Hopes are high that a breezy trip around the rink in Renfrew over the weekend will be the start of something bigger in the Ottawa Valley.
A small group of skaters donned their tartan as the Renfrew Highland Pipes and Drums welcomed them to the ice at the myFM Centre on Sunday night as part of the local Great Canadian Kilt Skate, which former Scottish Society of Ottawa membership director Whitney Brook’s says capitalized on Renfrew County’s shared roots with its sister city across the Atlantic, Renfrewshire, Scotland.
Brook’s says her pitch to line up skating events within the two communities was well-liked by municipal officials on both ends of the ocean, and the plan has been persuasive enough to get other Kilt Skate organizers in both Ottawa and Scotland to line their own events up as close to the twin public skates as possible.
She adds that the event provided a chance to celebrate how deeply woven Scottish heritage is in the Ottawa Valley, dating back to the era of “lumber kings” dominating forestry and logging operations along the Ottawa River, several of whom were Scottish.
The Sunday event is just part of a larger plan for the Kilt Skate, as Brook’s hopes a local interest will be inspired to keep it running in Renfrew annually while she promotes the concept around Renfrew County.
Learn more about the Scottish Society of Canada here.
(written by Kasey Egan)