By Chad Ingram

Don’t throw watermelons from the Dorset lookout tower.

During a Sept. 17 Algonquin Highlands council meeting parks rec and trails director Dave Drobitch told councillors that in August staff at the tower had reprimanded three boys after they threw watermelons from the 30-metre structure while a crowd of people looked on from below.

“It was caught after the fact” Drobitch said explaining staff were not aware of what was happening until they heard the splat of the watermelons hitting the ground.

Reeve Carol Moffatt asked if the boys’ parents had been contacted.

Drobitch said the parents had been part of the incident.

“Let’s say this out loud” Moffatt said. “So some parents drove their children to the Dorset tower armed with watermelons encouraging them to throw the watermelons off the Dorset lookout tower.”

“An experiment with gravity?” Drobitch quipped.

“The liability just makes me cringe” the reeve said emphasizing how dangerous it is to throw watermelons off the Dorset lookout tower. “Nobody thinks about that until they’re on this side of the equation.”

No melons other fruits vegetables foodstuffs or any items of any sort are to be thrown from the Dorset lookout tower.

Drobitch’s staff report also showed that a male visitor had asked tower staff for a felt-tip marker.

When asked what the marker was for he said it was to write his name on the tower. His request was denied.