Water Front Park and Marina

Perth-Andover, New Brunswick, a small rural community situated on the mighty Saint John River, has passion for sports that is second to none. Sports being a major component of who we are, the Municipal Council and Department of Education decided that the best place to construct a new arena complex would be between the elementary and secondary schools. This facility, along with the outdoor swimming pool, allows for the educational system and recreation department to work together to promote active living by providing a wide variety of sports to all age groups. Hard work and dedication of family, friends, and professionals assisting and encouraging community and area children and adults providing a wide range of sports and active living activities throughout the summer speaks to the community spirit and passion for sports. It is hard to find a Perth-Andovian not involved with sports in some way. Baseball, basketball, soccer, lacrosse, fishing tournaments, free public swims, and volleyball are popular summer sports available to all ages. Volunteers and municipal staff work hard at providing a good fun-filled, active summer experience for each and every participant. Winning is great, but participation and having fun is the key to successful active living programs. Successes like the Perth-Andover Expos Midget baseball team winning the Provincial and Atlantic Championships in 2008 are just ice cream on the cone, or if you prefer, icing on the cake. Community spirit is celebrated every spring, in Perth-Andover, with the “Gathering of the Scots Festival”. Scottish descendants and field athletes gather each spring to compete and keep the ‘ole’ sports alive. Dirk Bishop, a Perth-Andover resident lays claim to two World titles for ‘Heavy Athletics’ which includes stone putt, weight for distance, hammer throw, caber toss, sheaf toss, and weight for height. This year’s gathering hosted 40 athletes, from western North America, competing in two divisions, Juniors and Masters. “Gathering of the Scots” is organized entirely by volunteers and is fast becoming a must attend event. The facility that we would like to refresh is the water front park venue. Currently, this facility is underutilized and water sports are limited to participants who can provide their own water craft. Winning the Kraft & TSN Refresh contest prize of $25,000 would allow our community to purchase canoes and kayaks to provide a complete water sport program. We have the Saint John River, we have accessible docks, we have water front parks, but we have no water crafts. Colourful canoes and kayaks on a glassy-smooth Saint John River would certainly refresh the spirit of the community, tourists and boaters alike. In addition, the Recreation Department and Schools would have the tools to realize their desire of introducing water sports...canoe racing teams, kayak sports, and the municipal council would be able to realize their desire to showcase our unique community and province from a different perspective - the water. We have it all, the passion, the desire, the venue...all we need are the water crafts – canoes and kayaks. Would it be great?!

Browse other Water Front Park and Marina essays and photos.

POST A COMMENT

*Name

*Email

*Your Comments

ENTER THIS TEXT HERE

*The Captcha security code