Hundreds enjoy family fun at friendship centre

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It was fun time for families at the inaugural summer carnival held Aug. 21 at the Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre. The four-hour event offered a range of activities including a sponge toss, ring toss, darts, a basketball shoot-out and the always entertaining dunk tank.

Carnival co-ordinator Kat Norris said a few hundred people attended.

"It went really well. Some of the community workers were thanking us for putting it on," said Norris. "It brought the community together in a non-issue, non-political way."

The radio station 94.5 The Beat's mobile unit was on hand to promote the carnival. Norris said the station is always keen to promote the centre's events.

One of the popular games of the day was the "jail."

"It was an idea of Alisha Azak, one of our summer staff. She discovered it in her home Nishga community," said Norris. "The idea is to pick someone you want to be in jail and for every minute you want them in you pay 50 cents." When a jailbird's time was almost up, Norris would yell, "Should we let them out?" The response was usually an overwhelming "No!" And someone would pay up to keep the person in jail, which consisted of chairs in the middle of the gymnasium. Surprisingly, there were no attempted escapes.

Norris said the carnival was important because it provided something affordable for families, and she emphasized the efforts of many for making it a success.

"We've had really great, open-minded executive directors that are receptive to new ideas," she said. "Lana Manygreyhorses (current executive director) and program director Donna St. Louis physically helped out. We were here until 11 p.m. the night before."

Norris, who has been involved with the Friendship Centre in various capacities since 1976, is also the organizer of the eighth annual Aboriginal cultural festival, which will be held at the centre (1607 East Hastings) from Oct. 24 to 27.