Hundreds of people hit Prince Arthur’s Landing on Monday for a chance to go for a skate, try ice fishing or look at the carefully crafted snow sculptures.
THUNDER BAY – The Family Day freeze didn’t stop hundreds of people from enjoying day-long activities at Prince Arthur’s Landing.
Hordes of residents, enjoying the final day of the February long weekend, made their way to the park to try their hand at ice fishing and crafts, skating at the Marina Park ice pad and looking at the intricately carved snow sculptures depicting city landmarks such as the Thunder Bay Main Lighthouse and the Pagoda building.
Nine-year-old Reid Parsons said he loves to fish, but it’s more of a summertime activity for him and his family.
Monday was a great chance to give it a go, all bundled up to keep the chill out.
“It’s fun. I like going ice-fishing. I don’t get to go much, so I like this,” the youngster said, his mom watching closely by.
Paul Moralee spent much of the weekend helping construct one of the snow sculpture, the aforementioned Thunder Bay Main Lighthouse, which shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, given he’s the managing director of the Canadian Lighthouses of Lake Superior.
“It’s been a real joy to build this structure. It took two of us 40 hours to build and what’s been really great and delightful is we get to talk to a lot of people and it’s about community health, it’s about bringing people together and having conversations,” Moralee said.
“When we started this, we thought it was going to be lots of hard work, but we met lots of great people and met people from around the world. They just love what we’re doing and we just love what we’re doing because we’re bringing people together.”
The Family Day celebration, which continues at Marina Park until 5 p.m., is a fun way for families to spend time outdoors in the winter, said Louisa Costanzo, supervisor of cultural development, community programming and events for the City of Thunder Bay.
She said she was thrilled to see so many people out and about on Monday.
“It’s wonderful to see everyone out. They’re all through the park, it’s just great to have people come out in the wintertime. There’s so much stuff to do,” she said.
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