Rich Valley receives $25,000 in Kraft Hockeyville contest for new ice plant

You could feel the excitement drain from the crowd at the Rich Valley Agriplex on March 30 as the winner of the 2019 Kraft Hockeyville contest was announced: Renous, N.B.

Several hundred people gathered in the small rink to watch the winner of the contest announced on live television by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, projected on a massive TV screen.

Gina Hove, who wrote the “story” that accompanied Rich Valley’s entry into Kraft Hockeyville, said people came out to the announcement party from Barrhead, Edmonton, St. Albert, Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Mayerthorpe, Darwell and many other communities.

But even though it wasn’t the result that the community wanted, the simple fact that they drew so many people to the announcement party is itself sort of a victory.

“It was not the outcome we were hoping for, but you know, seeing that crowd there on Saturday was as big a win as anything for us, for sure,” said Hove. “We haven’t seen that size of crowd in that building ever. It was amazing to see that, for sure.”

The Rich Valley Arena was one of four finalists in the 2019 Kraft Hockeyville competition, along with the SaskCan Community Centre in Wilkie, Sask., the Centre Sportif Soulanges in Saint-Polycarpe, Que, and the Tom Donovan Arena in Renous, N.B.

Rich Valley’s entry was based largely on the fact that the arena’s ice plant had malfunctioned just prior to the 2018-2019 season, forcing the cancellation of all hockey games this winter. A replacement is estimated to cost $140,000.

Hove had written up the story of Rich Valley’s plight and submitted it to Kraft Hockeyville simply hoping to create some awareness of their cause.

As such, it came as a huge shock to the small community that they were even in the running for the grand prize, which included $250,000 to put towards a new ice plant and the opportunity to host an NHL game.

However, Rich Valley faced stiff competition from Renous, whose small rink needs an estimated $400,000 in repairs. As well, the community had been hit hard by the death of a young hockey player named Thomas Dunn, who would have turned 15 on the day of the announcement.

“We all wanted to win. Every community is just as deserving as us. It’s a fight to win, but in the end, you win no matter what. Seeing a crowd like that is unbelievable,” said Hove.

How many votes each finalist received in contest is unknown. A spokesperson for the Kraft Heinz team indicated that they don’t share vote totals per community “in fairness to all of the amazing communities who rallied hard,” only confirming which finalist is the winner.

Althought they weren’t the grand prize winner, Rich Valley still gets $25,000 to put towards the ice plant and $10,000 in hockey equipment for their local players.

Progress towards a new ice plant is also coming in other ways. On the same day that the Kraft Hockeyville contest concluded, the Rich Valley Ag Society was also presented a donation for $7,960 from the Towaw Cattle Company (the Wildman family) and Rainbow Red Angus.

The money represented half the proceeds from the raffle of a heifer at the Red & Black Angus Bull Sale hosted on March 16 by Towaw and Rainbow Red Angus.

The heifer had been won by Bullseye Feeds, but they donated it back so it could be auctioned off. The total proceeds came to $15,920, with half going to Rich Valley and half going to STARS Air Ambulance.

Rich Valley also has some other fundraising initiatives on the go. On April 6, they hosted a “Dueling Pianos show” in the arena that was attended by several hundred people.

“It sold out within a week or so. So that was exciting,” Hove said.

Notably, the cost of bringing the Dueling Pianos act out to Rich Valley was covered by four different companies, so they were able to keep most of the proceeds.

The Rich Valley Ag Society is also planning a steak supper in May and will run a casino in June, Hove indicated.

Another local resident, Christy Travis, has started a GoFundMe page for the Rich Valley Arena.

It can be found at: https://www.gofundme.com/save-our-ice-rich-valley-agriplex.

As of the end of last week, the GoFundMe campaign had already attracted $2,735 in donations after only a couple of days of being up.

Finally, Hove noted there is a bank account set up at ATB Financial for people to direct their donations to Rich Valley.