Rye’s army of hammered students invade Centre Island and causes the usual annual carnage
By Jesse Regan
Considered by many to be the pinnacle of all frosh week activities, Ryerson’s 37th Annual Parade and Picnic took an unsuspecting city by storm last Friday.
The festivities began at noon in front of Lake Devo. Armed with everything from shaving cream to water pistols (and in some cases cannons), students began to assault one another in an orgy of cream, Jell-o and syrup.
A few found shelter on the sidewalks, where they remained until the start of the parade.
Led by the various course unions and their Road Warrior-inspired floats, Ryerson’s cream-soaked student body began their march south on Yonge St.
Much to the dismay of the hundreds of delayed motorists, the streets of Toronto were now a moving mass of drunken Rye guys and gals.
With “Rye Rules” decorating the side of office buildings and passing vehicles, students — along with their police escorts — made their way west along Front St. and then south on Bay to the ferries, completing their triumphant march.
For reasons that still remain a mystery, one ferry transported Rye invaders to the wrong island point, forcing confused and intoxicated students on an unscheduled exodus to the already-raging bash.
“I don’t know what happened,” RyeSAC President Paul Cheevers said. “We were really rowdy on the ferries and made a big mess. The ferry people could have dropped us at the wrong point because they were bitter.”
Bone-chilling winds extinguished the bash as many students bailed early, most still wet from the water war.
The crowd dwindled as scores left early for comforts of the mainland after catching Björn Again’s 40-minute set. Celtic wailers Uisce Beatha and bhangra band Punjabi by Nature were left with a crowd of a few hundred.
Although the number of students attending the parade and picnic was well below the 5,000 RyeSAC expected, Cheevers called the event a success.
“We had about 3,000 going down Yonge Street and were joined by another 1,000 on the island,” he said.
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