Donald Teuma-Castelletti
NORWAY BAY
July 28-29, 2018
Running, hopping, tossing, swimming and scavenging – they did it all and more this weekend in Norway Bay, as activities in the area continued with the return of annual tests of fitness and wit.
Organized by the Norway Bay Municipal Association (NBMA), the community had the chance to participate in all sorts of fun, promoting both healthy competition and lifestyles, across the bay.
“One of the things about [Norway Bay] is it’s all about tradition,” said Steph Brousseau, coordinator for many weekend events with the NBMA.
Events kicked off Saturday morning with the long distance run at 9 a.m., starting at Centennial Park. Participation was down this year, but Brousseau said that later events saw many more younger children take part – encouraging for organizers to keep the activities going as those little ones grow older.

“The long distance run numbers were down,” she said. “But four-year-old’s and younger participation was up, so I’m guessing the numbers will pick up.”
The next generation was certainly out for the field day activities, where everyone competed. Separated by age divisions, there was dashes, potato sack races and three-legged races, with the latter two providing much entertainment as young and old toppled over themselves in the spirit of competition.
The Saturday afternoon gave way to the basketball free throw competition, which saw participants in every age category turn out. The nine and younger saw some fierce shooters there, said Brousseau, with Logan Bastien cleaning up as he sunk all his baskets.
Sunday continued the fun with the long-distance swim getting started at 9 a.m. Luckily for the swimmers, the sun was out and shining bright to greet them, as they made their way to the pier by the public beach. Karim Harb placed first overall in this one, almost rocketing across the length to emerge at the pier.
Finally, Sunday wrapped up with the biking scavenger hunt in the early afternoon, where everyone seeks out Norway Bay locations via clues provided at the meeting point of Centennial Hall. Groups of four were tasked with testing their wits and memory as they followed clues to victory.
While rain did put a little bit of a damper on the long-distance run, Brousseau said that the weekend has been fortunate with weather for all 40 years that she’s been involved with it. That includes both as a participant and eventually an organizer for the past 12.
The weather, it seems, favours the vacationing families who look forward to the activities year-after-year.
“A lot of people will organize their holidays according to the events,” said Brousseau. “Families will choose between last weekend and this weekend to have off.”
For generations of families in the bay, the activities are something that they want to pass down to their kids, and eventually their grandchildren. While it is hard to find coordinators, some years, for everything to take place, organizers believe it important to keep it all going.
“It’s a generational thing,” said Brousseau. “I do it because I enjoyed it and I want my kids to enjoy it.”