Cultural festival to run with WJAC
The late Jed Ritcey to be honoured with announcement of legacy fund
With the World Junior A Challenge quickly approaching, the Rath-eastlink Community Centre has announced Canada 150 celebration plans to add to the excitement.
During the week of the WJAC, the REC will be holding their Canada 150 cultural festival to celebrate 150 years of Confederation and the cultural heritage.
“It’s going to be awesome to be able to take in some amazing hockey and also be able to explore some of our cultural and sports heritage,” said Matt Moore, general manager for the REC.
“We have some new murals that will be going up in the REC, and we also have a great sports heritage video we put together to showcase some of our sports history and key figures.”
The festival will feature musical acts, artistic performances, Canadian cuisine and memorials celebrating various Canadian cultures and heritage throughout the week.
The celebration week will kick off Thursday, Dec. 7, with an opening reception, which will
feature speeches from prominent Truro figures Jeff Douglas and Arash Madani.
Douglas, of CBC Radio’s As It Happens, starred in a Molson Canadian commercial as “Joe Canada,” and is famously know for his rant in the commercial on what being Canadian means to him.
Madani, who got his start as a sports reporter with the Truro Daily news, is a sports broadcaster for Roger’s Sportsnet and was recently awarded the George Gross Award for outstanding broadcasting.
During the reception, Colchester Sports Hall of Famer, the late Jed Ritcey will be honoured as the Jed Ritcey Legacy Fund is announced, to which all proceeds generated from the tournament will go.
“Knowing what Jed had contributed to the local community and Atlantic Canada as a board member with Hockey Canada, a coach and an official with Hockey Nova Scotia, we thought we should honour him and make him part of our initial plan,” said Moore.
The fund will be used to support Colchester communities with funding for sports activities, upgrades to facilities, registration fees and equipment for grassroots sporting leagues.
“I know Jed was primarily engaged in hockey, but we wanted to make sure it was clear the fund was for all sports,” said Moore.
“I would encourage any nonprofit organization that is looking to make improvements in the realm of sports to put in an application for the fund.”
With the fund being so new, it is hard to say how broad the funding will be in the beginning, but with the expected financial gains from the tournament and plans for more events and development initiatives in the future, Moore expects replenishment won’t be an issue.
The Canada 150 festival will run all week up to Dec. 16 alongside the hockey tournament, allowing people to take in the festivities during the day and catch a game of hockey afterward.
“The events definitely support one another,” said Moore.
“I know by adding musical performances and a cultural perspective to a hockey tournament we’re going to engage some nonhockey fans of the community who will get to see some great artistic performances, but hopefully will also be entertained by some great hockey and get to see Canada win a medal.”
The Canada 150 activities are all free for the public, and tickets for the hockey tournament go on sale today (Friday) at ticketpro. ca.