Air clears for Rotaryfest

Rotaryfest organizers expect Sault Ste. Marie’s summer festival to bounce back Saturday after heavy smoke from forest fires limited activities on Thursday and Friday. “If the conditions are the same as (Friday) and the risk is low, everything’s a go,” said Anthony Pucci, president of Rotary Club of Sault Ste. Marie. Various activities, including Wheels [...]

Article content Rotaryfest organizers expect Sault Ste. Marie’s summer festival to bounce back Saturday after heavy smoke from forest fires limited activities on Thursday and Friday. “If the conditions are the same as (Friday) and the risk is low, everything’s a go,” said Anthony Pucci, president of Rotary Club of Sault Ste.

Marie. Recommended Videos Various activities, including Wheels on the Water Car Show, Rotary Food Court, Tenaris PlayZone and GFL Inflatable Park, were postponed or cancelled because of concerns about how poor air quality would affect festival-goers. The Miracle Mile Colour Blast!, held Saturday morning, is also scrubbed.

The Rotaryfest committee typically makes event decisions, but that role was handled by the club’s board. “Given the timeline we were trying to get the board to make some decisions right around that,” said Pucci. “We didn’t really plan for smoke in the past.”

“There is no, ‘Oh, are we putting it on or not,’” said Pucci. “It’s a given.” Rotaryfest was cancelled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A scaled-down version followed at Metro Plaza on Northern Avenue in 2021 before Rotaryfest returned to its downtown base in 2022. Various sources, including Air Quality Ontario’s website, Weather Canada and The Weather Network, were checked for guidance. “The conditions improved significantly” for Rotaryfest’s third and final day on Saturday, said Pucci.

Highlights include the 103rd annual Rotary Community Day Parade and performance by ZED: A Tribute to the Music of Led Zeppelin. Rotaryfest helps raise cash for the service club’s community projects.

Most of that cash comes from Take Your Pick ticket sales. The 2025 draw saw about 23,000 tickets sold. This year’s sales are “going well” with the winners of three Soo Mill Buildall gift certificates and a main prize being drawn Saturday at 11:45 p.m.

Reduced activity at the festival’s Clergue Park base is “going to have an impact, (on fundraising efforts) but we’ll know (how much) after the fact,” said Pucci. Smoke concerns were a first for Pucci, a member of the service club for more than 20 years. Rain “was always the concern” especially thunderstorms and lightning, but this year Mother Nature has prompted Rotary to “look at things that we’ve never had to look (at) before.”

How the club will be able to plan for a similar situation is “yet to be determined,” said Pucci,. That will be discussed at a future meeting. Pucci began his one-year term as president on July 1.

Rotaryfest is backed by about 200 to 300 volunteers “if not potentially more,” he said. On X: @Saultreporter