It鈥檚 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鈥檚 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.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been challenging, of course, filling in for David (Clark),鈥� said Curley.

鈥滲ut, at the same time, I鈥檝e been working here since I was, probably, 16 years old and, kind of, learned the majority of the stuff with him over the years.

鈥淎t first, when he first took off for Finland, I was like, 鈥榃hat do I do now?鈥�.

鈥淏ut, here I am now, about a month before he comes back for the summer, and I can say I鈥檓 pretty comfortable doing what I have to.鈥�

Curley said people have shown him some leeway with a job he鈥檚 been doing for the first time.

He said everybody knows him in Rankin Inlet and that鈥檚 helped him a lot.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not about trying to keep everybody happy. It鈥檚 more about getting their understanding that I鈥檓 trying to do my best here and, I believe, most people understand that.

鈥淚 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鈥檚 been going pretty good.鈥�

Curley said he鈥檚 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.

鈥淒avid will be back for good in May or June 0f 2025, but he鈥檒l be here for this summer, so that gives me a little bit of help.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been totally different compared to when I鈥檇 fill-in for David whenever he鈥檇 leave town for two weeks at a time. This time it鈥檚 been about nine months and there鈥檚 a lot of responsibility that has to be taken. When someone鈥檚 unhappy over something I鈥檓 usually the guy who gets the finger pointed at me, but I don鈥檛 mind that.

鈥淗ockey 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.

鈥淚t was quite the learning experience.鈥�