Winter fun on Broadway

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This article was published 26/02/2018 (2873 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Holding an outdoor festival during this very cold winter might seem like an unlikely idea, but even a slight rise in temperature on Feb. 10 brought a large crowd of people to the “Snoball” Winter Carnival at the Broadway Neighbourhood Centre for games, food, visiting, and much more.

The Snoball Festival featured storytelling, sculpture-making, the chance to cook bannock over a fire, and much more. In consideration of the winter weather, the community centre was open to allow people to warm up and eat the hot lunch. Participant and volunteer A. J. Martens noted that the event “brings the community together” while giving people the chance to learn about programs run through Resource Assistance for Youth and other organizations.

“It’s amazing to help change people’s lives,” he said, commenting on his own experiences of receiving assistance when he himself was in need.

The festival was a “great place to meet people,” volunteer Farrah Rose said as she handed out meal tickets, urging people to take as many as they wanted and to return to the food line frequently. For her, the festival was a good chance to “give back to the community” and to build relationships.

Relationships seemed to be warm as people gathered inside the community centre to eat their chili and drink tea or hot chocolate before heading outside again for some more activities. For many of the children, the highlight of the afternoon was likely the moment when organizers lowered a huge piñata, created by Art City, from the roof of the building for the children to open. The candy they received was evidently welcome as they carried it with them to the next activities.

Another highlight for many people, young and not-so-young, would also have been rides in the horse-drawn cart. Heavy Clydesdale-type horses pulling onto Broadway Avenue on a busy Saturday afternoon pulling a cart full of people was an odd but very welcome sight, as it was evident that fun was a large part of the activity.

An abominable snowman mascot, an obstacle course for the children to complete, and a tipi to warm up in helped to make the Snoball Winter Carnival both fun and informative, going to show that even one of the coldest of winters cannot dampen people’s enthusiasm for community fun.

Susan Huebert is a community correspondent for West Broadway.