Husky News

Township council passed on an opportunity to be the key sponsor for this year’s Cannington Dog Sled Races.
Despite a request from organizers for a one-time sponsorship of $5,000 for the event, council opted at Monday’s finance committee meeting to provide $1,000.
In previous years, council had provided a $500 sponsorship.

“Doubling our sponsorship is a positive,” said Mayor Larry O’Connor.

“It’s not what they (organizers) asked for, but its a step in the right direction.”

Ben Deith, chair of the organizing committee, had made a presentation to council at their Jan. 7 meeting.
In an interview Wednesday, Mr. Deith said the event will proceed despite the lack of a key sponsor.

“We may have to scale one or two things back, but we will go ahead with all the resources we have,” he said.
The fourth annual races are set for Feb. 23 and 24 and this year and organizers are looking to make the event bigger and better than ever.

The popularity of the event in its first two years convinced organizers to expand it to cover two days last year. The expansion paid off, as the number of participants and spectators topped the first two events.
This year, organizers are hoping to build on that foundation.

“We’re looking for a number of enhancements this year,” he told members of council.

These include an increased focus on the ice-carving competition on the main street, as well as live music and more vendors at MacLeod Park.

They’re also looking at expanding the number of categories for racers and adding a race for eight-dog teams.
“In the past three years, we’re had substantial growth in not only the number of spectators, but participants as well,” Mr. Deith said.

“We’re hoping to make this the premier event in Ontario.”

But support from the municipality is needed to ensure that this year’s event goes off without a hitch.
Organizers been unable to land a major corporate sponsor or any substantial funding from other levels of government.

According to Mr. Deith, the Township’s $5,000 would have gone a long way towards helping organizers land other sponsors in the future.

“This event can put Cannington and Brock Township on the map,” he said.

“It’s a huge event that will just grow and grow… It may be the Cannington Dog Sled Races, but this benefits all of Brock Township.”

At the finance committee meeting this week, Ward 3 councillor Anthony Woodruff suggested that the $5,000 grant request was “very ambitious” and put forward a motion for the Township to provide $2,000 in funding.

The motion was later amended and the sponsorship was dropped to $1,000, which drew the support of other members of council.

“They’re trying to turn this small town event into a… tourist attraction,” said regional councillor John Grant.
“This is an investment we should make.”

Ward 1 councillor Harold Lodwick and Ward 2 councillor Mike Manchester both voted against increasing the sponsorship from $500 to $1,000.

“I’m concerned that we’ll see other groups coming in and asking for money,” Coun. Lodwick said.
“We’re setting a precedent here for other organizations,” added Coun. Manchester.

Source: mykawartha.com