Trillium Foundation Awards Grant to Silver Lake Rowing Club

The Silver Lake Rowing Club thanked the Ontario Trillium Foundation Tuesday evening for their $40,000 grant toward the purchase of a new dock. On hand to see the new dock were Toby Barrett MPP and Harley Clark representing the Trillium Foundation.

In March, The Ontario Trillium Foundation approved the $40,000 grant to the Silver Lake Rowing Club “to maintain access to recreational and competitive rowing programs in Port Dover.” According to Lori McMaster, Past President of the Silver Lake Rowing Club “Our dock was in sore need of replacement being more than ten years old. Without a dock, we couldn’t continue to offer our programs and host our regattas.”

With the assistance of Bridget Yachts Ltd. of Port Dover, the club selected a floating dock system manufactured in Canada by CanDock. According to Mike Anderson Vice President – Rowing of the Silver Lake Rowing Club, “Once we heard the good news, we had the 120 by 10 foot floating dock ordered, delivered and assembled by our volunteers in less than six weeks – just in time for the high school regatta held May 2^nd.” Since then, the dock has been used by over 200 elementary school, high school, university and adult rowers from across Norfolk County and beyond. The club hosted an adult learn to row program in partnership with the Heart and Stroke Foundation that raised over $15,000 to assist with heart and stroke research.

According to Val Holland, a member of the club’s grant application team and an adult recreational rower for six years “The dock isn’t just used by rowers. The public frequently uses it to fish from or to launch their canoes or kayaks onto Silver Lake. It benefits the whole community.”

Picture from left to right: Toby Barrett, Harley Clark, Val Holland, Lori McMaster, Mike Anderson

The Silver Lake Rowing Club was established in 1999 to promote the sport of rowing across Norfolk and Haldimand. For information regarding the grant application, please contact Lori McMaster (519-583-3428). To find out more about the Silver Lake Rowing Club, please call Mike Anderson 519-583-0012 (Vice President – Rowing) or visit our web site at: www.silverlakerowingclub.com.