A friend to many, a son to two will be immortalized with a Memorial Rink.
The Carter Schoonderwoerd Memorial Rink will soon open at Keterson Park and Tim Hortons Pavillion in Mitchell.
The rink honours Carter Schoonderwoerd, a 19-year-old who took his own life in June 2021.
Parents Joe and Heather Schoonderwoerd said the rink idea started after their son’s passing.
“His funeral visitation was going on, and you have a donation spot, a place where people can send money and ours was Mitchell Minor Hockey,” said Joe Schoonderwoerd.
“At that time there was an outpour of community support, and we had a fair-sized lump sum to deal with. Moving forward from that, we had a couple of charity golf tournaments that kept accumulating money and as a family, we had to decide what to do with it.”
Joe said they wanted to use the money for something long-term, that can be used by kids and promotes physical and mental health.
Heather said it took them a while to figure out what to do with it, with a friend of theirs coming up with the rink idea.
Beth Schoonderwoerd said the project was supported by friends and family and community donations, the Municipality of West Perth, Mitchell Minor Hockey, Uniac Insurance, and Van Allen Insurance.
Joe and Heather want Carter to be remembered as an “average young boy who grew to be a fine young man.”
“When he started playing hockey, he hated hockey and I told him he was gonna have to do karate, but he did develop a love for the game,” said Joe.
“He had a great sense of humour and a love of hockey and for people, and loved to make people smile,” said Heather.
They said Carter would play with the kids when he was at the arena, and made everyone feel included in school.
The rink’s opening will take place Nov. 1 at 10 a.m.
