The three pillars

By Will Colford, SnowSeekers Inc.

        

             Growing up in a small town, I know first-hand the importance of staying busy.  Idle hands are, after all, the Devil’s playthings. I know it now and my parents knew it then. As a result they kept me busy and involved with as many sports and recreational programs as possible. The community of High River, however, has a significant advantage over my hometown: a recreation centre. 

            Above the entrance are three signs designating the three activities contained within the rec centre, or as I call them, the three recreational pillars of any small town, swimming, curling, and ice rinks. “Without the rec programs the kids are out on the street, maybe getting up to stuff they shouldn’t be,” said Darryn Gold Thorpe, director of the centre.

 Cynthia Phaero, the center’s program administrator tries, “to implement a wide variety of sports programs to see which ones the kids like best, then promote those.” The local care foundation donates money, enabling a free swim twice a week. 

            The centre isn’t just for the youth either. “During the day the seniors use all the facilities through a wide variety of programs like aquatic aerobics, a curling league, and even a senior men’s hockey league called the Old Timers. But more than just a sporting facility, the rec centre is a social hub where people of all ages within the community go to be social and enjoy sport.

It was a fitting site for the Olympic Torch Relay ceremonies in High River. Make sure to catch the Travel Alberta Olympic Torch Relay videos on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/TravelAlbertaCanada

 

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