Orléans councillor marks first Family Day as a father

Well, this was my first Family Day weekend as a father. While I certainly enjoyed the stat holiday in years past (when I was able to take it), nothing beats spending the day with your little one and your best friend.

You really don’t know how big your heart can grow until you have a tiny human to love and care for unconditionally together. It's been the greatest adventure and the most rewarding experience of our lives, and I’ve certainly had quite a few adventures!

I spent Saturday morning at the Ray Friel Centre for my Flag Day Family Free Skate. It was so nice to connect with constituents and enjoy an hour of fun on the ice. Thank you to all who came out and thank you to our incredible staff at CRFC for the help provided in setting up and supervising the skate to keep everyone safe.

The rescheduled Convent Glen-Orléans Wood Community Winter Carnival was fun! I enjoyed some delicious maple syrup and had a great chat with our wonderful residents down the hill.

The rinks at St. Moritz are in great shape thanks to an extremely dedicated group of volunteers.

We are so blessed to have such generous volunteers maintaining our outdoor rinks. Shout out to all of you going out late at night to shovel and flood our rinks.

I maybe somewhat biased, but I believe Orléans has the best outdoor rinks in the city, from Queenswood to Cardinal Creek to Convent Glen, and it's all thanks to volunteers. Thank you to everyone volunteering your time and helping to make our community such a great place to live.

Saturday night had me celebrating Flag Day at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 632 in support of Soldier On.

As someone who was injured in Afghanistan and suffered with PTSD, I especially appreciated the businesses and individuals who sponsored this event to raise money for our injured veterans.

The Legion donated the space, the meal was provided by Lavergne Western Beef and Fruits Express and the winner of the 50/50 draw, a local firefighter and Afghanistan veteran himself, donated his winnings back to Soldier On. It was heartwarming and I was pleased to sponsor and attend the event.

Sunday, Laura, Libby and I enjoyed all that Winterlude had to offer. The ice sculptures and experiential art exhibits kept us busy as we caught up with friends.

However you spent your Family Day weekend, I hope it was restful and presented opportunities to reconnect with the people who love and support you most.

As always, if you have any questions please feel free to contact my office at 613-580-2471.