The Altona Recreation Department had a busy season this winter, from events at the Millennium Exhibition Centre to activities at the Gallery in the Park.

"Of course you have the arena which is busy with all types of hockey, skating club events, lots of things going on. The walking track is very busy as soon as it turns cold," says Altona Recreation Director, Ron Epp.

He notes that track memberships go "through the roof" as soon as the snow starts to stay on the ground, and people wait eagerly for the doors to open at 7:00 a.m.

The arena will be closing down by the end of March, but the ice was well-loved by the end of the hockey and skating season.

"When the Winkler arena went down for a month we helped out where we could to have some events over here. We had a lot of minor hockey tournaments. The skating club had a regional event in January, a test day in February. We hosted the Peewee Provincials at the beginning of March, and we had the last tournament just this past weekend," says Epp.

Just next door the Rhineland Pioneer Centre saw a number of socials, banquets, and weddings, not to mention yoga, music lessons, and art lessons in the Gallery in the Park.

Epp says, "we have a number of different kinds of yoga classes and there are some of them, you know, registration starts on Monday and Tuesday it's full. That's gone very well."

With the winter season at an end, he highlights a number of activities starting up again.

"The art gallery, that will open in late May. The swimming pool, that will open in early June. Baseball season's coming up . . . We're gearing up for a busy summer, and I know we'll be hosting a provincial baseball event. And of course Access Field, it will be the first season with the lights in place so that's exciting."

He says there are people already calling about campground space (although reservations are not quite open yet), and parents with young kids are looking forward to using the indoor playland which sees a lot of activity on extremely hot days.