The Steinbach Chamber of Commerce wants to make this year's Pioneer Days parade extra special to mark the event's 50th year, or Golden Anniversary. The parade will take place Friday, August 3rd. Chamber spokesperson Brett Adnum says people are encouraged to incorporate the colour, gold, into their entries, noting there will be a special award for the entry that best reflects the theme.

"We've named one of our themes the '50th Golden Anniversary.' We're hoping to see a lot of gold, that's the theme, so if people want to win, we're encouraging everybody to add gold. A couple of our other themes are historical, so show us your history, the progression of your organization, we also have animal entries, so horses, dogs and anything in between, show us your connection to animals. And then there's judge's choice where you can get creative and wow the crowd as well as antiques."

Adnum says the early bird deadline for parade entries is this coming Saturday, July 7th. After that, the cost per entry will go up.

"For Steinbach Chamber of Commerce members it's free and for non-members it's $20 plus GST. After July 7th, chamber members go up to $20 and non-chamber member to $50. If you just show up the day of the parade, it's $100 and it's cash only. So, the earlier you can register, the better it is for you."

Adnum says they had about 130 parade entries last year and are expecting the same or more this year.