Find your passion: explore new activities and new careers with Town of Huntsville programs

You don’t always know what you’re going to love until you try it. Thankfully, you have plenty of new things to choose from—from exploring career options to creative endeavours to keeping active—as well as some old favourites in the fall/winter Leisure Guide.

Making new career choices

Career and Life Coach Julie Veitch will teach you the steps to finding your true calling

Do you want to unite your passion, purpose and lifestyle priorities all into one career? Join independent Career and Life Coach, Julie Veitch, for her workshop “It’s My Life: Five steps to start designing the life and work you love” and discover your true career calling. Julie will teach you five steps to creating a meaningful livelihood and help you create a plan to make it happen. She did it, successfully building a private coaching practice as she prepared to leave the traditional working world. She now helps other women to create a life they love. This workshop runs on Wednesday, October 10 from 6:30-9:30 p.m. and costs $35 per person.

Finding new passions

Drop-in programs are an ideal and affordable way to check out something new without making a big commitment.

If you’d like to try something creative but you just don’t know what, come out to the bimonthly art group on every second and fourth Wednesday. Bring a project to work on in any medium that’s portable—like painting, drawing, pen and ink, knitting or small-scale wood carving—or get inspired by what others are doing. If music is more your thing, join the acoustic jam session on Friday mornings.

If you like games, come for cards and cribbage on Thursday mornings or join a game of dominoes.

Or get active with a game of pickleball or table tennis. There are new DrumFIT programs, too—drop in or sign up for four weeks either on your own or ask about family pricing, and watch for special holiday-themed sessions at Hallowe’en and Christmas.

DrumFIT is a fun way to stay active

Doing what you love, with a twist

Maybe you’ve already found your passions. Keep them fresh by putting a new twist on your old favourites, or share your excitement for the things you love to do with your friends and family.

Love to paint or knit? Get a new perspective on both when you create a ‘painting’ out of colourful fleece at the Watercolour with Wool workshop. Or for another twist on painting, make a stained glass look-alike on mirrors. Or try a completely different medium and canvas, using fluid inks on tiles.

Love to cook? Gather some friends and learn to make some delicious Italian appetizers, get creative with cake decorating, or pause for a traditional afternoon tea. “With busy lives. it’s not as common that we take the time to do these things any more, but they’re a lot of fun,” says Simone Babineau, Manager of Recreation and Leisure Services at the Town of Huntsville.

Do you love yoga? How about yoga on the water? It’s a fun way to find your balance using aquamats at the Centennial Pool that’s suitable for both beginners and experienced enthusiasts. Or what about snowshoe yoga? It’s easy, gentle stretching in the snow and a great way to spend a sunny winter day.

Is walking your thing? Step it up with an urban poling clinic, and then you can borrow poles for use at the Canada Summit Centre track. The track is accessible, free to use and open most days unless there’s a ticketed event in the area. “If you want to get a little more exercise, this is one way to get moving a little faster,” says Babineau.

Do you enjoy travelling or writing? Learn how to write a travel memoir and capture your experiences for others to enjoy. Or try a new genre—learn how to write mystery or suspense.

Love to garden or wish you had the time? Put your green thumb to good use in the colder months with the Maker Series. Create and decorate a fresh, green wreath in time for Christmas with Sandhill Nursery, or make a magical, miniature fairy garden in the spring. There’s limited space for both of these popular workshops, so register early.

Keeping the whole family active

As colder weather approaches, getting in some daily physical activity can be more challenging. Why not try something new?

The ever-popular line dancing classes are both fun and social. For something gentler, try Wellness Chi Kung or NIA, no-impact aerobics that are a combination of dance movement, martial arts and healing arts—you can move as much or as little as you want and it can be a good way to help with recovery from knee or hip surgery. Try NIA out for free on December 6 and January 3. Sessions begin in January.

The ice is already in at both of Huntsville’s arenas and that means public skating and other ice programs suitable for all members of the family are up and running. They’re fun in the winter, and a great way to cool off from any late-summer heat waves.

Public swims are another way to get the whole family out for some active fun, or sign up for one of the many aquatic programs from swim and stroke improvement lessons for kids and adults to aquabike and aquafitness sessions.

Or if you’re looking for a unique activity to do with the kids, try the new reflexology workshop to learn some useful massage techniques.

And don’t forget about all the ways to keep your kids active! There are PA Day camps, Christmas camps and March Break camps (register early for these), yoga for teens and kids, arts and crafts, science club, cooking classes, self-care workshops, and babysitting or home-alone courses.

Registering is easy

The new Leisure Guide will be available after Labour Day. Look for it at locations around Huntsville, including Town Hall, the Canada Summit Centre and Huntsville Public Library, or get information on all Town of Huntsville fall and winter programs online at huntsville.ca. Registration for fall programs opens on September 5.

This spring, the Town of Huntsville launched a program to make recreation more affordable for residents and households living with low income.

“We want all Huntsville residents to have full participation in recreation and leisure programs,” says Babineau. “We want a healthy and vibrant community, and this is one more thing we are doing to help Huntsville residents achieve that.”

Information on the affordable recreation program is available at the Canada Summit Centre information desk, and will be online soon.

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