Castlegar fired up to become Kraft Hockeyville 2014
By Kyra Hoggan
Castlegar’s bid to become Kraft Hockeyville 2014 is skating along and gathering force, with a Facebook page, Twitter account, and events planned for this weekend and next.
(The Facebook page can be found at https://www.facebook.com/www.castlegarishockeyville and the Twitter account is called CastlegarHockey).
While the Facebook page has garnered fully 814 ‘likes’ in less than 24 hours, city councillor Sue Heaton-Sherstobitoff said we still need far, far more people to submit nomination stories on the Kraft site ( http://krafthockeyville.cbc.ca/ ).
“There are only 54 uploads so far,” she said. “We need way more people to get on there and share their stories, photos and videos – even if all they do is say, ‘Castlegar is Kraft Hockeyville 2014’, what’s important is that we get as many people as possible to participate,” she said.
The Selkirk Saints will be looking to help raise awareness for the Castlegar Hockeyville bid during their game against Eastern Washington University at the Complex this Saturday at 8 p.m., with a nomination station setup in the lobby to allow fans to submit their stories about hockey in Castlegar, and volunteers available to answer questions and help out.
Then, on Feb.1, the Rebels game will be a fabulous opportunity to further the cause with “Kraft Hockeyville Night in Castlegar”, when the Castlegar Rebels face off against the Spokane Braves at 7:30 p.m. at the Complex. Admission will be $5 per person plus a donation of a Kraft Food Product for the Castlegar Food Bank, and everyone is asked to dress in red and white for the photo and video to be taken of everyone in the stands.
Just before the game will be a Kraft Dinner Cook-Off, in which residents can bring their premade KD concoctions to the Complex at 6:45 p.m. for a chance to win a gift basket of Kraft products.
“Keep it plain or dress it up,” said cook-off organizer Dan Rye. “Hot or cold, thick or thin, add meat or veggies or whatever you think will win the judges over.”
The nominations close Feb.9, so the window of opportunity is small for Castlegar to rally – but it will be well worth the effort if the city wins, as the title doesn’t just come with bragging rights, it comes with $100,000 in arena upgrades, the chance to host an NHL game here in town, and coverage of our fair city by the CBC.
How to nominate Castlegar at http://krafthockeyville.cbc.ca/ :
Step 1 – Fill in your personal information
Step 2 – Start filling out one of the fields with your city name, your arena name (Castlegar and District Recreation Centre) or your postal code. The site helps you find your community by displaying all the communities that have similar starting letter and/or numbers. Keep typing to narrow your search results. Once found, click on Castlegar.
Step 3 – Fill out the nomination story. Your story needs a title and needs at least one word for you to be allowed to go to the next steps. You can put something as simple as “I love my community”, “Castlegar is the 2014 Kraft Hockeyville” or something about Castlegar and Hockey – use your imagination – be creative. Kraft Hockeyville reviews all the stories so the more grassroots, personal story the better.
Step 4 – Check off the newsletters and promotions you would like to receive and click the Submit button.
Congratulations! You have nominated your community and now can start uploading community images, videos and stories!
