BONNYVILLE – The Lakeland Cross Country Skiing Club is trying to make the area a skier's dream and the MD of Bonnyville is lending a hand.
During their May 6 committee meeting, MD council voted in favour of providing a letter of support for the group's Community Initiatives Program (CIP) grant application. If the ski club is approved, the municipality will also provide them with $5,000 to help with projects.
“We’re really in growth mode,” Lakeland Cross Country Skiing Club representative Pierre Lamoureux told council. “We’re really excited about what we can bring for the quality of life and outdoor wellness to the residents of the whole Lakeland area.”
The province's matching CIP grant would provide $20,000 to the Lakeland Cross Country Skiing Club if they receive it. They've also requested $5,000 in funding from the Town and County of St. Paul, and the club would contribute the remaining $5,000.
If approved, some of the money will be used to purchase new snowmobile and grooming equipment, which is estimated to cost roughly $40,000.
“Anyone who knows skiing knows that the joy of it is skiing on great quality tracks. That comes from great volunteers, like we have, and good machinery,” Lamoureux said “We’ve really serviced and babied our machine, but it really needs to be replaced to be responsible with our funding.”
The other project they club would focus on is building a warming hut at a rural venue by the Wengzynowski Ranch Trails, located northeast of the Town of St. Paul within the MD of Bonnyville. The project is estimated to come in around $12,800.
According to Lamoureux, these projects are the Lakeland Cross Country Skiing Club's attempt to keep up with the growth they’ve seen in their previous seasons, attracting skiers from not only around the region but Edmonton as well.
“We see ourselves as being able to network and really partner with municipalities in our area to really showcase an excellent outdoor marketing opportunity for the MD in particular,” Lamoureux exclaimed.
Coun. Marc Jubinville was in favour of the project but wondered why MD amenities weren’t included.
“I would like to see the mention of our Muriel Lake Park as part of your organization because that’s a wonderful trail system,” he noted.
Lamoureux agreed, “We’re mindful that there’s already a nice facility at Muriel Lake. We see this second facility as really giving the MD, in particular, an opportunity to say ‘come to the Bonnyville area as an outdoor sports destination. Where you can come for a day or a weekend. You can ski from Kinosoo to Muriel Lake to the Wengzynowski Ranch.’ We think we’ve got the potential together with our municipal partners to really build something that would be remarkable in cross country skiing.”