The community of La Glace is hoping this will be the only winter the community is completely without an ice rink as the local agriculture society is raising funds to purchase a plant for the new community recreation centre.
Back in the fall, the ice plant in the old recreation facility broke down and due to the age of the equipment was unable to be fixed. Member of the La Glace and District Ag Society Board of Directors Malin Sandboe says the local group hopes to raise $1 million to purchase an ice plant for the tamarack valley Regional Recreation Facility through the “Ice Ice Baby” fundraiser. Sandboe says to be able to order the arena in time for it to be installed for next year they will need to meet the $1 million goal in the next six weeks.
“What we’re doing is selling plaque space on our plant donor commemorative wall – this wall is viewable not only from the player’s bench but also from the walking track that’s going to go around the ice surface once it’s completed,” Sandboe says.
Those who want to get their name up on the wall have two donation options that are part of the fundraiser, the first is a 7” x 15” plaque for those who make a $1,250 donation and the second is a 14” x 30” plaque for those who donate $5,000. The plaques will be put up along the wall to the entrances of the facility’s six dressing rooms.
Sandboe says in the first 24 hours the fundraiser received support from neighbouring minor hockey associations, along with several businesses and people in the community raising $136,000; as of Monday afternoon, the total raised was around $200,000.
He explains since the ice plant went down over 100 hockey and ringette players from the La Glace area have had to travel upwards of 100 kilometres multiple times a week for ice time. He says the hope is to be playing in the new facility, which is currently 63 per cent completed, by next season.
“We’ve kind of given up on this winter and we’re really trying for natural ice right now, but with the weather that’s not going so well,” Sandboe says. “Historically over the past 3 or five years it’s been it’s been like this, we get some snow, It gets cold and it gets warm.”
He adds the local group has been in talks with the county throughout the building process of the new facility and they have been extremely supportive, but for the new ice plant, they are not approaching the municipality because they feel they will be able to achieve their goal through the fundraiser.
More information about the fundraiser can be found here.
