Puslinch councillors are lending an assist to the Puslinch Optimists for their yearly Family Day weekend event this February.
As in the past, on Dec. 17, council agreed to waive fees for the use of facilities on the grounds of the Puslinch Community Centre and Optimist Recreation Centre.
Puslinch Optimist member Ken Williams had written to council asking that it again waive fees for the weekend use of the community centre and ice rink over the Family Day weekend Feb. 14 to 16.
Williams said for the past two years, the club has held events “to get residents of the township to come out to the park and enjoy this special holiday with their family.”
He added “We believe it has been very successful with hundreds of people, mostly families, attending.”
Each year, the club has asked council to consider reducing the rental cost to assist the club in providing this event to the community.
“We plan to organize activities such as skating, snow sculpturing, horse drawn sleigh rides, fire pit, music, physical activities in the gym and entertainment in the hall.”
There is no charge for the family related activities.
In addition, the club intends to again run a four-on-four hockey tournament at the rink on Saturday and Sunday as a fundraiser to offset the cost of the other activities.
Williams noted the group intends to operate a bar coinciding with the hockey tournament.
“We are somewhat restricted to the amount we can charge per team to attend the tournament so we would appreciate if council can continue to allow us to run the tournament with the reduced cost we have paid in the past,” Williams said.
He added “In the past we have had access to all of the facilities of the park for the weekend, the rink, community centre, and parklands. This allows us to plan additional activities for our residents.”
Council agreed to waive the fees for the use of facilities for the events proposed, as long as the club would provide proof of $5 million insurance and assume the costs for part-time staff and the bartenders.
The value of waiving the fees of the rink pad for Feb. 14 and 15 is about $3,853.
Council also waived fees of $2,230 for the rental of the rink pad, community centre, gymnasium, ball diamond and parklands on Feb. 16.
Council passed the resolution to waive the fees.
