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The Carpenter High School Spartans play during a previous game. The team hosts the Forestry Bowl Sept. 25 in Meadow Lake, promoting forestry education and raising money for the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital. (Image Credit: Ryan Lambert /meadowlakeNOW staff)
forestry

Forestry Bowl brings Meadow Lake forest industry to the football field

Sep 24, 2026 | 1:34 PM

Meadow Lake’s Forestry Bowl is taking forestry education to the football field Friday, giving residents a chance to learn about the industry from people who work in it.

The second annual event takes place Sept. 25 at Lions Park in support of the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital.

Co-organizer Coleton Ethier, head coach of the Carpenter High School Spartans, also works in forestry.

“Forestry is a super important economic piece to Meadow Lake,” he said.

He said the industry supports most local jobs, directly and indirectly, through the community’s three mills.

Ethier also pointed to forestry’s role in managing forests across the province.

“Because without the forestry management activities, you won’t get renewal unless those forests burn,” he said.

Ethier said helping young people understand sustainable forest management is especially important.

“It’s their future for a lot of them, whether they know it or not right now,” he said.

He would also like to see greater public understanding of the industry.

“Right now in Meadow Lake, I still feel like the general consensus is that there’s not as much education in the world of forestry as I’d like to see in terms of the community knowing about it,” he said.

“I do think it’s getting better and the communications that we’ve had as industry have become really positive once we take the time to educate the communities.”

That exchange was part of last year’s Forestry Bowl, when visitors came to the barbecue and asked forestry staff questions despite cold, windy weather, Ethier said.

The event also introduces football to people who would not normally watch it. Ethier said the school has asked for a home game during National Forest Week in each of the past two seasons.

The Forestry Bowl is presented by the Saskatchewan section of the Canadian Institute of Forestry.

This year, the Spartans host the Kindersley Kobras at 7 p.m. in what organizers are promoting as the first night football game at Lions Park. Ethier expects the move from a 4 p.m. kickoff to help draw a larger crowd.

A barbecue and children’s activities, including a bouncy castle and scavenger hunt, run from 5 to 7 p.m. The canteen will remain open until 9 p.m. During the barbecue, visitors can learn from forestry professionals about the industry.

Organizers hope this year’s barbecue will surpass the $505 raised last year. Over the past five years, the Canadian Institute of Forestry’s Saskatchewan section has raised $5,232 through barbecue events.

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cjnbnews@pattisonmdia.com