Just a few months ago, it was a promise that many local politicians made while running for councillor or mayor.
Local groups like the Squamish Minor Hockey Association (SMHA) and Squamish Skating Club have demanded that promise, and every few months the subject seems to creep back up.
Of course, I’m talking about the needed upgrades to our beloved but somewhat forgotten local ice rink. Even the District of Squamish agrees – an engineering study done in 2012 reported that the ice sheet should be replaced in the next three to five years. Which is why I was completely dumbfounded by the results of the 2015 Kraft Hockeyville nominations – which closed on Monday.
Lillooet has been nominated. So has some place called Lumby. Greenwood, B.C. – known as Canada’s smallest city – is also on the list. You know what town is nowhere to be found? Squamish.
If you win the Kraft Hockeyville contest, the town doesn’t get a year’s supply of Kraft Dinner – although 10-year-old me would love that – instead, the winning town receives $100,000 in arena upgrades and the opportunity to host an NHL pre-season game. Make it to the top 10 and the town gets $25,000.
In other words, this contest is nothing to scoff at, so the fact that Squamish did not appear once on a list that had more than 1,000 nominations is disappointing. The SMHA has hundreds of members and is usually excellent at organizing things – so why couldn’t it get a dozen members to fill out the nomination form? The mayor or one of our councillors should have been behind this from the start, gathering nominations and drumming up support to at least make it on the list.
The real losers in this entire scenario are the kids. They’re stuck with mediocre facilities that potentially could break down at any moment. By not trying our best to get on the list, I believe we’ve failed our youth as a community. Kraft is giving out free money to upgrade ice rinks and Squamish couldn’t even muster an ounce of effort.
The next time locals whine about the condition of our rink, I’m not sure I’ll be able to sympathize. A better idea might be to point them to the macaroni section of the grocery store and think about what could have been.
