Darrell Greer
Northern News Services

Whale Cove (Jan 18/06) - The community of Whale Cove was selected as the site for the annual Calm Air Christmas feast this past month.

The event was held in the Inuglak school gym.

Calm Air marketing liaison John Friess of Winnipeg said the spirit of the holiday season was everywhere as residents were treated to a turkey dinner with all the trimmings, prizes and Christmas treats.

He said Inuglak students also put on a display of cultural activities to enhance the event, including ball juggling and throat singing.

"We had as much fun watching the juggling and throat singing as the children had performing," said Friess.

"It was a pleasure to be in Whale Cove and see the many Christmas-related events Inuglak school held for its students.

"The students worked in teams to help decorate the school and participated in a host of other Christmas activities. Points were given to each team for their extra efforts and the winning team got to have a pizza party."

2005 marked the fourth year for Calm Air to sponsor the Christmas feast.

A different community has been selected to host the event each year, with Chesterfield Inlet, Coral Harbour and Baker Lake preceding Whale Cove.

"Inuglak staff and students were wonderful in helping to organize the event.

"We had Calm Air employees from Thompson, Rankin Inlet and Winnipeg on hand for the event."

Calm Air's Nunavut area sales manager Bryan Fotheringham of Rankin Inlet was one of the employees to make the trip to Whale.

He said the feast was well received by the community, with the majority of residents attending the event.

"Everybody welcomed us into the community with open arms," said Fotheringham.

"The traditional and cultural displays really added to the festivities and made this quite the spectacular event for Whale Cove this year.

"Everybody chipped in to help prepare and serve the dinner.

"The efforts of everyone involved were appreciated by both the community and our airline."