Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

INUVIK
If you remember the cliche 'the best-laid plans of mice and men,' you can find a sympathetic ear in David Bob.

David Bob, the Student Life and Wellness Coordinator at the Aurora Campus, says Friday night's all right by him. - Shawn Giilck/NNSL photo

Bob is the genial Student Life and Wellness Coordinator at the Aurora Campus, and he's been working hard to give people a reason to say "thank God it's Friday."

For three years, Bob has been organizing "fun nights" at the college Friday nights during the college sessions. It's something he's seen pulled off in the south with huge success and thought it would work in Inuvik.

It's been a bit of a labour of love for Bob so far, though. This year in particular has been a struggle during the early stages.

The strategy started with the simple idea to help the students, many of them from the surrounding communities in the delta, occupy their time and get to know the town. Bob said for some of these students, coming to Inuvik is like coming to the big city, compared to where they grew up.

The first pilot project, about three years ago, was aimed directly at the campus students. He started by offering popular favourites such as table tennis, and street hockey. While it was a relative success, the students suggested opening the activities up to the community to become more inclusive.

So Bob began advertising it as student night with the community welcome, and immediately began a bit of a comedy of errors.

By advertising it directly as a "student" night, Bob said he soon received feedback that Inuvik residents didn't realize they were welcome to attend.

"They'd tell me 'but we're not students,'" he said with a trace of exasperation.

So for 2013, he began advertising it as a "family fun night" with somewhat predictable results that left him feeling a bit like Homer Simpson.

Bob said he soon received feedback from students that they were reluctant to come because "they didn't have families here."

If he had let out a loud "DOH" at this point it might be understandable. Still, he has persevered with his efforts. He's advertised the nights through posters and on Facebook, and the word is slowly starting to spread.

This season, he's been expanding the roster of activities slowly, averaging more than 40 people a week so far.

He's looking at adding Nordic snowshoeing for the winter, along with snowshoe softball. Both were suggestions endorsed by the students, and will be on tap over the next few months once the college orders snowshoes.

"That's going to be a lot of fun," he said. "For the softball, we'll have to wait until the new year when there's more light, but the Nordic snowshoeing we can start as soon as we get them (the snowshoes) and there's snow on the ground."

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.