Oso Rec Committee on a Roll!

Brian Robertson | Mar 16, 2022

Central Frontenac’s District 3 Recreation Committee – also known as the Oso Rec Committee - is comprised of an energetic group of volunteers whose goal it is to organize seasonal events for all to enjoy. Be it on Canada Day or Hallowe’een; Heritage Weekend or Trail Day, the Rec Committee has left its mark with myriad activities including road races, hockey tournaments, entertainment of all sorts and hands on Arts opportunities.

And, as last week’s article in The News attested to, Crokicurl has now emerged as yet another option for winter fun that the committee has been successfully promoting throughout several years now.

But it is the group’s adoption of two other significant pastimes over the course of the last dozen months that truly has people’s heads turning: Pickleball and the Sharbot Lake Wilderness Trails.

Last summer when a small group of pickleball enthusiasts reclaimed the former township tennis court on Garrett Street (that had become overgrown and rundown), it was the Rec Committee that helped them get support from township council to use the facility. By all accounts the sport, particularly popular among seniors, went on to flourish last summer, so much so that the township has agreed to take over maintenance of the court and has included pickleball in their most recent downtown revitalization plans.

The Sharbot Lake Wilderness Trails, located on Crown land off the east basin of Sharbot Lake, are comprised of some forty kilometres of low impact, natural soil trails designed for snowshoeing and hiking.

District 3 long time member, Rudy Hollywood, has been bringing his vision to life over the past eight years, enlisting several volunteers and patiently and carefully mapping and cutting (with nothing but pruning sheers and handsaws) a series of loops off a main linear trail that roughly follows the shoreline.

“These trails will enhance the outdoor life of our residents and visitors alike,” explained Hollywood. “They will also be of economic benefit to the township.”

To formalize the trail system, over the last several years Hollywood and his team have been in talks with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, who are navigating the volunteers through pieces of legislation and the necessary communication with the various parties that are involved with this section of Crown land.

On what Hollywood saw as a key success at the local level, Sharbot Lake Wilderness Trails were accepted as a sub-committee under the wing of District 3. And, after several talks with the township over the last six years, Council has agreed to approve the trail system “in principle”, waiting to see the outcome of the group’s dealings with the MNRF before considering further support.

In the meantime, a couple of dozen snowshoe enthusiasts enjoyed the 6th annual Sharbot Lake Wilderness Trails cookout, snowshoeing out of Hollywood’s McCrimmon Bay home and heading along the picturesque trails covered in freshly fallen snow to a shoreline clearing opposite Lane’s Island where Richard Struthers and his team served up hot dogs and marshmallows.

Now winter doesn’t get much better than that!

Current Oso Rec Committee members include Chair Lesley Merrigan, Council liaison, Sherry Whan and Rudy and Joan Hollywood, Niki Greenstreet, April Martin, Sandy Robertson and Joanne Free. You can check out their Facebook page to volunteer or for more information.