Skip to content

Second annual Lions Club picnic helps central Alberta families

Bed races and family fun returns as Sylvan Lake Lions partner with Aspire Special Needs
29884330_web1_220728-Lions-picnic-preview-file_1

For the second year, Sylvan Lake & District Lions Club is partnering with Aspire Special Needs Resource Centre for a family picnic event that kids and adults alike won’t want to miss.

The event will be taking place on Saturday, Aug. 13 at Sylvan Lake’s Centennial Park from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. All money raised will be split equally between the Lions Club and Aspire.

“When we decided to put this on, we needed extra bodies to volunteer,” explained Ted Fitzgerald, Lions Club member and chairman of the family picnic committee. “We asked Aspire and they said sure. This is a Lions Club project, but we’re doing it in partnership.”

The event was so well received last year, that Fitzgerald suspects this will become an annual event now.

“I’d say about 400, 500 people came out last year,” said Fitzgerald. “There was a lot of kids, and they had a ball. That’s what made it all worthwhile.”

While there will be a lot of fun and games geared towards kids, the adult won’t be left out of the family picnic fun. For the adults, there will be beer gardens, a tug-of-war competition and a bocce ball tournament. Kiids will have a blast on the bouncy castles and playing games. There will also be a bed race competition, starting at 1 p.m. and each bed racing team will consist of five members – four pushers and one rider. The rider must wear a helmet, and knee and elbow pads are strongly recommended for the pushers. And while twin, double or queen-sized beds will be allowed to race, coffins will not.

In addition to volunteers from the Sylvan Lake & District Lions Club and Aspire, Lions Club members will be coming in from Rocky Mountain House and Rimbey to help out.

Visit the Aspire website for more information and to find out how to participate in the bed race, tug-of-war and bocce ball tournament.