Red Friday Rally, Toronto, Friday Aug. 24 at the CNE

Joe Warmington of the Toronto Sun gives some details:

It's a Red Friday Rally where you can show your support for the troops, go for a roller coaster ride and have some cotton candy, too.

It doesn't get any more Canadian than that.

It could go down as another piece of history for the Canadian National Exhibition -- a giant Red Rally to support the troops on Friday near the automotive building inside the Exhibition grounds.

"I really want to break the record," Capt. Wayne Johnston said yesterday. "I really think we can do it."

The previous record was Canada's first Red Rally for the troops in Afghanistan in Ottawa last September. "They had 10,000 people and it was fabulous," said Johnston. "It would be so great if we could be even bigger."

There is a good chance of it happening since about 70,000 people are expected down there Friday. Johnston, the man behind organizing the Sapper Mike McTeague Wounded Warrior Fund, says tourists from the U.S. and abroad are invited as well.

At 2 p.m. Friday, not too far from the Princes' Gates, he hopes to see a sea of red. The famous freelance photographer known as Smitty is going to go up in a helicopter and take a picture and send it to Afghanistan...

The Toronto Sun and the CNE are backing this event. Just consider with all of the people at The Ex, this could be quite memorable. For me, the important thing is not the record but a massive show of support so those men and women who serve overseas understand that we at home not only care about them but are with them 100%.

Toronto and area has come up so big in this area so far. Last Sept. 29, I will never forget the emotion as 3,000 or came to the GTA's first Red Rally at Yonge-Dundas Square.

So many municipalities have followed suit. I was at terrific rallies in Barrie and Whitby myself and I know there have been big ones in places like Kingston, Kitchener and, of course, Petawawa.

We should also not forget to mention that the Highway of Heroes is Hwy. 401 -- from Trenton to Toronto. It has become a sad but real ritual for people to line the highway and overpasses to say thank you to the soldiers coming home in flag-draped caskets...

Also at the CNE:

Operation Connection is underway at the CNE.

This year the military has expanded its endeavours at the fair. After more than 650,000 people visited the Canadian Forces' exhibit at the CNE last year, military officials asked organizers for another 743 square metres of real estate. That's almost half again as much as last year's 1,765 square metres.

"We are without question the busiest booth at the CNE [emphasis added]," said Capt. Wayne Johnston. "We asked for additional space because of sheer volume. You couldn't move at times last year."

It's all part of Operation Connection, a massive project now in its second year, designed by the military to educate the public about who they are and what they do.

With the Afghanistan mission in the news on a regular basis, it's a chance for the public to speak to men and women who have been there, as many of the 140 military officials who will work the site have been to the front lines.

Recruitment officers are also present. If you walk through the main gates of the CNE, chances are one of the first things you'll notice is a huge canvas banner, "Join Us," billowing high over a fleet of military equipment.

The Canadian Forces has kicked its public education and recruitment initiatives into high gear this year and is well on target to exceed its recruitment goal of 700 GTAers for the year. This past weekend, about 130,000 people went through the exhibit with well over 100 stopping each day to talk seriously with recruitment officers...

Update: CBC Newsworld and CTV Newsnet both carried the rally live from just after 1400 till just before the half hour--good on them (I also saw CBC giving good coverage of the CF exhibit at the CNE). Don Cherry was on stage, CDS Hillier spoke (OK but not his best) followed by new MND MacKay (so so).