Celebrating Hockeyville
Weekend festival in O’Leary leads up to NHL game Monday
The excitement is noticeable in Jo-anne Wallace’s voice as she runs through the list of activities planned for the Kraft Hockeyville Winning Weekend celebration. Wallace is a member of the group that spearheaded the campaign to bring the 2017 national title of Kraft Hockeyville to O’Leary.
Like the rest of the province, the committee, which also consists of Della Sweet, Tammy Rix, Dean Getson and Bill MacKendrick, learned on national television on April 1, that O’Leary is Kraft Hockeyville 2017.
The committee had done much work up to that point; but it pails in comparison to all of the planning that went into preparing for this weekend’s big celebration, which includes the delivery of the grand prize.
“There is so much happening,” Wallace gushed Tuesday.
The celebration culminates in an NHL exhibition game in Summerside on Monday, Sept. 25, between the Ottawa Senators and New Jersey Devils.
During the game, the committee will accept the grand prize cheque of $100,000 for arena upgrades. Sweet had accepted the Hockeyville Cup on behalf of the committee nearly five months ago.
All celebration weekend events leading up to the NHL exhibition game will be staged in O’Leary. NHL alumni Colin White will be in attendance for Saturday’s activities that get started at 9:30 a.m. with an Initiation Jamboree. White played defence with the New Jersey Devils from 1999 until 2011, winning Stanley Cups with them in 2000 and 2003. He finished out his NHL career with San Jose Sharks in 2011-12 Doug MacLean and Ken Reid from Sportsnet TV will be in attendance throughout the weekend. The response to the festival, Wallace said, “is really strong as far as people telling us how excited they are about it.” Entertainment for Sunday’s Community Outdoor Festival is
headed up by Cory Gallant, one of the anthem singers for Monday’s televised game NHL game, a Taste of the Town tasting tent, a kids zone with bouncy castles, arts and crafts with Maurice Bernard and many other activities and contests on the KD stage including lobster shelling and potato peeling. O’Leary Minor Hockey and Maple Leaf Curling
Club will also have food sales. Pascale Leclaire, an NHL goaltender drafted by the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2001, will be in attendance for Sunday’s celebrations. Leclaire played parts of five seasons with the Blue Jackets and finished out his NHL career in 2011 after two seasons with the Senators.
Don Cherry look-alikes will
also be making their rounds. Wallace said many volunteers are helping the committee stage the weekend celebration.
The committee has a long list of NHL-approved merchandise available including t-shirts, caps, pennants, pucks, stuffed beavers, noise sticks, cowbells and key chains.
They are also taking orders for
Kraft Hockeyville sweatshirts. Wallace said several O’Leary area businesses are stocking the official merchandise and donating all of the profit to the sports centre. The organizer’s share of the 50-50 proceeds from Monday’s exhibition game will also be donated to the sports centre.