Page 11 - Sports Energy News, Cornwall, Issue No 41

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City of Cornwall Recognizes Neighbourhood

Rink Volunteers

Submitted Article the volunteers were certainly ready
for the challenge. Volunteer Cathy
ornwall enjoyed another great
Malyon, who helped maintain the rink
Cseason of outdoor hockey, and at Memorial Park with her husband
local volunteers had a big assist in
Jim, said it was extremely rewarding
the effort.
to see children out making use of the
Mayor Leslie O’Shaughnessy and ice. Often times, they would come
staff from the Parks and Recreation
from other parts of the City just to try
Department took some time on Friday out the new rink.
to recognize the dedicated residents
Mrs. Malyon also experienced
who helped to maintain outdoor rinks
Cornwall’s rich community spirit
in neighbourhood parks this past

winter. The group met at Memorial first-hand when a resident from
Cornwall Centre Road showed up
Park – a new rink site this winter – and
the Mayor presented the volunteers and helped clear the ice after a storm
one day for the sole reason of wanting
with a City of Cornwall jacket as a
to help out. “It was a pretty awesome
small token of appreciation.
“We had 11 different rink sites experience,” she added.
Other volunteers include Rich
this winter and many of them
were maintained by community- Forrester (Alexander Park), Mike
minded volunteers,” said Mayor Brunet (Broadview Park), Stephen
O’Shaughnessy. “They put in Thompson (Dover Heights Park), Back L to R Rich Forrester, Stephen Thompson, Bruce Tait, Mike
countless hours of work to ensure Jamie Fawthrop (Grant Park), Brunet, Mayor O’Shaughnessy, Ritchie Seguin, Lorne Taillon, Cathy
this winter tradition remains Ritchie Seguin (Mattice Park), Bruce Malyon, Jim Malyon.
accessible to residents throughout Tait (Menard Park), Jason Crowe Front L to R Wayne Potter, Scott Porter, Jamie Fawthrop
our community.” (Optimist Park) and Gilles Parisien Photo Submitted
This winter’s milder weather (Reg Campbell Park). outdoor rinks on its own,” said Lorne to our outdoor rink program and we
posed quite a challenge when it “The City simply doesn’t have Taillon, Leisure Arts Coordinator. are fortunate to have such a great
came to maintaining the rinks but the resources to maintain all of the “The support of volunteers is crucial team of volunteers.”

presents Sports Panel

The 2016 summer Olympics are set for August in Rio de Janeiro Brazil. Do you feel the publicity surrounding the
outbreak of the Zika Virus will have any impact on the games?

Gilles Gaudet - Sports Enthusiast - In Brazil “Zika” has become a 4-letter word. For a country wanting to show itself off to the world, this
virus has brought major concern to potential visitors arriving this summer for the Olympics. This disease, transported by the lowly mosquito, has
shown Brazil to be lacking in public health care and brought attention to the fact that basic sanitation is still not on the government leaders’ list of
priorities. For a country with one of the 10 largest economies in the world, this is unacceptable. So Brazil is scrambling, doing damage control, to

defeat an opponent that can be killed with a simple fly swatter. Maybe this summer, we’ll see athletes, running, jumping swimming, rowing, etc

carrying fly swatters, to protect themselves. This would be the proverbial “fly in the ointment”.
Jim Riddell - Seaway Karate Club - The World Health Organization has declared the Zika virus a Global Public Health Emergency and
Olympic teams from around the word have been warned of its dangers. The WHO has also stated that the virus should not affect international travel
nor prevent a successful Olympic games in Rio. The International Olympic Committee along with the individual countries is taking measures
to protect the athletes. The Olympic village’s team areas will be screened, proper repellents used, and additional clothing provided by sponsors.
The 2016 Summer Olympics are taking place in August, which falls in the Brazilian winter, a cooler, drier time when mosquito numbers fall
significantly. The virus has created legitimate concern and a definite fear factor, but I don’t see it having a major impact on athletes or spectators.

Jake Lapierre - Conditioning Coach - Growing concerns have prompted the World Health Organization to declare the Zika virus an
international public health emergency. The virus, new to South America, initially appeared in 2014 shortly after the World Cup when hundreds

of thousands of visitors flowed into Brazil (virus trackers believe the current strain may have originated from Polynesia where an outbreak was

spreading through small islands around the Pacific). The virus itself is not normally life-threatening, and most infected people have no symptoms,
however medical officials are working to determine if the spike in birth defects in Brazil is related to the Zika virus. With the expected number of

people slated to visit Brazil for the Olympics, researchers are assessing the risks the Games may pose in spreading the Zika virus around the world,

particularly into the United States. The publicity surrounding the outbreak is having an impact on the games; officials have stated ticket sales have

been disappointing and travel agents have reported as many as 15% of US travelers with itineraries are calling to cancel. Olympic officials have
a monumental task in assessing the health risks to athletes and visitors and doing what’s necessary to ensure the success of the games but time is
ticking and I hope it’s not too late.