Since 1918, the Rotary Club of Sault Ste. Marie has served the community – not only by supporting many good causes but also by entertaining the public.
The service club's first annual Rotary Community Day Parade was held in 1922 to raise money to purchase a car for Bertha Miller, the city’s first public health nurse.
JW Curran, a charter member of the Rotary Club of Sault Ste. Marie, was impressed by a street parade he viewed in Orillia and was instrumental in establishing Rotary’s own parade here.
David K. Marshall, assisted by a team of fellow volunteers, has served as the parade’s marshal since the mid-1980s, responsible for organizing and directing the parade smoothly and safely.
“We get a lot of satisfaction from it. There are a lot of people that come back remembering the parades from when they were kids,” Marshall told SooToday.
Every year, participants are encouraged to decorate their floats in keeping with a chosen theme for the parade.
“One theme that I liked was when we celebrated the Rotary Club of Sault Ste. Marie’s 100th anniversary in 2018,” Marshall said.
“We asked participants to pick a decade. We wanted to break it up into blocks like 1900 to 1910, 1910 to 1920 and so on. That was kind of neat. A lot of people went with the 1950s and 60s because of what they did in those decades, but that was a good parade.”
The theme for this year’s parade, happening on July 19, is ‘Making Waves.’
Participants are encouraged to use their creativity in constructing floats with that theme. Suggestions from Rotary include representations of marine life, pirates, mermaids and the Sault’s close relationship to the St. Marys River and St. Marys Rapids.
Completed applications to enter a float in the 102nd Annual Rotary Community Day Parade presented by Brookfield Renewable are due July 9.
Due to a second consecutive year of roadwork on Queen Street, this year’s parade, like last year’s, will start on Queen Street at Church Street, proceed south onto Pim Street and west on Bay Street.
“We got quite a few positive comments on the Bay Street route last year. There was a lot of concern whether it would work but we planned for it and it worked very well,” Marshall said.
After more than a century, the annual parades are still well attended.
Marshall estimated that approximately 15,000 people attended the 2024 parade.
“A parade is a little festival that moves. It's a little bit of fantasy. It's a break from the norm. I see those happy people out there and kids love it. It creates a bond in the community every July. Everybody loves a parade,” Marshall said.
Each year’s parade is held during the annual three days of Rotaryfest activities in Clergue Park.
Rotaryfest, the Sault’s annual summer festival, includes live music on three stages, chicken and ribs from out-of-town vendors at the annual Ribfest as well as food from local vendors, a play zone and inflatables for children, the Wheels On The Water Car Show, Miracle Mile Colour Blast, and Soo Mill Mini Putt.
This year's Rotaryfest activities take place July 17-19.
The Rotary Club of Sault Ste. Marie’s biggest success and primary purpose is to raise funds for children with physical disabilities.
The club’s largest fundraiser is the annual Take Your Pick draw where ticket holders can win new vehicles and large cash prizes.
Thousands of Take Your Pick tickets are sold to community members with money from ticket sales going to support families.
Rotary provides money from fundraisers to a long list of other organizations and good causes including THRIVE Child Development Centre Foundation, Sault Ste. Marie YMCA, Sault Area Hospital Foundation and the Group Health Centre Trust Fund.
More information on the Rotary Club of Sault Ste. Marie, its many programs, the Rotary Community Day Parade, Rotaryfest and contact information can be found on the organization’s website.
Check out video of last year’s parade here and photos from last year's Rotaryfest are here.
