The Sled Shed at River Park allows anyone who wants to go sledding or tobogganing there to have free access to sleds, thanks to the Weyburn Oilwomen (WOW).

"This is our second year, we brought it back. It was so successful last year and there were so many people that used it," shared Abby Kradovill. "So many kids, and adults, we had comments from people from in Weyburn and then as well as other people that were in town and didn't have sleds with them, but they popped by and we're just so thankful that they were able to take their kids tobogganing and able to spend some time outside getting active. So I think it really did exactly what we had hoped it would, bring that community together to get some outside activity, and we were really happy with it."

Kradovill pointed out not everyone has a shed to store their own sleds, crazy carpets, or toboggans.

"It really does take a lot of the stress out of going," she said. "You bundle your kids up and take them to the hill and if you're in walking distance, you don't even have to drive, because you're not hauling anything. You can just hit the hill."

The Sled Shed is located at the southernmost part of River Park, at the east end of Sixth Avenue south. There you'll find around a dozen sleds for use, and a QR code to scan to let the WOW know if there happen to be any issues, such as broken sleds needing replacing. In fact, others have left additional toboggans and sleds there to help contribute to the supply.

The free amenity only just opened up yesterday, thanks to a nice dump of fresh snow to make sledding more fun. 

"We seem to have put it out at a very cold day last year as well, so thank you to Terra and Shaun Ortman for getting that out there." 

Safety tips are in place, but the sledding hill is not monitored so it is always 'enjoy at your own risk'. 

This Christmas will be a perfect one for taking advantage of the sledding, as by then it'll be warming up quite a bit from this extreme cold.

"It should be a perfect Christmas Day to take your kids out and go sledding and and and enjoy the weather after probably what's going to feel like a really long time indoors, as they're likely not playing outside in this weather," Kradovill commented. 

She said she had gotten the idea from another community and wanted to see it here in Weyburn.

"It's not a huge investment, but it actually like is something that gets used by anyone in the community, and it introduces people maybe to something they've never done before, or it takes away like a financial barrier there, or even just provide one more thing for you to do with your kids in a small community in the winter, right? Staying active in the winter is a little bit difficult sometimes. Yes, we have the Spark Centre, and we have the pool, but this was really just something that we thought would be a nice complement to what we have in our community already." 

This is a Weyburn Oilwomen initiative funded in partnership with Southeast District. The City of Weyburn granted permission to install a Sled Shed at the top of the Toboggan hill at River Park.

sled shed