Town of Battleford Mayor Ames Leslie announced online contest winners. (file photo/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Keaton Brown

the next generation

Mayor Ames Leslie announces winners of his online kids contest

Apr 15, 2020 | 2:00 PM

While people have been cooped up in their homes during the COVID-19 situation in Canada, the Town of Battleford’s Mayor Ames Leslie started an online competition for kids to help pass the time.

The competition was broken up into three age categories with each group having their own objectives.

For children aged six and under, Leslie asked them to draw a picture of their favourite activity or what they enjoy most about Battleford. Children aged seven to 12 were asked to submit an idea to help improve the town and for the 13 to 18 age group they were asked to submit a short essay on what they would do if they were the mayor of the town.

Leslie said they were originally going to pick two winners from each group but ended up with three winners in the six and under category due to the high quality of their submissions.

Aliyah McLeod’s picture of the world with the town of Battleford right at the top was the first winner in this group.

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Aliyah McLeod’s drawing. (submitted photo/Ames Leslie)

“It was just so well done for a child of that age,” Leslie said. “To colour the world and what a great idea to put the town of Battleford at the top of the world. It was special to have a little girl think of her home town in that way,” he added.

Theo Whitbread submitted a picture of himself enjoying a day of sledding at Lady Bug Hill.

Theo Whitbread’s drawing. (submitted photo/Ames Leslie)

“Who doesn’t like tobogganing,” Leslie said. “His toboggan was kind of comical because it kind of looks like a bed, so the wife and I got a pretty good chuckle out of that.”

Jolie Malo was the third winner in the six and under category and chose to draw a picture of the Tot Lot in Battleford for her entry into the contest.

Jolie Malo’s drawing. (submitted photo/Ames Leslie)

“Small things made the difference between her picture and the seven or eight other Tot Lot entries that we had. The person inside the Tot Lot has a kind of a princess dress on with the shoulder cuffs. It was the little details that made the difference,” he said.

Ryker Sabin wrote he would like to see a pump track in Battleford because he loves biking.

Ryker Sabin’s suggestion to the mayor (supplied photo/Ames Leslie)

“He wants a pump track and admittedly so do I. I’ve always been meeting with different groups that do things like skate parks or pump tracks or something different in their communities,” he said. “To have Ryker suggest that as something that should be in the community I just thought, ‘perfect.'”

Sidney Oborowsky wrote there should be a jungle themed indoor playground in the field behind the Tim Hortons. There is even a detailed drawing of what the facility should look like.

Sidney Oborowsky’s suggestion to the mayor (supplied photo/Ames Leslie)

“Sidney went above and beyond. This age group was supposed to just write a quick little blurb on what they want to see added to the Battlefords. Sidney has the blueprints and the schematics of what it should look like,” Leslie said. “Probably a little further from reality of having what she wished to see, but they spent some time doing it.”

Sidney Oborowsky’s blueprint for the facility. (supplied photo/Ames Leslie)

Delaini Bast wrote an essay focusing on what the town of Battleford can do for kids in her age group.

“She structured her essay very well. It was like I was her English teacher and she was submitting an essay at school,” Leslie said. “She has a level of communication that potentially means she could be a future politician or a future leader. She definitely has a tremendous way of writing,” he added.

Meredith Wood also wrote her essay on the ideas she had for things teenagers might be interested to see in Battleford.

“She was commenting that there are a lot of things for the 10 and under group to do with the Tot Lot and other playgrounds but not necessarily for that seven to 15 age group type of thing,” he said. “Some of her examples would be a trampoline park, a science center, and a Starbucks. Who at 13 years old wants a Starbucks but I guess at 13 they like the atmosphere that brings to a community.”

Leslie said they had great feedback on their contest and ended up with 30 different submissions, from which they picked these seven winners who will receive the $25 pizza gift cards. They will be looking at different ways they can share these contest submissions with the rest of the community.

“There has been a suggestion that we get them blown up and laminated and hung at the Tot Lot just to show off the love this place has,” he said.

Leslie said he wants to thank everyone that entered as he and his wife had a lot of fun going over all the submissions.

“It made my COVID-19 isolation a little bit more enjoyable to see all the entries so I just want to thank all the kids for doing that,” he said.

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Keaton.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow