The City of Parksville's planned 75th birthday celebrations have been delayed 12 months, however the community will still recognize a significant milestone. (File Photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Parksville celebrates 75th birthday with low-key festivities

Jun 19, 2020 | 6:55 AM

PARKSVILLE — It won’t be the celebration residents wanted, however Friday is a major milestone for the city of Parksville.

June 19 marks 75 years since Parksville was officially made a village by the province. Organizers had planned massive celebrations including live music, a pop-up water park, food vendors and a large-scale beach party.

The COVID-19 pandemic scuttled those plans but Ed Mayne, Mayor of Parksville told NanaimoNewsNOW it doesn’t detract from what Parksville has become since 1945.

“The beauty of this town is you have two different towns. One from October through until May or June then from May or June through until October you have this tourist community with lots of traffic, lots of people, a lot of excitement,” Mayne said.

The busy tourist season is another major hit for the region due to the pandemic, with hotel and resort stays, RV trips and the famous Summer by the Sea market all cancelled or radically altered.

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Plans have begun to be reworked in order to host a big celebration for the town’s 76th birthday in 2021.

Mayne said the milestone is a chance to reflect on Parksville’s development over three-quarters of a century.

He said there are no plans to rapidly increase Parksville’s footprint on the Island and destroy what’s made it a popular tourist community.

“We’re not looking to grow this city to 40,000 population,” Mayne said. “We’re just this nice steady growth we can keep up with the infrastructure and make everything work nicely…that’s what we want to plan for and what we’re looking forward to.”

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