It’s been a challenging year for Rankin Inlet recreation director A.J. Curley, who is filling in for two years while David Clark attends a sport coaching and management program at Finish university Haaga-Helia.
Curley, 23, was tasked with organizing Pakallak Tyme this year and he’s satisfied with how the annual celebrations went this year.
He said good crowds were the norm throughout the April 25 to May 2 celebration, especially during the square dance competition, and everyone seemed to have a good time.
“It’s been challenging, of course, filling in for David (Clark),” said Curley.
”But, at the same time, I’ve been working here since I was, probably, 16 years old and, kind of, learned the majority of the stuff with him over the years.
“At first, when he first took off for Finland, I was like, ‘What do I do now?’.
“But, here I am now, about a month before he comes back for the summer, and I can say I’m pretty comfortable doing what I have to.”
Curley said people have shown him some leeway with a job he’s been doing for the first time.
He said everybody knows him in Rankin Inlet and that’s helped him a lot.
“It’s not about trying to keep everybody happy. It’s more about getting their understanding that I’m trying to do my best here and, I believe, most people understand that.
“I did get some backlash on a few things but, then again, this is my day-to-day-thing that I have to do now. But, overall, it’s been going pretty good.”
Curley said he’s working hard to make sure all of his documents and submissions are finished before Clark returns for the summer.
He said one thing he was quick to find out is that it can be hard to do office work when he has to be out and about all the time.
“David will be back for good in May or June 0f 2025, but he’ll be here for this summer, so that gives me a little bit of help.
“It’s been totally different compared to when I’d fill-in for David whenever he’d leave town for two weeks at a time. This time it’s been about nine months and there’s a lot of responsibility that has to be taken. When someone’s unhappy over something I’m usually the guy who gets the finger pointed at me, but I don’t mind that.
“Hockey season was a lot tougher than I originally thought, but hockey is so huge here. Managing all of the tournaments is challenging, When I made the hockey schedule with the tournaments this year, it was back, to back, to back for literally a month and a half, so that was go time.
“It was quite the learning experience.”