Cochrane continues to celebrate Canada's 150th with one of the longest running, well-loved events in town.

The Cochrane Labour Day parade theme this year is Canada 150 and Cochrane Area Events Society (CAES) is hoping this year's parade exceeds all expectations.

Marina Chabbert, President of CAES, says this year the Cochrane RCMP will have the honour of parade marshalls. Cochrane has 40 RCMP members that serve the local area as well as Spring Bank, Bragg Creek, Morley, McLean Creek, Waiparous, and Bearspaw. The 'Mounties' have a long and proud history dating back to Confederation and the opening of the Canadian West. The red serge has been representing Canada for 137 years."The RCMP play such an important role in Cochrane for our safety, our security, our law enforcement and they are such an iconic symbol that represents Canada, and since our theme is 'Canada 150' what better marshalls than the RCMP this year." 

The parade in past years has seen well over 12,000 people in attendance and with a growing community, Chabbert, expects to see that number rise. A number of businesses and organizations have already stepped up and some exciting additions include the Kajuwiak Dance Group (Children’s Polish Dance Group), Cochrane Lioness with youth bike riders, Four Directions Metis Dancers, The Shriners, and a beautifully decorated float by Ducks Unlimited. Haven't registered yet? Chabbert states there is still room. "We do want to encourage float entries. There is always a lull this time of year, we are hopeful that people that are entering just haven't done so yet,  and we encourage them to do so sooner just so we can get everything organized paperwork wise."

Of course, the biggest push remains on volunteers to successfully pull off the event and ensure everyone's safety. "We need help for barricades, it is our biggest source of volunteers and we basically look for two volunteers at every barricade. I am trying to get as many as we can, trying to get the ones that did volunteer last year to come back. We have an online sign-up system that we're doing this year which will facilitate a lot of the communication so we do really encourage people to help us out and be part of the energy, fun, and excitement." 

If you can spare a few hours to help you can do so at http://signup.com/go/DMSCUex or register a float here.

The Cochrane Labour Day Parade will be held on Monday, September 4 at 10:30 am.