Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Wednesday, May 02, 2007

RANKIN INLET - The laughs came fast and furious in Rankin Inlet this past week as the community came out in full force to celebrate the annual Pakallak Tyme spring festival.

The week's lineup offered something for everyone with plenty of elders games on the go, numerous youth activities, and lots of events to keep adults of all ages enjoying good family fun while competing for prizes.

The festival also saw the return of the Business Hockey Tournament which hadn't been held in the hamlet for the past decade.

And, of course, the eagerly anticipated dog-team and Ski-Doo races drew their traditional large crowds of spectators.

The Pakallak Tyme festival was the first for hamlet rec co-ordinator David Clark.

He said the event was a valuable learning experience for him.

"You never stop learning and improving at this job," said Clark.

"The hamlet's heavy-equipment operators did a great job clearing away all the snow that fell just before the festivities began, so the heavy snowfall didn't cause any cancellations.

"The events went smoothly, with an average of more than 100 youth showing up for our kids events, and we also had about 75 elders come out to their events.

"The hall was packed for the square-dance competition and everyone seemed to have a good time at all the events."

Clark said he would have had a more difficult time during his first festival if not for the assistance of Johnny Ayaruak at a number of events.

He said Ayaruak deserves a lot of credit for the work he put in during the festivities.

"Johnny (Ayaruak) did a great job and I really appreciate all his help during the week.

"It takes a good team effort for something like Pakallak Tyme to be successful."