Regina Leader-Post

OUTPOURING OF SUPPORT:

- ROB VANSTONE rvanstone@postmedia.com twitter.com/robvanston­e

Benefit concert to help community heal with music

It is accurate, yet understate­d, to suggest the hockey community is rallying around the Humboldt Broncos.

“I think we have to reclassify it, because it’s an outpouring from everybody,” SJHL president Bill Chow said Thursday. “I can’t tell you why, but I can tell you that it’s enormous.

“Maybe we’re trying to find something good out of all this.”

Following a tragic bus crash in which 16 people were killed and 13 others were injured, the Broncos have received worldwide support. A GoFundMe campaign surpassed $10 million in donations Thursday, six days after the Broncos’ bus collided with a semi-trailer truck near Tisdale.

“Somebody asked me for inspiratio­n, so I sent my friend these notes and I said, ‘Every day, you wake up and think of doing something positive,’” Chow said. “So maybe everybody ’s waking up that day and they want to do something positive, and that’s what they’re doing.”

In that spirit, Country Thunder Music Festivals — which runs the annual music festival in Craven — announced Thursday that a benefit concert will be held April 27 at SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon.

“One of the best ways to heal is music,” Country Thunder vicepresid­ent of operations Ted Gross said at the Ramada Plaza Regina, adding proceeds will go to the families of the Broncos’ players who died and those who survived.

Country Thunder’s CEO, Troy Vollhoffer, rode the buses when he played in the WHL with the Saskatoon Blades, Winnipeg (now Moose Jaw) Warriors, New Westminste­r Bruins and Regina Pats.

“He played in the ’80s, so this is very close to him,” Gross said of Vollhoffer. “Hockey and country music are a major part of his life and he wanted to do something.

“One of the first things that he thought about was doing a benefit concert, so with our connection­s and our industry connection­s, it’s really easy for us to reach out to major artists and talk to them about this. That’s where the concept developed very rapidly. Saskatoon is the natural place, because it is the largest arena in the province.”

Gross said artists are booked for the tribute concert, but declined to provide specifics. Details are to be announced early next week.

Also on Thursday, Cindy Fuchs, vice-president of the Canadian Red Cross in Saskatchew­an, said her organizati­on will support the SJHL with pyscho-social first-aid programmin­g.

The objective, Fuchs said, is to “help families, players, personnel with the SJHL understand the effects of stress, loss and grief on themselves and others.”

Earlier this week, the league establishe­d the SJHL Assistance Program to raise funds to help people connected with the league deal with tragic events.

“We thought, moving forward, that we would need to put some things into place to assist someone, because I don’t know when someone’s going to need counsellin­g or is grieving from whatever situation that they’ve had to deal with,” Chow said. “If we can make things better for them five years down the road, great.”

The SJHL’s season has been on hold since the crash. On Wednesday, the league’s board of governors held a conference call and voted 12-0 in favour of resuming the season. Support from the Broncos was a vital component of the decision.

“It was important, because if they weren’t in favour, then that had to be considered, and considered a lot because they ’re a partner in our organizati­on,” Chow said.

The Estevan Bruins clinched a berth in the league final on April 5. Nipawin led Humboldt 3-1 in a best-of-seven semifinal at the time of the crash.

The Canalta Cup series begins Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in Nipawin. When asked about the plans to honour the Broncos at the game, Chow responded: “I’m sure it’ll be special.”

 ?? TROY FLEECE ?? SJHL president Bill Chow said donations continue to come in for the Humboldt Broncos from far and wide, noting: “Maybe we’re trying to find something good out of all this.”
TROY FLEECE SJHL president Bill Chow said donations continue to come in for the Humboldt Broncos from far and wide, noting: “Maybe we’re trying to find something good out of all this.”

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Canada