Under one year away from Alberta Winter Games coming to region

We are now just under a year away from the Alberta Winter Games coming to the Lakeland area.

Cold Lake, Bonnyville, and Glendon will welcome over 1800 athletes, and another 500 coaches and chaperones, from all over the province from Feb. 13-16, during Family Day long weekend.

Violet Lapointe has been hired as the games manager, the focal person to help arrange the various paid and volunteer duties that need to be done in preparation of such an event.

“This is really exciting. It’s exciting for the athletes, exciting for the businesses, exciting for community members,” Lapointe told Lakeland Connect.

“We’re looking at upwards of 5000 people coming to our community between Bonnyville, Cold Lake, and Glendon.”

A total of 18 competitions will be spread throughout the region.

Lapointe wants to drop the volunteerism aspect into people’s heads now, something that made the 2010 Games in Bonnyville and Cold Lake such a success.

As well, hotels have been contacted to prepare for the volume of visitors.

Funding and committee partners between the City of Cold Lake, Town of Bonnyville, M.D. of Bonnyville, and Village of Glendon, put the original dollars together.

But big corporate sponsors are being approached to help get this off the ground.