Ten days of frigid fun in Field

Suzanne Gammon

Tribune

There was a flurry of activities in Field from January 31 all the way to February 9, as the community celebrated its annual winter carnival. As usual, it takes a village to put on such a big event and Field never disappoints. The Field Recreation Committee, Field Firefighters Association, Field Knights of Columbus, Golden Age Club and Field Ladies Auxiliary all collaborated to make the event a success. Numerous donors contributed, including the Caisse Alliance who was on hand with their mascot Cachou to present a $1,000 cheque.

“I have to say that without all the sponsors that are always there to support our activities during the year, [we] would not be able to offer all the activities for the young and young at heart kids, they make it a success,” acknowledges organizer Linda Leduc. “Thank you to all the volunteers that were kind enough to give a big part of their time, and I was lucky enough again for this event to have 14 volunteers from École secondaire Franco-Cité that were there to help me with canteen and activities all Carnival long,” she adds.

The carnival kicked off with a kids’ dance at the Knights of Columbus hall January 31. The rest of the week saw indoor and outdoor games, family skating at the covered rink, line dancing and jamming and lots of meals served up by the volunteers. During the first weekend of the carnival, the women’s hockey tournament saw three teams battling on the outdoor rink. The Ice Angels took first place after a tough battle against the Hockey Queens. The winning team opted to give back their prize money to the Carnival organizers in a show of support for the event. This was echoed by women’s hockey pool winner Diane Martin, who also gave her winnings to the Field Recreation Committee and Field Firefighters Association.

A carnival highlight was the big “hockey night in Field” on January 4, as the WN Lynx team came out to battle the WN Fire Fighters in their first ever outdoor charity game (last year’s game had to be canceled due to weather). The team mascots joined Bonhomme Carnaval to greet the crowd and cheer on the teams. The Lynx’ goaltenders rotated between the pipes for the fire fighters and the friendly contest ended with no winner declared, but $500 raised by the Lynx to donate to the Field Firefighters Association.

“The West Nipissing Lynx would like to thank Head Trainer Mitch Jarbeau, the Field recreational committee, and the West Nipissing Fire Department for putting on such an amazing outdoor event,” the organization posted on social media the next day. “This is what having a junior team in a small community is all about: over 200 loyal and even new hockey fans stood in -25°C weather to cheer on the Lynx in this charity event.”

The final weekend of the Carnival was action packed. Near the rink, volleyball teams played on the snow in a tournament that was as entertaining to watch as to compete in. In the end, the Bawlerz team edged out Block n Roll for first place.

Meanwhile, Chuck’s hockey tournament, a Carnival staple, saw ten men’s teams compete in a ferocious contest all weekend long. The tournament wrapped up with a hard-fought final on Sunday, Feb. 9 as Les Boys de Sturg took top spot against the Labelle Bros. team. Another winner was Carmelle Jarbeau, who took home $250 as the hockey pool champ, predicting the final 5-2 score.

The Field Firefighters Association expressed thanks to “all the teams who supported and helped make this (…) an awesome and fun event. Thank you for all the fans who came and supported as well! [It] was a fun weekend for sure. See you all next year!”

In the end, Leduc says she is thrilled with the how the Carnival went, from cooperating weather compared to last year, to enthusiastic participation and great support. “It was a big success,” she beams.