SNOW LAKE – It’s easy to understand how it got its name: we’ve been driving for three hours and about all we’ve seen are lakes and snow.
It’s beautiful.
In some ways, the drive isn’t so different from the trek to Kenora from Winnipeg on the TransCanada, with trees lining the highway, your path laid out flat ahead of you for kilometres on end. But it’s the seclusion and peacefulness that sets this region of the province apart. We’ve passed perhaps one, maybe two vehicles on our way out – brief interludes in our otherwise solitary journey.
The driving portion of our trip was from the Hub of the North – Thompson – which we flew into the night before, to Snow Lake, located approximately three hours southwest. We woke up early, fought the line at Tim Hortons (it seems the morning lineups are inescapable), and hit the road aiming to reach Snow Lake by 10 a.m.
Snow Lake itself is a mining town with a population of around 900 that ebbs and flows depending on the work available in the mines.
That’s about all I knew about Snow Lake prior to our visit. Before this trip, I’d never even heard of it. I’m ashamed to admit that even after living in Manitoba my entire life, only once have I been further north than Gimli.
I suppose I should explain what Matthias Goossen and I are doing here, more than 600 kilometres north of Gimli.
PICTURE: Reid Valmestad
This year, Snow Lake hosted the 44th annual Frontier Games: a mini Olympics-style event for schools in the Frontier School Division – a division covering more geographical area than any other in Canada. Translation? There were 386 kids representing 30 (of 41 in the division) schools, camped up in a town of 900 for a week.
The juxtaposition of the silence during our drive and the explosion of life, laughter, and activity inside Snow Lake is stunning. The local school, Joseph H. Kerr, is rooming all of the kids, coaches, and chaperones in addition to being the venue for basketball, table tennis, and badminton. The result is somewhat organized, completely joyful chaos. We’re here to take part in it.
Aside from our dabbling in table tennis – the kids beat both Matthias and I handily – we weren’t physically involved in the games, which was probably for the best, given the difficulty and skill required for the other events; archery, snowshoeing, trap-setting, cross-country skiing, to name a few.
Our contribution was to lead two presentations, each with critically important messaging.
Matthias and I are ambassadors for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers initiative on gender-based violence prevention – Break the Silence on Violence Against Women – as well as for the Bombers Tackle Bullying program. I want to pause my monologue briefly here to stress the importance of these programs and mention a salient point or two.
PICTURE: Reid Valmestad
The Break the Silence program has its roots with the B.C. Lions and was brought to the Blue Bombers in 2015. Matthias has been an ambassador since its introduction in Winnipeg, and our other current ambassadors are Chris Randle, John Rush, and Justin Medlock. We present to high schools all over Winnipeg and have expanded our outreach to include the rest of Manitoba.
Domestic violence and sexual violence are prevalent in Canada – it is estimated that 1 in 3 women in Canada will experience sexual violence or harassment during the course of their lives. This is unacceptable.
Equally unacceptable is that even though only two percent of sexual-assault claims are false, women continue to be doubted, insulted, and shamed when they come forward. We’re seeking change, and it starts with educating our kids.
If I can leave you with one thing today, let it be that if someone discloses to you that they’ve been sexually or physically assaulted – believe them; be there for them.
N.B. – While men are also victims of domestic and sexual assault, over 90% are women.
The anti-bullying presentation is for younger kids and it deals with lighter subject matter – seeking to guide children to be kind, empathetic, and empowered.
PICTURE: Reid Valmestad
Following the presentations, we hung around chatting and signing autographs. It was neat: it turns out I had met a few of the kids during the season, when Perimeter Aviation flew them in for one of our games. After many of our home games, I had the privilege of meeting with our visiting friends from up north. It’s pretty cool to hear kids from all over the province – from towns and communities I’ve never heard of – tell us that their parents are huge Bomber fans, and that they’ve grown up watching the games.
I think I’ve always underestimated our reach as an organization – we’re not just Winnipeg’s team, we’re Manitoba’s team.
We wanted to get to our lodge before dark. It’s located in Wekusko Falls Provincial Park, and the scenery is astounding. We left the school with a bit of light left, stopping to cheer on a couple of kids who were falling behind in a snowshoe race on our way out.
The Wekusko Falls – yes, Manitoba does have waterfalls – are alluring, and we had some fun walking out on the suspension bridge traversing the river. Videographers Reid and Austin nearly crashed their drone in the water with Matthias and I hoping that the bridge would hold under our combined weight. The lodge we stayed in was lovely – a cozy wooden cabin overlooking the rapids rushing along underneath our windows; a mellifluous tune to fall asleep to.
Our last day in Snow Lake was all fun – two local high school students took us snowmobiling (they found enough snowmobiles so we each had our own), which was a blast. I had only been on a snowmobile once before, when I was much, much younger…I’m such a city kid, it hurts.
That said, I’ll have it known that Matthias was the only one who managed to tip his snowmobile: sideways, going about 2km/hr, into the three feet of snow that covered the enormous lake we were out ripping around on. Yes, I had to help push him out of the snow – what are good teammates for?
PICTURE: Reid Valmestad
It was incredible; the shores uninterrupted by cabins, just snow and open sky as far as I could see. There’s something wildly invigorating about zipping around at high speeds (if you’re reading this Coach O’Shea, don’t worry – we wore helmets), sun beating down and wind tearing at you, nothing holding you back.
Upon returning from our snowmobiling excursion, we were once again welcomed with open arms and invited in for a meal on the house at the local motel/restaurant.
That was a definite constant on the trip: the warmth and generosity of all of those who received us.
The slogan ‘Friendly Manitoba’ has never felt more appropriate. From the car rental desk at the airport to our hosts at Wekusko Falls Lodge, to our reception at Joseph H. Kerr and our student guides – everyone we encountered treated us with the utmost hospitality, and deepened my resolve to visit and experience more of the incredible communities nestled across our wonderful province.
