Good Afternoon! Welcome to your latest TVC News. This week (Friday 29th January) in Clarence-Rockland's regional update:

 An update on COVID-19 for Clarence-Rockland and Prescott-Russell ;

In Prescot-Russell there are currently 134 cases with the 7 day rolling average down to 54, still sitting above the “40” line that would take us back into the red zone. Clarence-Rockland has 30 active cases, bringing the total in the area up to 278 since the start of the pandemic.

As of this week all the residents in Long Term Care facilities in the Eastern Ontario Health Units region have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. We spoke to Joanne Henrie at the Roger Séguin Centre in Clarence-Creek about how it feels to finally start seeing some light at the end of the tunnel… Roger Séguin is a francophone facility and the interview is in French. 

This is just the start of the roll out in the region, though it will be slower than initially expected due to the delays on the manufacturing end. On Wednesday evening I got the opportunity to speak to Dr. Paul Roumeliotis, the medical officer for the EOHU about when Group Living and Retirement homes are likely to receive their first doses. 

 Playing by the rules doesn't mean not having fun;

Last week there was confusion in Cumberland as a father and volunteer at the community skate rink was fined for allowing his son to skate with his hockey stick whilst he scraped the ice. The fine was rescinded after some clarification of the rules, so remember - you can skate but you can’t play hockey, with or without a puck - leave the sticks off the ice! 

Time on the ice in the winter is a core tradition for Canadians and has been for generations. Enjoyment can be found in skating, playing hockey, curling or even simply maintaining the playing surface. Looking after the ice can be a therapeutic process and I caught up with Marc Blais, a community volunteer in Cumberland about how important this rink has been to the local community, especially during these hard times… 

 Launch of a new platform for volunteers in the region;

And just like the rink in Cumberland, community groups, activities, events and even TV stations could not be run without the generous aid of volunteers. 

Fortunately for those in the local region there will be a new platform to help out. Whether you are seeking volunteers or you would like to donate some of your own time to helping out there is a new platform you can sign up to, as Julie Leroux from the Prescott-Russell Community Services told us…

Call for tenders is out for a new training center for firefighters.

If you are interested in volunteering, and are a little bolder, then you can sign up to be a volunteer firefighter here in Clarence-Rockland. And if you do, you would soon be benefiting from a new Containerized Training Facility.

The project is currently out for tender and will create a space for local firefighters to tackle fires in a controlled environment. One of the deciding factors for the council was the benefits it would bring in terms of training as well as the fact that it will be self sustainable with the revenue generated by renting out the facility to firefighters in the surrounding region. 

At $127,000 it wasn’t a small ticket item but it was much lower than councilors were expecting…