Unit activity at OPG Bonspiel

pictures provided by OPG

Money raised at 41st annual OPG event used for Items for Canada's front-line in Afghanistan

BY REKA SZEKELY rszekely@durhamregion.com
From the 3 Feb 2010 addition of " The News Advertiser " Pickering
PICKERING - Ontario Power Generation employees combined a good time and a good cause at their annual bonspiel at the Annandale Golf and Country club in Ajax. OPG employees are part of a regular curling league and there were 128 participants in the 41st annual bonspiel recently. Participants included employees, their friends and family and the group combined to raise $2,055 which was used to support Canadian troops in Afghanistan. David Lloyd, a Pickering resident and employee at the Darlington nuclear power plant, has been organizing the bonspiel for the local curlers for more than 15 years. " For the past seven years I've had a component of the bonspiel to raise money for charity." Over the years more than $10,000 has been distributed to local charities including The United Way of Ajax-Pickering-Uxbridge, victims of the South Asian tsunami, Herizon House and The Youth Centre in Ajax.
This year, the group raised funds for items to be sent to Canadian troops in Afghanistan because of a personal connection to the cause. Pickering Nuclear employee and curling league member Adrian Rizzuto recently took a two-year leave of absence from OPG in order to serve in the military. He is a warrant officer in the 7th Toronto Regiment of Royal Canadian Artillery and he was deployed to Afghanistan from Sept. 15, 2008 to April 27,2009. He is now back working at the plant.
" He provided the list of items he felt would be most appreciated by the troops," said Mr. Lloyd. Among the items purchased were movies, books, snacks, and Tim Hortons coffee.
" These items are going to the forward operating base and these are the troops that don't have the luxury of the Tim's coffee and the stores back in Kandahar," said Mr. Lloyd. " These are the troops on the front line, the troops in tents who sleep on the ground." Major John Dean, second in command for the 7th Toronto Regiment, accepted the items on behalf of the troops and arranged to have them shipped. Overall, Mr. Lloyd said everyone had a good time at the bonspiel. "It was very, very, well received by employees, it's an event that's been sold out for a number of years."