For a third year, Innisfil Community Church partnered with the Rotary Club of Innisfil and Innisfil Fire & Rescue to hold the municipality’s “biggest bonfire” – a burning of Christmas trees on Sunday Jan. 6, that lit up the night.
The Rotary Club has no religious affiliation, noted Rotarian Al Gilchrist, but it has been a willing partner of the church, which provides food bank services and a clothing room for residents of Innisfil.
The Rotary Club held a successful food drive in Sandycove Acres, collecting food and cash just before Christmas, and this year, helped pick up more than 400 discarded Christmas trees, which were piled in a field adjacent to the church on Innisfil Beach Road for the bonfire.
“Christmas is over, new year’s is over – it’s just to get the people out,” said Gilchrist. “It’s a community event, and Rotary is very involved in the community.”
Pastor Howard Courtney agreed that there was no religious significance to the bonfire.
“It’s just a matter of coming together and having some fun together,” he said.
And families got to enjoy music, hot dogs and hot chocolate at the event. Firefighters set fire to the pile and kept a close eye on the flames and the crowd of hundreds, who watched, took photos and videos, as flames leapt against the night sky.
Courtney acknowledged the church had received two complaints, including “one that didn’t feel it was environmentally friendly,” but he suggested that chipping the 400-plus trees using diesel-powered equipment would produce almost as much pollution as the bonfire and would not have brought the community together.
