Cornwall enjoyed another great season of outdoor hockey, and local volunteers had a big assist in the effort.

Mayor Leslie O’Shaughnessy and staff from the Parks and Recreation Department took some time on Friday to recognize the dedicated residents who helped to maintain outdoor rinks in neighbourhood parks this past winter. The group met at Memorial Park – a new rink site this winter – and the Mayor presented the volunteers with a City of Cornwall jacket as a small token of appreciation.

“We had 11 different rink sites this winter and many of them were maintained by community-minded volunteers,” said Mayor O’Shaughnessy. “They put in countless hours of work to ensure this winter tradition remains accessible to residents throughout our community.”

This winter’s milder weather posed quite a challenge when it came to maintaining the rinks but the volunteers were certainly ready for the challenge.

Volunteer Cathy Malyon, who helped maintain the rink at Memorial Park with her husband Jim, said it was extremely rewarding to see children out making use of the ice. Often times, they would come from other parts of the City just to try out the new rink.

Mrs. Malyon also experienced Cornwall’s rich community spirit first-hand when a resident from Cornwall Centre Road showed up and helped clear the ice after a storm one day for the sole reason of wanting to help out.

“It was a pretty awesome experience,” she added.

Other volunteers include Rich Forrester (Alexander Park), Mike Brunet (Broadview Park), Stephen Thompson (Dover Heights Park), Jamie Fawthrop (Grant Park), Ritchie Seguin (Mattice Park), Bruce Tait (Menard Park), Jason Crowe (Optimist Park) and Gilles Parisien (Reg Campbell Park).

“The City simply doesn’t have the resources to maintain all of the outdoor rinks on its own,” said Lorne Taillon, Leisure Arts Coordinator. “The support of volunteers is crucial to our outdoor rink program and we are fortunate to have such a great team of volunteers.”

Pictured in the photo are (back row from left) Rich Forrester (Alexander Park), Stephen Thompson (Dover Heights Park), Bruce Tait (Menard Park), Mike Brunet (Broadview Park), Mayor O’Shaughnessy, Ritchie Seguin (Mattice Park), Leisure Arts Coordinator Lorne Taillon, Cathy and Jim Malyon (Memorial Park). Front row (from left) are Subforeman Wayne Potter, Municipal Arborist Supervisor Scott Porter and Parks and Recreation Division Manager Jamie Fawthrop.