Parkdale community honours one of its own at annual P.E.I. homecoming

Wednesday marked the annual Parkdale, P.E.I. homecoming event, created by late Parkdale resident and former mayor, Pat Connolly. Connolly established the event with fellow resident Pex MacKay twelve years ago, and it's still going strong.

His daughter Lisa Cox said when amalgamation occurred, her dad was intent on doing something to preserve the spirit of the town. 

"He was very passionate about keeping Parkdale, Parkdale. And this is his thing," she said. 

Amalgamation

Starting in the 1950's, Parkdale was its own village, and became a town by the 1970s. Parkdale and a handful of other communities had been consolidated by the city of Charlottetown by the mid 1990s.

It's something that many residents, like Pex MacKay, don't like to talk about.

"We weren't happy," he said. "Parkdale didn't owe a penny. Everything was paid for - sewer, water, fire department.  Taxes were reasonable, then amalgamation got forced on us, fire department disappeared, administration disappeared, and a lot of people were resentful of that."

'He never skipped a beat'

That's when Connolly decided a homecoming would help to re-ignite the feelings community members had for the town. He died this past winter, just shy of his 80th birthday, but his legacy still lives on.

MacKay said Connolly loved to prepare for the event.

"He'd be on the phone early saying 'Pex, pick me up, pick me up. Get me. I'm ready, I'm ready.' So we'd pick him up, and he'd be worn out leaving here. Pat was in a walker coming on the end. But he never skipped a beat."

Community builder

For many, it's not the same without him. 

Former resident Sylvia MacKinnon said Connolly used to welcome everyone at Parkdale homecoming.

"There's an emptiness … He knew everybody that came, he always spoke to them, asked about their families.  He had a real connection to a lot of these folks."

'It warms my heart'

Connolly was also a teacher and principal at Parkdale elementary school for 35 years. For Cox, watching the community come and support the homecoming without her dad was a touching moment. 

"It warms my heart," she said. "And I said, I feel that he's here. He's here in spirit, and he'd be over the moon to see the crowd here today."

Connolly's family and friends said they're more determined than ever to make sure this homecoming keeps going and growing because Pat wouldn't want it any other way. 

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