Many local Family Day activities on tap

Ready for Family Day weekend? Booked your getaway at the Chateau Lake Louise? Or are you staying a little closer to home? There are plenty of low-cost or nocost events on tap over weekend, many of them including activities for all ages.

On Monday, southern Albertans will be treated to an annual “sugar shack” celebration, presented by local members of the Alberta French Canadian Association. They’ll be offering their “maple treats” from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. (for $2) at the Helen Schuler Nature Centre.

The centre will be open extended hours on Monday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., featuring its “Brain Zone” activity and other indoor challenges.

Up top at the Galt Museum, free attractions will include history-themed photo booths with period costumes — bring your camera! — as well as crafts, games and free popcorn. In the Galt’s archives, genealogists will be on hand to help visitors trace their family tree.

Family Day events will also be held at Casa, running from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. No-charge activities will include button making, “box city,” trading cards, art activities and “musical fun.”

And there will also be no-charge Family Day activities (1 to 4 p.m.) at the Lethbridge YMCA, including swimming, bumper balls, art activities, fun in the gym — and even hula hoop classes! Also included — thanks to a Heart of Our City grant — will be face painting, use of indoor play spaces and a bouncy castle.

Elsewhere in the city, several swimming pools will be open (at their usual fee) while a free skating session will be offered, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Nicholas Sheran Arena and the University of Lethbridge will be hosting its annual Family Day at the 1st Choice Savings Centre from 11 a.m. to3 p.m.

For an outdoors experience, Alberta Parks is offering guided snowshoe tours as well as free ice fishing at Beaver Mines Lake both today and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. — with snowshoes provided. A campfire and hot drinks will add to the outing.

Then on Monday, there’s free admission to Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, for celebration of the “Full Moon of the Eagle.” A hunt re-enactment — with an opportunity to participate as a buffalo runner — will be on tap along with guided building tours and an opportunity to meet some residents of the Birds of Prey Centre from Coaldale. Kids’ crafts, storytelling, a simulated archeological dig and “living off the land” artifact demonstrations will also be part of the event, running from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Here’s more for the younger crowd: The Helen Schuler Nature Centre will be holding a “Coulees and Culture Camp” during the school break, Tuesday to Friday. Aimed at ages six to 10, it’s an opportunity for children to discover the city’s cultural, historical and natural treasures. Call the centre, 403-320-3064 for details of the full-day programs.

Porcupines will be the focus of the centre’s Junior Naturalist program (also ages six to 10) on Feb. 24, starting at 10 a.m. And at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, for students from 11 to 15, the next “Extreme by Nature” presentation will describe “the weird and hilarious world of animal courtship.”

Turning attention from students to the classroom teacher, New West Theatre will reprise “Ms. Sugarcoat” as its next offering, Wednesday to next Saturday. Written and performed by Alice Nelson, the comedy was first presented during the Lethbridge Fringe Festival.

“Bright-eyed and bushytailed, Ms. Sugarcoat is eager to mold the young minds of the future,” folks at New West explain. But her university classes didn’t fully prepare her for such realities as “helicopter parents,” high-needs students or political correctness.

Five performances are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in the university’s David Spinks Theatre, plus a 1 p.m. matinee on the Saturday. Tickets are available online at www.newwesttheatre.com/tickets or afternoons in person at the Foster Penny Building on 5 Street South downtown.

The following week, Feb. 26 to March 2, Theatre Outre will be staging Canada’s first professional production of “The Confessions of Jeffrey Dahmer,” the notorious serial killer. Directed by Richie Wilcox and featuring Jay

Whitehead, the drama is being presented in collaboration with a Calgary group, Theatre BSMT. Tickets are available online at theatreoutre.tikit.ca.

Then on March 4, Whitehead will host this year’s edition of the long-running “Pretty, Witty & Gay” cabaret. It’s set for 8 p.m. at the Multicultural Centre, with tickets as above.

And at the university, TheatreXtra will stage “Carnaticum” from March 1 to 3 at 7 p.m.

The student-produced drama written by Madeline Smith tells how a peasant family struggles to keep its faith during a terrible winter famine. Tickets are being handled by the campus box office, 403-329-2616.

The folks at Geomatic Attic have announced details of their third annual “Community Cabaret,” featuring

Hippodrome, in collaboration with the Southern Alberta Community Living Association It’s planned for March 3 at the German Canadian Club, with tickets available at Casa and SACLA.

And some reminders: You’re offered “A Taste of Colombia” on March 23, starting at 5:30 p.m. in the Multicultural Centre. Entertainment will be provided by Mi Colombia Linda and DJ Omar, following a dinner featuring beef, avocado, plantain, chorizo and chicharron, along with pineapple and guava fruit tarts and sugar cane lemonade. Advance tickets are available at the centre.

And on Feb. 24 and 25, southern Albertans are invited to check out the International Peace Powwow at the Enmax Centre. Dance and music competitions are a focus, along with arts, crafts and community group participation — and a Miss Blackfoot event. Doors will open at 10 a.m. each day, while grand entries are scheduled for 1 and 7 p.m. Saturday, then noon on the Sunday.