This is a hat trick plus one weekend for Moose Jaw and district residents.
Think about it — Vancouver Winter Olympics, Saskatchewan Winter Games, Valentine’s Day and Family Day — all falling on this February weekend. Whether it was coincidental or purposeful planning, all these events will work co-operatively to keep many persons occupied and on the go.
This weekend will also provide a time of economic largess to the local business community. Valentine’s Day is always a day when flower shops, candy stores, restaurants and hotels note a surge of spending as sweethearts celebrate newly discovered or long-enjoyed love and devotion.
Add several thousand visitors to the city on the same day for a week, and those same businesses, plus others, should expect even larger sales, boosting a winter month that is often quiet in the retail sector. Visitors for the Winter Games will indeed patronize our shops and despite naysayers who suggest this kind of event does not assist the local economy, the figures from past Games contradict that opinion.
Other venues will be popular on Family Day as families are encouraged to participate in group activities — that might include watching the Olympics and ordering in food from an eatery that delivers, going to the movies, skating on an outdoor rink, sledding or bird watching in Wakamow.
With all the options available this weekend, there should be no need for anyone to complain about a lack of activity in this community.
The onus is now on residents to get up, get out and become involved — and remember to welcome all the Saskatchewan Winter Games visitors to the city.
