Bolton’s “village birthday party” draws crowds on a sunny Saturday

Community members filled the Royal Courtyards parking lot to join in the festivities

By Zachary Roman

It was a happy birthday indeed for the Village of Bolton.

On June 4 at 10 a.m., celebrations for Bolton's bicentennial kicked off in the Royal Courtyards parking lot, by the intersection of King and Queen streets in Downtown Bolton.

Caledon's town crier, Andrew Welch, opened the day in his signature style.

There was then music played by Humberview, then St. Michael, secondary school music students. Live music was also performed by several individual community members, and members of the Caledon Concert Band, throughout the day.

Classic cars and the Caledon Cruisers were in attendance, as were multiple food trucks where people could get refreshments.

There was a childrens' play area which was busy with kids and their families playing games all day, and volunteers supervising them and joining in on the fun.

Several community groups had set up booths to promote their services and upcoming events, and local vendors had set up shop in the artisan market area to meet potential customers.

A giant 200th birthday cake that read “Happy birthday Bolton” was a centerpiece of the event and many partygoers were seen taking pictures with it. Historical walking tours were also held during the day.

Carole Whitehead, a member of the Albion Bolton Historical Society (ABHS), was one of the many people at the Historical Society's booth at the event. Their booth had informational handouts about George Bolton, Bolton's founder. The booth also had posters with information and photos about Bolton's past, and a collection of Indigenous artifacts.

Whitehead, like other ABHS members, was answering history questions from curious community members throughout the day.

Whitehead moved to Bolton when she was just four years old, and has lived in Bolton for 81 years since.

“It was a whole different lifestyle as kids… our lives revolved around the baseball diamond, the skating rink, the river. We walked everywhere, or bicycled if we were rich enough to have bikes,” said Whitehead.

She said the ABHS often finds newcomers to Bolton are quite interested in its history. She explained she's met people who live on Bolton's North Hill and commute on Highway 50 every day who didn't know there was a river in Bolton — despite crossing over the Queen Street bridge every day.

“That's the whole reason why the Village was here in the first place,” said Whitehead with a laugh.

Bolton's area councillor, Tony Rosa, attended the June 4 celebrations and said he wanted to thank the Royal Courtyards property owners for allowing the event to be held in their parking lot. Rosa said the event was a great opportunity to engage with the community.

“You know, we're overlooking a group of kids having fun on a Saturday here, playing games, and this is something that we've missed,” said Rosa. “The bicentennial… for me, it's turned into building more unity and community, that's really the focus of today. This happens only once every 200 years, right? So, we have to definitely take advantage of it.”

He said the all-day celebration was a great idea so families could choose what time works for them to come to the event. Rosa also commended the idea of having a fun birthday party day on Saturday, and a formal commemoration of the bicentennial on Sunday. 

“Today (June 4) is really about a birthday party… you think of people gathering, having fun playing games, sharing food, sharing entertainment. I think that that's really what this has turned into: a birthday party celebrating 200 incredible years of this Village,” said Rosa.

Councillor Rosa also wanted to give a “huge shoutout” to ABHS members Valerie Mackie and Heather Broadbent. He said they, and the rest of the ABHS and Bicentennial Committee, poured their hearts and souls into the weekend's celebrations. He said they are real community leaders and that what they accomplished was very impressive.

“You could really tell that people were committed to executing this and bringing this to the community,” said Rosa. ”One beautiful thing they did… in collaboration with Valerie, we created some lesson plans and some slideshows that we shared with all the local schools. So, the students have been learning about the history of Bolton in their classrooms with their teachers… it's been an opportunity to have those meaningful conversations with young people.”

Mackie was at the ABHS booth during the June 4 celebration and remarked how fabulous the turnout for the day was. She said everyone was loving the giant Bolton birthday cake, and that having bands from the local secondary schools playing was exciting. She reported steady traffic at the ABHS booth and said people were genuinely enjoying having an opportunity to do something that wasn't commercial.

“People are stopping… just looking at the (historical) photos, because for many people, they haven't seen those pictures,” said Mackie. A signup sheet to join the ABHS was at the booth, and it was slowly filling up with names.

Sarah Leslie, a member of the Bolton Community Crew who was responsible for helping put the vendor market for the day together, as well as organizing the food trucks, said her involvement with the Community Crew helped her to reach out to potential vendors.

Leslie said the June 4 festivities were a great place for people to start learning about the “amazing history” of Bolton.

“I'm very happy with the turnout, the weather is perfect. There's a ‘Kid Zone' going on in the back and the kids seem to be having a really good time,” said Leslie.

The day's events wrapped up around 4 p.m., but Bolton's bicentennial would continue to be celebrated on Sunday, June 5, with a tribute to Village founder George Bolton and a subsequent plaque unveiling.