by Garrett Fodor
In the spirit of the holidays, over the course of New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, the Town of Essex provided families a chance to have fun, celebrate, and exercise together.
Kicking off the New Year’s celebrations, on December 31, the Town of Essex hosted a free skate at the Essex Centre Sports Complex, from 1-3pm. This opportunity allowed everyone to don their skates, get out for a twirl, and skate around during the unusually warm temperatures this winter.
The free skate was strategically placed, with hopes of allowing families with busy schedules to attend and celebrate New Year’s.
“The event has been going on for over 10-years now and is sort of a tradition, we are fortunate for the support and funding from Essex Town Council to put on the activities like this,” Jake Morassut, Director of Community Services for the Town of Essex, said. “It’s a good way to kick off everybody’s New Year’s resolutions of active fitness.”
He added that every year, more people attend the free skate, “which is great, and for the weather right now, it’s a great opportunity to lace up skates with the warm temperatures.”
Morassut noted his favourite part of the event is seeing the community come together. He added it is a great opportunity for families to bond and participate in activities together, and there are always smiles to be had.
Outside of Essex Centre, Harrow had its own New Year’s Eve event put on in partnership with the Harrow & Colchester South Chamber of Commerce. The event featured public skating, a ball drop, and other activities for families across the region.
On New Year’s Day, the Town of Essex followed up with a free public swim at the Essex Aquatic Centre.
“It’s great to see so many families out enjoying themselves and just being active, we’re truly unique with our facilities the Town of Essex has, so it’s great to see them used,” Morassut commented.
“On behalf of Council and Administration, I’d like to thank the community for all their support with all of our initiatives. We would like to wish everybody a great New Year and hope everybody has a good, happy, active lifestyle in the coming year.”
Looking ahead for other activities with the Town of Essex, Morassut noted a full list of recreational activities and other events can be found on essex.ca.