So, how was your third ever Family Day on Feb. 9? Hopefully you got some enjoyment out of it; I know we saw just over 290 people take advantage of the community complex on one of our most popular statutory holidays. A quick check showed that this holiday is not a national one, as it is only observed in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario, although P.E.I. has Islander Day the third Monday in February and Manitoba’s is actually Louis Riel Day the same time. It must be the whole prairie winter cabin-fever thing that started it all. While I don’t remember it myself (not unusual) I guess B.C.ers had the opportunity to vote back in 2012 on preference for the second or third Monday in February as their new stat and obviously chose the second date.
Other items of note coming down the pike here are the BC School Sports provincial curling championship starting today and running the next three days at the Creston Curling Centre. The volunteers at the curling club have to get a tip of the hat for making this happen — the impact to our community is that you have eight teams with probably five kids each, and all the appropriate coaches, teachers or chaperones, as well as parents all coming to our little corner of paradise, staying in hotels or motels, eating food, buying fuel, going for coffee and maybe buying a few souvenirs. Events like this provide benefit to our community that is a little harder to measure but they are definitely there. No different from hockey, soccer or baseball tournaments, conventions, meetings and even weddings, they bring new people to contribute to our local economy.
Also happening this weekend is the rod and gun banquet, which is always a great time, and early in March we have the figure skating carnival and the Butterfly Bonspiel — both good spectator sports if you are looking for something to do (unless of course you are a participant). It’s hard to believe it’s that time of year again but the Creston Valley Thunder Cats start the playoff season Friday with the first two games in Kimberley then back here for Monday and Tuesday games.
Last but not least, our spring leisure guide is due out the first week in March with a raft of interesting programs and events to transition you into the great weather we generally get before anyone else. A little insider trading tip — it usually hits our website about a week earlier if you are looking for something to peruse next week, so check out www.rdck.ca for that as well as other interesting info on our regional district.
Neil Ostafichuk is the recreation supervisor at the Creston and District Community Complex.