High water levels on the Sydenham River this summer will not put a damper on events planned for the 31st annual Wallaceburg Antique Motor and Boat Outing (WAMBO).
Festivities for the free event will kick off Friday evening at 5 p.m. with an opening ceremony. A full list of activities is scheduled to take place for WAMBO, which runs until Sunday evening.
WAMBO Director Brian Armitage said the annual event is something residents in the area have come to look forward to each summer and enjoy.
"We try to add new little things to [WAMBO] every year," he said. "It's really a homecoming for a lot of [people from] Wallaceburg and we're expecting the same good crowd this year."
Armitage admitted organizers were "a little concerned" with how high the water levels have been this year but it shouldn't affect their plans for this weekend.
There have been some slight changes to account for work being done on the Lord Selkirk Bridge as it is not yet open to vehicular traffic. However, according to the municipal construction projects website, the bridge will be open to pedestrians during WAMBO. Armitage said because of work being done on the bridge, the car parade on Friday night will follow a different route. The Terry Glover Memorial Cruise will start at 7 p.m. from the Canadian Tire parking lot, it will then go down Murray Street to Duke Street (circle around Wallaceburg Retirement Residence), the parade will go back to Murray Street, over the bridge onto Wellington Street, then go to Dufferin Avenue to Fairfield Park, will go from Dufferin Avenue to James Street, then Margaret Avenue to Dresden.
Besides classic cars, WAMBO will also feature boats, motorcycles, fire trucks, vendors, and a cardboard boat race at 1 p.m. on Saturday, which will include Chatham-Kent's mayor.
Armitage said live entertainment will also be on hand. A Garth Brooks tribute band will hit the main stage Friday night at 9 p.m. and a Fleetwood Mac tribute band is set to play Saturday night at 9 p.m.
WAMBO Ambassador Kyra Ritchie. (Photo courtesy of WAMBO/ via Facebook).
Residents who attend the WAMBO festivities will likely see Kyra Ritchie, this year's WAMBO Ambassador. Following the application process, Ritchie was selected to receive a $1,500 bursary to go towards her post-secondary education.
The Youth Ambassador Bursary Program was originally open to giving two bursaries to one male and one female student. However, Armitage said there wasn't enough interest within Chatham-Kent, so only one WAMBO Ambassador was chosen.
"We' re disappointed, it's a nice bursary. We just didn't have much success in getting applications," he said. "We're discouraged on that end but at the end of the day we ended up with a really awesome ambassador and we're very pleased with [Ritchie]."
This year's WAMBO Ambassador recently graduated from Wallaceburg District Secondary School and will start school in the fall at Nippissing University to pursue a bachelor in physical health and education. Ritchie said she hopes to one day become a primary school teacher.
One of the reasons Ritchie was chosen to be an ambassador is because of the volunteer work she has done within the community, which has ranged from helping out at school to helping with local food drives.
"[Volunteering] has helped me grow as a person. To be able to step out of my comfort zone... to go up and talk to people and help people I've never met, it has helped a lot," she said.
Armitage said the money that would have gone to the second ambassador will instead be saved for next year's bursary program.
