Kevin Berger – Leader Staff
At a ceremony attended by dozens of local residents and children on Sept. 11, the community of Rich Valley was presented with the $25,000 donation it earned by being one of the four finalists in the 2019 Kraft Hockeyville competition.
“We know how difficult it is to become a Kraft Hockeyville finalist, and it’s a true testament to the wealth of support, passion and community spirit that Rich Valley has,” said Ken Magleo, regional sales manager for Kraft Heinz.
In addition, Eric Epstein, a representative of the National Hockey League Players Association (NHLPA), was on hand to present a $10,000 donation from the Goals & Dreams fund, which provides hockey equipment to children who are unable to afford their own.
Epstein was accompanied by Edmonton Oilers’ centre Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who stuck around after the cheque presentation to sign autographs and play a little road hockey with the kids.
Road to Hockeyville
Cameron Mathewson, who acted as a master of ceremonies for the event, recalled how the Rich Valley arena was forced to shut down for the entire 2018-2019 hockey season due to a malfunction in its ice plant last October.
“If asked to quantify the value of this facility, it can easily be measured by the number of community members it provides for. We serve families from Barrhead, Busby, Dunstable, Ross Haven, Gunn, Alberta Beach, Glenevis, the Alexis Nakota First Nation, Cherhill, Onoway and many more,” said Mathewson.
The community of Rich Valley immediately stepped up and started looking for ways to raise money to get the ice plant running, he said.
Though there have been many fundraisers held and donations received, none were so successful as the Kraft Hockeyville contest, Mathewson said, adding, “It brought our whole community together for a great cause.”
Kraft Hockeyville is an annual contest where small communities vie for $250,000 in cash to put towards upgrades in their local hockey arena, along with the opportunity to host an NHL pre-season game in the community.
As noted earlier, Rich Valley was one of the four finalists in the contest, along with the Wilkie SaskCan Community Centre in Saskatchewan; the Tom Donovan Arena in Renous, N.B.; and the Centre Sportif Soulanges in Saint-Polycarpe, Que.
“The program received thousands of entries from communities across Canada, and to rise to the top is an amazing accomplishment that everyone in this community should be proud of,” noted Magleo.
The winner of the contest was determined by online votes. Sadly for Rich Valley, Renous ended up winning the grand prize, but the three runners-up still qualified for a $25,000 donation.
“Kraft Hockeyville is about bringing people together around a common cause to achieve great things, which the people of Rich Valley have done,” Magleo said.
“I want to say thank you to everyone in this community who participated.”
Magleo also announced a donation of nearly 10,000 pounds of food for the Onoway Food Bank, which was chosen because of its proximity to Rich Valley.
“At Kraft Heinz, we want to do our part to help grow a better world,” he said.
Rink upgrades
Using all the money that has been raised, Rich Valley Agricultural Society president Steven Borle noted the new chiller in the ice plant should be installed within the first couple of weeks in October.
If all goes to plan, the ice will be ready in time for a free night of public skating on Friday, Oct. 18.
Borle also shared another bit of good news: the association members have been removing the arena’s old boards in preparation for putting in new boards via an arrangement with the Rink of Dreams Society.
Notably, the new boards were originally installed in Rexall Place in Edmonton, which permanently shut down in December of 2017.
