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The City of Fort St. John is kicking off summer by celebrating Recreation and Parks Month this June, through an array of city-hosted activities and is encouraging residents to take part in the ParticipAction Community Better Challenge.

Recreation and Parks Month is an initiative by the British Columbia Recreation and Parks Association designed to promote the benefits of healthy and vibrant communities, David Green, the city’s recreation programmer told council on June 10.

It also provides the opportunity to promote local programs and events, in parks and facilities that are available for everyone in the community to enjoy.

The activities scheduled for June include self-guided activities such as Geocaching; organized classes like Latin Zumba and free Tai Chi; and other events like Intro to Pickleball at Kin Park, Parkour at Centennial Park and free swims at the North Peace Leisure Pool, sponsored by NorthRiver Midstream.

By hosting many of these events in local parks, the city aims to raise awareness of the integral role that parks, and recreation play in individual and community well-being.

Goals include continuing to promote and encourage families to participate in physical activity, improve quality of life and promote healthy and active lifestyles by reducing stress and improving mental health. Forming partnerships with organizations offering activities to the community is another goal, with benefits for everyone through discounted and free activities offered by sponsoring businesses.

Held in conjunction with Recreation and Parks Month is the ParticipAction Challenge, where members of the community are invited to participate in activities and track their physical activity minutes on the ParticipACTION app or website for a chance to win the prize of most active community in each province or territory. Each person’s physical activity minutes count towards the community’s total score, and the challenge is open to everyone from individuals to schools, sports groups to workplaces.

The community that wins the ParticipACTION Challenge will win $100,000 to invest in local physical activity and sport initiatives.

 “We have many beautiful parks in Fort St. John, and Recreation and Parks Month is an awesome way to get families involved in enjoying our local parks,” said Green.

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Director of Finance celebrates 25 years with City

Known as the city’s “financial gatekeeper”, Shirly Collington was largely responsible for the city receiving the Canadian Award for Financial Reporting in 2019, an achievement Mayor Lilia Hansen noted with pride at during Monday’s council meeting when remarking on Collington’s 25 years of service with the city.

Collington has, for the past seven years, been Fort St. John’s Director of Finance, the culmination of a career that started in 1999, when she was a Northern Lights College student, doing her practicum with the city. Since then, she has diligently worked her way through various positions in the finance department, while continuing to add to her educational qualifications, professional development and leadership skills.

She has skillfully guided the city through many financial planning and budgeting processes over the years, yet still finds time to lend a hand, as with the Emergency Operations and Emergency Support Centre, according to Hansen, “providing her professionalism and finance knowledge to help our community.”