I thought we’d have time to blog throughout the day.  Not so.

Firstly, Happy Canada Day!

Secondly, as you may or may not know, Chicken Farmers of Canada is the national sponsor of Canada Day in Ottawa, as well as a major sponsor of the broadcast of the Evening Show from Parliament Hill, featured on CBC and Radio-Canada, as well as on Newsworld and RDI.

This includes running the Great Canadian Chicken BBQ, where we serve 10,000 pieces of chicken, as part of our winning sandwich recipe, or as a part of a Caesar salad.

It’s a lot of work to run this event, and it takes a very large crew of volunteers and staff.  Many thanks to the National Capital Commission staff and to its corps of volunteers - as well as to the Centurion Conference and Event Center, whose amazing team helped us prepare all the food.

Mostly, though, thanks to the tens of thousand members of the public, who endured the threat of day-long downpours (there was only one short one) to support Canada’s chicken farmers, to enjoy a nice bite, and to support the Food Bank, as proceeds from the event went to support that organization.

Now, though, it’s off to the hotel for a quick shower and a change before we go to make an appearance at the Evening Show on Parliament Hill and the fireworks.

It’s such a busy and rewarding day - the public deserves such kudos for blanketing the city in a sea of red and white, and showing their support, not only for chicken, but for the country as a whole.

To those staffers still at the barbecue (it’s expected to run until about 8 pm), thanks for keeping up the hard work!