Well, the Proudfoot Four weren't able to kill the 2012 Kearney Regatta, despite trying to vote it down... twice, but they did manage to mangle it beyond recognition. The weather can be blamed for cancelling the fireworks, but it was Mayor Pall Tomlinson and his henchmen who made sure there was no...
- Battle of the Bands
- Street Dance
- Northern Light Steel Band
- and so on...
Which could have saved Regatta from the lack of Fireworks.
Councillor Yvonne Wills even got in on the act when she tried to eliminate the prize money from the kids sports events (a whole whopping $159!) until volunteers shamed her into coughing up the money when they declared they'd pay the prizes out of their own pockets. And despite volunteers standing by for the kids water competitions on Saturday, Councillor Wills cancelled that. Wills wasn't making any effort to promote the merriment either; Every time we saw her she was stomping around with a big scowl on her face ignoring everyone. Councillor Ken Ball made up for it though, with an unceasing smile and cheery disposition. Councillor Dingwall manned the dunk-tank for a while, mostly chewing gum with his mouth open and sneering at passers-by, until he gave up when people stopped coming.
There was one tug-of-war for the adults, but kids who showed up for their tug-of-war were just handed ribbons and sent on their way.
The Beer Garden had limited success, mostly because last year's open tent was replaced this year with an enclosed tent. An awesome idea when temperatures are in the high 30's.
Of course, MP Tony Clement and MPP Norm Miller didn't show up after being treated like dirt last year by Tomlinson. If fact, Tomlinson himself only made a brief appearance on Saturday at the Bouncing Castle before hightailing it back to Proudfoot.
The general consensus among attendees, and on the Regatta Facebook page, was that this year's Regatta was the worst ever. Several vendors commented that it wasn't worth the gas to drive to Kearney.
Most attendees came to Kearney expecting a Regatta like those of years past. Instead they were disappointed by a withered event in a withering town. Many are likely to go elsewhere next year, rather than be disappointed again, unless Council steps up and makes a real effort. But given the complete lack of any promotion of tourism in Kearney by this council (visit the Ice Caves, but we won't tell you where they are) and the shoddy treatment of the few volunteers that hadn't already been run off, we don't have high expectations.
Are you surprised?
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