City embraces Family Day
There were lots of opportunities for families across the city to take part in Family Day activities Monday as various facilities across the city hosted free events to get families out of the house and spend some time together.
Starting the day off, Galt Museum & Archives opened their doors for a family brunch and a chance to explore the exhibits, take part in some crafting activities, and learn about how they can discover their own family history using the Galt’s archives. Within 30 minutes of the event beginning, the Galt catered to over 450 people who wanted to spend time with their family at the museum.
“We have a special day for Family Day, we are having a family brunch so we have coffee and orange drink which has been donated by McDonalds, we also have tea, pancakes and sausage,” says Janae Redgrave, Community Program Co-ordinator at Galt Museum. “We have our exhibits open, we have a treasure hunt for kids, downstairs in the archives we have some genealogists, our archivists are also on hand to show people how to do family history research. That is our focus for Family Day is how can you find out information about your family and the history.”
Bringing families closer to nature during the winter, Helen Schuler Nature Centre welcomed families to the river valley for a wide range of indoor building and crafting activities, as well as educational walks through the trails to learn more about what nature is like in the community during the winter.
“The Nature Centre every year is open for Family Day, we try and have a low-key event where it is a little bit quieter and families can come down and spend some time together,” says Jessica Deacon-Rogers, Program Co-ordinator at Helen Schuler Nature Centre.
“It is a nice way to get outside, the nature centre is kind of a springboard where people are able to get out and explore more about what you can do in Lethbridge throughout the winter and how wonderful it is to be outside, even if it is a little bit cooler out, there is still a lot of things that you are still able to see and do.”
Getting children’s imaginations running wild, Casa offered a few different art activities for kids and families to enjoy, including button making, family banner making, and a cardboard fort building room where kids were able to construct, paint and decorate their fort to their liking.
“Casa has had this event for five years for Family Day where we open up Casa for free family fun art activities for everyone to come and hang out and make some art with us,” says Muffy McKay, Projects and Membership Co-ordinator at Allied Arts Council. “It is family friendly for all ages and you can get a taste of some of the things that we do here at Casa. The people who are facilitating the activities today are instructors here and they can talk about all of the other classes available at Casa.”
Family Day is a national holiday to allow families to take some time off and have some personal connection through activities in their community. Every year more options for activities are available for free throughout the city for people to take advantage of.
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