It’s been a turnaround year for recreation in Clifford.
Use at the once threatened community arena is up dramatically – and so is revenue.
Clifford recreation association president Paul Wightman said his recent progress report to Minto council is a good News story. He noted the association began as a three-year pilot project in the wake of Minto’s recreation study, which originally called for the closure of the Clifford arena because of low use there.
What followed was a rally by the community to save its facility and the creation of the association.
In his report, Wightman reviewed committee structures and objectives.
He singled out Dale Ersman and Brad Richardson, who are chairmen of the volunteer development and concession booth management committees.
“They’ve stepped up to the plate to deliver to the community,” he said.
Objectives of the group include:
– developing and fostering community spirit;
– promoting organized athletics, recreation, arts, social and other community endeavours;
– maintaining the Clifford arena for the benefit of the community; and
– promoting other recreational and athletic facilities and equipment for the benefit of the community.
In some aspects, the group is over budget – in a good way – for the group and for the community.
Wightman explained the Cornerstone fundraising group’s contributions to get the group running were expected to be around $10,000; however in the first year that topped $19,137.
“It’s been phenomenal,” Wightman said.
Concession booth revenues were also estimated at $12,500, whereas final tallies are closer to $13,035 – bringing total income from the Clifford arena to $34,289 compared to total expenses of $11,678.
That leaves $22,611 in net income for the season.
“It’s sort of a good News story,” Wightman said. “We’re pretty happy with the financial results.”
In addition, the Clifford arena has seen a dramatic hike in use – much of it due to local users.
During the 2005-06 season (when the recreation study was being discussed), the Clifford arena averaged only 34.5 hours per week, with only 65% of that use by local residents.
“Usage was at an all-time low,” Wightman said.
By the 2006-07 season ,after the creation of the association and steps to increase usage, the volume of icetime jumped to about 41 hours a week, one hour over the group’s target.
Wightman pointed out that happened at the same time the usage by groups from outside the area actually dropped because community use jumped to over 75%.
This year’s forecast of ice use predicts ice time to jump to 47.5 hours per week (the group’s target for 2007-08 is actually 45).
But, Wightman said, the association learned the use of Clifford’s recreation facilities cannot be measured in icetime alone.
“There is a great deal of interest in the community hall as well [for recreation programs]. Therefore, we need to focus on the entire community centre, not just the arena and ice.”
Recreation director Dave Stonley was pleased with the higher percentage of local use, and said, “It is what we need for sustainability … out of town rentals are on spec – and can change from one year to the next. You can’t really count on it.”
Wightman intends to keep local use at the 75% level as he noted this year’s forecast predicts a 20% increase over last year’s use.
Even so, there is a recognition that rural community arenas will likely require a component of out-of-town use – necessitating a marketing strategy, he said.
“At the end of the day, we said any proceeds would head back into the community,” Wightman said.
As a result, the association initiated a grants program to help community groups in the Clifford area. Those grants totalled $13,000 and included:
– Clifford and District Horticultural Society, $200 for hosting the District 7 fall meeting;
– Clifford minor hockey, $5,400 for power skating, body contact, and goalie clinics as well as minor hockey day and miscellaneous equipment;
– Clifford badminton club, $300 for the purchase of new nets, rackets, and miscellaneous equipment;
– Clifford Rotary Club: $1,800 to assist with costs of two bonspiels and one curling school;
– Clifford dance committee, $400 to assist with hall rental costs for Christmas dinner and dance;
– Clifford Community Church, $1,000 for partial hall rental for 40 weeks for a Kids Club and four to six community family skating parties;
– Clifford Co-operative Nursery School, up to $500 to use the community hall and arena for indoor programs;
– Clifford old-timers hockey club, $850 to assist with ice time costs to run a tournament; and
– Clifford skating club, $1,680 to offset costs of increasing ice time usage and costs of an additional instructor.
Wightman said that not every group received the amount applied for, and some of the grants are conditional. He believes that overall, the committee has taken the right approach.
“If you don’t mind me saying, it was a stroke of genius.”
He saw the value of working in a committee in order to get a broader perspective of the community.
Stonley added that in-town ice usage was vital to the arena operations as he said Clifford has a high per capita use for the size of the community.
Wightman said that as he became more involved he quickly realized that community use is not just about how long the lights are on, but the impact on the community.
Stonley added part of this project has been about building community spirit, which will in turn affect the success of recreation programs.
One of the new programs as a result of the Clifford recreation association is the grassroots soccer program, which Stonley described as low-cost and with a focus on participation – not elite competition.
As for the future, Wightman and Stonley appear positive.
In addition to continuing to increase ice use, plans are in the works for a Minto house league soccer program, further grants to community groups, establishing simple marketing strategies to attract occasional and regular out of town users.
Also being considered is broadening the scope of the association to include the arts and providing a stronger focus on community hall use.
Mayor David Anderson said the report shows the dedication of the group and the community. While there have been excellent results, Anderson described the work as a task that is never finished.
Wightman was quick to credit the success to the experienced members of the association and the community.
“I’ve come to realize that recreation is just a vehicle to build and make a community,” he said. “The recreation study was a wake-up call to the community.”
He believes a lot of the items needed for a solution were already in place. “We just weren’t looking in the right place,” he said.
