Heather Latter
The 29th-annual Nestor Falls Winter Carnival went off without a hitch last weekend, offering plenty of activities, entertainment, prizes, and fun for the whole family.
“It went really smoothly and we had good weather,” said Howard Dodd, a member of the Nestor Falls recreation committee which stages the annual event that brings in people from far and wide for the weekend.
While Dodd admitted organizers had hoped to have a bigger turnout for Friday night’s entertainment (a performance by Winnipeg band “Without a Trace”), there were plenty who came out Saturday to participate in the slew of activities, including a fishing derby, poker derby, cribbage tournament, scavenger hunt, and children’s activities.
“[The band] did a great job,” he enthused. “It would have been nice if there had been a larger crowd. . . .
“But towards the end of the day on Saturday, there was standing room only,” he noted.
Dodd estimated the overall attendance, as well as participation in the fishing derby, may have been down slightly from last year. But he said the cribbage tournament saw more entries.
“Everyone seemed to have a good time,” he remarked. “And now we really have to gear up for next year, the big 3-0.”
Dodd hopes for next year’s 30th-annual event, organizers will be able to do something more and have an even bigger, better carnival. But with only a small committee organizing the event, he said they’ll have to wait and see.
“It’s a small group, but they worked really hard to put everything together and run the carnival,” Dodd stressed as he thanked this year’s committee, which included chair Kiley Hanson, Deb Widgren, Gloria George, Wayne Helliar, Selene LeBlanc, Tanis Fretter, and Karen Campagnolo.
He also thanked all the businesses that helped to make the carnival a success.
One of the big wins for the weekend went to Mary Sutton of Nestor Falls, who took home the participants’ draw prize—a LG 42” plasma TV sponsored, in part, by Sight & Sound Audiotronic in Fort Frances.
Alice Lougheed of Nestor Falls won the 50/50 draw.
Steve Lougheed of Nestor Falls took first place in the poker derby, with Mary Sutton of Nestor Falls capturing first place in the photo contest.
And the ever-popular scavenger hunt saw team “The Flake” (Nadine Chapman, Kathy Brown, and Mary Sutton) come in first place while the team of Mikaela Kroeker, Emily Brown, and John Tompkins earned top honours in the youth scavenger hunt.
Meanwhile, first place for this year’s cribbage tournament went to the team of Alysia Copenace and Brenan Major (Onigaming First Nation), with second place going to the team of Doris Valliant (Nestor Falls) and Margaret Benjamin (Fort Frances).
Taking third place was Wayne Helliar and Ruth Sandmoen (Nestor Falls) while fourth place went to Diann Widgren (Nestor Falls) and Betty Hele (Kenora).
When it came to Saturday’s fishing derby, it was Klyde Laplante of Emo who captured first place in the northern category.
Paul Evans of Nestor Falls was second while third place was captured by Shirley Brown, also of Nestor Falls.
Evans also reeled up the biggest walleye of the derby, followed by Don McCool (Fort Frances) in second and Jordan Wilson (Emo) in third.
In the lake trout division, it was Kenzie Kelly of Onigaming First Nation who came in first place, followed by Joe Bernard and Louis Shavor (both from Minnesota).
Roy Elias of Stratton hooked the biggest crappie during the derby, with Kenzie Kelly (Onigaming) coming in second and Hemrich Bier (Emo) third.
When it came to the big prizes for the participants’ draw for the fishing derby, Jerry Race (Sioux Narrows) won the Humminbird Ice 45 Flasher while Diane Cobiness (Onigaming First Nation) took home the second prize of an HT Pex-2 portable ice shelter and chairs.
