Muriel Carruthers
Record Staff
CHESTERVILLE – From Friday to Sunday, Feb. 10-12, the 2017 Chesterville Winter Carnival was without a doubt a great success, in spite of the frigid temperatures and snow Mother Nature dumped on the town most of Sunday. “The community never lets us down, and always comes together,” said carnival organizer Shelley McLeod.
The weekend involved mostly indoor events, due to past weather conditions and lack of interest for some outdoor activities. Carnival buttons were on sale as in the past, as well as silent auction items – the latter continued for the weekend and did really well.
Friday night saw the Carnival start with a delicious roast pork dinner prepared and served by members of the Chesterville Legion Branch 434 to about 68 people, a lower number than in the past but possibly attributed to a menu or price change for some. The evening continued with a movie night scheduled at The Gathering House and a well-attended dart tournament with 12 teams, which included other local Legion branch members, at the Legion hall.
The Fireman’s Breakfast was well attended on Saturday morning (see accompanying story and photos). As tradition has it, the Prince and Princess Snowflake Contest followed the breakfast, with respective winners Connor Chambers (four weeks old) and Hattie Potestio (8 months old). The euchre tournament followed from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. with 11 1/2 tables. The ham and scalloped potato supper put on by Christ Church United served over 120 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. The Sweetheart Dance with Thundering Cloud entertained from 8 p.m. on also saw a good crowd to dance the evening away.
The Frozen in Time dance for the young ones on Sunday afternoon from 2 to 4 p.m., saw “all kinds of costumes with cadets volunteering to help out,” said McLeod. The family bowling at the Chesterville Bowling Alley scheduled for Sunday afternoon “really didn’t happen” according to owner Shari Boyd in a telephone interview and was a disappointment – possibly due to the inclement weather.
The 3-on-3-hockey tournament ran Friday to Saturday with over 100 kids in the different age groups. Check out the Sports section of this issue for highlights of the Rockets’ hockey game on Saturday night.
Another sold-out meal was the Chesterville Public School’s Sunday spaghetti supper, served up to approximately 90, said Charity Miles in an email. Miles, co-organizer with Stacy Cranham and assisted by many other parent council members, said, “the dinner went quite well considering the snow storm.”
This was another seasonal event whose organizers and volunteers should indeed be congratulated for an enjoyable carnival and bringing the community together.
For additional photos and comments, check out the Carnival Facebook site at facebook.com/ chestervillewintercarnival.
