If you haven't noticed, the City of North Battleford's main recreation facilities have been remarkably busy recently.
Deep playoff runs by both the Battlefords North Stars and the midget AAA Battlefords Stars, combined with several other major events, resulted in a busy couple of weekends for city staff at the Civic Centre, the CUplex and other North Battleford recreation facilities.
Parks and Recreation Director Bill Samborski spoke enthusiastically about the heightened activity at the facilities during his report to city council Monday.
He noted that over this past weekend the Civic Centre hosted the "Battle of the Bands" all-native hockey tournament, which attracted in the neighbourhood of 4,000 to 5,000 people to the community.
Samborski said that tournament started Friday morning, but he noted they had to clear everyone out of the Civic Centre and move the tournament games to Don Ross Arena in order to host the North Stars playoff game in the Civic Centre that evening.
"Thanks to a collaborative effort of facilities staff and parks staff, they got that done," said Samborski. The playoff game went off without a hitch, and the all-native hockey tournament resumed there the following morning.
On top of that, he reported, was the Dekker Centre fundraiser Saturday night (headlined by comedian Brent Butt), as well as a provincial cheerleading competition at the Field House. A men's bonspiel was on at the curling centre at the same time.
Samborski estimated a "thousand athletes" used the facilities over the past weekend because there were also midget and female tournaments going on at outlying arenas. Thousands of fans, parents and supporters also attended.
As a result, Samborski anticipated an economic benefit to the community of North Battleford of "hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not a million dollars."
Samborski added it was a testament to the city's staff - at parks and recreation as well as public works - that the Civic Centre was ready to go that evening to host the midget AAA hockey game. The Battlefords Stars hosted Notre Dame Argos in game two of the league finals, a game the Stars won 4 to 3.
City Manager Jim Puffalt also paid tribute to the staff. He noted they had to fix some glass during the playoff game Friday night. The city manager also noted the previous weekend before had also been a hectic one.
That weekend, Saturday saw the day begin with a midget AAA Stars playoff semifinal, followed by the charity hockey game featuring the Saskatchewan Roughriders, and then the North Stars playoff opener versus Estevan, all taking place that day.
All three events drew large numbers to the Civic Centre. Sunday was also busy with a skating show in the afternoon, followed by another North Stars playoff game that evening.
Also that same weekend, Northland Power Curling Centre hosted the provincial air cadets curling championships at its facility.
Mayor Ian Hamilton credited the "true team effort" by city staff to handle the load. Councillor Greg Lightfoot also paid tribute to both the AAA Stars and the North Stars for their playoff efforts.
"We've got two pretty high-calibre teams that are playing for very prestigious cups at the moment; it's good to see," said Lightfoot.
Councillor Ryan Bater added that there was even more activity coming up this weekend. He noted the Saskatchewan Volleyball Association under-14 Provincial Cup volleyball was scheduled for the field house, with a total of 24 teams scheduled to compete in that tournament.
