The ThunderBlogs

Despite a morning rain-shower and a few lingering storm clouds, hundreds attended the Sharing Our Wealth Festival at Douglas Park, Sunday afternoon.

The annual event features local merchants and community members who want to show what they have to offer, according to Ken McFaul, Vice President of the Douglas Park Community Association.

“How it started was, I guess 20 years ago we had a multicultural grant to bring multiple cultures together. Out of that gathering we were to come up with some idea and this is what we came up with, the Sharing Our Wealth Festival, to gather the community together to show what is available in the community and what the community has to offer,” said McFaul.

Scattered amongst the trees that surround the Douglas Park Community Centre were the telltale signs of a festival.

Four brightly coloured “bouncy castles” wobbled under the weight of their jubilant occupants.  Two portable generators powered electric fans to hold the inflatable structures upright.  The excited giggles of young children pierced the muffled rumbling of the generators.

Children of all ages, their parents in tow, dotted the 13-acre park.  A crowd of youth gathered around a baseball diamond backstop.  It was a queue for the most popular attraction, the Sky Ride.  Planted at the center of the diamond was a Vancouver Park Board bucket-truck, used for pruning trees.  Arboriculture Staff from the Park Board manned the extendable bucket, maneuvering it skyward, giving patrons a view of the community from above the trees.

Meanwhile, the unmistakable aroma of buttered popcorn filled the air near the Community Centre’s entrance, a free treat provided by Choices Markets on Cambie Street.

“Everything here is local, all the sponsors are local merchants,” said McFaul.  “Whoever wants to set up a community table is more than welcome to.”

“Mom! They’ve got pizza!” said one young boy, clad in a team uniform, cleats and shin pads from an earlier soccer match.  The Community Centre concession did indeed sell pizza, as well as smokies, samosas, veggies, and an assortment of baked goods.

Next to the concession was a display of wares up for silent auction.  A diversity of plants from the Vancouver Park Board Nursery made up the bulk of the items.  Gift baskets and certificates from neighbourhood merchants interspersed the plant species.

“All the money raised goes right back into the festival,” said McFaul.  “Most years we don’t make anything, we just break even.”