A last chance to get involved with activities only around for the cold season was enjoyed by area residents and those visiting Nestor Falls during last weekend’s Winter Carnival.
The Nestor Falls Winter Carnival is an annual tradition for the small township on the border of the Rainy River and Kenora districts. Starting from a simple fishing derby in 1976, growth in activities surrounding the derby and an uptake in people traveling to take part led to the establishment of a formal event in 1982.
This weekend marked the 44th anniversary since its formation as the winter carnival and left its participants in good spirits and looking forward to the occasion next year.
“It seems like it’s something that everybody in the community really looks forward to attending and participating,” said Alana Stewart, a member of the coordinating team behind the carnival.
“It’s nice because there’s something for all ages, you know? Like the crib tournament, to the kids curling and everything in between.”
Stewart said they have received very positive feedback from the community through the Facebook page the coordinating team uses to post pictures and times for the event.
The Carnival started on the evening of Friday, March 6, with a fish fry where all were welcome. The carnival’s competitions kicked off the following morning with the famous fishing derby being held out on the nearby ice road. Divided into four separate categories, prizes were given to whoever could make the biggest catch out of northern pike, walleye, crappie and trout, without going over the length limit.
Also held on Saturday was a snowmobile scavenger hunt, cribbage tournament and a dance at the community hall with a cash bar.
Sunday started off with a pancake breakfast put together by the Nestor Falls Curling Club. This was immediately followed with kids curling, which was free for any child who wished to play.
Sunday’s main event was the logging-inspired lumberjack competition, which included a series of challenges to compete in. The first was axe throwing, the winner being whoever could aim closest to the bullseye. Next came the log toss, a test of strength to see how far each participant can send a log through the air.
Third in the lineup was the two-person crosscut, where two teams of two would go head-to-head to test which team could cut through a large piece of lumber the quickest. The final challenge was the tea boil. This unique finale had each participant build a fire and boil a pot of water. The winner of this challenge is the fastest to bring their water to a steady boil.
A list of winners in different categories of the carnival’s various competitions is listed below.
Fishing derby winners from first to third: Jakob Malloch, Lilly Krukoski and Brenda Dutka for northern pike; Ernest Henderson, Jerry Collins and Isaiah Collins for walleye; Lonnie Nielson, Trish Nielson and Eric Daw for crappie; Liz Burgen, John Krukoski and Jamie Krukoski for trout.
Cribbage tournament: first place winners were Doris Valliant and Jaxon Edwards; second place winners were Lee Shrumm and Sarah Lloyd; third place winners were Dawn Turcan and Darren Deason.
Lumberjack competition winners in the men’s section were Corey Monkman for axe throwing; Wes Alexander for the log toss; Mason Gallinger for the tea boil; Wes and Chris Alexander for the two-person crosscut. Winners in the women’s section were Tasha Monkman for axe throwing; Alana Stewart for the log toss; Lauren Krukoski for the tea boil; Lauren and Diana Krukoski for the two-person crosscut.
