Hannah Day will be honoured with a good old-fashioned picnic on Aug. 17.
The nine-year-old Sooke girl, who touched many hearts, died in May after enduring seven years of intense cancer treatments.
The Hannah Day Family Fun Zone is a part of the Old Fashioned Family Picnic, a celebration of the municipality’s 20th anniversary.
“Hannah deserved a beautiful life, but it was cut short. Now, I’m so happy to be able to offer the children of Sooke a chance to come out and play, laugh and have fun in the same way Hannah would have done and to help support other children who are facing serious illnesses,” said Brooke Ervin, Hannah’s mother.
Ervin is the owner of Just Bounce Inflatables, and she’s helping with the event to mark Hannah’s courageous fight against cancer by giving the children of Sooke a chance to laugh and play.
She’s bringing out all her bouncy creations to the event at no charge.
Her only request, supported by the picnic’s organizers, is people attending the event consider bringing a new, unwrapped toy to donate. Donated toys, along with any cash donations, will be split between Victoria General and Vancouver Children’s hospital.
“This is a way of celebrating Hannah’s life and to acknowledge that there are other children in our community who are facing their own battles,” Ervin said.
“We’re going to collect donations in Hannah’s name to show our appreciation to the hospitals that helped us and who are now helping other children.”
Beyond the bouncy castles and inflatable waterslides, the Hannah Day Family Fun Zone will feature children’s games, face painting, art tables, and a story corner.
The Old-Fashioned Family Picnic mark the 20th anniversary of Sooke’s incorporation. The event at John Phillips Memorial Park is a day of music, fun, and community celebration.
“This event will be a chance for the whole community to come together to celebrate our anniversary, and I’m certain that everyone is going to have a great time,” Mayor Maja Tait said.
“One of the great things about Sooke is our heart – our sense of generosity, compassion and caring – and it’s only appropriate that our anniversary party is also a demonstration of that character.”
Some of that generosity will be on full display when a host of entertainers take to the main stage to provide a day of family-friendly music.
Those performances will start at 1 p.m. and continue into the early evening. The performers have donated their talent to the event.
In fact, a large group of other partners have stepped forward to help make the picnic a success, including Ellen Lewers of the Sooke Fall Fair, Peter Jonassen of the Sooke Music Festival, Ray Spencer of the Sooke Folk Music Society, SEAPARC, the Sooke Lions Club, District of Sooke staff and a host of others.
To top things off, the District of Sooke will be screening the movie Avengers: End Game on an outdoor screen at the end of the day.
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