Parade of Nations celebrates 25 years

Justin Seward
Times Reporter

 

The Strathmore Lord of Lutheran Church hosted their 25th annual Parade of Nations at the Strathmore Civic Centre, where 365 people got to taste food from nine different nationalities on Feb. 27.
The evening’s proceedings began with pipers and Strathmore RCMP officers coming in with the parade of flags, while during the food tasting, people had the chance to be entertained by Calgary’s Chinook Winds show chorus.
Attendees were able to taste food popular in Scandinavia , Germany, Canada, Egypt, Holland, Finland, Austria and the United Kingdom.
“Every nationality in there, we have members from that nationality in our congregation,” said Pastor Dawn.
The celebration was kick-started 25 years ago when the church was meeting in a little double-wide trailer with the hope of expanding the building so the church could grow. As a result the Parade of Nations was born.
“The very first one had about 55 guests and that one was in the United Church,” recalled Pastor Dawn. “It built year after year. It’s a showcase of who we are to the community. You get to know people much better through working together. The other thing for us I think that’s important is people come. They see our faith in action. The church is not about one hour on Sunday morning, the church is truly about being a part of the community, celebrating and enjoying all the blessings that we have.”
Proceeds from the celebration were split, with 50 per cent going into the community of Strathmore and 50 per cent into one of the church charities.