Hockeyville entry gaining widespread support
From the side of the highway and across the country, people are voting for O’Leary
Even the Department of Transportation is getting behind O’Leary’s bid to become Kraft Hockeyville 2017. A variable message board the department erected along the side of Route 2, near the O’Leary Corner round-about, urges passersby to set aside some time March 12 and 13 to vote for O’Leary in the national contest.
O’Leary is the only Maritime community to make the Top 10 this year. Representatives for five entries from Eastern Canada, including O’Leary, are actively campaigning for votes this week as only one of those communities will make it through to the final, East-versus-West showdown for Hockeyville’s top prize, $100,000 for arena upgrades and an opportunity to host an NHL pre-season game. The second place finalist gets $100,000 for arena upgrades and the remaining eight communities in the Top 10 are each assured of $25,000.
The O’Leary committee has assembled numerous shoutouts
from sports personalities coast-to-coast in support of their entry, and an O’Leary Hockeyville Helpers Facebook group has grown by 21,000 members since Sunday.
Online voting starts at 10 a.m. Sunday (Daylight Savings Time), and supporters of any of the entries can vote as many
times as they want during the 39-hour voting window.
So, to help prepare O’Leary supporters for the voting frenzy, O’Leary Legion is hosting a pancake and sausage breakfast this Sunday from 8 to 10 a.m. as a kickoff to the voting. Committee member Billy MacKendrick has estimated it will take between 1.5 and two million votes to carry O’Leary to the final round of the national competition.
Area residents’ social media pages have been flooded all week with messages in support of O’Leary’s entry, complete with team photos and pictures of O’Leary Maroons hockey sweaters and jackets, even of scrapbook pages and references to O’Leary’s Hockeytown book, as testimony to the community’s passion for hockey.
“I don’t usually pay much attention to Facebook but this Hockeyville thing got me pumped,” Brian Locke posted. “When I see the comments of my relatives and friends, it brings tears of pride for our rink and its strong supporters.” He vowed to spend most of his time Sunday and Monday voting. Acquaintances from all over the country have posted messages of support complete with promises to vote.
“PEI Day Annual Picnic At Fort Desoto Park, Florida is this Sunday. I will have one of the organizers encourage people to vote for O’Leary,” Sylvia O’Halloran posted.