Junior King for a day

Page 22

The day was windy and the competition brisk at King and Queen Trappers Day held at the Bonnyville Museum on July 1.

Participants competed for money and bragging rights with loon and moose call competitions, nail pounding, trap setting, and flour pack racing, as well as races with the Swede saw. A buckskin parade and jigging competitions were also part of the agenda.

The program co-ordinator for King and Queen Trappers Day was Louise Dumais.

"It was quite nice because of the weather, no rain, and also the participation of the town. There were a lot of people today. I'd say more than 150 people," she said.

The event is usually held on Family Day in February, but was rescheduled for July.

"This is the first year that we tried this in July, just to see how it would go. It was nice. I liked it," said Dumais. "On Family Day this year it was minus 40, so it was too cold to come out and take part in the events. It was nicer today, because I'm not a winter person."

Francis Dumais, another co-ordinator for Trappers Day was satisfied with the way the events turned out.

"It was a nice day and everything went well for everyone. I was very proud watching all these young guys doing all these events. There were a lot of people who attended the events today, and I'm hoping that we have a better crowd next year. Everything went smoothly. There was a lot of help and I really appreciated that," he said.

"I think that it is a really good idea to keep on doing things like this because we don't have much of this happening anymore. It is good to get the little kids into in it too. It is just amazing. We had a lot of kids take part in the competitions, not just Aboriginal kids, but non-Aboriginal kids as well. The kids were really enjoying everything. It was fun," said Robin Dumais, the event time recorder for King and Queen Trappers Day.