It may be a long shot, but Oliver could win the “Hockeyville” title. But it needs your help. Here, members of the old timers league play in the Oliver arena every Friday morning. Photo by Lyonel Doherty
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,” said Bardeck’s wife, Shirley.
Rae said even though he doesn’t use the arena that much, he knows winning the contest would be a huge deal for it and the community.
“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.
“If we can have a better arena, for the kids and the seniors . . . it would just be a better facility for everybody,” he said.
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.
Competition is stiff: twice in the past five years Osoyoos has taken an impressive run at the title, but has never made it all the way. In light of that, Bardeck is encouraging the community to head to their computers and get involved. He’s also asking 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. The Facebook page can be found by searching Kraft Hockeyville Oliver Arena.
By Trevor Nichols
