By Derek Cornet

Winter Festival

Junior King and Queen Trapper competition to debut at annual winter festival

Feb 1, 2019 | 11:00 AM

Junior King and Queen Trapper events will be a part of the Lac La Ronge Winter Festival this year.

“We thought this year we would try it, so we took it to our organizing committee and we had someone step up who was willing to organize the event,” said Jonas Roberts Memorial Community Centre director of sport and recreation Kevin Roberts. “We’re going to go ahead with it and see how it goes.”

The competition will be strictly for young people with 10 events such as snowshoe racing, rope winding and log sawing. There’s also a top prize of $300 for the best male and female, along with a small amount for winners of individual events. The competition will occur March 2 at the La Ronge urban reserve, while the adult portion takes place March 9 and 10 at multiple locations.

Roberts noted residents have been requesting such an event for youth for some time and he’s happy the festival committee was able to make it happen. He also doesn’t recall Prince Albert or any other winter festival in northern Saskatchewan having a youth category, which makes the Lac La Ronge Indian Band unique.

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“It’s not a well-established event, but we’re hoping to kickstart it and get the interest going with our youth, and give them an opportunity to try some of the traditional activities,” Roberts said.

Other changes to the festival include the return of Gospel Jam Night, the combination of the youth and adult talent shows, and the adult King and Queen Trapper winners will receive a higher payout than in previous years. With more money at stake, Roberts believes it will contribute to an increase in contestants joining the main competition. The 2017 and 2018 winners were Norman McKenzie and Clarissa Burns.

In all, there will be 27 different events occurring between March 1 to 10. The festival includes multiple hockey tournaments, a home business fair, family fun and movie nights, a jigging and square-dancing competition, a cabaret, an elder’s lunch and bingo, and more. The crowning of the King and Queen Trappers will take place March 10.

derek.cornet@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @saskjourno