DEH GAH GOT'IE KOE/FORT PROVIDENCE
Though moving to the community of 800 people came as a shock after living in Toronto, Andre Bolduc said his role as recreation co-ordinator for Fort Providence is just right.
Recreation co-ordinator Andre Bolduc nears his one year anniversary in Fort Providence. - photo courtesy of Andre Bolduc |
"I'd say this type of position really fits my personality. It's a small community, you need someone friendly and personable that deals well with families and kids," said Bolduc.
"There's a pretty upbeat atmosphere around here."
Moving up in January, he said things are completely different than in those first few wintry months.
"It was the dead of winter and I didn't know anybody," he said of his move up nine months ago.
"Now, I have a good network of people, a vehicle, and I've been around for a bunch of events."
Planning and running events and activities is a big part of Bolduc's job, and a part he said he enjoys the most.
"Planning trips for the youth - those are really fun. It gets everybody out of town for a few days and everyone loves it," he said.
"For the kids, they get to go hang out with different kids in Fort Simpson, Yellowknife or Smith for two or five days. When we went to the Mackenzie Youth Games in Simpson, we were gone for a week and they got to hang out with Fort Simpson and Fort Liard kids and play all the different sports ... stuff like that is really fun."
Before being hired on in Fort Providence, Bolduc finished the Sports Management program at Humber College in Toronto.
"I've always been a sport and recreation guy. I've been playing sports my whole life: baseball, soccer, hockey, football, wrestling, track," said Bolduc.
"I took every gym class - I was always into that atmosphere."
As recreation co-ordinator, Bolduc said he does a little bit of everything from daily gym programming, to operations management and event planning.
"In the summer we also had softball going on daily and in the winter I assisted the school with some events and was a supervisor of the track event," said Bolduc.
He's also led several out-of-town excursions for youth, sometimes for casual getaways and other times for athletic events, such as his first trip bringing eight youth to Yellowknife for the Traditional Games Championships.
Having been in town just under a year now, Bolduc said the youth know him better, which makes his job easier.
"They know I'm fair. I don't let them fool around but I'm also not there to ruin their party," he said.
"I like them to have fun and they know if they behave, we'll have fun."
As well as taking the lead, Bolduc said he is also happy to take on a supporting role when another community member has an idea for a program, and he can help out with getting people involved and ensuring everything runs smoothly.
And, while the move to the North may have been a surprise, when it comes to the job, Bolduc said he knew what he was getting himself into.
