The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
It's hard to imagine a winter in Denare Beach without a weekend of roaring snowmobiles, horse-drawn wagon rides and plenty of family fun. Hundreds of people took part in the 27th Annual Denare Beach Winterfestival over the weekend, making the many hours of work put into the event very much worth it. "People came from all over," said recreation director Natasha Thomson, mentioning The Pas, Pelican Narrows and even Saskatoon as communities from which visitors traveled. The festival kicked off in style at the Denareplex on Friday evening with a meal, various friendly competitions and, for the first time, an auction. See 'Derby' P.# Con't from P.# The auction lived up to expectations and then some, raising $1,200 for the festival with items such as pies and a log-bed frame up for grabs. The fun spilled over into Saturday, when events included a fishing derby, snowmobile radar runs, a bonfire and the ever-popular horse-drawn wagon rides through the village. Saturday marked the return to the festival of the sled dog races, which hadn't taken place in recent years. Local band High Noon got the crowd moving at the Musher's Social, which went into the wee hours of yesterday morning. There was a bit of the blues yesterday as the festival wrapped up for another year. A family fun ski, snowmobile rally, road hockey and bingo were among the activities to keep people busy. So caught up in the fun were the participants that it was easy to forget that the festival wasn't supposed to happen this year. In December, the Denare Beach Recreation Department announced that the festival was canceled due to a declining level of community support. Fortunately, it wasn't long before a committee of volunteers rescued the long-running tradition. "A few very short weeks ago, it was announced that the Denare Beach Winterfestival was going to be canceled," Deb MacDonald said on behalf of the committee during the opening ceremonies. "A group of concerned citizens decided this was not going to happen." MacDonald joined Wanda Ginnell, Joanne Burkholder, Laurel Pollon, Easter Dubinak, Amanda Dubinak, Anna Clark and Mary Wright on that committee. Thomson, the recreation director, commended their efforts. "Without people, there's no festival," she said. Results Here are the results from the festival events, as submitted to The Reminder. Some results were not available at press time. Kids' Mutt Pull First - Ethan Smith Second - JC Bowes Third - Miranda Turpin Arm Wrestling Guys Heavyweight - Justin Burwash Lightweight - Darren Strelezki Gals Heavyweight - Amy Kinar Lightweight - Trina Senyk Colouring Contest Pre-Kindergarten First - Shanae Ballantyne Second - Taleigh Claveau Third - Breanna Holmgren Kindergarten First - Hannah Olivier Second - Ethan Smith Third - Danielle Grenier Grade 1 First - Blair Bietsch Second - Jenna Antoniuk Third - Alyshia Soshychilc Grade 2 First - Khariz Kawa Second - Kaitlin Korte Third - Paige Walker Grade 3 First - Kaitlin Kirk Second - Brie Phillips Third - Racquel Laliberty Poster Contest Grades 4-6 First - Morganna Senyk Second - Braden Senyk Third - Cody Madarash Grades 7-9 First - Taylor Davis Second - Robert Lafond Third - Trisha Dallas Animal Calling Under 18 - Tristen Stomp (loon call) See 'More' P.# Con't from P.# Jigging Contest 7 and Under First - Abby Werbicki Second - Megan Alexander Third - Toni Pedwell Ages 8-12 First - Chantelle Custer Second - Rene Gardenier Third - Kaitlyn Kirk Ages 13-17 First - Chantelle McDermott Cribbage Singles - Brandon Bowes Doubles - Ed Arsenault, Rebecca MacDonald Skunk Doubles - Bruce and Gloria Brown Fishing Derby Biggest Fish (4 lb, 9 oz pike) - Trina Senyk Most Fish (three pike) - Trina Senyk Smallest Fish (4 oz pike) - Trina Senyk Oldest Fisher - Roy Meyer, 79 Youngest Fisher - JC Bowes, 2 First Fish - Wally Hritzuk Darts Tournament First - Perry Burton and Eric Fernandes Second - Terry Styba and Trudy Burton Third (tie) - Sonny Audet and Dot Nash, Brian Humphrey and Roly Chretien Trapper Events Nail Pounding Men - Dale Holmgren Women - Anna Gieg Log Sawing Men - Jim Custer Women - Audrey Morin Trap Setting Men - Dale Holmgren Women - Mel Holmgren Pie Baking Best Pie (peaches 'n' cream) - Stephanie Alexander Most Original Pie (apple pie) - Stephanie Alexander Boot Hockey Tournament Winners - Kyle Sewap, Ben Lafond, Kyle Burkholder, Taylor Cassidy Road Hockey Winners - "The Road Runners," consisting of Joseph Custer, Tyson McDermott, Nick Gunville and Leigh Custer Family Curling First - Dave Negrych, Doug Montgrand, Drew McCrimmon, Kyle Burkholder Second - Kaylee Burkholder, Joanne Burkholder, Mindy Wilson, McKenna McCrimmon Sled Dog Races Six dog, 10 mile First - Shaun Otchenash Second - Bill Otchenash Third - Walter Olsen Fourth - Tony Commodore Juniors First - Shanelle Custer Second - Daniel Custer Third - Douglas Montgrand Fourth - Kyle Burkholder Kids' Scavenger Hunt First - Faryn Johnsgaard, Jessica Manns Second - Kaitlin Kirk, Elaine Custer Third - Juanita Gardiner, Catherine Morin
