Playground program salutes the Games

The 1996 Summer Games Park in Moose Jaw was filled with some local olympic hopefuls on Thursday. The parks and recreation department summer playground program held its 2009 playground program Olympic Games day in the afternoon. With over 150 kids registered to participate in the games, the organizers of the event were looking forward to a great day. "This is our fourth week of (the playground program) and we decided to have an Olympic-themed day," said Wanda Peakman, parks co-ordinator. "We wanted the kids to know that the Saskatchewan Winter Games in 2010 were coming to Moose Jaw. Plus, the 2010 Vancouver Olympic torch will be passing through the city in January." The Saskatchewan Winter Games mascots, Tansi and Ravi, were on hand for the opening ceremonies of the playground games. The torch bearer of the ceremony was nine-year-old Brendan Froats. "(Froats) was chosen because of his helpfulness on the playground," said Jasmine Jackman, recreation supervisor. "He is always excited to participate in all the programs, he's a great leader and fair play is important to him." After Froats ran the torch around the field and the children sang O Canada, the games began. The children were divided into 12 teams to participate in six different stations. The events included: bumper crop, which is similar to volleyball; a slalom relay, which was a mix between soccer and alpine skiing; target toss which was a combination of archery and baseball; tiger tails, which was like wrestling; and parachute toss, which was to mimic sailing. Hunting for clues was the sixth game and was both physical and educational, as the kids had to spell out words. "We are promoters of in motion and all our activities, such as Olympic day, involve physical activities and making the kids more aware of the different activities they can participate in," said Jackman. Nine-year-old Colin Krahn was exhausted by the end of day but enjoyed himself. "I'm having a great time. It's a lot of fun and I hope one day that I get to go to the real Olympics," said Krahn. Colin Dewar can be reached at 691-1263.