The sudden snowfall didn’t stop youth from digging in the snow drifts trying to find candy canes during the Candy Cane Hunt at the Chestermere Recreation Centre on Dec. 1.
Organizer of the Candy Cane Hunt, Kim Soderberg McRae hosted the event last year in Langdon, however it didn’t receive the response from that community that she was hoping it would, only 40 children registered last year.
“I didn’t really think about doing anything this year, and I didn’t want to do it myself,” Soderberg McRae said.
However, once she was approached by the Chestermere Regional Community Association (CRCA) to host a Candy Cane Hunt during the annual Rec Centre Community Christmas Party, she couldn’t pass up the opportunity.
This year, Soderberg McRae received the response she had originally wanted, with two time slots filling up within one day.
“It’s a little crazy, very similar to the trunk or treat,” she said.
With the help from sponsors, Soderberg McRae was able to open a third time slot for children to hunt for candy canes.
However, with the snow coming down throughout the day, only half of the registered children showed up to hunt for candy canes.
“Disappointing due to the fact there were about 50 kids on the waitlists,” Soderberg McRae said.
“I like the community aspect, getting involved in the community.
“I like to have a lot of kid things going on to keep the kids active, and the community engaged,” Soderberg McRae said.
She added, “Sometimes there’s not a lot going on. It’s fun to have new ideas and new things going on.”
Aside from the weather, everything went smoothly, Soderberg McRae said that Synergy provided the volunteers to help hide candy canes in the Rec Centre field.
“The tree lot let us hide candy canes on the trees, it was really fun,” She said.
Although organizing the Candy Cane Hunt was a lot of work behind the scenes, seeing how pleased the children were when they came back inside, holding up their candy canes to show everyone what they had found before claiming their prize made the hard work very much worth it for Soderberg McRae.
“The kids are just hilarious. It’s the little things that make them so excited, it makes it worthwhile,” she said.
