Beach Day in Norfolk County was sunny, hot and fun for thousands of students.
But for the Norfolk County OPP it was a quiet and safe day.
“Our officers responded to a few isolated incidents concerning liquor license and Highway traffic act infractions,” Const. Andrew Gamble, of the Norfolk OPP, said. “Happily, we had no major incidents, a good sign considering the large number of people that gathered.”
Celebrated annually on the first Friday of June, Beach Day sees thousands of Norfolk County students – and others from Brant County – skip school and spend the day at the beach in either Port Dover or Turkey Point.
The day isn’t sanctioned by the Grand Erie District School Board or the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board.
“The event locally known as ‘Beach Day’ is not an activity sanctioned by our school board,” Tracey Austin, a spokesperson for the Catholic district school board, said. “The day is a regular school day. All students, unless excused by a parent/guardian, are expected to be at school.”
Austin said students not at school were marked absent.
“Student safety is a priority, and all our schools follow a family notification process when a student is absent without explanation,” Austin said. “We want to ensure all students are accounted for and safe.”
Safety was also top of mind for Norfolk OPP as officers maintained a highly visible presence at both beaches throughout the day.
Gamble was in Port Dover at noon on Friday and was told that the crowd was a bit smaller compared to other years. However, Gamble was also told that the crowd at the Turkey Point beach was significantly higher than in previous years.
Gamble, speaking just after 3 pm, commended those attending Beach Day for their co-operation and for continuing to make safety a top priority.
“For the type of weather we’ve had, I’d say, from a policing perspective, it has been a quiet day so far,” Gamble said.
Temperatures hovered around the 32 C mark with mostly sunny skies.
The forecast calls for more sun over the weekend with a return to more seasonable temperatures with day time highs of about 23 C throughout the weekend.
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