North Augusta, Ont. outdoor rink receives building donation, honours life of community member
Outdoor community rinks are a staple in rural Ontario.
For one village northeast of Brockville, a recent tragedy has transpired into something special.
In North Augusta, the two-year-old 60 x 100 outdoor rink on Mill Street is a popular destination. Maintained by volunteers, it's not so popular for users suiting up to use it.
"I'd put out some plastic chairs, and we would knock the snow off them, sit on them with our bottoms getting cold and wasn't very nice," said Bill Tennant, North Augusta Recreation Committee President. "Our boots would fill up with snow, so it wasn't very nice!"
Local company Little Irishman's Portable Sheds figured they could help, and discussed building a shed to help users stay out of the cold while lacing up.
"My partner and I, our shop is in North Augusta, we've lived here all our lives," said co-owner Dale Armstrong. "We were talking about the rink with Bill and we decided that we would donate a shed for the kids and people to put their skates on and stay out of the weather a little bit."
The new shed was dropped off just before New Year's, and placed beside the rink.
"We spent a few days working on this to get it to the way we wanted it," said Paul Asbreuk, also a co-owner. "(we had to) figure out what size, and get the bench at the right height for all the different sized kids that are coming here."
"Just a nice place for them to come and stay out of the cold wind," he said.
A donated shed for the North Augusta, Ont. outdoor rink is in memory of Maya Spence. (Nate Vandermeer/CTV News Ottawa)
With the shed a welcomed addition, another small gesture was praised by the community.
On the side of the shed, a small sign provided by TNT Dynamite Signs of Prescott states, "In Memory of Maya Spence", a 22-year-old resident who unexpectedly lost her life last summer.
"She was the light of our lives," said Armstrong, Spence's stepfather.
Spence loved sports and was a recent Laurentian University graduate, who had just accepted her dream job at Skate Canada.
"She was a great girl. Couldn't ask for a better daughter," he added.
On Aug. 30, 2021, Spence passed away from a pulmonary embolism, when a blood clot gets caught in an artery in the lung. She was shopping with her mother in Kingston when it happened.
"There was no indication that she had any illness at all," Armstrong said. "She wanted to be in the sports field and she got the opportunity at Skate Canada and she was looking very forward to it."
In university, she helped create Lu Women in Sport and graduated with honours. She also held a volunteer position in the organizing of the Canada 2022 games.
"She actually never got to start (her job)," Armstrong said. "She had the job, got her apartment in Ottawa and she had been there for two weeks."
"Maya was always involved in the community, she was friends with everyone and she was just a super girl," added Asbreuk.
Tennant, excited and thankful by the donation of the shed, says the memorial tops it off.
"The fact that they could do it in memory of Maya was really exciting," he said. "This whole village took a hit when that happened. We all suffered, and so to be able to have something like this to come out of it, is kind of neat."
On Friday, kids skating on the rink could leave their boots in the shed to keep them dry.
Silas and Corey Gray prepare to go for a skate at the North Augusta, Ont. outdoor rink. (Nate Vandermeer/CTV News Ottawa)
North Augusta residents Cory and Silas Gray also stopping by to play hockey, using the shed for the first time.
"It's excellent," Cory said, tightening his son's skates. "I was kind of wondering if I had to bring a chair down for him so he had somewhere to sit while I put on his skates and it's perfect."
"It's good news out of tragedy," Tennant said. "I mean our hearts are still broken, everybody still misses Maya, but we can all look at that picture and say look what we got now and remember her positively and enjoy the rink and the shed."
Including the two friends and partners, glad to provide a lasting memory of someone special.
"It's going to be really nice knowing that everyone, every time they walk by this shed, they are going to see Maya," said Asbreuk.
"Maya would be very proud of this," added Armstrong. "She's just a super girl."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
House of Commons Speaker Greg Fergus survives vote calling for his ouster
Greg Fergus survived a vote to oust him as House of Commons Speaker on Tuesday, but with close to half of MPs expressing a loss of confidence in him, he faces a precarious path forward in maintaining order in Parliament.
'It was hell': Israeli mother held hostage with her children describes 51 days in captivity
Hagar Brodutch, her three children and four-year-old neighbour were kidnapped by Hamas-led militants from their home in Kfar Aza, Israel on Oct. 7 and held for 51 days. They were released in November, but Brodutch says her thoughts are never far from those still being held in Gaza.
'Unruly passenger' forces WestJet flight to make emergency landing in B.C.
A WestJet flight heading to Calgary had to make an emergency landing in northern B.C. Monday due to an incident involving an 'unruly passenger,' Mounties say.
P.E.I. kiteboarder 'lucky to be alive' after shark attack in Turks and Caicos
A professional kiteboarder from P.E.I. says he has been seriously injured in a shark attack that occurred while he was snorkelling in the Turks and Caicos Islands last week.
Teen dies after being hit by train in N.W. Calgary
A teenager has died after being hit by a train in northwest Calgary on Tuesday afternoon.
Black bear kebabs make family sick with parasitic worms
It was supposed to be a celebration, but one family’s unique meal of black bear meat sent several members to the hospital instead.
'It's his vacation too': Jimmy the baby goat joins 2-week road trip across Canada
After Jimmy the baby goat was shunned by his mother, a New Brunswick man took the kid on a two-week road trip across Canada.
The double-level airplane seat is back. This time, there’s a first-class version
It’s the airplane seat design that launched a thousand memes and kickstarted a media storm. And now the double-level seat is back – only this time, with a twist.
New COVID-19 subvariants become the dominant strains in Canada
More than four years after COVID-19 effectively shut down the world, two new variants of COVID-19 have become the dominant strains of the novel coronavirus in Canada.