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The 17th annual Skate the Lake event isn’t going to be quite the same this year.
Another victim of COVID-19, the Portland event will follow the lead of other activities and move online – while hoping to get an exemption from a federal permit fee.
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The volunteer organizers are going to go ahead and clear the one-kilometre oval of ice on Big Rideau Lake and encourage participation with online challenges.
“We won’t have a weekend event, but we’ll advertise it as open to the public, and have several challenges, so things like who can complete the most laps in a week or season. We won’t charge people, or offer prizes, we just want to keep people aware of the event and offer residents an opportunity for exercise,” said John Bongers, chairman of the Skate the Lake organizing committee.