On Jan. 15, the Town of Chestermere hosted their annual Winter Festival. The festival was hosted inside of the Chestermere Rec Centre, with many activities taking place across the street, by the lake and at Anniversary Park.
The festival kicked off early in the morning with a free pancake breakfast. There were many delicious choices including pancakes, sausages, eggs, orange juice and even iced tea.
Outside of the centre at Anniversary Park was the area known as the “Arctic Village,” which was open form 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. There were many exciting events and and activities for families to participate. Kids has the chance to go to the Fun Foam Block Building Area to create anything they wanted using giant foam blocks. There was also a snow mountain slide and straw maze that were very fun to engage in. Skating on the lake was open and free for anyone interested. Shuttle services were provided to and from the Rec Centre so that anyone could ride Horse Drawn Sleigh Rides on the lake. In case anyone became too cold, there were fire pits set up around the area to warm people up. If that didn’t help, they were free to move into the Rec Centre to warm up and participate in the many activities happening inside.
Inside the “Frost Free Zone” were many fun activities and games the children could take part in. Volunteers helped to set up and take down stations while taking shifts guarding those stations. At the Wii station, kids were encouraged to play Dance Dance Revolution. Many of them were too shy to play so most of the time, free volunteers spent their time getting their groove on. The Slap Shot Hockey Station and Bounce House were very fun stations to watch and even take part in. Two very tall volunteers somehow managed to jump and fall out onto the ground, causing a lot of laughter amongst the kids. The Penguin Flip was a station where kids were encourage to apply pressure onto something that held a plastic fish. They had to properly aim it so that the fish would fly into a little hole in a tall poster of a penguin. Helping out at this station was a real pain for the back since we had to continually bend down to put the fish back in place. There were also many places for children’s crafts, a caricature artist, and even a balloon artist. At noon, Greg T “That Crazy Magic Guy” put on a entertaining magic show where everyone had a chance to sit back and relax.The Chestermere Public Library attended and even set up a station to sell interesting books for only about 25 cents each! Many of us loaded up on books when we got the chance.
The most anticipating event of the day was the 3rd Annual Polar Bear Dip. This event is where people volunteer to jump into a large pool of cold water located outside. After, they have the ability to jump into a hot tub to warm up. The Polar Bear Dip was held outside at Anniversary Park at 1 p.m. sharp. There were many celebrity dippers including police officers, firefighters, the Deputy Mayor, and even a spokesperson from Global News. Citizens could register to jump as well, but they had to pay a $10 fee. All dippers were encouraged to raise as much money as possible. Those who didn’t want to jump were asked to bid and donate to different jumpers. All the proceeds went to the organization YELL (Youth Encouraging Lasting Leadership). YELL is an organization full of youth from Chestermere and Langdon who are devoted to helping create a voice for youth in the community. We organize many events, volunteer, and try to help the community as best as possible. YELL is actually similar to Youth Central in some ways, except much smaller in people and programs.
Inside the Red Arena at 3 p.m., volunteers and guests had the chance to enjoy a hockey game. During intermission, players were involved in a Human Hamster Ball Race. At 5:30 p.m. the Fire and Ice part of the day was held at Anniversary Park. Guests were treated to hot chocolate and got to watch the Children’s Lantern Walk. Afterwards, they were treated to a beautiful set of fireworks.
During the six hours we were volunteering, we were provided with many delicious snacks. Jugs of hot chocolate and coffee were provided, as well as other juices. We got a chance to grab some of the tasty breakfast, as well as some sandwiches and cookies for lunch. Non-volunteers also had the ability to purchase food and drinks at the concession.The guests, especially the children were fun to interact with. They were extremely playful and their laughter constantly filled the air. This was a very fun festival to be a part of and I truly look forward to return next year. Next on the list of big festivals in Chestermere YELL will be helping with? Waterfest!
