Hundreds attended the first annual Fun in the Park event.
It featured a bouncy castle, the junior firefighter challenge, a literacy walk and face painting. It was built around the 100 Mile House Duck Race which took place at 1 p.m.
Organized this year by the South Cariboo Pickleball Association (SCPA) the race saw 1,000 rubber ducks being dumped into Bridge Creek. Each was numbered with the first ducks across the finish line winning their owners cash prizes. Despite taking place in rainy conditions, the race attracted many onlookers, kids and adults alike.
In the end, the duck belonging to Carolee Hartigan came in first, netting her $500, with Al Riley taking second and $250 and Angela Poholka taking third and $100. The event raised around $3,850 for SCPA Pam Markortoff, the secretary for the SCPA, said. Markortoff said that the funds are going to be directed into building new pickleball facilities.
“We are raising funds hopefully to build outdoor courts.”
This year, the race ended far more orderly than last year, Markortoff noted.
“The duck race went very smoothly compared to last year when we spent two hours tracking down the ducks that floated away - this year they had a better net, so they were able to get the ducks right at the end of the finish line…and it just went very smoothly this year.”
Markortoff said that the rest of the event, which saw several community groups come together, seemed to be well received by the community as well.
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“I was just talking to the other participants and you know they said, maybe next year, so they are and they were very receptive.”
Dave Bissat, fire chief of the 100 Mile Fire Rescue, said that the duck race is a good way to engage the community. The fire department showcased several guides and souvenirs during the Fun in the Park event, but also had a drill for kids to participate in called the Junior Firefighter Challenge.
“Kids get to learn to stop, drop and roll, they also get to learn pulling hose, throwing bucket on fire, crawling through tubes, dragging little rescue Randy, and then also, at the end of it, we go over how do we test smoke alarms.” Bissat said
The challenge was supervised by Mal Wood, a retired firefighter from Mission who has been living in 100 Mile House since 2015. Wood says that the exercise is similar to what firefighters go through in real-life scenarios.
“It’s 95 per cent fun, five per cent serious.”
Despite the rain, around 50 to 60 kids had been put through the challenge.
Wood says that the challenge is available for any fire department in the South Cariboo.