THUNDER BAY - Families looking to take advantage of the season were braving the chilly temperatures on Sunday to try new winter activities.
The city of Thunder Bay’s Winter Fundays officially kicked off on New Year’s Day at Marina Park and will run every Sunday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. until March 19.
Activities being offered include all the wintertime favourites, including snowshoeing, dogsledding, snow sculptures, kick-sledding, skating, and even a little winter science.
Calla Sampson, acting recreation and culture programmer with the city of Thunder Bay, said the program is a great way to get families outdoors to enjoy the season.
“The kids are really excited,” she said. “Today we had quite a few kids spot the snowshoes and they came running across from the skating rink and they think it’s great. They love it even more when they convince mom and dad to do it with them.”
It’s a great way of showing that winter doesn’t have to be a time when your inside,” Sampson added. “There are many ways to get outside, do some fun activities, and make the best of it.”
Jozef Piksiades was out on Sunday with his five-year-old daughter, Mila, to try snowshoeing for the first time.
“We’ve never tried snowshoeing before, so we figured we would give it a shot,” Piksiades said. “Mila seemed to enjoy it. We went around the loop twice now. It gave her some exercise. I don’t want to keep her inside all the time. I know it’s cold, but this is keeping her warm and it’s a lot of fun.”
More than 20 people came out to brave the cold and strap on a pair of snowshoes at the Marina on Sunday. Piksiades said he usually tries to go to all the winter activities and he is looking forward to the other events planned this year.
“It seems like they have something planned every other week,” he said. “If there were more events, of course I would go to all of them.”
Also participating on Sunday were four families new to Thunder Bay. Michelle McKenzie-Lander, the resettlement assistant program coordinator with the Thunder Bay Multicultural Association, was at the Marina with four families from Syria.
The families arrived just before the holidays, and McKenzie-Lander said she wanted to take them out for some winter fun.
“It’s a good way to introduce them to winter for those who have never experienced snow before,” she said.
To start their day, the families enjoyed making prints at the Baggage Arts Building, which was good, because the walk over was a little chilly.
“I figured we should defrost a little bit before I take them out,” McKenzie-Lander said. “The adults really want to try snowshoeing.”
McKenzie-Lander said it can be hard to get in winter activates when the weather doesn’t want to cooperate, but she is glad the Syrian families will get a chance to get out and see that Canadian winters are not all bad.
“We were supposed to go tobogganing Thursday, but because it was like minus 35, we didn’t do it,” she said. “I wanted them to do at least one winter activity before the kids went back to school.”
A complete list of Winter Funday activities can be found on their website.
