner Bandfest and the return of the Hustle & Heart Block Party to Delta Hospital.
The following weekend welcomes the first car boot sale of the season to Centennial Beach, a Father's Day pancake breakfast in Boundary Bay Regional Park and a new addition to the area's ever-growing social calendar: a vintage truck and tractor show on the grounds of Ladner's Kirkland House.
I don't have enough room to give you a detailed schedule for the entire summer, but you get the point: rarely does a weekend go by when there isn't something of note going on. Whether it's a cycling race, an airshow, a movie screened under the stars or blocks filled with classic cars and quilts, you're never lacking for something to do in Delta.
For a relatively small community, this abundance of special events is a testament to the efforts put in by a countless number of volunteers. These are the people who give up their own time to ensure others in their neighbourhoods can have a good time.
It's easy to look at May Days, the Tsawwassen Sun Festival and the many other events that take place on an annual basis and not really think twice about them because, well, they're always there. On some level we recognize this free entertainment doesn't just magically appear every year, but at the same time we do take it for granted to some extent.
So, when you're out enjoying yourself this festival season, whether that's at a Canada Day picnic courtesy of the Lions or a guided walk through Burns Bog, it would be downright neighbourly to thank those who make it happen.
Without them, there wouldn't be a festival season.
