'Nostalgia is a one hell of a drug' — Thunder Run waterslide to get proper send-off

The Thunder Run waterslide at Village Square Leisure Centre will get a proper send-off, thanks to Calgary actor and comedian Andrew Phung.

After the city announced last month that the iconic slide would be replaced during the facility’s upcoming renovations , Phung took to social media to call for one final event to celebrate the decades of enjoyment it brought to northeast Calgary.

At the time, Mayor Jeromy Farkas voiced his support , if the logistics could be worked out.

Your weekday lunchtime roundup of curated links, news highlights, analysis and features.

A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.

In a social media post on Thursday, Phung unveiled the city’s plan for the slide’s last hurrah — a full-day, all-ages event that pays homage to the slide’s birth year of 1994.

The Last Ride Down the Thunder Slide will take place Aug. 30, with ‘retro’ admission pricing of $4 and a DJ. To accommodate the number of people expected to come out, the day will be broken up into two swimming sessions — the first from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., and the second from 2:30 to 6 p.m.

Though many commenters have thanked Phung for making the event happen, he didn’t take the credit. He pitched the idea, but the city did the planning.

“My vision was a big party at the V illage Square Leisure C entre, and they ran with the vision,” he said.

Once a date had been solidified, Phung said, the city reached out to him to ask if he could make it. Phung, who’s currently living in Toronto and working on a new project, rearranged his schedule to ensure he could fly home for the event.

His plan is to make an appearance at the first session, and to stick around for the second.

“I’m going to try to bring a camera crew with me,” he said. “I think it’s a special event, so I want to capture some of those moments.”

The slide, the leisure centre and the adjoining library were integral parts of his childhood, Phung said, and he’s carried those memories with him in his career.

“Growing up in the n ortheast, we kind of raised each other. A ll of our parents were so busy working, and m any of us came from single- parent homes,” he said.