Eight-year-old Nick Schaffner has always wanted to be firefighter.
That dream was rekindled Sunday, half a world away from his home in Switzerland, at Summerfest in downtown Prince George.
Nick spotted the 95-foot ladder atop the fire truck parked on George Street and dragged his parents, Roger and Iris, over to meet Prince George firefighter Jason Smith, who gave Nick and personal tour of the truck, showing him how to operate the lever of a firehose and what it's like to sit in the driver's seat.
Meeting kids like Nick kept Smith and his crew occupied and it brought him back to his own childhood when he used to fantasize about driving a fire truck through town with lights flashing and siren blaring.
"It's nice to actually show them the trucks, because you can only do so much when they come for a tour of an active hall, but here they have a bit of a free reign to grab equipment and let them hop in the truck, and the moms and dads are loving it too," said Smith.
"But we keep the power turned off because as soon as it's on, the first thing a kid does is go straight for the air horn. Everybody here would be deaf if we left the power on."
The Schaffners have friends in Fraser Lake and have been camping for a few days on the outskirts of Prince George. They decided to come into town for the day and their timing for Summerfest could not have been better.
They were treated to live music and dancing on the main stage, took part in activities like the live trout fish pond, rode the mini rail train, saw street performers juggling and performing magic tricks and walking on stilts, checked out the merchandise on the Exhibitor Alley market in front of City Hall and tickled their tastebuds with choice menu items from some of downtown's top restaurants in the Taste Pavillion.
"It's a very nice party and the people are happy here - the weather is nice, we like it here," said Roger Schaffner, who lives in the small Swiss village of Oberkulm.
"The music is good, we don't have anything like this," said Iris.
The Schaffners enjoyed the tunes belted out by eight teenaged singers from the Judy Russell production of The Sound of Music. During their half-hour performance the seven Von Trapp siblings and Maria sang the Sound of Music theme, Do Re Mi, The Lonely Goat Herder and So Long, Farewell. The show opens Tuesday at the Prince George Playhouse.
"I'm not going to lie, this is pretty wicked, pretty fun," said Von Trapp brother Cecil MacRae, 14, who gave his vocal chords a good workout on stage. "I like the people, they're just fun people out here. I like being out here, just talking to people and getting the word out about the show.
"I got a sample from Ohh Chocolate just before I sang. That probably helped me sing pretty good, it was yummy."
Indra Egan, 20, accompanied the Sound of Music singers with her piano and was grateful for the exposure of performing a free show.
"This reaches so many different kind people" said Egan. "We wish Summerfest was happening every weekend because this has been a blast, it's great to celebrate Prince George in such a fun way and share all this young talent and great music with the city."
The one-day event on a hot sunny day under a cloudless sky attracted a big crowd estimated at more than 5,000. The entertainment continued into with the music of Limelight Quest, Brooklyn Derksen and Bright City Heights, and Sound Addiction, followed by a fireworks display launched from Connaught Hill Park.
Chris Jackson would love to see more events like Summerfest to give her and her husband Peter something interesting to do in the city on a weekend which offers something for everyone.
Peter said the food vendors alone are enough to convince him to make the trip.
"It would be nice if they turned this parking lot into a square, something that could be used permanently for multiple events in front of City Hall," said Chris Jackson. "It brings people downtown."
The shift of the Summerfest site away from Third Avenue to the area in front of City Hall where the new farmer's market is now located gave people lots of room to wander around but kept it compact enough to create a community atmosphere which allowed easy access to all the attractions.
"I like it better here, it's more shady with the trees, last year it was way too hot when it was on the main street," said Marie Harder, who came with her husband Jim.
"This is really nice and I like coming downtown."
The mercury rose well over
30 C in the sun and that made the misting station on Sixth Avenue one of the hits of Summerfest. Brandy Hempler went for a soak under the cool water her three-year-old daughter Gemma for some instant relief from the hot sun.
"This has to be one of the best attractions at Summerfest, it beats getting sunstroke," said Hempler.
So did the Frosty-eating contest right across the street.
The hard part for participants was avoiding the inevitable brain freeze, that brief but painful side effect of ingesting something cold too fast.
"Some people are drinking water to avoid that and some are sticking the tip of their tongue to the roof of their mouth, that seems to work, and some people are just shaking violently" said Wendy's restaurant employee, Todd Lewis.
The lines were long for rides on the Cottonwood Railway, a portable miniature train similar to the one which operates at the Central B.C. Railway and Forestry Museum.
The battery-powered train was working at full capacity taking people on a 400-foot circular track set up on a vacant lot and 81-year-old conductor Ray Lougheed was on hand to take passengers' tickets.
"It attracts the kids like crazy and even the adults love it," said engineer Brian Wich, doffing his cap to reveal his receding hairline.
"Depending on how enthusiastic the crowd is, I can either go really or I can so fast it makes me lose the hair on top of my head."
James Johnson clearly stood out in the crowd as he twisted balloons into animal shapes or fighting swords. The native of Armstrong, also known as "Stretch," somehow stayed upright walking on stilts that made him stand 10 feet tall.
"The highlight of the weekend is the amazing people of Prince George, along with the fantastic weather - I've had no trouble walking through the crowds," Johnson said.
The Rocky Mountain Rangers reserve unit of the Canadian Armed Forces was on prominent display with its booth to showcase some of its firepower.
Soldiers were on hand to show their assault rifles and give kids as young as five-year-old Cooper Dick of Grande Prairie, Alta., a demonstration in how to shoot a 84 mm Carl Gustav recoilless antitank rifle.
He also had the chance to climb up into the G-wagon to get a soldier's perspective of the armored vehicle.
"That was fun," said Cooper, out with his grandparents Darlene and Brian Dick.
"Shooting is fun. My dad just bought me a real gun and I'll only shoot at targets. I'm never going to go hunting. The coyotes can eat you."
The Rangers are in their fourth year in Prince George and Summerfest offered the chance to explain to the public what they're all about.
"This is community interaction and we're getting a lot of people and they're seeing what we're dealing with, what we're using and we're really just engaging the public to try to bring our numbers up," said Rocky Mountain Rangers master bombadier Sheldon Slugoski.
"When you have a unit that young, people are just starting to learn that we're here and it's nice to be out here and have everybody come and see us."
