Hundreds of residents sharpened up their skates yesterday morning for a free family skate event at the InnovationPlex. 

The day was in partnership with Innovation Credit Union, the Pioneer Co-op and the City of Swift Current. 

Caitlyn Quennel, the human resources advisor with Pioneer Co-op, said the annual event was a huge success this year. 

“Sometimes you don't know when you host events come in the post-COVID era, but we probably had about 350 attendees come out,” she said. "[There were] lots of kids that looked like they had a great time, and we had Cooper the Bear there, and Charlie Horse. We were selling hot dog combos for 2 bucks a pop, and all proceeds are going to the Chinook Breakfast Club.” 

Family swim passes were donated from the City of Swift Current, and youth tickets for yesterday’s game were provided by the Swift Current Broncos.  

“We had a jersey giveaway for the kids,” Quennel added. "All the Broncos had signed the jersey, and we had done a raffle for that. So, we drew that this morning and got to contact the family of the lucky kid that won it. That was very exciting.” 

She said that it was a great opportunity for families to connect with each other, and to connect with familiar faces and even meet some new ones.  

“It was definitely a group effort and we couldn't have done it without our volunteers, that's for sure. It's something that we'll keep doing on an annual basis and we hope that it'll be bigger and better than ever next year.”