REGINA -- Monday is Family Day in Saskatchewan and the provincial government is reminding the public to celebrate in a safe way during the pandemic.
The province said public health measures must still be followed on the holiday. It suggested keeping any plans restricted to immediate household members, spending more time outdoors and staying close to home by not traveling.
Groups of up to 10 people can gather outdoors as long as physical distancing can be maintained between different households. The province said food should not be shared between non-household members.
For those looking to get out of the house, there are some safe options in Regina.
The RCMP Heritage Centre is offering both indoor and outdoor activities all day that are open to all ages.
“Last year we had 1,185 people come and clearly we can’t support that [this year],” said Justin Williams, education and public programs coordinator with the RCMP Heritage Centre. “We’re going to see a lot less capacity and a lot less visitors we think. But if people want to come and enjoy the day, we have a lot of protocols.”
The Royal Saskatchewan Museum in Regina is open for limited people. It suggests calling to get on the waitlist. Visitors will receive a call or text back when it’s their turn to enter.
For those looking to stay home but still celebrate, Mystery Mansion Regina is offering virtual escape rooms this Family Day. People from around the world can join in.
Mitch Bresciani, co-owner and manager of Mystery Mansion, said it’s a perfect opportunity to connect with friends and family in other places while working together to solve the escape rooms.
Groups call in through Zoom and a Mystery Mansion employee will physically be in the room, providing a live feed. The participants can engage with the host and tell them what to do, where to go and how to interact with the room.
“We’ve converted a couple of our rooms from physical to online, but there’s a few rooms we’ve actually built from the ground up as online only, so there’s some really cool things in there that you wouldn’t be able to do in a physical escape room,” Bresciani said. “It keeps you 100 per cent safe and you get to play from the comfort of your own house.”
Since the province is encouraging people to get outside more, Saskatchewan provincial parks are also open for Family Day, offering a number of activities for those willing to brave the cold.
Iceville at Mosaic Stadium also opened for Family Day, after some previous cancellations due to the extreme cold warning in Saskatchewan.
Although Monday’s weather was still below seasonal, some people just wanted to get out of the house to celebrate.
“We just came to take advantage of this cool opportunity and get outdoors, even though it’s kind of cold, and do something fun with the family,” skater Rebecca Lascue-Paul said. “I don’t know how long we’ll last but we’re hearty Saskatchewan folks, so it’s okay.”
