Rae Bardeck is leading the charge to have the Town of Oliver named Kraft Hockeyville 2016. Bardeck is seen standing outside the Oliver Arena with his wife Shirley. Bardeck is urging Oliver residents to get to their computer and cast their ballots in the popular Hockeyville contest. (Trevor Nichols photo)
Being the “Wine Capital of Canada” is great and all, but one Oliver man has what he thinks are even bigger ambitions for Oliver.
Rae Bardeck is hoping to rally the community behind his bid to have the town named Kraft Hockeyville in 2016.
Kraft’s yearly contest pits Canadian communities against one another in an online competition to host an NHL game and receive $100,000 in upgrades for its local arena.
After seeing the contest advertised during a Canucks game earlier this month, Bardeck submitted an application for Oliver.
“I’ve never seen our rink nominated, that I know of, so I thought I’m going to do it,” he said.
Now, he hopes to turn what started as a whim into a legitimate chance to win some cash and glory for Oliver and its hockey rink.
He’s already created a Facebook page he hopes will help spur interest and he’s calling on Oliver residents to go online and start boosting for the town.
“What I really need: I need people who know what they’re doing. I did the nomination, but I have no idea how to get this thing going,” he said with a chuckle, adding that he thinks the entire South Okanagan can rally behind Oliver in the Hockeyville competition.
“We just want everybody to get behind it; get the community going, because there’s an awful lot of hockey players here,” Bardeck’s wife Shirley said.
Bardeck said even though he doesn’t use the arena that much, he knows winning the contest would be a huge deal for it, and by extension Oliver.
“To me personally the win wouldn’t mean that much, but to me as a member of the community I see how good it could be. I’m not looking to put my name out there myself; it’s not about me, it’s about this community, and about the kids mostly,” he said.
“If we can have a better arena, for the kids and the seniors … it would just be a better facility for everybody.”
The 10 finalists for the major phase of the competition will be chosen March 5 and those choices will be made largely based on community participation through Facebook and Twitter.
Twice in the past five years, the Town of Osoyoos has taken an impressive run at the title, but has never made it all the way.
Osoyoos did finish in the top three in B.C. in the Kraft Hockeyville competition in 2012 and 2013, but has not entered since main organizer Cathy Martins dropped out after having a baby.
Bardeck is encouraging members from the community to head to their computers and get involved. He’s also anyone with some web savvy to jump on board to help get things moving.
Oliver’s nomination page is http://khv2016.ca/en/nominations/profile/oliver-arena-1, and the Facebook page can be found by searching Kraft Hockeyville Oliver Arena on Facebook.
TREVOR NICHOLS
Regional Reporter
