By Tia Wayling, recreation services co-ordinator with the Regional District of Central Kootenay
I always love seeing our community come together to create something wonderful to show the rest of the world how amazing the Creston Valley is to live in. It’s one of the unique qualities our little town has to offer.
Last year, I became aware of ParticipACTION’s Community Better Challenge. The community that can log the most active minutes with ParticipACTION during the month of June gets crowned Canada’s Most Active Community and wins $100,000 to help support local physical activity initiatives. We were originally intending to pair it with the grand opening of the new Creston Community Park (don’t worry, we’re still going to celebrate when we can gather again), but last year’s contest was cancelled due to the pandemic. They decided to open up the 2021 contest, so I came up with a plan and applied!
Now, I know you’re thinking, “But Creston is too small in comparison to the larger populated communities!” But, the competitive edge is that communities are scored on a per capita basis, which is how Enderby, B.C. won in 2019. If we all jump on board, Creston has a real shot in winning.
Aside from the general public logging in their own activity, the Community Complex has committed to offering a selection of free programs to host during the entire month of June. All programs will be outdoors in small numbers and will operate in accordance with the current Provincial Health Order. Who knows, you might even see a few virtual classes. The CDCC will log every program’s active minutes and other organizations have also agreed to log their group’s minutes. Watch for advertisements and reminders throughout the Creston Valley. Every minute counts!
Download the ParticipACTION app on your phone or tablet and you can enter your minutes in manually or sync it with one of your activity tracking devices to do it for you. It’s that simple. You can start anytime to create the habit, but the contest won’t start until June 1. Did you know ParticipACTION also has monthly challenges you can enter to win prizes? They might be small but if you’re already active, you may as well reap some rewards.
ParticipACTION has been around for 50 years encouraging Canadians to get healthy for as long as some of us can remember. Remember Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod? The wholesome, husband-wife duo aired on our TV screens in the 80s and 90s teaching us about living our best lives by staying active and healthy. They’re on YouTube if you want experience some of their nostalgic programming or to see what they’re up to these days. Yes, they are still promoting health and physical activity in their 60s.
When it comes to recreation, the Creston & District Community Complex tries to be fun and make an impact on the community. It’s not easy to get everyone on the same page but it’s been done before. With the pandemic dragging on, I think this is a great way for all of us to unite to do some good, stay safe, and get healthy in the process!
READ MORE: Rec Perspectives: Walking, the Underrated Exercise