The 2022 Ontario Winter Games in Renfrew County are just over a year away and dates have been set.
Chair of the games Peter Emon says they’ve decided to spread the event out over the last weekend in February and first weekend in March. Emon says the dates will be February 24th, 25th and 26th of 2022 and March 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th of 2022.
The 2022 Ontario Winter Games will feature over 20 different events and has venues spread out all across Renfrew County (including locations in Deep River, Barry’s Bay, Pembroke, Petawawa, Cobden, Renfrew, Calabogie, Arnprior and Ottawa). Roughly 3,500 athletes are expected to compete.
Emon says they are trying to cluster the events as best they can to maximize the use of volunteers, minimize travel and make it attractive for spectators to visit multiple venues. He adds this also allows organizers to focus their attention to 3 or 4 days at a time instead of 7 non-stop days.
It’s expected around 700 volunteers will be needed to put on the 2022 Winter Games in Renfrew County. Emon encourages anyone who’s interested to volunteer to send an email to info@renfrewcounty2022.ca and share your interests and experience. 16 different sub-committees will be formed to host the 2022 Winter Games including administration, IT, logistics, food and sponsorships.
Emon says there’s still a lot of work to be done. He adds they still have to plan what the games will look like, the colours, mascot, theme, opening and closing ceremonies and a legacy project.
When the games were first announced, Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Lisa McLeod said this will be one of the first major events in a post-COVID-19 environment and help kickstart the tourism economy.
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Planning for the 2022 Winter Games in Renfrew County is underway
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