QCCR hosted a session on Thursdy to generate ideas for events on the Liverpool waterfront and elsewhere. (Rick Conrad)

A food truck festival, a chili cookoff and Movies on the Mersey were among the dozens of ideas for Liverpool’s Privateer Park tossed around Wednesday evening at Queens Place Emera Centre.

QCCR hosted a community meeting to generate ideas for more events on the Liverpool waterfront and elsewhere in Queens County.

Station manager Norm Amirault said he wanted to hold the session after seeing some comments on Facebook about people wanting more to do in Privateer Park.

“And honestly, I’d felt that way myself,” he said in an interview. “You have this beautiful park, and you wonder why there aren’t more activities going on there. 
I always thought if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. … And based on the feedback tonight, there’s a ton of good ideas out there that people really do want to see more activities there.”

About 20 people discussed ideas for a more vibrant waterfront, like holding more seasonal festivals similar to last March’s Light Up Queens Winter Night Festival, more events targeted toward youth, encouraging more performing arts besides music in the park. And there was even talk of a Beatles festival.

Min Smale is the secretary-treasurer of the South Queens Chamber of Commerce. She’s also the chair of the Privateer Days committee, which holds the popular annual festival in the park every June.

She was impressed with people’s ideas.

“I think they’re fantastic, and I think it’s really going to revitalize both the waterfront or Privateer Park as well as some of the smaller, lesser-known venues across Queens.

“I think it was great to see the younger folks come in here and enjoy the conversation. They need to be involved in the music and the entertainment scene here.”

One of those young people was Easton Goodwin. He and some of his high school bandmates were at the event.

“I’m glad I came out tonight. 
Usually, not a lot of people like me come out to this kind of thing. And it’s such a great opportunity, you know? There’s a lot of voices in Queens County that really need to be heard.”

“We definitely do have some highlights, such as the Astor Theatre, a lot to explore there, but also, you know, a group of teens want to hang out Friday night, where do they go? 
So, some spots for people to just explore, hang out with friends, and more opportunities for the youth.”

A couple of roadblocks exist in turning the ideas into reality — finding enough funding and volunteers. 

Deputy Mayor Maddie Charlton told the group that while the municipality can’t fund everything, there could be some money available for certain events.

Amirault said he’ll collect the ideas into some common themes, and then approach some local groups like the chamber to try to get things going.

“Maybe as we talked about bite sized pieces, partnerships, and focus on a few things and do them well. Maybe that’s a reasonable first step.”

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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The South Shore District Labour Council is holding a Labour Day event in Privateer Park on the Liverpool waterfront on Monday.

The local federation of labour unions is planning live music, kids’ games and free hot dogs and beverages. It runs Sept. 1 from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. The theme this year is A Canada for Workers: Made Here! Paid Here.

More than 300 people attended last year’s Labour Day event.  Barring a major storm, this is a rain or shine event. The council advises people to come prepared for the weather.

Members of the Lunenburg-Queens Special Olympics will be hosting the food booth.

Stephanie Sereda, community development co-ordinator for the Region of Queens, organized the Light Up Queens Winter Night Festival. (Rick Conrad photo)

Hundreds of people flocked to the Liverpool waterfront on Saturday evening for the first Light Up Queens Winter Night Festival.

Organize by the Region of Queens, it was a free, all-ages event designed to showcase local culture and to help people shake off the last of the winter doldrums.

Here are some of the sounds from the evening and some of the people enjoying the festivities.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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Diane Warner, Teresa Whynot, Kayla Mansfield and Michelle Roy cook up some lusknikn and blueberry tea at the Light Up Queens Winter Night Festival. It was one of the many activities or cultural demonstrations at the festival. (Rick Conrad photo)

Dozens of families took a chance to fly a kite on Saturday night with TideKite. People could also make their own kites. (Rick Conrad photo)

Hundreds turned out to the Liverpool waterfront on Saturday for the Light Up Queens Winter Night Festival. (Rick Conrad photo)

Privateer Days parade. Photo Ed Halverson

The first Privateer Days to be held in Liverpool since the start of the pandemic is barely in the books and already organizers are looking ahead to next year.

Chair of the Privateer Days commission Ashley Whynot wants feedback from the public to learn what they can do better.

“Any input, feedback, constructive criticism, we’re looking for all of that. We need to know because we’re not putting this on for us, we’re putting this on for everyone else,” said Whynot. “It doesn’t matter what I want personally, it’s what we can make happen for everyone.”

For example, Whynot says they’ve already noted the need for more first-aid stations and better locations for some of the washroom facilities.

She says one of the successes for this year’s festival was the shift towards family-focused activities.

Organizers decided to do away with the waterfront beer tent to provide a place for young people to gather in the evening and to nudge adults into local licensed establishments.

Instead, the entertainment tent featured live music all day and was turned over in the evening for a teen dance hosted by the Liverpool Junior Firefighters.

“And there were kids in there screaming and laughing and doing cartwheels and running around outside in the field. They were having such a good time and I have never seen children stay out, during Privateer Days, that late,” said Whynot.

Privateer Days crowd. Photo Ed Halverson

Looking ahead she says the commission will take a few days to catch their breath but plan on being more active and present in the community throughout the year.

“We would also look to do a few little fundraisers to kind of, keep our name out there, keep the community engaged with us, bring in some more funds to see what other new and exciting vendors or entertainment or what-have-you we can bring in next year,” said Whynot. “And we’re always looking for more volunteers.”

Anyone wishing to get involved with Privateer Days can contact Whynot or the commission through their Facebook page.

Reported by Ed Halverson 
E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson

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Photo contributed by Privateer Days Commission

Liverpool’s unofficial kick off to summer is back.

Privateer Days returns Friday after COVID restrictions cancelled the event for the past two years.

People can look forward to the return of many regular features such as the Privateer Day parade and historic encampment on Saturday, guided historic walking tours as well as activities and music all weekend at Privateer Park.

Many of the Privateer Days board members are new this year having only been elected to their positions at their annual general meeting in February.

That gave the group just four months to plan an event that would normally take all year.

Board chair Ashley Whynot says the mix of new and returning board members has been vital to getting Privateer Days up and running.

“This was all new. I’m used to planning birthday parties and very, very small events, so this is way out of my comfort zone,” said Whynot.

Despite having to quickly learn what permitting, licensing and insurance was needed to host an event the scale of Privateer Days, Whynot says the planning wasn’t that stressful.

“This isn’t a brand-new event so we always have previous years that we can look back on and be like, okay, what worked and what didn’t, look at the lineup, keep the traditional aspects like the parade and the rum run and the wedding. Those always had specific start times, so we kept those in mind,” said Whynot. “All the new things we kind of just filled in the blanks as we went.”

One of the big changes this year is the focus on providing a family friendly environment.

The beer tent was done away with in favour of organizing a pub crawl and encouraging people to visit the local drinking establishments.

Attendees will see family focused entertainment such as circus performers, a kid’s fishing derby, and a teddy bear picnic.

Whynot says the board is not only looking for new ideas but is always happy to see new people get involved with Privateer Days.

“We are looking to bring back as much tradition as possible, like the wedding for instance, and we’re looking to keep traditions going like the rum run and the parade. But we are looking to modernize it as well. There’s a lot of virtual reality things going on for the children and interactive things. We are always looking for new board members and fresh minds, fresh ideas, and lots of volunteers for that weekend in general.”

Kids can kick off the 2022 edition of Privateer Days at the Thomas Raddall Library Friday morning with pirate themed stories and crafts.

Adults can join the fun Friday night at one of several musical performances at the Legion, Route 3 Cellar Taproom and Grill and Hell Bay Brewing Company.

Events get underway at Privateer Park beginning at 9:00am Saturday.

Reported by Ed Halverson 
E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson

To listen to the broadcast of this story, press play below.

Photo contributed by Privateer Days Commission

With a new board in place and the province set to lift COVID restrictions Privateer Days is back on for 2022.

The event held each year in Privateer Park along the Mersey River waterfront in Liverpool was cancelled the past two years due to COVID.

Newly elected president Ashley Whynot says the goal this year will be on keeping the event family friendly and historically focused.

“Instead of doing a beer tent this year we’re actually going to keep it as a child-friendly entertainment tent because we have some local bars and pubs that we want to support as well and are very close to where our festivities are going to be,” said Whynot.

She says many people have asked about bringing back the fairground rides but unfortunately organizers have been unable to secure a provider.

“Children don’t so much pay attention to the historical side, which kind of a sin,” said Whynot. “But they love the pirates and they always love the rides and I wish we could’ve done that for them.”

Whynot says the organizers are aware how deeply the pandemic has impacted many of the people and businesses involved with Privateer Days.

They have removed the entry fee to participate in the parade and will be lowering fees for vendors to set up at the event.

“We’re not going to say, can you pay $700 to come, bring your food truck for the weekend because we know right now, that’s just not feasible,” said Whynot. “We’re trying to work with everybody and hopefully we meet everybody’s expectations.”

Whynot says Privateer Days relies on having 30 or so volunteers each day to operate the event.

Anyone wishing to be involved can contact the board on the Privateer Days Facebook page.

The event will run the weekend of June 24 through 26 which means Whynot, and the rest of the organizers have a lot to do in a short amount of time.

“We only have four months to put this together so we’re going to do the best that we can in the time that we have.”

E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson

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