Port city recognizes local heroes
Four- day celebration honours the harbour’s coast guard workers
Barb Gruber still remembers the bathtub race at Prince Rupert’s inaugural Seafest.
It was 1978, and old bathtubs with rickety motors were driven across the harbour. Racers prayed they would make the finish line still inside their tubs, and even city officials took part in the fun, says Gruber.
“We had the mayor of Nanaimo come up with a bathtub to go in the race,” said the 69- year- old, who was born and raised in Prince Rupert. “It was quite exciting to watch them.”
This week, the northern coast port city celebrates its 34th annual Seafest with four days of festivities, from Thursday until Sunday. This year’s theme, Salute to the Coast Guard, honours the efforts of coast guard workers stationed in Prince Rupert Harbour.
“They’re basically heroes a lot of the time with search and rescue, and we’d like to recognize that,” said Joy Sundin of the Prince Rupert Special Events Society. “Our community is based on the water so we have lots of reasons to use the coast guard for many different things,” said Sundin.
The festival is celebrating the community’s identity as a waterfront community with events including a sailpast, bullhead fishing derby, kayak races and a swim for survival.
Gruber, who is part of the festival’s 10- member planning committee, says it’s the Quick and Daring race most people look forward to.
“On Saturday, people are given plywood and electric tools and they build a boat,” explains Gruber. “And on the Sunday, they race the boats in the harbour — those that manage to stay afloat!”
Landlubbers can also get in on the fun with a soap box derby, arm wrestling, 3- on- 3 basketball and a spaghetti eating competition.
Gruber says events such as Seafest, one of four annual festivals in Prince Rupert, are vital to community building, especially given the city’s geography.
“A community as cut off as we are, this brings people together. We have to make our fun,” she said.
Seafest draws visitors from many surrounding coastal villages, attracting crowds of up to 10,000, and this year’s coast guard theme is expected to bring even more festival goers. Vija Poruks, assistant commissioner for the Canadian Coast Guard’s Pacific Region, will attend, and various ships in port will conduct tours on board their vessels.