Before this Thursday night and Friday morning’s Perseids Meteor Shower, Stan Shadick, a professor of astronomy at the University of Saskatchewan, treated kids from around the Battlefords to an informational session about the upcoming cosmic occurrence this year’s River Valley Outdoor Adventure program held at Destination Battlefords Visitor Centre.
The educational event was offered for the first time last year and featured geocaching and fly-fishing with funds granted from Saskatchewan Lotteries to sport, culture and recreation organizations.
This year, Shadick led the astronomy session, as well as a bird-watching presentation. Activities also offered this year were horse and wagon rides and bannock making.
Candace Dustan, a program manager with the City of North Battleford, says the event offers kids in the area a chance to learn something during the summer months away from school and possibly form a new hobby.
“It’s nice if they can get outdoors and learn something new they otherwise wouldn’t have learned,” she says. “I don’t know how many of them would have taken an interest in bird watching, but they came here. It’s always nice to do something different.”
