Trenton Figure Skating to receive $15,000 from Quinte West

Crystal Weese (left) and president Cathy Pye (right), fromthe Trenton Figure Skating Club, outside of Quinte West Council chambers. Photo by Andrew Harper, QNet News.

By Andrew Harper

TRENTON – Quinte West’s Corporate and Financial Affairs Committee voted to give $15,000 to the Trenton Figure Skating Club and its 60th anniversary party Wednesday night.

The club is hoping to hold a carnival next spring celebrating 60 years.

The event’s budget is expected to be around $30,000. The club hopes to make about $15,000 from the event.

The money will be used to bring in high-profile guest skaters and to provide a reasonable ticket price for those wishing to attend.

The guest skaters will take up $23,000 of the total costs.

The club is hoping to bring in guest Olympians such as Elizabeth Manley, Piper Giles and Paul Poirier.

Ice dancers Giles and Poirier are both four-time Canadiam medallists and have competed in a number of international competitions. Elizabeth Manley is a former Olympic medallist who took home a silver medal at the 1988 Calgary Olympics for figure skating.

Club representative Crystal Weese says they are looking for a third guest skater.

“On our top list was Kurt Browning. Unfortunately he was unavailable that weekend. Gabrielle Daleman would’ve also made a great addition as a young Olympic athlete,” she said

Cathy Pye, president of the Trenton Figure Skating Club, says club members have been paying out of pocket to prepare for the anniversary.

“We’ve been putting every penny we have aside for this event”, she added.

The club is also looking for corporate sponsors. So far, the club has received $3,200 of their $10,000 goal for sponsorship money.

Even with the contribution from city council, the club is still shy of their goal by just over $10,000.

The carnival is set to be held in early April of next year.

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