by Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

NNSL (Dec 03/97) - A desperate attempt to save this winter's Caribou Carnival breathed life into Yellowknife's annual winter extravaganza.

After two wholly unsuccessful attempts to recruit volunteers for the carnival's board of directors, 20 people showed for a third meeting Thursday night.

Rick McDonald, who together with Christine Koblzyrski were the only volunteers for the board going into the meeting, said 17 of those who attended indicated they would be willing to serve on the board.

"It was basically shut down and we decided to take one more kick at the cat," said McDonald.

Because of the shortage of time left to organize and the drain on volunteers caused by the Arctic Winter Games, the 1998 carnival will be a scaled-back version of previous events.

A meeting will be held tomorrow at the visitors centre to elect the board and determine what events will be part of this year's carnival.

McDonald said he's seen other worthwhile causes rescued from the brink, so the turnout at last week's meeting was not a complete surprise.

"The city of Yellowknife always seems to come through when that happens," said McDonald.

A total of nine board members were needed, said McDonald, adding the biggest challenge -- organizing the carnival -- lies ahead.

That, he said, requires more work than most imagine.

"They had a full-time co-ordinator last year. At the start she was working eight hours a day, five days a week," said McDonald. "By the end she was working 10 hours a day six days a week."

Last year's event also took a huge toll on the board of directors. Most had dropped out by the time the carnival began.