{"id":45792,"date":"2018-03-08T14:01:55","date_gmt":"2018-03-08T19:01:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/huntsville.dopperonline.ca\/?p=45792"},"modified":"2018-03-08T21:25:16","modified_gmt":"2018-03-09T02:25:16","slug":"ontario-55-winter-games-just-year-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/ontario-55-winter-games-just-year-away\/","title":{"rendered":"The Huntsville 2019 Ontario 55+ Winter Games are just a year away"},"content":{"rendered":"

Main photo: (From left) Fran Coleman, Huntsville 2019 GOC Chair; Russell Zavitz, Manager, Games Unit, Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport; Sheri Renaud, Huntsville 2019 General Manager; Angie Richard, President, Ontario Senior Games Association (OSGA 55+); and Geoff Johnson, Program Manager, OSGA55+ at the one-year-out celebration for the Huntsville 2019 Ontario 55+ Winter Games<\/em><\/p>\n

In a year’s time, the Ontario 55+ Winter Games will return to Huntsville. The municipality hosted them successfully for the first time in 2013 and was awarded them once again last June<\/a><\/span>. It is the only major provincial winter sporting event in Ontario for the 55-plus age demographic and is expected to have an economic impact of $2 million for the Huntsville area.<\/p>\n

Last night, the Games Organizing Committee (GOC), led by Chair Fran Coleman, gathered at the Active Living Centre with community members, volunteers, dignitaries and Town of Huntsville staff to celebrate and launch a volunteer recruitment campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere we are at the Summit Centre to ignite and kick-off the spirit and the spark for the Ontario 55+ Winter Games for next year,\u201d said Coleman. \u201cWe\u2019ve had a long history of sports and tourism in our community and this adds another layer to what we have successfully done.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Mayor Scott Aitchison agreed. \u201cWe are no strangers to these events. We are good at it and we like doing it and we\u2019re always happy to welcome people from all over the province and all over the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also gave a shout out to all of the volunteers who will be involved in the Games. \u201cHaving been involved in a few of these games now, it\u2019s a lot of work but it\u2019s rewarding\u2026 I appreciate your service to our community,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is a community of volunteers and you\u2019ve shown us once again that that\u2019s the case.”<\/p>\n

More than 400 volunteers will be needed in the lead up to and during the event. Parry Sound-Muskoka MP Tony Clement applauded those who get involved. \u201cWe\u2019ve got such a great history of volunteerism in this community. It\u2019s just fantastic\u2026 I look forward to this already. I think it\u2019s fantastic that we get to welcome the province again and show our traditional hospitality and show off our great community, both the people and the surroundings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Greetings and well wishes were also extended by Parry-Sound Muskoka MPP Norm Miller in the Ontario Legislature yesterday, and by the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport (MTCS) and the Ministry of Seniors Affairs in messages to the organizing committee.<\/p>\n

“Fran is a very accomplished community builder and volunteer in the Muskoka region,” Miller told his fellow MPPs. “She served as a town and district councillor for 20 years, during which she advocated for improved health care services, greater access to affordable housing, and increased supports for at-risk children and youth. A compassionate and caring person, Fran has also served on the board of Hospice Huntsville and is currently a volunteer with victim crisis and referral services… I want to thank Fran and her committee for their hard work, and express my support for their efforts.”<\/p>\n\n\t\t