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7 | W aterloo C hronicle | T hursday,M arch 21,2019 w aterloochronicle.ca 1362 VICTORIA STREET N. KITCHENER 519.742.9188 MON-FRI 9AM-9PM SATURDAY 9AM-6PM SUNDAY 10AM-5PM THIS WEEKS DEALS! IN ST OCK $167/ LIN FT$157/ LIN FT67¢ / LIN FT 67 / LIN FT 67 7/83 " 5¼" 5½" MDF PRIMED WHITE BASEBOARDS IN ST OCK MODERN GRAY LEDGESTONE $497REG 8.99REG 8.99REG 8.99REG 8.99REG 8.99REG 8.99from per sq ft NEW PRODUCT IN ST OCK RUSTIC MAPLE SPC CLICK VINYL $199REG 5.99REG 5.99REG 5.99REG 5.99REG 5.99REG 5.99from per sq ft 4.5MM THICK! IN ST OCK ENGINEERED CLICK HARDWOOD $299REG 5.99REG 5.99REG 5.99REG 5.99REG 5.99REG 5.99from per sq ft HANDSCRAPED! IN ST OCK HIGH-GLOSS LAMINATE $177REG 3.99REG 3.99REG 3.99REG 3.99REG 3.99REG 3.99from per sq ft NATURAL RED OAK IN ST OCK 6MM THICK CLICK VINYL $177REG 3.99REG 3.99REG 3.99REG 3.99REG 3.99REG 3.99from per sq ft 100% WATERPROOF MARCH 21-24 4 DAYS ONLY! THUR 9-9 FRI SAT SUN 9-9 9-6 10-5 IN ST OCK PATTERNED TILES NEW! $297REG 6.99REG 6.99REG 6.99REG 6.99REG 6.99REG 6.99from per sq ft FLOOR OR WALL ALL BACKSPLASH NO TAX OVER 200 STYLES IN STOCK! WATERLOO - David McMurray walked among the young people jammed on Ezra Avenue and the neigh- bourhood around it as the annual street bash set a new record Sunday. McMurray is the vice- president of student affairs at Wilfrid Laurier Universi- ty, and he estimates the crowd peaked at about 30,000 young people. McMurray listened to what the students around him were saying, and watched as they studied Google Maps looking for the street that's become infa- mous among officials, and famous among students. He believes many of them are from out of town. Last year, McMurray saw bus loads arrive from as far away as Texas and Buffalo. The party on Ezra quickly travels around the world on social media. It has become an intense public relations headache for the university. Ezra Ave- nue runs along the south edge of the Wilfrid Laurier University campus, and offi- cials there note that 73 per cent of the tickets issued last year went to young people who do not attend WLU. But facts and numbers can only do so much when thousands of young people gather for a street party next to the campus. By 3:30 p.m. Sunday the crowd packed all of the pub- lic spaces along the Ezra. The crush of young partiers ran from the front of the buildings along the south side of Ezra, across the road- way, along Clayfield and right up to the university's property line where they were met by campus securi- ty. There appeared to be more young people on that street Sunday afternoon than Laurier's full-time en- rolment of 17,000. "This is a crowd well in excess of enrolment num- bers," said McMurray. "There's a tremendous in- flux from outside the city." But the fact is nobody knows for sure how many are local and how many are from out of town. Nobody will have any final numbers until next week. By noon Sunday, Ezra Aveue was closed to vehicles. Same for Clayfield Avenue, and for the first time Bricker Ave- nue was blocked off too. Grand River Transit buses were detoured away from the area. Ashley Dietrich, the pub- lic information officer with the Waterloo Regional Po- lice, said one officer was in- jured in a fall and had to be taken to hospital. Dietrich also said bottles and cans were thrown at some officers, but none were injured. Police responded to reports of vandalism, and public urination. They wrote tickets for drinking al- cohol in public, and under- age drinking. As of mid-af- ternoon Sunday, nobody had been arrested though. "We have been very dis- appointed by some of the be- haviour," said Dietrich. She urged everyone to enjoy St. Patrick's Day in a li- cenced establishment or at home. That plea, and all others from city and regional offi- cials, was unheeded with drunken abandon by thou- sands of people on Ezra. A young woman was on the ground in a parking lot off King Street North, retching and shaking, as paramedics and police tried to help her around 3:30 p.m. She was among many that needed help. Paramed- ics responded to 41 calls for help, and took 18 to hospital by 3 p.m. Those numbers were expected to increase as the street party continued past dark. "The crowd size is signif- icant, it is overwhelming our services, it is delaying our response," said Kevin Petendra, deputy chief of paramedic services for the region. He urged young people to carry identification, stick close to their friends and leave nobody behind. "The majority of calls are for alcohol and drug mis- use," said Petendra. "Sec- ondary to that are falls, frac- tures and head injuries." Last year, paramedics had 69 calls for help and took 42 to emergency wards. And 12 were considered serious or critical. Ryan Schubert, deputy chief of Waterloo Fire Res- cue had 18 calls for help by mid-afternoon Sunday. Many of the calls came from students trapped in eleva- tors. When too many par- tiers pack an elevator it gets stuck between floors. Fire fighters also have a lot of false alarms on St. Patrick's Day. "We work alongside the elevator technicians who are also called to respond," said Schubert. Any exposed grass along Ezra and surrounding streets was churned into a muddy mess by the press of party goers. Beers cans, plastic water bottles and junk food packaging were trampled under foot. It was a big, soggy mess. By noon, Ezra Avenue was an ocean of green as thousands had come out to party. Police closed Ezra to traffic and City of Waterloo work trucks were parked at both ends of the street. House parties dotted neigh- bouring streets such as Mar- shall and Regina. Waterloo Mayor Dave Ja- worksy has a new task force looking into the annual par- ty. So far, nothing has worked to reduce or even slow the size of the annual party that meshes St. Pat- rick's Day with the end of classes. "I am hopeful and opti- mistic," said McMurray. "This is a new task force." 30,000 PARTY FOR ST. PATRICK'S DAY ON WATERLOO'S EZRA AVENUE TERRY PENDER tpender@therecord.com LOCAL SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER AT WATERLOOCHRONICLE.CA