The sixth annual Family Expo took place at the Prince Albert Exhibition Centre this past Saturday.

Being one of the first family events having opened its doors since the pandemic restrictions ended meant the parking lot got crowded as soon as the doors opened at 10 a.m.

The expo had no end to both the fun and educational interests which families could explore together. There was even a food court just outside the Exhibition Centre with picnic tables set up, allowing for families to sit down and grab either a snack or dinner, with food trucks set up by locally owned Baby Got Bannock and Selena’s Donair and Pizza.

There were even a few sports teams, like the Prince Albert Aerials Gymnastics Club, who had displays set up for children.

Hanna Bergen explained what the club set up for the children to try out.

“We have a circuit set up for the kids to try out,” she said. “We have some raffles here that people can win a free birthday party. We have also got a little promotion set up for our summer camps. If you register and pay before June 1st, you get a full week of camps for $130 instead of our normal $190.”

There were also a few celebrities at the Expo as well, including the famed winged young lady herself, Tinkerbell.

“It’s lovely, all of the kids seem to be happy to be here, and there are so many activities they can participate in, it’s been so nice to meet everyone” Tink explained. “I would suggest inviting us princesses to your parties because it’s honestly a magical experience for the birthday kids and all their friends. We have different packages in that we can perform songs, and bring pixie dust. Sometimes we bring make-up and temporary tattoos. It’s overall just a magical experience for all the kids.”

Other magic can take place in the form of learning new skills, which is something that can be found on the East Hill in Prince Albert.

“We’re the Montessori Daycare, up on East hill,” explained Adelie North, “We design materials for the children for their learning skills, like concentration and dexterity. We also wrote a book for parents or caregivers for children.”

The book was written by North’s daughter Tamera.

“Many materials are things they can use in the home,” North said. “It can help raise their self-esteem, fine motor skills, bending, and concentration.”

Locally sourced education is always a great option. Just ask those involved with the Prince Albert Historical Society, such as retired university professor Connie Gerwing.

“We have a working tube radio, which you can listen to, you can see the workings of it on the inside and what a radio used to look like in the 1930’s,” she explained. “We have a number of items for guessing what they are, and some of them are pretty obvious and some of them are pretty difficult for most people. I’ll bet you don’t know what that is.”

Gerwing picked up a wooden-handled device with a metal stick on it, and a flat, face down bowl on the end of it. My guess was that it was a really creative potato masher.

“No, it’s not,” Gerwing chuckled. “It’s actually for scraping the hair off the hide of a pig when you were butchering pigs.”

Starting May 24, the museum will be open for regular hours. In addition, those whom are always available to help people 24 hours a day, seven days a week, were also present to speak with children and their families. Those are the paramedics and police within the city of Prince Albert.

 “It’s awesome,” Const. Stubbs of the Prince Albert Police Service said about the expo. “There are tons of little kids, and they’re all super-excited to meet all the first responders here, and it’s pretty cool. It’s a good way to connect with the children, and build a relationship. It’s pretty fun.”

Checking out the incognito police car and hopping into it was a blast for many of the children present. Also, meeting a valiant little four-legged hero that some of the children might have been able to ride was a huge thing as well, given Hi Ho Silver’s presence at the fair.

Shannon Dickie was one of the handlers of the strongly build Shetland pony, as well as one of the owners and trainers of the Empower U Equine Learning Centre in Nipawin.

“Silver’s an 11-year-old dapple grey pony, and he came to us from a farm down south where a family had to re-home him,” Dickie explained. “We brought him into our herd, and he’s the smallest of our herd. For him, his size is not a limitation. He’s capable of everything, and we wrote a book about Silver, called Silver Shines, and it’s a message to everybody that, despite your differences, he’s short, he’s wide, he has silver hair. He’s still capable. What we’re trying to teach people (in the book) is that it is those differences that make us shine.”

Well put, little horsey, well put.