Darling White Lake Centre: April 2025

Thursday, April 10, 2025

"The sense we are most afraid to lose"

Yesterday, the Darling White Lake Centre was pleased to host the latest in our ongoing Live 'n Learn sessions, Dr. Zoe Bonell discussing the importance of eye care. A graduate of Carleton University and Cardiff University in Wales, Dr. Bonell is an optometrist practicing in Ottawa.

After a great buffet lunch put together by the Live 'n Learn volunteers and sponsored by the Highlands North Network, Dr. Bonell took centre stage.

Over the course of 90 minutes or so, Dr. Bonell discussed many, many aspects of eye care, beginning with the structure of the eye itself. She described common issues and treatments, including many age-related vision concerns such as glaucoma, cataracts, and macular degeneration, stressing the importance of regular eye exams in detecting and correcting these issues. The presentation ended with a series of recommendations/reminders on how to protect our eyes during daily activities, such as safety glasses for DIYers, eye protection during sporting activities, UV protection in sun and snow, etc. As Dr. Bonell pointed out, vision is the sense we are most afraid to lose, yet we sometimes neglect to take the necessary steps to protect it.

It was a very informative session and the Centre thanks Dr. Bonell for taking the time out of her busy schedule to come and share her knowledge and expertise with us. And, of course, we extend our thanks to the many wonderful volunteers at the Centre who continue to make these special events available to our community.

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Rentals

The Darling White Lake Centre is available to rent for special events, meetings, family get-togethers, small commercial activities, and so on. The following facility user fee schedule applies.

Rentals

For private (i.e. not open to the public) or commercial events not requiring the use of the kitchen, the fee is $65 per calendar day (or part). The rental fee is $100 per calendar day (or part) if the kitchen facilities will be used in support of the event. For any event expecting more than 60 attendees the rental fee will be determined on a case-by-case basis. In all cases, prior approval of the Executive Committee is required for any rentals.

All rental applications must include a $500 damage deposit to be applied to any damage and/or additional cleaning of the Centre resulting from the rental.

NOTE: If alcohol is to be served/available at the event, the renter MUST obtain a Special Occasions Permit (here) and provide a copy to the Executive Committee no later than 1 week prior to the event. Failure to do so will result in the reservation being cancelled. Both the approved Rental Application and the SOP must be posted at the Centre during the event.

For a copy of the Rental Application, click here. To see photos of the main room and kitchen, click here.

Public activities

Community events that are open to the public, such as dinners, euchre, yoga, coffee hub, general meetings, etc. are charged $2 per person per event.

These fees are payable to the Darling White Lake Centre by the hall's renter or the event's sponsor.

The Centre is to be left in a clean condition with all interior and exterior elements in the same condition as they were found. Should that not occur additional cleaning and/or damage charges may be levied.

The organizer(s) of any public event/activity must complete a DWLC User Agreement prior to commencing any such activity. For a copy of the User Agreement, click here.

Executive Committee

The Darling White Lake Centre (DWLC, or "the Centre") is owned by the Township of Lanark Highlands and is managed by an Executive Committee consisting of volunteers from the local community.

The Committee operates under By-Law 2023-1853 (here) and in accordance with the policies and procedures contained within its Operating Guidelines (here).

Current members of the Executive Committee are:
Brian Cairns, President
Brian Needham, Vice-president
Patrick Kelly, Treasurer
Brenda Guiney
Karen Cairns
Larry Paquette
Jacqueline Cairns
Sandy Geier

The Executive Committee meets on a regular basis. The meetings are posted on the Centre's calendar, and are open to the public. Minutes of past meetings are available here.

Any member of the Executive Committee can be reached at: DarlingWhiteLakeCentre@gmail.com.