Staff
A weekend of winter fun is all lined up as the 28th-annual Nestor Falls Winter Carnival is set to run on the first weekend in March.
“It’s a weekend of fun activities for the entire family,” enthused Howard Dodd of the Nestor Falls recreation committee, which organizes the annual event slated for March 5-7 at the Nestor Falls Community Hall.
“We’re hoping for good weather, of course,” added Dodd.
“And in the past, we’ve brought in people as far away as Chicago to come up here for our winter carnival—it’s one of our biggest community events,” he noted.
The activities will kick off on Friday, March 5 with the ice and snow sculpture judging at 4 p.m.
Then the big entertainment for the evening will be “The James Grant Show.”
“According to his website, he’s Manitoba’s number-one hypnotist,” said Dodd. “And he does a stage show that’s supposed to be loaded with lots of laughs and a lot of fun.”
Doors for the show (which is age of majority only) open at 7 p.m. and only 100 seats available.
Tickets are being sold in advance for $20 each, which are available at Dalseg’s Fine Foods and Monique’s Lawg Caybun.
Then Saturday, March 6 will feature a slew of family-friendly events running throughout the day, starting with a fish derby from 7 a.m.-5 p.m.
The entry fee is $10, with tickets available at The Angler’s Pro Shop, Dalseg’s Fine Foods, Mel’s Marine, and Nestor Falls Bait & Tackle.
Everyone who enters will be eligible to win derby draw prizes, noted Dodd, including a Strikemaster ice auger and HT four-man portable fishing shelter.
Also up for grabs this year is a Nintendo Wii game system and game package as part of the winter carnival’s participants’ draw.
Events include snow golf, which will run from 10 a.m.-4 p.m., with an entry fee of $5 per person, a cribbage tournament that kicks off at 11:30 a.m. with an entry fee of $10 per team, and a poker derby for those who are age of majority, which runs from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. and features a $5 entry fee.
“Anybody [who registers] stands a chance to win the major [draw] prize,” noted Dodd.
“One of the events that we’ve brought in just within the last three, four years is the scavenger hunt, and I tell you people really have a lot of fun with that,” added Dodd.
This year’s scavenger hunt will run on the Saturday from 9 a.m-4 p.m., with the entry fee being $5 per person.
Other activities on the Saturday include a free family magic show with James Grant from 10:30-11 a.m., and free kids’ games starting at 11:30 a.m.
Saturday will wrap up with the event’s awards and attendance prize draws at 5 p.m., followed by a dance at the hall.
There is a cover charge of $5, and it is open to age of majority only.
Then on the Sunday morning (March 7), there will be an all-you-can-eat pancake and sausage breakfast. Admission is $4 for adults and $2 for teens, with those 12 and under and seniors eating for free.
“We couldn’t do this three-day event without the support of the great businesses in the Nestor Falls, Sioux Narrows, Fort Frances, [and] Emo areas,” Dodd stressed.
“The business support that we get to do this three-day event is just great,” he enthused.
For more information about the winter carnival, contact Kiley Hanson at 276-4405 or via e-mail at kileyhanson@gmail.com, or visit the township’s website at www.livethelakelife.ca
