The Okotoks Recreation Centre has a new seating area, courtesy of the Okotoks Optimist Club.

On Wednesday, July 14, the Optimists paid a visit to the rec centre to drop the donation off and set the furniture up near the basketball court and curling rink.

It consists of three seats, a couch, a table, and a carpet.

The seats and carpet were new items the club bought with donated funds, and the couch and table were donated to the club for the project.

Secretary-treasurer Dan Proctor says they had a specific group of rec centre users in mind.

"As I understand it, the youth in this community use that youth room, but sometimes they need another area to sit and wait for the youth room to open or just spread out a little bit, and this serves that purpose."

The club is just over two years old, though much of their second year was stifled by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This particular donation has been in the works for some time, as far back as January of 2020 when the club painted the rec centre's youth room.

Proctor is glad to see the club picking up where they left off.

"The Okotoks Recreation Centre has been a wonderful partner through this whole process. They've allowed us to put a pin in things and we've been carefully storing the stuff we had gone and fundraised for and had donated to us last year, and now it's time to deliver on those promises."

The club's quick rebound following the easing of provincial restrictions came as no shock to Proctor, who takes pride in their ability to quickly spring into action.

"One of the things I like about this club is they were active and really got into it right away. It takes service clubs quite a while sometimes to get their feet underneath them. With Amy Giroux as our president, she's been very forthright and open about her plans to get lots done and keep the momentum going while we've got it. It's been neat to be a part of something that's got so much momentum."

The Okotoks Optimists have a few things in the works at the moment, though Proctor is mostly looking forward to Pumpkin Chunkin, an annual event where homemade catapults and trebuchets are used to launch whole pumpkins at the Country Living & Garden Centre.

This will be the third annual iteration of the event, scheduled for Oct. 30.

 

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