VOL. 69 NO. 2
66 YEARS OF SERVING THE COMMUNITY
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016
Kinsmen and kids show off their game faces at the new Kinsmen outdoor arena on 47 Street in Vegreville. A grand opening will have warm-ups for families on February 6 to help break in the new outdoor attraction. (Michael Simpson/Photo)
Game On! Michael Simpson Editor Members of the Vegreville Kinsmen Chapter and future Kinsmen/Kinettes show off their game faces at the newly opened Kinsmen outdoor skating rink on 47 Street and 57 Ave in town. After four years of planning, scrimping, saving and fundraising, the club’s vision for a free outdoor rink for families to use took shape in late 2015. The rink opened for skating shortly before Christmas and has been getting steady use ever since. “Feedback has been really good,” Kinsmen Mike Webb said. “Even driving by in cold weather, I see cars there, or at night when the light isn’t as good people are still raring to go on the ice. We’re happy we did it.” Webb is chairman of the rink committee that organized fundraising and relationship building that was necessary to the see the arena happen over the last few years.” The Kinsmen will be holding a grand opening from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Kinsmen rink with warm treats to keep families in the game on
February 6, which happens to be Hockey Day across Canada. “We’re not involved with the national event, but we thought it would be cool to have our grand opening at the same time,” Webb said. Major partners in the project have been the Town of Vegreville and Vantage Builders, who have assisted with manpower and materials to get the rink ready for use. The final cost once completed was $243,000 to put in a rink that people can use for free for years to come. Fundraising for phase 2 will happen in the near future for player benches and lights. That work will begin in the spring and also any proceeds from the Kinsmen’s upcoming Culture Night event on February 13, which will feature Ethiopian and East Indian food. Entertainment will come in the form of dueling piano players set to entertain with live music and song. The day the photo was taken for this story, Webb brought his children with him to test out the rink. Webb said he lasted about 8 minutes on the ice in the -17 C weather, but his kids played for hours.
Jumpstart charity hockey event
Elks give back
See page 18 for story
See page 19 for story