Nearly 1,000 people celebrated Plattsville’s 175th anniversary on Saturday, June 20, 2025.
Held at Plattsville Memorial Park, the 12-hour free event featured a host of activities for the whole family.
The festivities kicked off with a firefighter breakfast at Plattsville Fire Station #3, and continued on throughout the afternoon.
“We started at 10 o’clock this morning. We had the Portraits of Honour here in honour of Tyler Todd, as well as all of the Canadian flags in honour of all the veterans who didn’t come home from Afghanistan,” said Denise Tew, Chair of the Plattsville 175 Committee. “We had historical displays up in the Lions Hall, as well as our mural mosaic on display inside one of the arena dressing rooms. We’ve also had a vendor show, as well as activities for every age group.”
Children played games, had their faces painted, visited the Little Hobby Hill Farm petting zoo, explored different Touch a Truck vehicles, and cooled down with the fire department. Rumpple & Friends were also there entertaining the youngsters.
The big event also featured several local bands, a parade with the Ingersoll Pipe Band, a car and tractor show with 30 motorcycles.
Also on-site were folks from Two Row Creeations.
“They were here doing Indigenous crafts with the kids all day making tobacco pouches and educating, which was just wonderful,” said Tew. “They were also part of the ceremony; Rebecca Neepinn did a welcome and Eric Martin did a smudging ceremony for us, so that was really lovely.”
For those who worked up an appetite, many took the opportunity to purchase a snack, stop by the beer garden or grab lunch from the Plattsville and District Lions Club.
“I don’t know how many cases of french fries they’ve gone through,” said Tew, with a chuckle. But they’ve been here all day serving hamburgers, hot dogs, pulled pork and poutine. Bright Cheese Butter donated the curds for the poutine and everything was just amazing.”
With all the activities going on, and the bustling crowd that followed, the Chair said it was important to the committee to have a space where people could relax and take a break.
“We had the Ability Company help to ensure that we were being inclusive for everybody; they did training for our volunteers to share how important it is to be an inclusive community and to welcome everyone because that’s what today was all about. They also had a little quiet, zen area where you could go in and just relax which was nice to have.”
While things started to quiet down around 6:30 p.m., the celebration continued on. Residents spent the evening outside enjoying live music, playing on the nearby playground equipment and socializing with friends and family. Inside the Plattsville Memorial Community Arena, guests took advantage of the free roller skating and line dancing session.
Speaking about the day, Councillor Tina Young, said she was thrilled with how everything turned out.
“We’ve been here since 8 a.m. and people were here at 10:30 before anything even started, and it’s been non-stop all day,” she said, with a laugh. “It’s just been amazing to see everyone of all ages, the kids to the seniors, be so excited about the day. I think that’s been the coolest thing about the 175, having everyone–even the people from outside of Plattsville–see how awesome our town is. Honestly, it’s just been a great day.”
Young continued, “Seeing how many people came together to put this together, has been incredible. It’s been six months of planning, and all the community groups really came together to make this happen, it’s just been amazing to see.”
When asked what she loved about Plattsville, the resident and councillor said it was the way everyone supported each other.
“I love our community. We’ve had so many people show up today and ask, ‘Where do you need me?’ ‘How can I help?’ and that’s something I see all the time,” said Young. “Anytime something happens, people in this town come together and I think it’s always been like that. That’s what makes small towns thrive, that’s what they’re all about.”
Young wasn’t the only one who thought as such, a sign tethered to the baseball diamond chain-link fence, asked “What do you love about Plattsville?”
The sign was littered with comments like, “I love Plattsville because there are so many nice people,” “I like that people care for others,” “I love that it is one big community,” or “I love that when you’re sad, there’s someone to pump you up.”
In the end, the day ended with something particularly special; the Township’s first ever drone show.
With the help of 130 drones, residents got to see their community reflected back at them in the night sky. From a large horse to a water-powered flour mill, a hockey stick and puck, a farm and silo, curling rocks and more, there was plenty of imagery to spot from the ground.
In all, Tew said she was beyond happy with the event and that it wouldn’t have been possible without the help of roughly 80 volunteers.
“We couldn’t have done it without them, really,” she said.
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
