Crysler Winter Carnival 50/50 winner announced
Martine Quesnel is shown with the oversized 50/50 draw board, while it was in Crysler’s The Old General Store. Early Sunday evening, it was announced that Brian Como of Crysler was the winner of the 2021 50/50 draw. Thompson Goddard Photo

CRYSLER – For 55 years, Crysler residents have enjoyed a winter carnival weekend with lots of activities to have some fun while supporting the community. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the Crysler Community Centre committee planned the Crysler Winter Carnival North vs South Challenge 2021 (Pandemic Edition ). The carnival, which ran between Feb. 12 to 14 featured live events such as a Ray’s Reptiles presentation, an online live performance from singer Yanik Pepin and a family games’ night, as well as a scavenger hunt featuring 55 ‘Bonhomme Carnavals’ hidden in plain sight throughout the village and along the recreational path.

One of the traditional carnival activities in Crysler is the North vs South competition, described as: residents on the North (Blue) side of the Nation River competing against residents on the South (Red) side; the winning side then has a full year of community bragging rights. With the pandemic necessitating a virtual competition, organizers created a series of fun competitions by which points were earned by residents for their team. These challenges included recipe exchanges, uploading photos of people singing songs designated by the committee as being either a Red or Blue song, dancing and participating in other challenges as well as providing photos of your business or residence decorated using either the colour red or blue. In the end, the Red team won by 135 points; Brody Shane, 5 years old, won the colouring contest from the Friends of the Library and will receive a gift certificate from the Old General Store.

On Sunday, Bonhomme Carnaval was driven through the village by Roger Lafrance to the enjoyment of young and old alike with a take-out spaghetti dinner bringing the 2021 winter carnival to and end. A live Facebook event provided the organizing team with an opportunity to thank the sponsors and participants of the 2021 carnival. The winner of the 50/50 draw was Brian Como of Crysler, with Erin McMahon and Rita Leroux each winning a beautiful quilt. Brady Shane won a $50 gift certificate from The Old General Store in Crysler, in the draw sponsored by the Friends of the Crysler Library.