World’s biggest cake, huge ice sculpture among ideas floated for Mississauga’s 50th birthday party
Published April 26, 2023 at 12:37 pm
Baking the world’s biggest birthday cake, commissioning a huge ice sculpture and organizing street parties across the city are a few of the ideas being floated by City councillors as Mississauga prepares to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2024.
Piggybacking, perhaps, on Mayor Bonnie Crombie’s earlier prediction that next year’s celebration will be the “biggest party Mississauga has ever seen,” Ward 6 Councillor Joe Horneck tossed out the idea today (April 26) that the City of Mississauga open its wallet and splurge on a huge birthday cake–perhaps the world’s biggest.
Speaking to a report from senior City staff that details proposed plans for Mississauga’s 50th anniversary celebrations in 2024, Horneck suggested it doesn’t go far enough.
“What’s missing is an actual birthday party,” the councillor told staff and his colleagues at the City’s meeting of general committee.
“What is the world’s largest (birthday) cake?” Horneck wondered, suggesting that’s something for the City to consider. “…maybe that’s too ambitious, but I think we need something dramatic.”
Horneck applauded staff for a “financially responsible” plan, but added, “This is our 50th. We can afford to do a little bit more.
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“Let’s have a birthday party. Let’s invite the premier…let’s make a big deal of this.”
Ward 5 Councillor Carolyn Parrish said the idea of a huge birthday cake, especially what would be the world’s biggest such creation, likely isn’t feasible.
After doing some quick research on the world’s biggest cake, according to Guinness World Records, she noted the current record holder weighs many, many tonnes and is “as tall as four people” standing on top of one another.
“So, I’m thinking we forget that one,” she laughed.
Instead, Parrish suggested the City pay to have a huge ice sculpture made in the form of a cake, complete with lights, given that proposed plans call for a winter birthday bash as part of the annual New Year’s Eve party at Celebration Square.
Ward 3 Councillor Chris Fonseca, meanwhile, tabled a suggestion to “open up the streets” across the city to allow residents to celebrate that way on specific dates.
Matt Mahoney, councillor for Ward 8, applauded the street party suggestion, saying “I like the idea of keeping it simple and having events in every ward…”
In response to an idea from one of his colleagues that the City use its anniversary celebrations to also spread the word on the benefits of Mississauga being its own independent city, Mahoney said that’s not the best plan.
“I certainly do understand the issue of our independence…but I have a concern about politicizing this,” he said, referencing the City of Mississauga’s decades-long fight to separate politically from the Region of Peel. “I’m happy with an ice sculpture and some fireworks.”
Ward 7 Councillor Dipika Damerla also applauded staff’s report, noting the importance of sticking to a budget.
The staff report presented at Wednesday’s meeting laid out proposed ideas for the huge year-long celebration in 2024 to mark the city’s 50th anniversary.
City-wide street banners, public art projects, a wide array of anniversary-themed programming and events, Mississauga-wide virtual and physical museum exhibits, garden bed and tree plantings, and even a special edition library card are all being tabled by senior City staff for consideration.
A time capsule is also included in the plans as Mississauga prepares to mark a half-century of existence.
In all, staff is proposing more than 50 initiatives to take shape throughout the entirety of 2024 to mark the milestone.
And the big bash of 2024 will be launched, if staff’s recommendation gets the green light, at Mississauga’s annual New Year’s Eve party at Celebration Square in the downtown core.
In 1974, the townships of Streetsville, Port Credit and Mississauga amalgamated to form Mississauga.
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