In less than
10 days, the Village of
Point Edward will be hosting
the SCOTT FireFit
Championships July 18 and 19th.
The competition will take
place at the Waterfront Park
in the parking lot off
Livingston Street.
FireFit is
one of the most intense
physical competitions in
Canada, where participants
climb, pull, hammer, spray
and drag their way to
victory. The SCOTT FireFit
Championships is a
competition based on
firefighting tasks commonly
performed in emergency
situations. Many have had
the opportunity to see it on
TV; however on July 18 & 19th,
you will have the
opportunity to see it live.
“This FireFit
Championships, coupled with
the Bridge Bash will help to
support our small businesses
and is an excellent
opportunity to show people
what Point Edward has to
offer” said Mayor Larry
MacKenzie. “The Point Edward
Optimist Club works hard to
support our community and
the FireFit Championships
will attract more people
into our Village in order to
support the Optimists. We
expect this to be a win-win
for all involved.”
There will be
many different levels of
competitors, from the
seasoned veterans to the
first time rookies. One who
will be watched closely is
our very own Ian
Van Reenen.
Ian is an alumni of Lambton
College who trained at the
Fire & Public Safety Centre
of Excellence. He is now a
coach for Lambton College's
own FireFit Team and a
volunteer for the Point
Edward Fire & Rescue
service. VanReenen, who
holds the Canadian title and
walked away with a world
title in the men's tandem
competition, is excited
about the opportunity to
compete in his home town.
Last weekend in at the Scott
Firefit Southern Ontario
regional in Ingersoll, Ian
broke the men’s individual
WORLD record
with a time of
1:12.29.
“He has done
an excellent job
representing the Point
Edward fire department and
Lambton College on the
National and World stage,”
said Sue Patrick fellow
Lambton College FireFit
coach “And we are very proud
of his achievements as a
competitor and as the coach
of our own FireFit team.”
Gord Yates
another local volunteer
Firefighter for the Point
Edward Fire & Rescue Service
was instrumental in bringing
the event to the Village of
Point Edward. The Host
committee with
representatives from the
Point Edward Fire
Department, Village of Point
Edward, Tourism Sarnia
Lambton, Lambton College &
Purdy Ideal You, have put
countless hours gathering
support and preparing for
this event.
“I am
honoured to have this
opportunity to bring this
event to our community. What
better way to showcase our
community and our fellow
firefighters than by
bringing an event of this
calibre to the Waterfront
Park” said Gord Yates, host
committee member and
volunteer firefighter for
the Point Edward Fire and
Rescue service.
The Weekend
will be packed with
entertainment under the Blue
Water Bridges, with the
Mackinac Race &
Rotary
Club of Sarnia's Mackinac
Breakfast
from 7 a.m. to 11
a.m. followed by the SCOTT
FireFit Championships both
Saturday and Sunday from
11am -5 p.m. and closing off
the day with the Point
Edward Optimist Bridge Bash.
The Bridge Bash will host a
beer garden Friday – Sunday
and live entertainment on
both Friday and Saturday
Night, with Borderline &
Scoot Manery and the
Barnburners on Friday Night
and Chemical Valley and
Retrospect on Saturday
Night.
“We will be
hosting firefighters from
across Canada & the US and
what better weekend to
welcome our guests then
during Mackinac weekend.
With the addition of FireFit
, this will give our
visitors even more reason to
stay and enjoy our
waterfront.” Said Vicky
Praill, Special Events and
Group Marketing
Co-ordinator.
The host
committee has been hard at
work putting the finishing
touches on the event and can
not thank all the
volunteers and sponsors
enough for all their help
and support. More
information about the event
can be found at
FireFit.com,
tourismsarnialambton.com,
villageofpointedward.com
or by calling
Tourism Sarnia Lambton at
519-336-3232
