Rankin Inlet (Mar 10/03) - The Rankin Inlet Dart Association was almost doubled off the board earlier this month by a moment's carelessness.

Workers at the pre-school program entered the drop-in centre on the morning of Friday, Feb. 21, to find open cases of beer and wine coolers.

The liquor was originally left behind from a social held for players in the Avataq Cup hockey tournament the previous weekend.

Dart members had taken the liquor out of the fridge to make room for their own beer during a regular Wednesday night match.

The members left the drop-in centre and forgot about the open liquor, which awaited pre-school staff when they re-opened.

The liquor was found about 20 minutes before children were due to arrive.

The Pulaarvik Kablu Friendship Centre sponsors the pre-school program.

Director Greg Sim said the program could easily have had its licence revoked over the incident.

"If one of our funding partners or a local inspector were to come in at a time like that, we could be shut down in a minute," said Sim.

"It was a mistake, yes, but a bad mistake. There has to be some repercussions for an act like this."

Those repercussions almost became a harsh reality during hamlet council's regular meeting on March 3.

Coun. David Ningeongan (who has a child enrolled in the pre-school program) introduced a motion to have the dart throwers tossed from the drop-in centre.

The motion was soundly defeated by a 4-1 vote, with the seconder, Coun. Robert Janes abstaining.

Three of the four council members who voted against the motion are dart association members.

Council has, however, requested a representative of the dart association be present for the next council meeting to discuss the possibility of finding another venue.

How that is greeted by the association, however, remains to be seen.

The dart association pays the hamlet $1,000 per month for the four nights it uses the drop-in centre.

The association also came to the rescue two years ago when the building was in bad need of repairs.

The association came up with the necessary materials and volunteered their time to repair the building.

Sim says he's not looking to have the dart throwers banned from the building, but he does want assurances there won't be any repeat incidents.

"All we're asking is that the liquor be put away and the centre properly cleaned when they're done."