Giant Hockeyville logos fill centre ice at Kal Tire Place and Lumby’s Pat Duke Memorial Arena.
Final preparations are underway for a weekend of festivities celebrating Lumby winning this year’s Hockeyville title.
The celebrations will culminate in a pre-season NHL game featuring the Edmonton Oilers and L.A. Kings on Sunday evening at Kal Tire Place.
It took a lot of organizing and dedication to get Lumby through the nomination process and rounds of online voting to win the title.
If you want to know why they persevered, a tour of Lumby’s Pat Duke Memorial Arena tells the story.
Hockeyville organizer Angie Clowry took us into the cramped space that currently serves as the girls’ change room.
You can cross the room in only a few steps but in a community where most teams are coed, the smalls space is often used by all the female players from four different teams at once.
Winning the Hockeyville title comes with $100,000 which organizers plan to use to upgrade the girls’ facilities at the arena.
Elsewhere, a small logo in the ice with initials and a pair of crossed hockey sticks is a testament to the emotional component of Lumby’s Hockeyville story.
It’s a dedication to the memory of local hockey coach Peter Catt who died of a heart attack last November at the age of 46.
One of the original Hockeyville nominations came from Peter’s wife Rhonda Catt.
“When she did that is when a lot of us got behind it putting our grief to good, so to speak,” said Clowry.
Rhonda believes Peter would be proud.
“Oh he is smiling,” she said. “I think, just like the rest of us, he would be in amazement. Really, it’s mind blowing.”
As Lumby gets ready to celebrate all their hard work, this weekend will also be a chance to remember Peter.
“He had a really good heart. He would do anything for his friends,” said Rhonda. “He wanted Lumby minor hockey to succeed. He wanted the kids to succeed and he wanted them to enjoy all of their time on the ice.”
Many will be enjoying time on the ice this year. Rhonda said Lumby Minor Hockey is experiencing a surge in registration thanks to the community’s Hockeyville win.
For a full schedule of this weekend’s Hockeyville events click here.
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