Promoting outdoor winter fun

Hantsport Winter Carnival organizer sets sights on drawing all ages to events

The fifth annual Hantsport Winter Carnival is shaping up to be the best one to date, says the carnival’s organizer.

Paul Morton, who, in 2014, was responsible for reviving the once-popular carnival, has been volunteering to put the event on every year. He credits continued community support and fellow volunteers for helping provide something that beats back the doldrums of the winter and gets families outside and active.

“It makes us feel good,” said Morton as to why he, along with his wife and son, continue to host the festival.

“People look forward to it. We get phone calls right after it happens, ‘are you going to do it next year?’,” Morton said.

“We have different groups coming to us now that would like to have something in it, and I say ‘if you can plan it, if you can organize it, you can run it,’” he said, adding he spends countless hours behind the scenes trying to make the festival run smoothly.

There’s a core group of eight to 10 people who donate their time to the carnival, with several others helping out during the event.

Morton says the festival strives to have something fun for all ages and he’s pretty sure he has found the perfect event to add for 2018.

“We felt that we missed the age group from 13 to adult,” said Morton.

So, the West Hants councillor and Hantsport resident put on his thinking cap and purchased laser tag equipment. He hopes the new activity will capture the interest of even more residents.

“There’s 12 guns, four different colours, four different sounds. The guns will shoot between 100 to 150 feet,” said Morton.

There will be two chances to take part in the free laser tag competition: Jan. 25 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. and Jan. 28 from noon until 2 p.m. at the Hantsport Memorial Community Centre grounds. Each game will last about 10 minutes.

Anyone can participate in laser tag, but due to the cost of the equipment, participants must

leave a driver’s license or cash deposit, which will be returned after

the game, in order to prevent the gear from going missing.

“We tried out the guns (recently)... and they are very fun.

CAROLE MORRIS-UNDERHILL Paul Morton and his son, Liam, show off the laser tag equipment that was purchased for this year’s new Hantsport Winter Carnival activity.

Sheldon Tingley has had a passion for bowling since he was a young boy. Now he’s giving back.