Hockeyville remembered

Photo: Kate Bouey

File photo of Lumby residents celebrating Hockeyville win.

Two lead organizers from the successful Lumby Hockeyville bid are being flown to Prince Edward Island this week, to take part in celebrations for the new winner.

Last year, Angie Clowry, Cole Young and others embarked on a major social media campaign that won Lumby the 2016 Kraft Hockeyville title.

The town also received $100,000 from Kraft for renovations to the Pat Duke Memorial Arena and a pre-season NHL game that was played in Vernon.

Clowry and Young will soon be flying off to watch a Sept. 25th pre-season NHL game in O'Leary, P.E.I. The small town was awarded the 2017 Hockeyville title and an NHL game back in April.

“I have to say it's been one of the most memorable experiences of my life, tons of fun,” said Clowry, a driving force in Lumby's efforts. “Just to see how the community got together, how businesses got together.”

The win was a major boost to community pride and that enabled Clowry to continue efforts to raise funds for the arena.

“We work with the (North Okanagan) regional district, we work with the White Valley Parks and Recreation...$100,000 sounds great for an individual (but) for an arena, you need a lot."

"We have roughly $170,000 earmarked for the Pat Duke Arena improvements, after we spent $8,000 last year on developing the three concepts for improvements," said Tannis Nelson, NORD's community services manager.

Meanwhile, Clowry is looking forward to her trip east.

“I'm really excited to experience another community's event....I'm excited to watch an NHL game. Last year, I was so wound up, I didn't get to relax and watch it.”

O'Leary has a smaller population than Lumby boasting 815 people but it is located in Prince County which has 44,000 residents.