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Running Paddlefest 2013 Genevieve Coté finds the Northern adventure she craved on the Slave River
Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Published Monday, July 29, 2013
THEBACHA/FORT SMITH
Genevieve Cote has been involved in the Slave River Paddlefest in Fort Smith from its very beginnings, but she has now taken on a bigger role.
Genevieve Coté is this year's co-ordinator of the Slave River Paddlefest in Fort Smith. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo |
She is co-ordinating this year's version of the popular event, which is set for Aug. 2 to 5.
"Paddlefest is a great occasion for paddlers around Canada, North America and the world to gather on the Slave River and do fun stuff together on the water," she said.
Cote said Paddlefest has all kinds of events, including whitewater kayaking at Mountain Portage Rapids, just south of Fort Smith on the Alberta side of the border, flat-water canoeing, canoe racing and a flat-water flotilla.
Cote has helped out with Paddlefest, now in its sixth year, since it was created by the Fort Smith Paddling Club.
"We started really small with just a handful of people and it is becoming bigger and bigger, and becoming this huge tourism attraction now," she said.
Cote, whose regular job is as a finisher for carpentry work, resigned as the club's vice-president to become Paddlefest co-ordinator.
The 29-year-old, who started working as co-ordinator in January, said the role includes promoting the event, and getting support from businesses and organizations.
Another goal is to get residents of Fort Smith focused on the Slave River.
"It's just bringing back the notion of river people to the community," Cote said. "I think for Paddlefest, that's the biggest thing. It is bringing back the river to the people."
That involves getting more people on the water and promoting knowledge of the river, along with water safety.
Cote, originally from Trois-Rivieres, Que., remembers looking to the North for adventure before coming to Fort Smith in 2006.
"I've always known that there was something else than the little suburb in which I grew up, and I always wanted to go north for a long time," she said.
After studying recreation leadership in college, she worked as a musher with a dog-sledding company at Mont Tremblant, a popular ski resort in Quebec.
"I always loved to be outside," she said. "I wanted to go north, but I didn't know how. I ended up sending my resume to the francophone federation in Yellowknife because my parents' neighbour's cousin was working there."
That led to a call from the francophone association in Fort Smith and an offer of a job running a summer camp for children in the summer of 2006. Cote jumped at the opportunity.
"I got on the plane and I had no clue where I was landing at all, and I couldn't speak English," she said.
However, she was ready for a Northern adventure, and even had a little Inukshuk tattoo on her shoulder.
"I was in love with Fort Smith pretty much right away," she said, but added that the first summer in the community was a little lonely because she didn't know many people.
And not being able to speak English was a "huge frustration" when she first arrived.
"You get physical headaches from trying all day and trying hard to find the words to express yourself, but it's never enough," she said.
"You have so much to say, but it doesn't come out because you don't know how."
However, there were some people in town who spoke French, and Cote also got to know people in the dog-mushing community.
"They gave me a chance to learn the language and helped me out," she said.
In 2007, she entered the two-year natural resources technology program at Aurora College.
"That's where I learned to speak English," she said.
It was also in 2007 that she was introduced to paddling on the Slave River.
"I ended up meeting the man of my life, and he happened to be a kayaker," said Cote.
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