'The buzz around here is amazing': Anticipation builds for Royal visit in B.C.'s Capital region
At the Victoria Therapeutic Riding Association in Central Saanich, it was all hands on deck Friday.
“Everybody is excited, the buzz around here is amazing,” said Liz Gagel, executive director of the VTRA.
Fencing is getting a fresh coat of paint, horses are being brushed to look their best and the shovels are out to clean up those horses’ mess.
The reason? They will be receiving a very important visitor this weekend.
“We are hosting her Royal Highness,” said Gagel.
Princess Anne and her husband Vice-Admiral Tim Laurence will spend their weekend touring organizations on Royal duties that are near and dear to their hearts.
“I know that Princess Anne is the patron of therapeutic riding throughout Canada,” said Gagel.
The Victoria Therapeutic Riding Association is a non-profit providing people with disabilities therapeutic horseback riding, including four-year-old Otis Lawson.
“Otis has Mosaic Down syndrome,” said Brett Lawson, the child’s father.
Friday marked Otis’s fourth session. His father says his confidence is soaring and the benefits were seen right away.
“He’s getting a lot of muscle engagement while on the horse that he doesn’t get otherwise,” said Lawson.
Princess Anne will be busy with a number of military-related engagements, including laying a wreath at The God’s Acre Veteran’s Cemetery and attending a Battle Of The Atlantic Commemorative Service at the B.C. legislature. The Royal couple will also be making a stop at the Military Family Resource Centre at CFB Esquimalt.
“(Princess Anne) is very interested in families, especially military family support,” said Jackie Carle, executive director of the centre.
The Military Family Resource Centre helps military families moving into the community after a posting. It also supports military families during a deployment.
“At the end of the day, she’s part of a serving family so she really understands what that means,” said Carle.
Another interest of Princess Anne is food security and community building.
“This is a farm site on top of reclaimed land,” said Alistair Howes, manager of special projects and engagement at FED Urban Agriculture Society.
That urban farm is located in Vic West next to Dockside Green.
Princess Anne will be touring the grounds on Saturday, seeing how the operation grows its food to be sold locally with a portion being donated to other non-profits within the community.
“Princess Anne has a particular interest in trying to figure out how you engage and build community resilience through Urban Projects,” said Howes.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Family of toddler found dead at small-town Ont. daycare no closer to answers after year of investigation
A year has passed since two-year-old Vienna Irwin was found on the property of a home-based daycare in small-town Ontario, but her family says they are no closer to answers of what happened that day.
Fatal plane crash reported near Squamish, B.C.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has confirmed it is working with local Mounties and the BC Coroners Service after a plane crash near Squamish, B.C. Friday night.
Grayson Murray, two-time PGA Tour winner, dead at 30
Two-time PGA Tour winner Grayson Murray died Saturday morning at age 30, one day after he withdrew from the Charles Schwab Cup Challenge at Colonial.
This type of screen time has the worst effect on kids: experts
According to some experts, there is one type of screen time that is continuously excessive, and it's having a severe effect on our children.
Humboldt Broncos crash victims and families react to decision to deport truck driver
The family of one of the victims of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash in 2018 says they are 'thankful' for a decision by a Calgary immigration board to deport the driver of the truck involved.
Chiefs' Harrison Butker has no regrets about expressing his beliefs in speech
Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker has no regrets about expressing his beliefs in a recent commencement speech and he said he has received support as well as “a shocking level of hate” from others.
'God forgives but we don’t': Loud outburst from stabbing victim’s family during sentencing hearing
An emotional outburst in a London, Ont. courtroom Friday disrupted the sentencing hearing of a woman who pleaded guilty for her part in the death of 29-year-old Mohammed Abdallah.
Community mourns victims of fatal boat crash near Kingston, Ont.
The three people killed in last weekend's tragic collision between a speedboat and a fishing boat north of Kingston are being remembered Friday.
Three dead after vehicle plunged down a 100-foot embankment in Shediac, N.B.
Three people have died after a vehicle veered off the road in Shediac N.B., Friday morning.