During the Games, schools will provide accommodation for athletes and coaches and facilities for sports like wrestling, boxing, fencing and artistic gymnastics. Staff and students form a critical part of the Games volunteer core and played an important role in generating community enthusiasm for the weekend’s festivities.

On Wednesday, students from across the Lakeland shared the spirit of the Games with residents of Bonnyville and Cold Lake by taking part in the torch relay. Every school in the Lakeland chose at least one student to carry the torch as it wound its way through Cold Lake in the morning and Bonnyville in the afternoon.

Last year, Bonnyville Centralized High School came out of the tournament in ninth place, beating the H. A. Kostash Eagles from Smoky Lake. This year, the two teams met in their first game of the tournament, but this time Smoky Lake had only five players at their disposal and none of them were Grade 12 players.

As a result, the game was over after the first quarter when BCHS took a 34-4 lead. In the second half, Roadrunners head coach Eric Mawer played his entire bench, enabling nearly everybody on the roster to contribute to the scoring. Ryan Dinn scored 16 points for BCHS and the Roadrunners won 100-16.

Thy pine clad hills…

Hills? What hills? I haven’t seen a hill since I came back from holidays in Newfoundland six months ago. A hill may not seem like much to be concerned about, but when a person is surrounded by them for the first 20 years or so of their life, they tend to miss it. The same is true for the salt water. I can’t see the hills and I can’t smell the water. ‘Tis no trouble to miss it, I tell ya!