Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Feast in Repulse

The Kivalliq Inuit Association held a community feast in Repulse Bay on Aug. 17.

"It was pretty big," said Rodney Taparti, the community's recreation co-ordinator, who helped organize the event. "Over 300 people showed up."

Community members feasted on dried fish, maktaaq, caribou stew, Arctic char stew, bannock and bread.

The last of the summer tourists

The Margaret Aniksak Visitors Centre hosted about 200 visitors this summer, 50 from out of town and roughly 150 from Arviat, according to manager Naomi Muckpah.

"They're mostly just looking around, asking where they can find guides to take them out on the land, asking where they can go in town, what activities are going on," she said.

Last year they had more out-of-town visitors, including some from Norway, Sweden, New Zealand, Spain and Italy.

This year it has been mostly Canadian visitors, though they did have one from Hawaii, Muckpah said. The visitor's centre is just finishing up its season and will close on Sept. 9.

Tournament coming up in Baker

Baker Lake softball players are getting ready for the Kivalliq Junior Slo-pitch Softball Tournament, which is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 4 to 6, said Richard Aksawnee, recreation coordinator.

"We're looking at roughly 33 people coming in that are confirmed," he said. "And another 22 from Baker Lake." He's expecting five teams for the tournament, aged 20 and under. "In previous years it's been under-17 but with the lack of programs for kids 17 and over, I decided to change it," he said.

The tournament's a good chance for young people around the region to meet up. "It just brings the kids together making new friends, having fun," Aksawnee said.

Making the most of summer

Kids in Chesterfield Inlet have worked hard to fit in as many outdoor sports as possible before returning to school, said recreation coordinator Kevin Issaluk.

"We've been playing softball with the kids Monday, Wednesday and Friday pretty much all summer," he said. Now that the youth are back in school, that has had to stop, but Issaluk said he opens the community gym for them most evenings from 7 to 9 p.m.

"They always have fun," he said.

Barge finally arrives

The NTCL barge, pulled by the Pat Lyall tug, arrived in Rankin Inlet on Aug. 24, nearly a month late.

The tug arrived in Churchill at 10 p.m. on Aug. 22 and by 2:15 a.m., crews had unloaded the barge, collected another pre-loaded barge and set off for Rankin, according to Martin Landry, manager of business development for NTCL. The barge, which carried 900 tons of freight for Rankin, was pulled by the Pat Lyall after the tug that was supposed to bring it didn't pass a Transport Canada inspection, said Landry.