Family Skates Over the March Break

I spoke in the House on being able to hold my Free Family Skates again across Oxford after a 3-year break.

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March 20, 2023

Mr. Ernie Hardeman: March break is an opportunity for children across Oxford to recharge their batteries. They also get to enjoy the last few days of Oxford wintertime activities—like playing in the snow, skiing and tobogganing—before the mercury begins to rise. After a three-year break due to COVID, it was great to hold my annual family skates across my riding. Constituents of all ages came out to show off their skills, learn to skate or just take it easy with some casual laps around the rink. It was great to see so many smiling faces. Afterwards, everyone got to warm up with hot chocolate while enjoying a cookie or two.

On Monday, I held my Ingersoll family skate, where a constituent told me how she calls the town the heart of southwestern Ontario, because it’s no more than an hour’s drive to London, Stratford and Lake Erie.

My skate on Tuesday morning was hosted in the Colin Campbell Community Arena in Tillsonburg, which was named after the former hockey player and coach who was born there. I was off to Norwich that afternoon, where the turnout was beyond our expectations—we had over 100 people show up.

I want to give a big thanks and a shout-out to volunteers Beth, Michael and Jim for helping me set up and run the events. I also want to thank the community centres and arenas for hosting. I look forward to holding my family skates again next year with even larger attendance.