This Family Day weekend, Clinton and the surrounding area will be hosting a series of community events that will allow everyone to enjoy the best that winter has to offer.
The Clinton Snow Jockey Club will hold its annual Cross Country Ski Fun Day on Saturday, Feb. 18, followed by the Clinton and District Outdoor Sportsmen Association’s Ice Fishing Derby on Sunday, Feb. 19. The events are being organized by groups of community volunteers led by Roland Higginbottom, the president of both clubs, who says it’s the first time in three years that the events have been held.
“I’ve been doing this for quite a few years, both these events, and I do it for the village. It helps keep people busy,” Higginbottom explains. “They’re free events with free concessions, that’s about all we can do. If they come, they come.”
The Cross Country Ski Fun Day will be held at the Big Bar Ski Trails starting at 10 a.m. Higginbottom says the village has donated prizes, which will be given out to participants. There are 25 kilometres of groomed trails for the community to ski or snowshoe on as they like.
“It will be some kind of event no matter what the weather,” Higginbottom says. “We’ve got some nice trails and it can be pretty good depending on what the weather is. These last few years it’s been getting warm on us so we’ve been losing our trails early, so hopefully we get the skiing in.”
Higginbottom says that the day after the Ski Fun Day he’ll be out at Beaver Dam Lake organizing the ice fishing derby. The derby begins the moment the sun rises and lasts until noon, which he said is typically long enough.
Higginbottom adds that the event attracts about 45 participants who all contribute $10 to the prize pot. At the end of the day, the money is split three ways among the winners, and prizes including hats and fishing rods are given out to those who catch the first fish and the smallest fish.
“It will be good,” says Higginbottom. “There should be lots of ice even though we’ve had some pretty mild weather lately. Beaver Dam is a little higher than Clinton so there’s plenty of ice there.
”I know a few guys who have already been fishing there and they’re catching some pretty nice two-pound brook trout.”
The Village of Clinton is also offering free public skating for the community to enjoy at the arena from Feb. 15 to 19.
editorial@accjournal.ca
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
