Over 800 youth will attend the Ignite Your Spark Youth Fair to experience spark opportunities by connecting with an adult spark champion come Wednesday, September 27.

Spark champions will engage youth in their shared spark, and help them discover ways to pursue their spark within our community. A spark is something that ignites passion and fuels creativity for youth. This fair is specifically designed to create that initial spark and help a student find a new hobby or potential career.

The Badlands Community Facility (BCF) will be packed with different activities from art and music to science and sports and everything in between.

Organizer April Harrison shared that the engaging nature of the fair will be very distinctive compared to other expos.

“It’s an opportunity for these kids to come along and try something and see if it ignites that spark in them if this is something they want to carry on with,” Harrison explained.

Students in grades five to 12 from local schools in Carbon, Delia, Drumheller, Morrin, and Wheatland Crossing will be in attendance.

With that being said, a confirmed 42 spark champions will be represented with more yet to be approved.

Some of the confirmed hands-on activities include; boxing, bull riding, scuba diving, cooking, parkour, computer animation, archery, go-karts, magic the gathering, and yoga to name a few.

“It’s super different to an expo. It’s not a you go along and you get information, leaflets from each table, no. Every single one of the things that are listed, you get to try some aspect of that thing. So with kayaking, you get to go out on the river. With scuba diving, it will be out at the Aquaplex in the outdoor pool,” said Harrison.

A massive sponsorship was provided by the Rotary Club of Drumheller.

The Drumheller & Area ASSET Development Coalition fosters the developmental assets that children and adolescents need to become healthy, caring, productive, successful adults.

They were the ones behind the scenes coordinating to make this nation wide fair available to students in Drumheller and area.

If anyone is interested in be- coming a spark champion and providing youth with a new spark, contact April Harrison at 403-823-1315 or by email at aharrison@dinosaurvalley.com

TOPS king Steve Belmore of Calgary walks along the alley with queen Nadine Pacey of Whitecourt. Both reached and exceeded weight loss goals set at the beginning of the year. Belmore lost 28.00 pounds while Pacey lost 84.50 pounds thanks to the support group and program. (Photo courtesy of Frozen Motion Photography)

With 102 chapters represented out of a total of 176 within Alberta, 639 people visited the valley to take part in the annual function on May 27 and 28.

This year, Drumheller had the privilege to host the two-day event, utilizing the Badlands Community Facility (BCF).

Taking Off Pounds Sensibly (TOPS) is an international weight loss program and support group which focuses on health, fitness, and well-being.

At this event, a king and queen are announced to highlight their overall weight loss success by meeting and or exceeding their goals.

Nadine Pacey of Whitecourt lost 84.50 pounds and Steve Belmore of Calgary lost 28.00 pounds, making them the queen and king for the year.

Over the weekend, members participated in activities and sessions surrounding a ‘spy’ theme with a special graduation ceremony on the Saturday evening.

TOPS members become KOPS (Keeping off pounds sensibly) members. Once someone becomes a KOP they remain a KOP as there are only two ranks.

Special pins are given to members as they take on different roles or are recognized for their participation over the years. The focus is on people’s successes rather than failures within the program.