Big Heart Days round-up
By Thom Paterson
Our first Big Heart Days, themed to encourage residents and visitors alike to make the best of our long winter days, generated a lot of enthusiasm during the weekend, and produced many ideas and much support for repeating the event next year.
It takes a team of dedicated volunteers to put on the many events offered throughout the weekend.The organizing committee would like to thank all those who helped make Big Heart Days a success.
Some of the highlights of the weekend included junior curlers playing on the outdoor rink (pictured, below right), hundreds of sliders enjoying the toboggan hill, more than 90 visitors to the Log Cabin warming station, and 50 skaters who took advantage of the free Family Day skate at the Creemore Arena.
A new event this year, the creation of ice lanterns, helped to light up the winter night for the Sweetheart Skate on Valentine’s evening. The Library’s “Messy Art” event kept the Mess Mistresses busy all day. And the Sugar Shack was a popular warming station to take the chill off and get a stick of maple taffy.
The opening ceremony was made special with the appearance of three local residents, Gertie Gowan, Tom Wilson and Paul Ruppel, in their full Olympic torch-bearing uniforms (see Gertie and Tom, below, centre), complete with their torches from when they participated in the 2010 Olympic Torch Relay. Three of our local bagpipers and emilie que added their unique flare to the ceremony.
With seven wonderful entries in the snowman-making contest, judging was not easy. This year’s winning creation is the brilliant yellow Minions on Mary Street (below, left), a combined effort of neighbours Jill and Mike MacAlpine, Peter Madore and Tara McGee. Congratulations! Honourable mentions go to the creators of the dragon on Mill Street and the firetruck on County Road 9.
The Chili Challenge will no doubt become an annual event at Big Heart Days. This year, seven of our restaurants took part in the Challenge, most selling out of their chili. This may have been the most talked-about event of the weekend, with the organizing committee receiving many suggestions for next year’s challenge. We do like to eat and talk about our chili on a cold winter’s day.
A challenge with any new event is to get the word out to a broader audience. The organizing committee is already pulling together ideas to bring more visitors into the village to join us during next year’s Big Heart Days weekend. Additional changes may include the location of the main event venues, the need for road closures and the addition of several new events. If you have suggestions for next year, please email them to tpaterson@clearview.ca. With a winning format, the organizing committe is confident attendance will grow as more visitors become aware of the Big Heart Days weekend.
This year’s Big Heart Days events would not have been successful without the generous support of our sponsors: the Creemore BIA, The Creemore Echo, izaneplanet, the Tree Society of Creemore, the Creemore Public Library, the Township of Clearview, the 100 Mile Store, Affairs Catering Bakery and Café, the Old Mill House Pub, the Creemore Log Cabin Service Board, the Station on the Green, Ray’s Place, J & R Firewood, Eric Miller and the Iron Butterfly.
Pictured on home page: Lisa Kristine Arlt and Ayrlie MacEachern.
