February 2012 is shaping up to be a fantastic month for Vernon residents.
The annual fun festival of the season, the Vernon Winter Carnival, runs Feb. 3 to 12. Nearly two weeks later, Greater Vernon plays host to more than 2,000 athletes, coaches, and officials as it hosts, for the first time since 1992, the B.C. Winter Games.
If we are in the midst of a long Okanagan winter like we were this year, both events are perfect remedies to shake off the blahs.
Carnival, tag-teaming with the Games by announcing its 2012 theme as “Sporting With Carnival,” features many fun events for all ages, and there are endless opportunities for creativity with such a theme (picture, say, The Morning Star editorial department wearing speed-skating suits, or city council dressed in full hockey regalia).
The B.C. Winter Games will be more serious, of course, but it doesn’t mean that the visitors can’t have fun while in town.
As freestyle skier Tanya Callon pointed out, her first real major competition was the 1992 Games in Vernon, a place where she met new friends, friends that she still keeps in touch with 20 years later.
Both events, of course, will rely on the efforts of volunteers to be a success. As carnival chairperson Dave Fletcher – who is also on the Games’ local organizing committee – points out, you never have to worry about people volunteering in Vernon. The community is amazing.
So, yes, let’s enjoy spring, summer and fall, but it’s not too early to think about how the end of winter will be punctuated with two fabulous events locally.
---Vernon Morning Star
