Family likes active life outdoors

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/01/2011 (5389 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The streets were all but deserted Monday as many huddled inside enjoying the last of the holiday break. But the hearty Gaborieau family didn’t miss an opportunity for some outdoor fun, braving frigid temperatures that felt like -25C.

Marcel Gaborieau, 61, and his grandchildren Ty, 10, and McKenzie, 8, were out in hockey skates casually passing a couple of pucks around at the Notre Dame Recreational Centre in St. Boniface.

Both kids enjoy spending time with their grandfather, or Papa, as they call him, when they’re in the area visiting their dad. And Gaborieau certainly keeps them busy — or vice versa.

“We go to the lake, and we do arts and crafts and we play street hockey,” gushed McKenzie. Fishing in the summer is another favourite activity, said Ty.

Skating wasn’t the end for the energetic Gaborieaus on Monday — after that, they were off to snowboard at Happyland Park.

“They have a lot of pent up energy,” said Gaborieau, laughing at the understatement. “They sometimes just run around in the yard.”

Both kids are great on skates, having been taught early by Gaborieau and his son. It’s a family tradition and a skill Gaborieau wants to make sure his grandkids have.

“[I want them] just to be able to do it and if they don’t like it, they don’t have to but… it’s good to be able to.”

The Gaborieaus are frequent visitors to the Notre Dame Recreational Centre. McKenzie said it has cleaner ice than other rec centres in the area. Gaborieau plays there regularly on an Oldtimers’ hockey league.

Centre manager Dean Gilkes is happy to see regulars such as the Gaborieaus coming back.

“It’s a nice community here,” he said. “Usually this outdoor rink is full.”

Gilkes said the centre does its best to provide a place for kids to have fun at little or no cost.

The centre, on Avenue de la Cathédrale just off Provencher Boulevard, provides a drop-in for youth aged 10-16 from 6 to 9 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays as well as free public skating Sundays. Gilkes also lets kids skate free at odd times during the day when the indoor rinks aren’t booked.

“If it’s not being used, we encourage people to bring their kids down to skate” for free, he said. “We really try to do as many things for free for kids as we can.”

McKenzie is excited to play organized hockey again next year, and though Ty prefers soccer, both enjoy playing with their papa on a day off school.

But for this doting grandfather, it doesn’t matter what he’s doing with his grandkids — the quality time is what’s important.

“{I love} just spending time with them, anything at all. Just spending time with them.”

sandy.klowak@freepress.mb.ca

Dropping In is a ‘random act of journalism’ that starts with a thumbtack on a city map and ends with a story from the street