Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Fort Simpson (Mar 17/00) - Although many of us revelled in the Beavertail Jamboree over the course of last week, there was a whole network of volunteers who had been working for months to make it the success it was.

The Beavertail Committee comprises a dozen people, but most of them represent various groups and organizations and a whole legion of helpful hands in the community, according to carnival president Ron Hardisty.

"The success of our carnival has been due to total community support shown in the number of volunteers and participation in all events by community residents and visitors to our Beavertail Jamboree," he stated.

The organizing committee had been meeting and planning since November, he noted. In spite of all the planning, sometimes a willing volunteer is needed to emerge from the crowd. Enter Shane Thompson. He happened to ask a question at the beginning of the snowmobile races and quickly found himself recording the results.

"Just helping out ... trying to make it that much enjoyable for everybody else," said Thompson, who also filled in as organizer of the Corporate Challenge.

Lisa Lafferty, of Metis Local 52, was a member of the Beavertail committee and she enlisted the help of fellow employee Pearl Norwegian. Together they helped to organize the royalty pageant, the youth talent show and the bingo.

"Beavertail is a community event and everybody should join in," Norwegian said. "It paid off in the end. People were happy and everything."

Andy Norwegian, who assisted with the traditional games, also found himself in a judge's seat during the adult talent show. It wasn't an easy task, he admitted.

"It was fairly difficult, especially with the jigging part of it," he said. "You'll notice that there were a couple of ties and we had to vote again to break that tie."

The location of this year's Beavertail -- held on the frozen Mackenzie River -- drew many raves from the public, according to Betty Hardisty.

"It just so happened that the river froze up and melted the right way, I guess," she said.

The Hardisty's have been involved in the annual carnival for the past four years, during which they have seen interest grow each time, according to Ron. Yet each year when things are said and done, the ideas go into motion for making the next one bigger and better, he said.

"There's always improvements to be made," he said.