‘The heartbeat of our little town’

Ellis family continues support of O’Leary Community Sports Centre

Well-known businessman and philanthropist Warren Ellis knows a thing or two about the high costs that are required to operate a facility like the O’Leary Community Sports Centre.

It was Ellis and a group of dedicated volunteers who began an aggressive door-to-door campaign and turned the local arena around when it faced closure in the early 1990s.

“The rink has always been a gathering spot, a heartbeat of our little town. We were not about to jeopardize that and we received a terrific response from the residential and corporate community,” says Ellis. “We were able to move forward and have never looked back.”

Indeed Ellis, along with his wife, Marlene, and sons, Josh and Brody, have been staunch supporters of the O’Leary Community Sports Centre for decades in a number of different ways — including footing the bill for fundraising dinners.

“He and his family sourced out all of the food, labour, clean-up, everything you can think of,” says one of the rink’s long-time directors. “Warren has even gone so far as to allow himself to be ‘roasted’ during another fundraiser. His efforts have and always will be appreciated.”

Supporting local hockey teams has been another example of the Ellis family giving back to their community. They were strong supporters of the Senior ‘A’ Maroons teams of the mid-’90s as well as the O’Leary Eagles of the Island Junior ‘B’ hockey league, and the Ellis family also supported the Town of O’Leary’s efforts in the national Kraft Hockeyville competition.

“We set up a free ice-cream booth during the celebration in 2017 and had a hard time keeping up,” beams Ellis. “It was just a great feeling to see the community come together and our family was happy to help out.”

Community is that overarching theme that Ellis speaks of when explaining his desire to give back. He acknowledges the community’s support of his current business ventures at Summerside Chrysler Dodge and the popular Frosty Treat dairy bars in Kensington, as well as past businesses.

This past Christmas, he and his staff gave away free roast turkey dinners for an entire week. His

name is synonymous with the annual Grass Roots and Cowboy Boots fundraiser for the Prince County Hospital Foundation, an event that has raised almost $10,000,000 since its inception in 2009, and his family recently donated $110,000 for on-going improvements to the O’Leary

Community Sports Centre.

“It’s about giving back and I encourage all residents and businesses to help in whatever way they can,” says Ellis. “These updates will modernize the sports centre and position it nicely for the next 30 years.”