It was a celebration worthy of 100 years of history.
On July 14 Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada celebrated its 100th anniversary and the local chapter celebrated with cake, games and an all-around good time at Water Ridge Park. A petting zoo and inflatable rides offered even more options for entertainment.
There were people all over the park in the distinctive purple shirts of Big Brother Big Sisters, trying to bring awareness to an organization that's always looking for more "bigs". (In Big Brothers vernacular, "bigs" are the adult mentors, while "littles" are the kids.)
"If we can get one big out of today, that'd be great," Shirley Armstrong, the president of the Humboldt chapter, said while she handed out burgers and pop. "Sometimes we have more littles than bigs."
Armstrong has been president for six years and said the most notable change she's noticed is one of exposure; many more people are aware of Big Brothers' presence in town, whether they volunteer, donate or participate in any other way.
The organization currently has eight matches and Armstrong said the relationships that are formed often last long after the formal match has ended.
"It becomes a lifelong thing," she said. "Sometimes all these kids need is a little mentoring - someone to take them to the hockey game, you know?"
Executive director Stacey Poss agreed.
"The most important thing is creating awareness about mentorship," she said, adding that some littles have had such great experiences with the program that they then volunteer to become bigs later on. The importance of mentorship was made obvious by the "Big Shout Out" on the local radio station - people were asked to record a message saying who the most important mentor in their lives had been.
Poss then began to flip through the results of a recent survey of littles who had just completed the program. Many of the answers were both surprisingly simple and sweet - one little was happy to have learned new words from their mentor.
Poss was also quick to dispel the perception that Big Brothers only help kids from poor or disadvantaged backgrounds. "We mentor kids from all different backgrounds," she said.
Another important component of the program is in-school mentoring. As many of us know, school can often be the most intimidating place in the world for kids.
"The mentors will meet with the kids over lunch hour and just talk about anything with them," Poss said. "It's a very important part of our program."
Only a few feet from Poss a few of the program's littles were tossing around a football and trying to fly a kite, laughing and giggling. They were chuckling to themselves as they took part in a potato sack race, after which they hurriedly shuffled along to the finish line, all while trying to balance an egg on a spoon.
They took part in inflatable boxing rings, petted the animals from J&S Entertainment's travelling petting zoo, chowed-down on barbecue fare and dashed through the sprinklers when it got a little hot.
With all sorts of activities taking place, one thing was consistent: the littles didn't have a care in the world for that day.
If there is a stronger testimonial to the importance of Big Brothers Big Sisters, it would be hard to find.
