Open letter to George Arcand, Bill Stonehouse and the board of Softball Yukon:
Please accept my deepest thanks for Softball Yukon’s support of Mount Sima, the users of the hill and Friends of Mount Sima. As a founding member of Friends of Mount Sima and the chair of the long-term revenue group, I appreciate the support and vote of confidence in the work of so many volunteers to keep the hill going.
As you know, we worked swiftly and hard to develop and deploy a plan to secure the core winter operations of the hill over the last three months, adjusting to changing circumstances as they arose. Obviously, I am grateful for the financial support. But I am as thankful for the time you took to go over the plan and budget and to share your depth of experience in delivering world-class sport and recreation in our community. As you noted, there is an abundance of models out there, and it is a question of finding the one best suited to one’s organization.
Of course our work for the coming year at Mount Sima includes developing a sustainable financial strategy to allow us to deliver service to our community and to meet our obligations, including the timely repayment of the $50,000 loan from Softball Yukon.
As importantly, in Friends of Mount Sima you will find a core of people dedicated to the high ideals reflected in your generous support. Over the longer term, I hope your support will come to be widely seen as a sound investment made by Softball Yukon, made at a critical moment, in a partner in the sport and rec community.
While each of us may indulge in different sports, from hockey to softball to snowboard or skiing, the higher values of good sportsmanship, building value, openness, honesty and a strong sense of community are values worth upholding on the ball diamond, at the rink, on the slopes and in our respective societies’ boardrooms.
Cristina Pekarik
Whitehorse