By A.P. Crawford, Kawartha Zone Member (ap.crawford@skipatrol.ca)
In the spring of 1973, Ontario’s Eastern Zone was split into Kawartha and Frontenac Zones, with the 1973-1974 season being the first as a stand-alone zone. Both zones continue to thrive to this day.
Over the years, Kawartha Zone has celebrated its milestone anniversaries in style. This past season we held a number of zone-wide events to honour the work of those who have come before and built the foundation upon which we stand, and look to the future ahead. The zone’s celebration committee worked hard to ensure all bases were covered.
Our own Tim Moffatt created the logo for this anniversary year which has been seen widely across the zone. A similar logo was also created by Tim for our sister Frontenac Zone. This logo has appeared on numerous items of apparel including ball caps which were provided to every registered patroller in the zone in celebration of the year.
Two zone-wide pub nights were held with some individuals travelling more than 100 km each way to join in the festivities. The first event was held prior to the snow arriving, and was an opportunity for returnees and first-year patrollers to mix and mingle, swap yarns and get into the mood for the season. The second was a more home-grown affair at a local legion hall; this time a number of retired patrollers joined in the fun.
Other celebration events included a photo contest to see where in the world the 50th anniversary ball caps had been (they went far afield), inter-resort visitation events, celebration of International Ski Patroller Day across the zone, and a history trivia quiz based on the zone’s history book open to all.
The history book, created in celebration of our 40th anniversary, was updated to 2023. It can be found on the zone’s website (it’s a big file) and the update represents two years’ worth of work by the team. Prizes (limited edition mugs not available for purchase) for the trivia quiz were drawn from entries received and two of the four recipients were from outside the zone (one retired as a patroller in 1994; the other is a life member from Calgary Zone!). (If anyone is interested in putting together their own zone’s history, feel free to contact the author for guidance on where to start.)
On April 27, 2024, the year-long celebration culminated with the return of the zone president’s banquet, held this year in Peterborough. Dinner, awards and (line) dancing were the order of the evening. We were delighted to welcome a number of special guests including most of our living past presidents, life members at the zone, division and national levels, and other special guests, all of whom have contributed one way or another to the success of Kawartha Zone over the years. Included in that number was our very own Liz Sine (LM No. 23), the first and for a very long time the only female life member of the CSP! Stories about Liz and many of the other attendees can be found in the aforementioned history book.
Given the uncommon winter in Southern Ontario (rain, snow, rain, warm, frigid, rain), the year-long celebrations served to keep all of us reminded about the best that the CSP can be. Now, building on our past, we’re looking forward to the next big celebration, nine years hence!
This post is also available in: French