Yesterday I took the kids to a small town just under 10 klms away from where we currently have our humble abode, to celebrate Victoria Day. 6 months after my hubby and I wed, we bought a house, which was built in the early 1900’s in this particular little town, which has its roots dug pretty deep – one store dates back to 1887! We loved our 6 years there. We had our first 2 kids there, so there are a lot of great memories. I still miss living there…

Small Town Canada is a phenomenally unique experience. This particular town has a long-standing Victoria Day celebration where a good chunk of the homes open their yards and garages for the biggest town-wide garage sale that I have ever experienced. The morning starts with a pancake breakfast at the Firehall and ends with a small town parade where if you have a convertible or old tractor… you can enter it!

Although we never entered the parade while we lived there, my hubby was more than happy to participate in the Garage Sales! The most infamous Victoria Day for me was in 2000. I had just brought home our 2nd child, she was maybe 4 days old. My hubby had started preparing for the garage sale early, way before I was awake. Around 6:30am I had a knock on the front door… I ignored it… they kept knocking! I grabbed my robe and gingerly made my way down the stairs. My daughter was 8lbs 8oz so when I say gingerly… I mean it! A lovely, elderly lady was on my front porch asking if she could come in to see my tall boy dresser that my hubby said he was selling. I told her, “NO” it’s not even 7am and I have a fresh baby in my room. She insisted saying that my lovely, adorable husband was also selling my kitchen table and chairs. I’m pretty sure, in my postpartum haze, I shut the door on her and went back to bed.

Even though I haven’t lived there in nearly 8 years, I didn’t get very far down each street before having to stop to say Howdy! to an old neighbour, catching up on all the news and of course, small town gossip.

Do you have any great small town memories?