The annual Kokanee Fish Festival is going strong, continuing to delight local school children even after nine years.
For Linda Dickson, the Mount Begbie Elementary School teacher who organizes the event every year it is a a real labour of love.
“Children really enjoy this,” she said during a brief break in the activities at bridge Creek last Friday. “Yes, we live int he mountains but some of these kids have never been out (in the woods). Some of them don’t have very strong connections with nature.”
The Kokanee Fish Festival helps build those connections by introducing them to strong local components of the natural world: the kokanee that spawn in the area’s creeks and streams every year, the bears that feed on them and the other creatures large and small that live in, on or near our waterways.
Watch the wonder on a child’s face as they watch the glowing, jewel-like red fish daring above a gravel bed and you’ll know what she means.
Here are a few images from thsi year’s one-day Kokanee Fish Festival:
Gary McLaughlin slaps hands with a child at the start of the Kokanee Fish Festival at Bridge Creek. Slapping hands (the way fish might slap their tails) is a traditional opening to the day-long event. Organized by Mount Begbie Elementary School teacher Linda Dickson, the nine-year-old festival introduces local school children to red fish and the environment. David F. Rooney photoSarah Newton of the North Columbia Environmental Society uses an elaborate diorama to talk about how pollution poisons the waters of our valley. David F. Rooney photoDebbie Robinson shows kids how to attach peanuts to a string. David F. Rooney photoLet's paint red fish! Children painted fish red and green then gently pressed paper onto their bodies to create works of art. David F. Rooney photo"Do you know what this is?" BC Hydro biologist Karen Bray asks kids at the Kokanee Fish Festival as she dissects a red fish for them. David F. Rooney photoBear Aware Coordinator Penny Page-Brittin (center) talks with children at the Kokanee Fish Festival about the relationship between bears and red fish. David F. Rooney photoParks Canada's Alice Weber tells kids the rules of the Kokanee Fish Festival Scavenger Hunt down at Bridge Creek on Friday. David F. Rooney photoPaintings by the kids who attend the annual Kokanee Fish Festival dry in the sun. David F. Rooney photoHey! I see red fish! Three kids scan the waters of Bridge Creek for the darting little red fish that swim upstream to spawn each fall. David F. Rooney photoThe glowing jewel-like red fish are the real stars of the annual Kokanee Fish Festival. David F. Rooney photo
