Town comes out for carnival

Page 7

The Fort Chipewyan Winter Carnival, which was held Feb. 21 to 24, offered plenty to take part in.

From the crowning of the king and queen, to the prince and princess pageant on Thursday evening, to the jigging, moose calling, trap setting, traditional dress competitions on Friday night, the community was kept entertained throughout the four-day event.

"The carnival was great. The weather was cold but everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. We are pleased with the response that we got from the community; we did not get any complaints," said Ernest Thacker,who is a recreation programmer for the Kewatinok Recreation Society.

"In January we formed a winter carnival committee. Everyone worked hard to get the events underway," he said.

Despite the cold wind off of the Lake Athabasca shore, Saturday's events began with a 10-team dog sled race at 11 a.m. Winner of the race was Jennifer Peebles from Pickerville; her father Rob Peebles came in second and the third-place winner was Bill Helmer from Crooked Creek.

"The dog sled races went really well. Jackie Ladouceur and I did all the prep work. It was such a success.

"We got a lot of positive comments from the dog mushers, who said that they'd been to a lot of dog races but this one was well organized, " said Barbara Grandejambe, an organizer with the Fort Chipewyan Dog Mushers Club.

"The carnival opens the door for other communities to come and see the beauty of Fort Chipewyan. We welcome them," she said.

The log sawing, nail pounding, tea boiling and snowshoe race events kept the competitors warm as they gave their all Saturday morning.

"I think that it went well, despite the cold. People were out there participating in the outdoor events."

"They came out and had fun," said Julia Cardinal, a board member and volunteer. "It's a yearly tradition of going out there, watching or helping out and keeping the carnival spirit alive," she said.

Sunday's competitions included the final day of the dog sled races, as well as snowmobile, 4 x 4, drag and obstacle races.

"It was great, I really enjoyed the ski-doo races. There was a lot to see and it was well organized," said Julia Martin, a spectator.