Saskatchewan town backing Fernie’s bid for Hockeytown title
A small town in Saskatchewan is throwing its weight behind Fernie’s dream of being named Kraft Hockeyville for 2018.
Kathy Heilman is one of two residents of the town of Wilkie, in southwestern Saskatchewan, behind the push.
Wilkie made the top 10 of the 2017 competition; Heilman and her friend Helen Urlacher were driving forces behind the campaign.
“The most exciting thing about getting that far was how the spirit of Hockeyville — it’s really hard to describe — it’s everyone working together to make something happen,” Heilman said.
Heilman and company thought about making another push this year, but when they read about what Fernie had been through, they changed course.
“I went on the Kraft Hockeyville page and I read the Fernie story,” she said. “I called Helen and said, ‘Let’s help them, let’s pay it forward.’”
Fernie is hoping to replace its arena, which was damaged last October in a fatal ammonia leak. Three men died. The arena is now closed. The Calgary Flames have funded a temporary arena this winter, but a permanent fix is needed.
“Fernie Memorial Arena is more than just a building, and hockey to us is more than just a sport,” the campaign’s organizers have declared on their Facebook page.
Wilkie’s arena needed replacing after a fire right before Thanksgiving in 2015 destroyed the rink as well as the curling facility and the town’s dance hall.
“It was a very long two years of rebuilding,” Heilman said. By placing in the competition’s top 10, Wilkie won $25,000.
Wilkie got support from nearby communities — “that was really, really phenomenal” — as well as a call from Heilman’s relatives in Sylvan Lake, Alta. The central Alberta community won Kraft Hockeyville in 2014.
Fernie Mayor Mary Giuliano told a local radio station that the support from two provinces away meant a great deal.
“Here’s a community far away from us who applied last year, came in third, and decided not to apply because they felt Fernie was in a position of actually needing the help,” she said.
Heilman said as great as it was for her community to get a small amount of cash for their facilities, the real story was how the campaign energized the people of Wilkie.
“Twenty-five thousand dollars is nothing, it doesn’t really cost us anything but time and energy,” she said. “What’s more important is it brought the community together.”