Georgian Bay Snowriders Club's new home pays tribute to OFSC founder
The Georgian Bay Snowriders Club now has a place to call home in Victoria Harbour, with a facility that will be used as a training hub and a house for its equipment.
"Our district, district eight of the OFSC is 10 snowmobile clubs. In our organization, there's probably about 50 employees in the winter that have to be properly trained, and we'll share this facility for storage and the maintenance of their equipment," said Patrick Murray, Georgian Bay Snowriders president.
- Download the CTV News app to get local alerts on your device
- Get the latest local updates sent to your email inbox
The Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs (OFSC) was created back in 1967 by John Power - this building is dedicated in his honour.
"John spent the next 20 plus years travelling across all of Ontario joining snowmobile clubs and getting them to join into the federation which has now created at 30,000 kilometres trail network in the province," said Murray.
John Power's sons were also in attendance Friday afternoon and said it was a great tribute to their father.
"When your parents and your father do something wonderful, it's nice for that to be acknowledged, and Pat has done a great job really bringing all this together," said Sean Power, son of John Power.
"He found a passion. He loved being outside and found a way to make a living at it as well by writing about it. Quite frankly, until the Ontario Federation contacted us, I had no idea how involved he was in snowmobiling, but it definitely was a big part of his life, and the folks here in the local club have just done a phenomenal thing and providing us with this legacy as well," said Mike Power, another son of John Power.
The Orillia District Snowmobile Club (ODSC) will also have access to the new building.
The ODSC looks after close to 300 kilometres of trails, and officials said this would come in handy all year round.
"We don't have a building or a place that we can get to during the winter that we can put them out. So, if we have to do some maintenance and whatnot, we're normally outside. We do occasionally borrow somebody's garage or something, but it's so nice to be able to bring them into a building, thaw them out, warm them up and then we'll be able to store them in here for the summer as well," said Rob Love, Orillia District Snowmobile Club president.
Officials said between 200 clubs and 5,000 volunteers, the social and economic impact of organized snowmobiling in our province has generated over six to $8 billion.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6974402.1721752977!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Laws that could get Canadians in trouble in Spain and other tourism hotspots
There are some laws in popular tourist destinations around the world that could land Canadian travellers in mild-to-serious trouble if they're not careful. Don't let these local laws land you in hot water during your next vacation abroad.
Edmonton gas station employee found guilty of terrorism charges in the U.K.
An Edmonton man has been convicted of multiple charges under the Terrorism Act in the United Kingdom.
BREAKING Polar bear at Calgary Zoo died by drowning following 'crushing' injury
The Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo has revealed the cause of death for polar bear Baffin last week.
U.S. Secret Service director resigns after Trump assassination attempt
The director of the Secret Service resigned Tuesday in the aftermath of the assassination attempt against former U.S. President Donald Trump that unleashed an outcry about how the agency failed in its core mission to protect current and former presidents.
Quebec mom devastated after man who killed her daughter in hit-and-run gets out after 5 months
A Montreal-area mother is furious with Quebec's justice system because the man who killed her 25-year-old daughter in a 2022 hit-and-run was released from jail after only serving one-sixth of his sentence behind bars.
Waterloo, Ont. woman out thousands for car totalled by stolen hit-and-run driver
A woman in Waterloo, Ont. is out thousands of dollars for a car crash she wasn’t involved in.
DEVELOPING Jasper evacuees forced into B.C. to flee fires told to make U-turn to Alberta for aid
Thousands of wildfire evacuees forced from Jasper National Park into British Columbia along smoke-choked mountain roads Monday night were directed Tuesday to make a wide U-turn and head home if they needed a place to stay.
Keanu Reeves explains why he's always thinking about death
Keanu Reeves is aging like the rest of us. And for that reason, 'The Matrix' has shared, mortality has been on his mind.
Do you need a lawyer when making a will in Canada?
Many people believe that creating a will requires the services of a lawyer, but this isn't always the case. In his personal finance column for CTVNews.ca, Christopher Liew explains a lawyer's role when crafting your last will and testament.