Winter fun along the border

Throughout the winter, many municipalities across Quebec that organize winter carnivals to encourage the community to get outside, be active, play, and have fun. With January quickly coming to an end, Ayer’s Cliff and Stanstead are now gearing up for their winter activities, set to take place over the next few weeks. Winter carnivals in Quebec got their start under a program from the Ministry of Education known as Kino-Quebec. The program was designed to promote physical activity among all Quebecer’s across all four seasons. For the winter season, Kino-Quebec promoted what is known as Plaisirs d’hiver, which encouraged community organizations, educational institutions, and municipalities to organize and participate in physical and sports activities. Ever since Kino-Quebec was established, various municipalities have continued to carry out Plaisirs d’hiver in their communities, including Ayer’s Cliff and Stanstead. The Ayer’s Cliff winter carnival will take place on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 at Tyler Park and there will be various activities on site. “There will be a broomball tournament, a hockey game with the old timers, sugar on snow, skating for kids with costumes, and there will also be snowshoeing,” said Nancy Vanasse, Administrative Assistant for the town. “All activities are free and open to the public. Most of the activities take place on Saturday but on Friday night there is a broomball tournament and a hockey game starting at 6 p.m.” There will also be food on site and fireworks will light up the sky at the end of the day. See full story in the Thursday, Jan. 23 edition of The Record.