Sarah Ferencz recalls her five months with former Whitby Mayor Des Newman Two commercial buildings approved for downtown Brooklin BrooklinThursday, December 21, 2017 facebook.com/newsdurham twitter.com/newsdurham durhamregion.com Friends, families celebrate Christmas in the Village Work off holiday pounds with free skating in Brooklin BROOKLIN -- Residents are encouraged to have fun while staying active over the holidays. Free public skating will be offered on Saturday, Dec. 23 and Saturday, Dec. 30 from 2 to 3:45 p.m. at Luther Vipond Memorial Arena, 67 Winchester Rd., and on Saturday, Dec. 30 from 3 to 4:45 p.m. at Iroquois Park Sports Centre, 500 Victoria St. W., Whitby. On Sunday, Dec. 31, there will be a free New Year's Eve event from 6 to 9 p.m. at Iroquois Park, with skating, face painting, snacks and live entertainment. Visit www.whitby.ca/skating for more information. For more information: VISIT www.whitby.ca/skating More than $90,000 raised in five years for local families in need PARVANEH PESSIAN ppessian@durhamregion.com BROOKLIN -- Christmas will be brighter for more than 40 families across the region following another triumphant year for Dear Santa Durham. The charitable crusade, which includes a scavenger hunt component, was launched by Peter and Jacqueline Bocking of Brooklin five years ago to help those in need during the holiday season. It began as just a fun game for the couple to play with friends but has since evolved into a Christmas tradition involving the whole community. "It started literally from just my wife and I inviting, like, 20 friends over for a Christmas party, and we were like, 'We should do something fun and something a little bit different.' SABRINA BYRNES / METROLAND WHITBY -- Darryl Rancourt, Esther Buchanan, Angela Rancourt and Blair Buchanan from team Hogan's Heroes posed for a picture as they gathered together at the Dear Santa Holiday Hunt and Charity Evening, at the Heydenshore Pavilion on Dec. 9. Dear Santa is made up of a committee of volunteers which seeks monetary support from local corporate sponsors to purchase gifts for families in need across Durham Region. All the gifts are gathered together during the special event where participants are sent out into the community with the boxes of gifts. They visit the businesses which supported Dear Santa with a series of fun tasks the volunteers need to do along the way. The boxes of gifts will go to Rose of Durham and Hearth Place, where a total of 48 families have been sponsored this year. 'Dear Santa' charity brings cheer to Brooklin SEE SPREADING PAGE 3