In Canada small town rinks are often where youth grow up. It's where they'll push off for the first time and glide along the ice; where they'll score their first goal; where they'll land that first jump. Local rinks become an integral part of the community providing an arena for hopes and dreams to be discovered. Though many may not reach the Olympics in hockey or figure skating, they will go on to play university level hockey or simply share their love of being on the ice with their children one day.
The Kennedy Rink is no different. It has had a huge impact on many people and has even contributed to the journeys of Olympic athletes including Paige Lawrence, who recently competed in Sochi, and Colleen Sostorics, a three time Olympic gold medalist in women's hockey.
"I am here and everyone is here because we all believe in the importance of sport and we believe in what it really does for a community and we want to ensure that the rink is always there for our kids to play and for our big kids, I'm sure there's still an old timers team in Kennedy who still wants that rink to be here," Sostorics stated. "So, this is a very important thing."
These athletes' dreams and successes may not have played out the same way if it were not for the local rink being open to them and the community created surrounding the rink.
The connection to one's hometown is strong and Sostorics was therefore happy to attend the Kennedy Rink Sports Night as it was raising money to fix the rink that really started it all for her.
The Kennedy Rink suffered from a water leak this past year, which led to extensive damages. Insurance wouldn't be able to cover everything and the community, knowing how important the rink is, decided to hold a Sports Night as a fundraiser which was able to raise a projected $33,000 according to Jill Debenham one of the organizers.
Sostorics would also be joined by Saskatchewan Roughrider and two time Grey Cup victor, Mike McCullough.
Held at the Langbank Curling Rink on Saturday, Feb. 15, the dinner was extremely successful with 255 people attending, making it a sold out event.
The evening began with cocktails at 5:30 p.m., a delicious prime rib dinner at 6:30 p.m., followed by the two guest speakers.
During this time people were welcomed to bid on silent auction items and peruse the live auction items before bidding began.
Items in the silent auction ranged from paintings to sports memorabilia to Rosemary Cowan's homemade fudge which fetched over $200.
The generosity of the community both in donations of items as well as by those who purchased them showed how important the rink is to Kennedy and the surrounding area with patrons including MLA Don Toth, Kipling Mayor Duane Leicht, and many more.
Some of the live auction items included a signed Mike McCullough jersey, a 2014 Team Canada hockey jersey signed by Paige Lawrence and Rudi Swiegers, as well as a 2010 Team Canada women's hockey jersey signed by the entire national team. These were three of the most sentimental pieces within the auction as local athletes were involved, while Riders jerseys are important to most of Saskatchewan.
These three jerseys were purchased by Bear Claw Casino, which is very positive as the jerseys will be put on display for the public to take notice.
McCullough and Sostorics were on hand to speak about their careers, with Sostorics speaking from the heart about the Kennedy Rink.
McCullough, an entertaining public speaker, told stories of Grey Cup victories. Speaking about how he was away for the Grey Cup in 2007 when his son was born and attempted to video tape it all as a way to show his son why he wasn't there for his birth; but, McCullough says he now owes his son one of his Grey Cup rings because he had forgotten to press record on the camera.
Delivering many laughs, the linebacker, was a huge hit amongst the amassed crowd, many of whom were wearing green and white.
Sostorics also brought laughter to the crowd as she showed photos of Lawrence's Olympic experiences, Lawrence and Rudi doing a lift in front of the Olympic rings, then bringing up a photo of her own Olympic experiences which included leveling an American player during action in 2002.
Though she spoke of her different experiences involving hockey, it was her memories of playing in Kennedy that transcended the evening.
"I really have a lot of great memories of the rink and they've all come flooding back," Sostorics said fondly as she began to bring up old pictures and speak of her memories, which in turn made others reminisce.
"And now that I have all of your memories of the rink coming back to you..." Sostorics smiled. "You all have those memories in your head of those hockey playoff games, those figure skating competitions, if you never really were in the community to figure skate or hockey you definitely went to the rink to skate with the school. And I want to acknowledge that those memories are all because of what our parents and grandparents did. They built the rink, they maintained the rink, they cleaned, they organized, just as a lot of people are doing for us today, so now it's our turn to take over..."
Sostorics was glad to have grown in Kennedy and on behalf of Lawrence as well.
"I feel very blessed to have grown up in this community. The rodeo brings us together in the summer and the rink brings us together in the winter," Sostorics stated.
"And if Paige [Lawrence] were here with us tonight, unfortunately she's in Sochi," Sostorics laughed. "I know she'd say the same thing that this community has not only supported us during our Olympic journey but also long, long, long before that happened."
