At the risk of sounding like the beginning of a romance movie or soap opera, it is a time of transitions as we move from long nights to lengthening days regardless of what your clock says, from working mostly inside to launching our yardwork and from skating or curling to dry floor activities. At the time of writing, the arena floor is clear and washed of any hint that that the peewee provincial tournament was held here a week-and-a-half ago and the curling arena ice is retuning to a liquid state similar to the receding snow on the surrounding hillsides. Enough poetic waxing…
I’m not sure if you made it down here for the peewee provincials but the place was hopping all week — especially the Sunday start date where we had the Lumberman’s Bonspiel wrapping up as the opening ceremonies for the provincials took place in the hockey arena, along with the usual swimming and fitness crowds, plus a St Patrick’s Day special event in the lap pool. Hats off to the organizers of that event; it was extremely well run, provided a heck of an economic boost to the Creston Valley and the opening ceremony was fantastic. I know from conversations with a few of the parents that we garnered some new respect for the great facility we have in the valley and I’m sure we’ll be talked about back in Dawson Creek, Quesnel, Whitehorse, Prince George, Vancouver Island and a few other places that the 11 teams were from.
It’s an interesting dynamic with that many people in the building circulating around in the various areas. I have talked before about the energy larger crowds can bring to a facility and how it meshes with the whole reason this place was built — it’s kind of like a high performance car; it will certainly chug you back and forth to work on a regular basis but when you ask it to do what it was designed for, that’s when it really shines. Of course, we don’t condone speeding or unlawfulness of any kind. No sir. The stuff you might not notice is the steady cleaning that has to happen around the clock with that amount of use, as well as an operator almost full-time on the Zamboni, as there was a flood between every period.
This time of year also marks the focus changing to the maintenance of the grounds; as we all know, time, and growing grass, marches immemorial. The parking lot has been swept, the ice rink compressors are scheduled for their annual rebuild or maintenance in June and the maintenance staff have completed their small dance of joy that the ice has left for another season.
So, the next major event on the agenda in the arena is the Creston Valley Home and Garden Show on April 12 and 13, but just glancing at the calendar, it looks like almost every weekend is booked with an event throughout April, May and June, with the remaining months of 2013 getting filled in, as well. I’ll give you a heads up on some of the more interesting ones in future columns.
Neil Ostafichuk is the recreation supervisor at the Creston and District Community Complex.