During the month of March 2019, two milestone Snow Lake events were held within a week of one another … the 30th-annual Winter Whoot Festival and the 65th-annual Cordwood Bonspiel. Attendance at both was worthy of their longevity.
The Winter Whoot is the community’s premier winter event and signals the end to cold temperatures as well as a preview of everything the warmer months have to offer … fun, family, and festivity. It is organized by several local ladies, two of whom have been around since its 1989 inception – Kim Stephen and Wilma Pockett.
The 30th anniversary Whoot kicked off with the Freezie Toss on the afternoon of March 8; a colouring contest with 63 entries also got underway. The perennial favorite Ice Worm Hunt commenced on the Friday as well and the worm was found by Jesse Chell. The Ice Worm Hunt is just that … a worm that is hidden somewhere in the community and is searched for by the community’s children after clues are given at specific intervals.
Saturday, March 9 began with the pancake breakfast, followed by the Scavenger Hunt, and a new event, the Pet Promenade. Organizers report that there were five entries, “each showcasing their dog’s talents and adorable costumes.” The day concluded with a large dinner featuring chicken and fixins, and a children’s show put on by The Bubble Man out of Brandon, Manitoba. Both the dinner and the show that followed were thoroughly enjoyed by young and old.
Sunday started out with a relay race, as well as a bannock baking contest and a Footloose walking poker derby. There was a concession set up in the Lawrie Marsh Hall and bouncy houses, and draws added to the carnival-like atmosphere. Whoot organizers advise there were 75 prizes in the Penny parade, there was also a Candy Guess, a $5 winner-takes-all table, a 50/50 draw, and the $10 Big Raffle. Of the six prizes in the Big Raffle, Tammy Sass chose a big basket prize, Margaret Yoder selected a Bluetooth wireless speaker, Carol Kirton picked the two Calm Air tickets, Valarie Chartrand received a pair of men’s FXR mitts and a Manitoba Conservation hat. Tammy Leaman was drawn fifth and picked a men’s basket. And finally, Linda Hewlin got the FXR Jacket and a Ford tuque.
“We have noticed a drop in participation over the past few years and have been debating on returning the Winter Whoot to a one-day event rather than a whole weekend,” organizers of the Whoot advised. “We are hoping to get more volunteers from the community to keep this event as successful as it has been in previous years.” The committee also stated that after 30 years of service to the event, Wilma Pockett has decided to retire. The committee thanked her for all her years of dedication.
The 65th-annual Cordwood Bonspiel took place over two days on the weekend of March 15-16 at the good old Wilfred T. Lipton Arena. It was great to once again see the arena full and bustling with kids and their parents. As many recall, it used to be a nightly spectacle, but of late it is occasions such as these that bring back the loud laughter and joyful jostling that goes hand in hand with kids having fun!
If folks think back to their own childhood, preparations for the cordwood began long before the event itself took place. At one time you had to make your own rock and that sometimes took weeks of peeling, carving, and preening till that old piece of spruce or poplar would look at home on any sheet at the Brier. Then ya banged a big spike into it and bent it over to make a handle, took it up to the rink and rifled it down the ice for all you were worth.
Back then they also had the nametag contest where you got poster paper and some of Mom’s unused fabric, coloured pencils and Mark-a-lots, then combined them with a catchy slogan or name and left the rest to the judges. Well the rocks are all made for the participants now days, but the nametag contest is still a big part of the event.
The 65th convening of any event is special … and one organizer, Tara Semaniuk, pointed out that Snow Lake’s Cordwood has been in existence 15 years longer than St. Boniface’s Festival du Voyageur. Nevertheless the committee began proceedings with Semaniuk calling for attention and touching on the history of the bonspiel, before thanking everyone over the years for their hard work and dedication. She then introduced two local ladies who curled in the inaugural event, sisters Margret Fulmore and Millie McLaughlin. The two ladies cut and cake featuring an amazing depiction of the Cordwood logo before throwing the first rocks to get the 2019 affair underway. Two days of curling and fun began and when all the rocks were thrown, winners were announced.
First place winners were Kaitlin Rolles, Quinn Bernauer, Eva Turnbull, and Porter Meuse. Second place went to Jesse Yoder, Ethan Hedley, Yanelle van der Linde, and Jesse Chell. The closest to the button Grade 1-3 winner was Jessica Bridgeman and for Grade 4-6, Matthew Doak took honours. The biggest end winners were Ethan Samborski, Noelle Yoder, Katy Cousins, and Redmond Morrison, while Calyn Lobert, Gavin Deserre, Casey Strelezki, Ricky Lee Semaniuk, and Violet Trudeau received sportsmanship awards. Finally, the winners of the 2019 nametag event were Chloe Cairns, Violet Trudeau, and Emmy Turnbull.
There was also a display of memorabilia from events past that was available for people to thumb through over the weekend.
