Kensington hosting peewee friendship exchange; event gets started on Saturday
KENSINGTON – The first half of the 52nd annual Kensington, P.E.I.-Bedford, Que., Peewee Hockey Exchange will take place in Kensington this weekend.
The Bedford contingent is scheduled to arrive in the Prince County town on Friday afternoon when the players on each team will be introduced to their billets.
An opening dinner will be held at the Kensington Legion at 6 p.m., followed by a disco skate across the street at Credit Union Centre at 7:25 p.m. Youth from the community aged 10-to15-years-old are encouraged to attend.
For the adults, there will be entertainment at the Legion on Friday at 9 p.m.
SATURDAY
Saturday begins with the popular alumni breakfast at the Legion, which runs from 8 to 10 a.m.
Hockey games are scheduled throughout the day at Credit Union Centre, formerly Community Gardens, and exchange participants will take part in a cultural exchange at the Kensington Firehall from 1 to 3 p.m.
The official on-ice ceremonies will take place at 5:30 p.m., followed by the Kensington exchange team taking on Bedford. A pizza party will follow at the Legion for exchange participants, who will then attend the New Brunswick/P.E.I. Major Midget Hockey League game between the Kensington Monaghan Farms Wild and Moncton Flyers at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday’s highlights include a skills competition at 1:50 p.m., followed by a friendship game at 3:30 p.m. The closing dinner is scheduled for the Legion at 6:30 p.m.
The Bedford group is scheduled to depart for home early Monday morning.
The Kensington contingent will make the return trip to Quebec in late February.
FOUNDER
The exchange honours the memory of the late Eric Jessome, who was one of the original founders of the exchange while managing Community Gardens at the time.
Jessome, along with Raeburn Orr, who was managing Seabrook Farms in Bedford, Que., and Alex Chessman, who was managing Seabrook Farms (now Cavendish Farms) in New Annan, came up with the idea of a peewee hockey friendship exchange in 1968.
Jessome’s vision for event planning and the impact it had on the local communities also resulted in the formation of the
Kensington Harvest Festival in August.