Arthur Milnes
Northern News Services

FORT SIMPSON (Jun 26/98) - May proved a busy time for all those across the Deh Cho involved in the recreation field.

Shane Thompson, the recreation officer with the Municipal and Community Affairs (MACA) office in Fort Simpson, says two extremely important gatherings brought together people from across the Deh Cho and further in May.

From May 11 to 15, Thompson says that 27 participants from Fort Providence, Fort Simpson, Enterprise, Trout Lake, Yellowknife and other communities got together to take the respected Olds College Northern Turfgrass Management Certificate program. Class were held in Fort Simpson.

Participants learned all about the science behind and maintenance of turfgrass, which is crucial to the successful operation of baseball diamonds, golf courses, soccer fields and other athletic facilities.

"If they (recreation lands) are not maintained properly, operating and maintenance would go through the roof," Thompson said when asked why the course was so important. "Now we have more knowledge and we know more of what we want... We learned there is an art to getting thicker grass."

Those who graduated from the program can now take this knowledge anywhere across North America as it is officially recognized by the Canadian Golf Course Association and Western Canada Turf Association.

And recreation staff from across the region gathered May 24-29 for an annual workshop where plans for the coming year were discussed, Thompson said. All told, there were representatives on hand from 16 communities, including Yellowknife.

Agenda items included: Sport First Aid programs, updates on plans for the Mackenzie Youth Summer Games set for the Horn Plateau near Fort Providence, community reports, division issues, a review of the Arctic Winter Games and a variety of other discussions.

In addition, Fort Liard recreation director Colin MacPherson gave a presentation to the group on the maximum use of a facility in a community.

Thompson said that another important item discussed was the upcoming High Risk Kids Workshop set for September in Fort Simpson. This respected program, presented by the Recovery Foundation, is eagerly awaited by the 20 NWT communities that will be represented, Thompson said.