J.D. POTIÉ
Bristol Feb. 23, 2020
The community of Bristol was booming with festive cheer on Sunday, as the municipality hosted its annual winter carnival.
Organized by the Bristol . . .
Community Association (BCA), the event was an opportunity for local families to enjoy a number of winter activities together without having to dig deep in their pocket books.
According to BCA President Elaine Findlay, the event was about bringing families together for a fun day of winter-related activities and has taken place annually for over 30 years.
“It’s a long-coming thing,” she said. “It used to just be a few games at the rink and it just branched out this year.”
With festivities divided between three locations – the Town Hall, the Jack Graham Community Centre and the Norway Bay rink – the event featured a long list of activities for people of all ages.
The event kicked off at 1 p.m., with tobogganing on a sliding hill outside the Town Hall, snow-painting and snowshoeing, while a large contingent of adults sat around a dozen different tables inside the Jack Graham Community Centre and played cards.
In the meantime, a group of volunteers prepared supper at 4:30 p.m. – free of charge to everyone under the age of 12 – which hosted around 100 people.
Over at the outdoor rink, around 30 children from different age groups and around 20 more adults partook in an on-ice skills competition that included a number of events, including an accuracy shooting event and an egg-on-a-spoon relay race through pylons.
But the most popular event of them all was “shoot pucks at the mayor”, as Brent Orr suited up in goalie pads and took shots from kids trying to slip pucks by him.
Every time one of the kids scored, a firefighter in the municipality’s new rescue van honked the horn and set off the sirens from the truck, which the kids loved.
Afterwards, the on-ice action continued with a three-on-three pick-up hockey game, that involved people of different ages.
Despite the warm weather, rink attendant Tracey Moore said that the ice surface was in mint condition, noting that it’s indisputably the best one in the region.
“If you took a vote, it would be the best rink in the Pontiac,” she said. “A couple of parents took the mayor aside and told him that. It’s great and we’re hoping to be open after Ontario March Break, Mother Nature-permitting.”
To keep anyone from going too hungry or thirsty, a number of drink and food vendors were on hand, offering beaver tails, maple syrup on snow and cups of hot chili all for free.
For Findlay, the event is all about giving back to the community for all their support in the BCA’s annual fundraisers.
Judging on the high number of locals who enjoyed themselves on Sunday, Findlay was very happy with the overall turnout, noting that they were fortunate weather-wise.
“It was really good,” she said. “We’re a bit of a week late. We lucked out that we still have ice. Most years, by this time, our ice is pretty bad.”
All the funds raised from the supper will go back to the BCA, Findlay said.
