Huron Expositor, 2017-01-25, Page 9Seaforth Coun. part
of $1 million lottery
Shaun Gregory
Huron Expositor
Usually Seaforth Coun,
Nathan Marshall's voice pro-
jects through the classic rock
radio waves, as he is not only
a politician, but also a radio
host, his voice might have
crackled a tad when he
found out he won the
lottery.
Through email, Marshall
found out he was a $1 mil-
lion richer, well; he and 26
others have to split the pot.
Which works out to about
$27,000 a piece.
For nearly a decade,
employees from Blackburn
Radio in Wingham have been
testing their luck in $20 tick-
ets; this covers 10 weeks of
betting. Fortunately, Marshall
started about five years ago.
Most people would he
more than happy with the
substantial amount of
money, but there is always
the thought of wishing you
had the whole prize, that's
not the case by any means,
said Marshall.
"It's really exciting for the
building because so many
people get to take care of
their debts, (buy) new beds
or go on trips," stated Mar-
shall by phone January 19.
"It's really nice to share that
with that many people."
Marshall was asked where
he will use his winnings, "It's
going all to debts."
For the time being, Mar-
shall and his lottery pals are
currently waiting for confir-
mation from the Ontario
Lottery and Gaming Corpo-
ration to know when they
should head to Toronto.
As a group, Marshall said
when they are told of the
specific date, the company
will all make a trip out of the
day and celebrate.
"It's really in the hands of
• the OLG at this point," he said.
Since the win came in
their sixth week, Marshall
told the Expositor that they
will be buying a new round
of bets very soon.
Wednesday, January 25, 2017 • Huron Expositor 9
Shaun Gregory/Fite Photo
Seaforth Coun Nathan Marshall is one of 27 people at Blackburn to be part of a $1 million lottery
ticket. Each winner walks away with about $27,000.
BACPA markets Bayfield Community Centre with success
Bayfield Community Centre
Ar shows threefold increase in
revenue from 2014 to 2016
The Bayfield Arena Com-
munity Partners Association
(BACPA) formed in 2013 after
catching wind that the munic-
ipality was thinking of closing
the Bayfield Community Cen-
tre. Bluewater Council agreed
to let the BACPA market the
facility to see if that would
make a difference. Now,
BACPA has put forward num-
bers comparing 2014 and
2016, and the stats reveal that
the Community Centre is
doing far better than it was
two years ago.
The group attributes their
success to an ongoing analy-
sis and dialogue with users
resulting in new program-
ming being developed and
improvements to existing
programming to meet the
needs of the community.
BACPA's success can be
measured in several ways.
One measure of this success is
the threefold increase in reve-
nue being generated in the
facility in less than two years.
Prior to the inception of the
BACPA, the total revenue
from the Bayfield Community
Centre was $26,199, in 2016
the total revenue was $78,469.
Another measure of suc-
cess is the more than double
the number of hours of
usage from 712 to 1,807 in
2016. The success can also
be seen in the positive feed -
b a c k received
from residents, visitors and
tourists who have partici-
pated in BACPA events.
Local government and
organizations have recog-
nized the value of the pro-
gramming to the community
in granting BACPA funds to
build and develop new
programming.
All expenses related to the
building continue to be the
responsibility of the munici-
pality, and BACPA has no
control over this aspect.
Revenue from ice rentals
continue to be the most
important. Ice revenues in
2016 were $62,118 or 79.2%
of total revenue. Hall reve-
nues were $10,756 or 13.7%
of total revenue and non -ice
pad revenue was $5,595 or
7.1% of total revenue.
A breakdown of building
usage in 2016 was a total of
1,807 hours. 650 hours or 36%
of use was from ice, 906 hours
from the hall which was 50%
and non -ice pad was 251
hours or 14% of usage.
When comparing 2014 to
2016 in other sports such as
soccer, activities that use the
Bayfield Community Centre
are increasing in popularity.
Bayfield Soccer Registrar,
Karen Brandon reports that
soccer has shown a 37%
decline in registration and
fear it may drop another 20%
in 2017. In contrast, Bayfield
children enrolled in Minor
Hockey in 2016 is up by 37%
compared to 2014 as
reported by BCH Minor
Hockey Registrar Laura
Mulder. The Bayfield Skating
Club is reporting a 85%
increase in 2016 according to
Bayfield Skating Club
Instructor, Jody Whetstone.
The municipality of Blue -
water has considered getting
rid of the ice at the commu-
nity centre while continuing
other operations. BACPA
Chair Ron Keys did acknowl-
edge that the municipality
would save a small amount
of money by doing so at
around $30,000 in savings.
However he argued this is a
very small amount of money
for something that adds so
much value to the
community.
NEW PROGRAMMING
Recognizing the need for
kids participating in some
non-competitive hockey,
BACPA introduced Monday
night kids pickup hockey last
year. It has continued to gain
popularity from players who
are registered in BCI I Minor
Hockey, Huron Perth Lakers
AAA & non -registered play-
ers of varied ages. BACPA
volunteers, Mike Gozzard
and Wayne Pollock often
comment on how well the
kids get along with different
ages and abilities. It is very
clear they are all there for the
love of the game.
This past weekend, BACPA
held the third annual Tyke
Hockey Tournament
bringing approximately 400
players and families to town
generating a noticeable eco-
nomic boost to the town in a
slow month of January.
WHAT'S NEXT
A different group, the Bay-
field Facility Infinitive Team
(BFIT), is a local organiza-
tion studying the possibility
of a privately funded Com-
munity Centre in Bayfield for
the surrounding community.
BFIT representation is from
many different business and
volunteer organizations in
the community.
BFIT has recently
approached Bluewater
Council for a three-year
extension of the current
facility's use to enable them
to finalize their plans. They
have also asked BACPA to
continue to market the facil-
ity and work with Bluewater
staff during this time which
BACPA has agreed to.
BACPA's not-for-profit sta-
tus enables the opportunity
to work with the municipal-
ity to search for grants such
as Ontario Sport and Recrea-
tion Communities Fund.
BACPA encourages the
community to contact coun-
cil if individuals are inter-
ested in having a community
centre in Bayfield.
As we previously stated,
there would be slim savings
by closing the ice portion of
the building. The main way
Bluewater could save any
money would be to close the
entire building, leaving the
largest community in
Bluewater without a Com-
munity Centre.
"BACPA encourages you to
speak up in favour of your
Community Centre and to
give the Bayfield Facility Initi-
ative Team the opportunity
and the time to investigate a
proper future for social and
recreational needs in the Bay-
field area," said Keys. "We also
encourage you to take the
time to come out and partici-
pate in the wide range of
events being offered in 2017:'
The community can keep
up to date on ice and hall rent-
als and future BACPA events
on Family Day, March Break,
50+ Hockey Tournaments,
Bayfield Beer & Food Festival,
Slapshot Golf Tournament,
etc. by following BACPA on
Facebook (@bayfield arena),
Twitter (@bacp2014), their
website (www. bacp.ca) and
Eventbrite (bacp.ca/
beerandfood).
Keys emphasized that
looking at all these statistics
are essential in making deci-
sions about the future of the
centre.
"Let's look at the real
numbers and base decision
off facts," he said.
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