The Ol’ Boys and Girls Reunion · by Howard Rae

Kincardin

I know it’s a long time to wait for the party of the decade but its well worth the 10 year lead up to the Reunion of the Good Old Boys in Kincardine, Ontario which happened last in the summer of 2008.
The old boys (and girls) reunion is a time for about 30,000 people to gather in the small northern town of Kincardine and become reacquainted with a good old fashioned town parade and tail gate party, among other things. Everyone is welcome to come and celebrate this one of a kind reunion which grows with every decade.

The parade which runs on the main street lasts for about 3 hours and includes costumes of all kinds, but mostly men in women’s clothing. This parade is like Halloween, it gives the burliest of guys an excuse to dress in women drag and the girls can wear any sort of skimpy revealing clothes they please or dress in men’s attire. Many in the parade and along the sidelines may not be sober, but this always adds to the spectacle. I don’t know how the custom of men in drag began, but it certainly allows for some interesting mixes of amusing and utterly horrifying images.

(all photos by Gary Johnston)