Dr Bob Van Noppen and Dr Paul Miller from Docs On Ice met with council during the Committee of the Whole meeting in Smiths Falls on Monday evening. Docs on Ice is a fundraiser / hockey tournament held by groups of physicians in a rotation of Ontario communities. The epic event was held in Lanark County in 2019, and welcomed almost 1000 medical students and doctors to play hockey, feast on local fare, and party in style with local entertainers. Games were played in arenas in Smiths Falls, Perth, Westport, Lanark, Beckwith, and Carleton Place.
The annual fundraiser was put on hold for a few years due to the covid-19 pandemic, but now they would like to get it all going again. The attendees had “such a great time here in 2019, so the organizers asked if we would be the ones to get it all going again,” Van Noppen said.
In order to support the fundraiser, Dr Van Noppen and Dr Miller requested a reduction in ice time fees for ice time at the Smiths Falls arena.
“We typically raise $100,000 to $200,000. It’s run by local doctors, and the host doctors select where those funds go. In this case, the docs are all from Perth and Smiths Falls, and all of the charity money will end up in Perth and Smiths Falls,” explained Dr Van Noppen. The tournament is about “collegiality and for doctors to find a way to relate to each other other than over patients, part of it is for charity, and the other part is raising the profile of the community.”
“I’ve booked ice time with your arena staff, which are awesome, and it’s looking like it will be on March 31 and April 1, 2023. My request is if you would please consider charging us minor-hockey league rates, rather than the full rates,” asked Van Noppen.
Councilor Wendy Alford opined that the town could support Docs on Ice in this way. “I think it would be a small gesture for the town to reduce the rates,” she said.
In 2019, Docs on Ice raised over $100,000 for local charities.
Article by Janelle Labelle
