Couple wishes Canada a Happy New Year with big display of little flags
As most of Edmonton remained sound asleep after ringing in the start of a new decade, one Edmonton couple was busy in the wee hours of Jan. 1 setting up a big display of paper flags to deliver a Happy New Year message for the city.
Sanjeev and Sangeeta Chawla arrived in the field outside of Oliver School at 6 a.m. Wednesday to plant approximately 400 miniature Canada flags into a display reading “Canada 2020 Happy New Year!”
“We always used to wish Happy New Year to our friends and relatives and we thought why not draw a bigger picture and wish all our friends, relatives and all our fellow Canadians a very Happy New Year for peace and prosperity from coast to coast,” said Sanjeev Chawla.
The Chawlas moved to Canada 15 years ago and have since made multiple grand gestures to recognize their home. In 2014, they unravelled a 12-metre-wide Canada flag and in 2017 they created a large tribute to Canada’s 150th anniversary of Confederation. They always celebrate at the Oliver School playground as it’s public and it’s the school their son attended.
“The people are going to take the spirit of nationalism, which we are trying to cultivate in this,” said Sangeeta Chawla. “We feel that when we take pride in this, we want our fellow citizens to take pride in it as well and continue the spirit of nationalism and patriotism.”
In 2020, the couple said they want to promote unity across Canada, something they believe is needed now more than ever, as they look forward to the next decade.
“It’s a very important year, 2020, and we are going to start a very important decade,” said Sanjeev Chawla. “The technological advancement in terms of interconnectivity and autonomous technologies are going to evolve many folds in this coming decade and we are so excited.”
The Chawlas said they would leave the flags in the ground until late Wednesday before removing the display.
“It’s the beginning of a new decade,” said Sanjeev Chawla, “full of challenges and full of hope and we are very excited.”