Do It Myself Blog – Glenda Watson Hyatt

Yesterday afternoon, amidst a wintery downpour, Darrell and I headed back to Surrey’s Celebration Site; this time to meet Mom in line in hopes of getting tickets to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Musical Ride. We succeeded! We enjoyed!

Thanks to Surrey’s Mayor Diane Watts, our Holland Park will have hosted 21 showings of this Canadian heritage experience during Olympics. Without Mayor Watts extending an invitation to the RCMP Musical Ride, this internationally-recognized piece of Canadian identity would not have been present in the area during the 2010 Winter Games. Go figure!

Also praiseworthy are the measures taken to make the entire park accessible to individuals using wheelchairs and walkers. The tent arena, used for the RCMP Musical Ride and the Agility Dog shows, has a wheelchair seating section with plywood sheets covering the ground, preventing wheels from getting bogged down in the thick sand. Sitting in this section, we had an unobstructed view and couldn’t be much closer without being atop the horse, to which I would not have objected!

The rest of the park has been covered with rubber tiles – no mucky dirty or grass fields with unexpected dips to navigate. The hard surface makes for easy wheeling!

Raised platforms – both in front of the main stage and inside Surrey House – provide wheelchair users with an improved vantage point for enjoying the many performances.

Overall, I am very impressed with our Holland Park and the work put forth by the City of Surrey in organizing and hosting this 13-day event, giving Surrey and Fraser Valley residents an alternative to dealing with the crowds in downtown Vancouver to celebrate the Olympics and Canada’s outstanding athletes!