The Morden fire department reached its fundraising goal to make improvements to the outdoor rink near the courthouse.
It had been estimated the cost would be about $36,000, and the Morden Area Foundation had offered to match the fundraising if $18,000 could be raised by Dec. 1.
“It really feels good … big time,” said Andy Thiessen, who just retired as fire chief but had been helping spearhead the fundraising campaign for Morden Fire & Rescue.
“When you set out a goal, you kind of anticipate that you’re going to be able to get it, but it was a pretty high goal for us. The community has really stepped forward again, and it is unbelievable,” Thiessen said.
For the past 25 years, the outdoor rink beside the courthouse has not just been a place to skate but perhaps more importantly a space for community connection, family memories, and even firefighter training, Thiessen had explained previously.
“When we set up the rink initially, it was for the community, but selfishly it was for us as well to practice pulling water in the winter time. It’s a totally different thing than in the summer,” he noted. “So I wanted my pump operators to learn how it works and what needs to be done extra so that things don’t freeze up.
“Rather than just spraying it out in the middle of nowhere, we thought we could make it useful, so we thought why not make a rink … so it was kind of a win-win situation.”
Thiessen said the rink gets a lot of use every winter, so it feels good to have the opportunity to really fix it up.
“It’s been around for quite a while, and a lot of generations have had a chance to use it, and they’re appreciative that there’s no cost to it. They are free to just go and use it,” he said.
“We try to keep the ice in as good a shape as we can,” he added. “I think over the years, people have appreciated it, and now they had an opportunity to kind of step up to the plate [with donations].”
He anticipates that while they will be able to get the materials and such ready immediately, the work will likely not happen for a few more months.
“I think in spring we could actually do a better job of replacing it and fixing it up,” he said. “So there will be one more winter with how it is, and then we will fix it up after that.”
