Well, that was a busy weekend — another great Butterfly Bonspiel as well as the Creston Valley Figure Skating Club ice show on the other ice surface, not to mention a retirement party and a whack of birthday parties. There was a time not so long ago when both arenas were used for the bonspiel — way back when, we used to put in six additional sheets of curling ice on the hockey arena to accommodate the number of teams. In fact, we have heard tales of round the clock curling — could you imagine staggering on to the ice for a 3 a.m. draw? Of course those who got the draws on the hockey arena ice were often less than enthusiastic as it could be a totally different play than the ice in the curling centre. Face it, when you are flooding the ice to make curling sheets and the water is flowing like Sanca Creek in the spring from the edges to the middle because of heaving, it tends to be slightly thicker on the outside.
In comparison, the curling ice tended to be about three-quarters to one inch thick and was a little more predictable than the hockey ice, which was probably crowding three inches thick on the sides. The flip side is that, I believe, the organizers had everyone moving around on all the rinks so you got the good with the not-so-good. Anyway, the show always went on with lots of great stories created and I imagine some were generated at this last one, as well. I believe there was a total of 48 teams this year with 24 local and 24 from out of town, including a regular contingent of about five teams from the Coeur D’Alene/Spokane area. Of course when you start bringing in people from out of town, the economic ripples spread a little further than the community complex. These people are staying somewhere, eating something, fuelling up their vehicles and maybe even doing a bit of shopping, which really supports our local economy.
By now, our spring leisure guide is on the Internet at www.rdck.bc.ca/creston, with a fresh batch of programs as well as old favourites. The paper version of the guide will be here shortly, as well, so come and grab a copy when you get the chance. Lots of summer camps for youth are happening — these just get more and more popular each year so we keep adding to meet the demand. Experience has shown us that parents or grandparents tend to prefer the one-week type of camp because they can then do the camping thing or swim lessons or get the kids back out weeding the garden for the rest of the summer. I also see we have a “Kids in the Kitchen” course during April, at which Karin Ritter will show the little dudes and dudettes how to create some of their favourites foods, as well as using healthy alternative ingredients. Karin also has a German cooking class for adults in April preparing schnitzel, spaetzle and kartoffelsalat, as well as several other foods I can’t pronounce. Man, I should not be describing this before lunch — I’d walk a mile for a spaetzle.
We have Zumba, both wet and dry, as well as line dancing and a couple levels of belly dancing (which is good, because I have a couple levels of belly). We have also really noticed a marked increase in hours booked with our three personal trainers, who will develop a specific program based on your wants or needs in the health and fitness. It’s interesting — the usual New Year’s resolutionists never really dropped off this year as they usually do; in fact, we see some increases in numbers, which indicates a change of attitude towards personal health and fitness. Did we have something to do with that? Let’s see... fantastic staff who are encouraging, knowledgeable and passionate about what they teach. Hmmm, we’ll take a bit of the credit. Have a great week!
Neil Ostafichuk is the recreation supervisor at the Creston and District Community Complex.