Neepawa Recreation Department has a Scavenger Hunt to Highlight Several New Facilities to Citizens

This year has already been a busy one for Neepawa’s Recreation Department, so busy that they’ve created a family scavenger hunt to show off all the new equipment, facilities, and future projects around the community. The scavenger hunt was the brainchild of Heidi Nugent, interim Recreation Director, and Yvonne Sisley, Town Councillor and chair of the Recreation Committee, who Rrain Prior interviewed in the program Coffee Chat.  

At each location, scavenger hunt participants use their phones to scan QR codes at each location that will lead them to the next, to discover all the new amenities the department has to offer. Locations also include information on where the town sourced funding for each of the projects including several hundred thousand dollars worth of grants that were allocated in specific ways, which Sisley indicates is a big question that people often have. The information demonstrates to the public that the town is being fiscally responsible when it comes to recreation while still finding ways to improve the community.

The hunt in itself is a great event, but it’s the new equipment and facilities that are the real star. One of these is the lookout towers that are being constructed at the bike park. While these are still in progress, the foundations are already being put in and visitors can see the blueprint for the whole tower. Another is the basketball courts that are being built out of the old Crocus Drive - a unique and cost-effective way to use an already paved but decommissioned road next to a new housing development. The scavenger hunt concludes at the recently-opened “wedgie-worthy” waterslide at Riverbend Park, with several other stops along the way that Nugent and Sisley are keeping quiet so that families can discover them for themselves.

Getting contractors to complete the projects has been a constant struggle, says Nugent. The waterslide was initially to have been completed in the fall but the work had to be put off until spring and summer, with a section of the pool area fenced off so that the pool could open while installation was still going on. The same is true of the new tennis courts and basketball courts, that both had to wait for one of the few Manitoba paving companies to be able to schedule them. The town’s recreation plan for Riverbend Park has called for an alternate, safer, entrance and parking lot for the park to be developed, but that too has to wait for contractors to be available for the work.

It’s not just new facilities that the Recreation Department is keen to share with the public. The town received a ParticipACTION grant this year and used it to launch free Fitness in the Park sessions to introduce the community to new activities as well as highlight the instructors and classes that the town has available. As well, the town has purchased some pickleball and disc golf equipment that can be loaned out to players through the town office, reducing barriers to sport and physical activity for everyone.

Sisley says that they have been seeing a wide variety of people coming out for the sessions and participating in the scavenger hunt so far, and feels that the rec department is well on its way to having a little something for everyone.