Times Advocate, 1989-05-24, Page 37•Times -Advocate, May 24, 1989 Page 37
Thousands flock to Grand Bend for first warm long weekend
4121. 1
GRAND BEND - As thousands
of weekenders swarmed Grand Bend
last weekend, the OPP detachment
responded by transferring personnel
to police the onslaught.
The detachment described the
main problems -revolved around the
"excessive use of alcohol". A total
of 318 liquor charges were laid by
Sunday evening and an additional
seven charges were added to that to-
tal Monday.
"It is a tot of charges, but in per-
spective with the population, it
isn't all that bad," said Sgt. John
Carson on 1 uesday. "We're natural-
ly quite pleased with the way it
turned out. We thought it would be
a lot worse."
Most of the charges were for con-
suming alcohol outside licensed or
residential properties. An additional
20 people were arrested for being
intoxicated in a public place and a
total of four impaired drivers wcrc
charged. Thirteen 12 -hour suspen-
sions were imposcd on other drink-
ing drivers.
At the Pinery OPP detachment,
Sgt. Howard Melton called the Vic-
toria Day season opcner a "normal
holiday weekend" considering the
numbers of people arriving in the
arca
The detachment handed out 61 liq-
uor charges and arrested one im-
paired driver. Nine people were
charged under Provincial Statutes,
which includes trespassing.
The Pinery OPP chareed 11 driv-
ers with Highway Traffic Act viola-
tions and the Grand Bend detach-
ment charged 18 drivers.
144 -
Oa.
1'
No room to roam - Finding an empty spot on the Grand Bend beach became
quite a chore on Sunday as thousands of people, enjoying the long weekend,
wanted to get an early head start on their summer suntans. Officials estimated
that 10,000 were in Grand Bend on Sunday alone with almost that many on the
beach. Grand Bend OPP laid 318 liquor charges, more than all the Provincial parks
in Southers Ontario combined, but they said no major occurences took place and
called the weekend a success.
Canoe trip - The long Victoria Day weekend brought many people to Grand Bend and the Pinery Pro-
vincial Park. Most of the campsites were booked long before the Weekend. Preferring not to fight
the crowds at the beach, these people decided to take a more peacefull approach to having fun, by
canoeing at the Pinery.
us • ropprng in ey came
from land, sea and air to Grand
Bend to take advantage of the
first long weekend of the sum-
mer. With the parking problems
from all of the cars this was
probably the best way to get to
the beach. Actually, this para-
chutist was making jumps from
the SWOOP club at the Grand
Bend Airport.
Photos by
Wayne Proctor
Beach volleyball - With the influx of .visitors to the beach in Grand
Bend, beach volleyball became very popular with those not busy
trying to get a tan.
•
Busy Main Street - Main Street in Grand Bend was a very busy place on the weekend as tourists
found their way down to the beach. An estimated 10,000 people visited the resort on Sunday alone.
The heavy traffic also created parking problems.
Traffic headaches - With thousands of people coming to Grand Bend on the weekend traffic jams
were very evident like this one along Highway 21. Traffic was backed up in both directions on High-
way 21 for kilometres for most of Sunday and Monday as people heading home.
Popular place - Sanders On the Beach Restaurant in Grand Bend
proved to be very popular with the Victoria Day Weekend tourists.
An estimated 10,000 found their way to Grand Bend on the week-
end. Almost as many.irseemed liked found their way to Sanders.
Jet Skiing - They came any way they could to Grand Bend on the
'weekend, by land, sea or air. This guy was just one of many who
took an early -season spin on a Jet Ski. The lake was full of boaters
as well.