Outstanding skaters awarded
The Winchester Skating Club celebrated their annual end-of-year banquet on Sat., March 23, at the Joel Steele Community Centre. The award winners were, front, from the left, Mackie Jean Somerville, Madelyn West, Olivia Burt, Emily Velthuis, Reese Williams, Charlie Paas, Jasmine Merkley and Connor Cowan. Back, from the left, Christie Douglas, Ella McNaughton, Ashley Wheeler, Alicia McNaughton, Kate Link-Horvath, Amy Proulx, Chelsey Boal and Maddi Crober. Absent from photo was Tanner LaRussa. Moore photo

Tracy Billings
Special to the Record

WINCHESTER—The Winchester Skating Club celebrated another successful year at their annual banquet on Sat., March 23. The hall upstairs at the Joel Steele Community Centre in Winchester was jam-packed pack with skaters who enjoyed a pancake brunch with all the fixings.

The club celebrated their season and recognized their talented athletes with their annual award ceremony which followed the brunch. The Award winners were, Tanner LaRussa – Pre-CanSkater Champion; Charlie Paas – CanSkater Champion; Madelyn West – CanSkater of the Year; Mackie Jean Somerville – Most Dedicated CanSkater; Connor Cowan – Most Improved CanSkater; Jasmine Merkley – Most Dedicated Advanced CanSkater; Olivia Burt – Most Improved Advanced CanSkater; Kate Link-Horvath – Most Dedicated Intermediate; Emily Velthuis – Most Improved Intermediate; Reese Williams – Above and Beyond Award; Reese Williams – Intermediate Sportsmanship Award; Amy Proulx – StarSkater of the Year; Ella McNaughton – Most Dedicated StarSkater; Christie Douglas – Most Improved StarSkater; Alicia McNaughton and Ashley Wheeler – co-winners Senior Sportsmanship Award; Alicia McNaughton – Program Assistant of the Year; Chelsey Boal – Spirit of Skating Award and Maddie Crober – Beauty of Skating Award.

The club would like to thank their many sponsors and the generous donations from the Winchester Lions Club, Chesterville Lions Club, Foodland and Tim Hortons, for making the event memorable and for their continued support throughout the years.  

This year, the club had 106 skaters, 17 program assistants and six coaches and hopes to expand next season by offering a CanPower program to the community. It has been a very successful year for all of our skaters with many competing at several competitions throughout Ontario. 

There were some Skate Canada gold level achievements completed by a few of our senior skaters as well. All the best for continued success in the future!