South Bruce Peninsula Mayor Janice Jackson says the August Civic Long Weekend went well.
Jackson says about 150,000 people visited Sauble Beach over the weekend, but small the town was ready for it, “It went off without incident and everybody had a great time,” says Jackson, noting, “Usually I get lots of emails, texts and phone calls about crazy things that are happening. and i didn't receive a single call this weekend.”
In previous years, the average is 60,000 people on the beach in a long weekend, and the Mayor says Sauble Beach saw,”Easily two and a half times that.”
Numbers are often dependent on weather. This year's July 1st long weekend saw smaller crowds than anticipated with cooler temperatures and some rain.
Jackson says welcoming 150,000 people went well because town staff arranged for extra dumpsters and garbage bins by the beach.
They also added more bylaw officers and OPP to patrol the beach and its nearby parking.
OPP on Sauble Beach gave out 14 open liquor tickets over the weekend.
According to Jackson, bylaw officers handed out about 740 parking tickets over the weekend.
Meanwhile, she says a food truck at 6th Street helped feed people in the north end of the beach, and those who barbecued for themselves on the sand were ticketed. “Our bylaw enforcers were busy writing tickets mostly for barbecues.”
Jackson expects the Civic Holiday weekend was the last big weekend for the beach, and she says in her experience, the Labour Day crowd is usually smaller.