The Rycroft Arena Board feels faith has been restored in the justice system after a jail sentence was given to a former Treasurer.
Amy Lyne will go to prison for eight-months after pleading guilty to theft over $5,000. The case involved money that had gone missing from the facility’s fundraising bank account. She was also given a $200 fine and 24 months probation.
President DJ Barbarich says over the course of three fundraisers, just under $89,000 went missing from the group of volunteers.
“I guess we were pleasantly surprised. We really thought she was going to get nothing. For her to actually have to go to jail, we were glad to hear that.”
He adds that they were able to pay their bills this past year, but they were hoping to have enough funds to create a cement floor in the arena.
“It’s just a sand floor in the arena. It takes a lot of time to get the ice in. That was really the biggest sadness. We thought we were saving money to put floor in the arena so we could actually have ice before October 1st. We have been set back.”
Barbarich explains that the cost for that addition would be around $650,000. With around $85,000 sitting in their account, he says they aren’t in the right place financially to apply for grants.
The group is taking extra precautions to safeguard their money. As a small-town group of volunteers, he never thought they would need to do things like criminal record checks because everyone knew everyone.
“We have criminal record checks including me and all the board members. We now have these on file so we have them.”
An effort to keep each other in check is being made, according to the president.
Although the arena is closed for the summer, it is business as usual come October 1st as ice will start to be made.