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INUVIK
Rose Constantineau, a fixture with the town as recreation co-ordinator, is leaving Inuvik for a new challenge in Yellowknife with the NWT Recreation and Parks Association.

Recreation co-ordinator Rose Constantineau is leaving Inuvik for a new job in Yellowknife. - Shawn Giilck/NNSL photo

It's been four years since Constantineau left her home in Cape Dorset, Nunavut, to move to Inuvik as a wide-eyed, fresh-faced youngster who was still a recent graduate.

She grew up there and in Rankin Inlet, she explained, so she's a Northerner through and through. It was a new experience for her seeing the Western Arctic, though.

"I remember getting off the plane and meeting Tony (Devlin) and Paul (Watters)," she said. "I told them, 'You have trees!' They laughed and said they're not really trees. They are to me."

She had been working at a hotel operated by a company that employed her mother while applying for jobs in Alberta, Constantineau said.

She was familiar with the Lethbridge area, where she went to university, but wasn't having much luck with a job search. One day she opened a News/North newspaper and saw an Inuvik job advertsied.

Constantineau submitted an application and went through an interview. In short order, she had the position.

"I feel like I've grown up a lot since then," she said softly, clearly struggling to maintain her composure.

Since arriving here she's become one of the most familiar and popular faces on the town staff, if not around Inuvik as a whole.

Her enthusiasm for most activities is legendary, but she has a particular fondness for working with the town children.

"It's so great to see them learn things and explore and grow up," she said wistfully. "I'm really going to miss it."

Among the many fresh ideas she brought to Inuvik was a Zumba dance exercise program. It was as good for her as it was for the people participating, since it brought her out of her shell.

"I am a really shy person," was something she often said, mostly to general disbelief.

She also helped to introduce innovative programs such as Nordic walking, and organized the Midnight Sun Fun Run over the last few years.

Her new position will be as a consultant with the NWTRPA, planning conferences and events.

She will also be travelling to the communities on a semi-regular basis, meaning she will return to Inuvik now and then.

Constantineau became emotional when asked to describe what she would miss most.

"The people here," she said, her voice thick and tears trickling down her cheeks. "This is a really great community with a lot of great volunteers and programs. I'm going to miss the community and how people always say hello and ask how you are."

She's only been to Yellowknife a few times, and doesn't know the city well.

Constantineau said it's also one of the larger cities she's ever had a chance to live in. Her preference is for smaller communities, like Inuvik with its 3,500 people or the 1,300 in Cape Dorset.

"It will take some getting used to, but this is all about professional advancement and new professional challenges for me," she said.

Constantineau said she's been too busy so far wrapping up her work duties to contemplate the change in any depth.

"It happened really fast," she said. "I leave for Yellowknife Sept. 4, and I don't think it will hit until I'm at the airport."

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