Parry Sound turned the Stockey Centre into a hometown rally on Saturday as residents packed the Charles W. Stockey Centre for the Performing Arts to welcome Olympic champion Megan Oldham home—an event the Town billed as free, first-come, first-served, with doors at 11 a.m., program at 11:30, autographs until 1:30 p.m., and a James Street street party running 12:30–3:30 p.m.
Inside, the atmosphere landed somewhere between theatre and balcony seats filled, kids in red-and-white gear, phones raised, and a rolling wave of applause each time Oldham’s image appeared on the big screen. In photos from the event, a giant projection of Oldham—medals visible, Canada maple leaf prominent—loomed over a stage set for conversation, while the crowd below leaned in as if this were family news, not international sport.
Mayor Jamie McGarvey served as emcee, anchoring the celebration with the steady, familiar tone of a small-town mayor who knows the story belongs to everyone in the room. McGarvey—Parry Sound’s mayor since 2010—framed the moment as a civic point of pride: a local athlete who built an elite career and returned home with hardware and humility.
The “why” was obvious. Oldham’s Milano Cortina 2026 performance delivered a gold medal in women’s freeski big air, where she won with a total score of 180.75, holding off Beijing champion Eileen Gu (silver) and Italy’s Flora Tabanelli (bronze). For Parry Sound, those numbers weren’t trivia—they were proof that someone from here can stare down the biggest stage in sport and execute when it counts.
After the formal program, the event shifted into the most Parry Sound part of the day: access. Kids and families lined up for autographs until 1:30 p.m., turning “Olympian” into a real person at arm’s length—smiles, quick hellos, and the kind of small interactions that can light a fuse in a young athlete’s imagination.
The celebration carried beyond the theatre, too. A street party on James Street extended the homecoming into the downtown core, making the pride public, visible, and shared.
CTV Northern Ontario captured the tone precisely: McGarvey hosted a brief Q&A with Oldham as part of the town-hall style celebration—less “press conference,” more neighbour-to-neighbour conversation. And that may be the day’s real takeaway. Parry Sound didn’t simply applaud a medal; it celebrated the return of one of its own, with the mayor at the mic and a full house reminding Oldham—loudly—that she will always have a home team.
