The Amazing Northern Race registration deadline of Jan. 31 is quickly approaching with the actual event scheduled to take place on Feb. 12.
An anticipated 10 teams of four members will participate and compete in challenges by working together to solve clues about health, culture, history and geography. The teams will be comprised of one child, a teenager, an adult and an elder.
Organizers Keegan Schopfer, and Jill Holland said the concept behind the race is to demonstrate the continuum of how knowledge is passed through generations and how an elder acts as a means to an adult, an adult to a teen and a teen to a child. The idea for the race itself was born during a meeting where mentorship was the topic of concern.
“There is a drug strategy program at Storyteller’s that is in its second year now and we have a focus group and an advisory group and the idea came out of that group. “ Holland said. “We were looking at things we could do that would involve different generations and while mentorship came first, the race thought came out of that. We wanted to have an intergenerational event that would be fun in February.”
Schopfer added that there are several areas the group wanted to incorporate.
“The main idea is to jump start the mentorship program and introduce the idea that hanging out with people from different age groups is a fun thing to do on a Saturday,” he said. “One of the other things we wanted to focus on was to show the youth that this is a really cool spot and it’s not really lame because it doesn’t have a mall. We are trying to show there is another side of living to Hazelton which includes getting outside and having fun.”
On the day of the race everyone will meet at the Learning Shop and the idea of the race is very similar to the television show they said.
“Everyone will come there for first check point and they will be given their first road block,” Schopfer explained. “They have to go out and complete the challenge and they will receive a score on how well they did and then they will go out and do the next challenge. At the end of the day the teams score will be totalled and whomever has the most points will win.”
Not only is the event itself designed to be a great community event Schopfer said, they are also offering prizes.
“First prize is $400 cash, $200 for second and $100 for third as well as several other smaller prizes such as gift certificates for local businesses,” he said.
As for the challenges themselves, the idea was to allow different community groups and organizations to put together the challenges such as the Library and the College and the outcome to be long lasting.
“We wanted to involve other organizations to promote the area and get kids excited that they live here,” he shared. “We are hoping everyone will have a great day and maybe change some of the youths attitudes about Hazelton and hopefully that will also allow us to identify some people that might be interested in the mentorship program.
Holland said that the mentorship program which started the whole race idea is ready to go within the week as well.
“We have had three public meetings about mentorship and we have 14 people signed up to start mentorship training starting on January 31st,” Holland said. “In the future we will have another one and we think it is exciting. The more people we can get the better it will be.”
In addition to bringing attention to the upcoming mentorship program, the race will also showcase another related community project headed up by Skyla Lattie and Schopfer which is called the Community Love Mosaic.
“For the past two months we have been asking people for photos that portray their love for the Upper Skeena region which is all the way from the Kispiox to Gitanyow,” Lattie said. “We have had 25 people submit photos and we put together a mosaic that spells love. We have made a rough copy and then we are getting it put on a banner and it will be displayed in different businesses over the next year.”
Lattie explained that each photo has a comment on why it portrays peoples love for their community.
“In addition, Keegan and I went out and did 18 interviews with different people so there will also be a vocal component,” she said. “Our high school kids that are involved in our noon hour component called the Healthy Living Crew where youth participate in outdoor activities, creative exercises, art projects, productions of podcasts and interactive illicit drug use, also went out and did interviews. So there will be two podcasts, one from the youth’s point of view and one from the adults but it’s all about the same thing, family, scenery and community.”
The debut will be shown at the Misty River Arts Gallery during the race.
All of this is part of a two and a half year Drug Strategy Community Initiative Project which is a community based research project between Wrinch Memorial Hospital/Northern Health Authority and Storyteller’s Foundation and funded by Health Canada.
“The object of the project has been to increase youth resilience and health by giving them the tools and confidence to live healthy, happy and productive lives,” Holland added.
For more information on any of the above projects or to register for the Amazing Northern Race, contact the Storyteller’s Foundation at the Learning Shop in Old Hazelton at 250-842-6500 or email amazingnorthernrace@gmail.com.