Tag: community

2026 Winter Carnival

westborobeach

We had sunshine, beautiful winter weather, great cookies, delicious chili and of course, lots of neighbours as we celebrated our 2026 Winter Carnival on Selby Plains. It made for a perfect Family Day weekend with a Valentine’s Day spin. A big thank you to all of our volunteers – the chili makers, people who helped man the chili and cookie tables the entire afternoon, the snow block makers, the set up and tear down team, the fire pit managers, the volunteers who helped the kids at the snow blocks, the hot chocolate and cookie makers and of course, the marshmallow support team. Most of all thanks to everyone who dropped by, to have some some fun.

What would a WBCA winter carnival be without the free cookies and treats and our delicious chili that are provided by our volunteers. This year, we added a little Valentine’s Day flavour into the mix. We had over 10 dozen cookies to share on Saturday along with lots of hot chili. They were a hit with the many cross-country skiers who dropped by. Nothing like a warm bowl of chili and a little sugar to help you on your trip.

The carnival included our traditional snow block wall and spray bottles for kids to paint, the fire pit to roast marshmallows and our new tradition snow soccer. The kids had fun, stayed busy (we hope we tired them out for all their parents) and it was a great chance to chat with your neighbhours and many visitors. We had lots of people from outside the community drop by.

We might have a new winter Olympics contribution – snow soccer.

A special shoutout to our very own Dave Adams from Kichi Sibi Winter Trail who helped out by grooming the area, transporting supplies and providing wood for the fire pit. This year, Dave did something extra special and got to show off some of his equipment and gave out rides to the kids. It was a great hit although we’re not sure who was having more fun, Dave or the kids 🙂

We are already starting to plan our 2027 Winter Carnival, making it bigger and more fun next year. In the meantime, start planning ahead and mark your calendars for June 26th, 2026 for our End of School Beach BBQ! Let us know if you have any suggestions, we love hearing from you!

As we close, we’ll leave you with a short aerial video provided by Chris Ferrarin.

A fun Easter Egg Hunt in 2025

westborobeach

The weather was great. The Easter Eggs were plenty and of course, well hidden. There was hot chocolate. And most important, the kids were ready to go. Every one had a great time on Sunday, April 20th for our annual Easter Egg hunt. Families from all over the neighbourhood joined us for a morning of fun. It all started at the beach where we gathered the little ones for a parade through the neighbourhood and an opportunity to make as much noise as the they wanted.

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The parade ended at our new Easter Egg hunt location, Selby Plain near Churchill and Selby which provided lots of open space and great hiding locations. The smallest children were given a head start and then they everyone joined in to find the many eggs that had been hidden by the organizers, volunteers and parents.

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We wanted to extend a special thank you to our local organizers – Indi, Karina, Imogen and Jasper who helped make this all happen. We consider them “graduates” having been part of the Easter Egg hunt when it was just a simple activity in the neighbourhood to something that has grown to a neighbourhood event, now run by them. Also, a special shout out to Gabriella, a young organizer in training and part of the next generation.

We are already starting to think about our End of School/Beach Opening party in June, just two months away now. We will be trading in chocolate eggs for burgers and hot dogs. See you then!

Another great Winter Carnival

westborobeach

We had the snow and perfect winter weather on Saturday. It was a great way to end Winterlude or make it a fun Family Day weekend. A big thank you to all of our volunteers – the chili makers and our volunteer who sold bowls of chili the entire afternoon, the snow block makers, the set up and tear down team, the fire pit managers, the volunteers who helped the kids at the snow blocks, the hot chocolate and cookie makers and of course, the marshmallow support team. Most of all thanks to everyone who dropped by, bought some chili, made a donation and had some fun.

The carnival included our traditional snow block wall and spray bottles for kids to paint, the fire pit to roast marshmallows (we went through 6 bags of marshmallows), hot chocolate (many large pots came and went) and over 16 dozen homemade cookies. We sold homemade chili, we borrowed a large warming fire pit and we had a snow soccer pitch! The kids were busy and the we all had a chance to connect and socialize.

A special shoutout to our very own Dave Adams and Cheryl Caldwell from Kichi Sibi Winter Trail who helped out by grooming the area, transporting supplies and providing the large fire pit warming area. Dave and Cheryl arranged for extra help this year. A very special thanks to two sponsors. Spencer from Meridian Bank for taking care of the marshmallows and skewers and Tom and the team at Caldwell Wealth Management for the hot chocolate and lots of volunteers.

We are already starting to plan our 2026 Winter Carnival, making it bigger and more fun next year. In the meantime, start planning ahead and mark your calendars for June 27th, 2025 for our End of School Beach BBQ! Let us know if you have any suggestions, we love hearing from you!

IT WAS A GREAT BEACH BBQ PARTY

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It’s hard to believe but it has been 5 long years since we did our last beach BBQ. The pandemic then followed by smoke and air quality had stopped us. But NOT this year! The weather was great. The food delicious and everyone had fun. Thanks to the many volunteers who made it possible and to the 200+ people who came out to celebrate the end of school, have some fun and just enjoy the beach.

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We met a lot of new people from outside our community which made the day even better. The grills were hot and our cooks worked extra hard that day. We had a mix of meat and veggie burgers/hot dogs along with lots of free watermelon and treats.

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Our face painters were very busy that day and our new addition of bubbles for the kids (and adults) was a hit.

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We have already started planning for our end of summer evening event in September and yes, we’re even starting to think about our big winter carnival next January. For the moment though, we’re all going to enjoy the sun and a great Canada Day weekend. A special thanks to the Rotary Club Of West Ottawa for providing extra volunteer help.