Campbell River is one step closer to being crowned with the Kraft Hockeyville 2012 title, and being featured on CBC.
The Strathcona Regional District, which nominated Strathcona Gardens, announced last week that its entry has moved on to the second round of voting.
“The deadline for submissions has now passed and we are pleased to communicate that our entry has qualified for the next round along with 226 other communities from across Canada,” said Brian Reardon, Chief Administrative Officer of the regional district.
Kraft Hockeyville is a competition presented by the NHL, the CBC, and Kraft that recognizes the community that best shows Canada’s spirit – and of course, its love of hockey. The winning community wins not only the title of “Kraft Hockeyville” but also gets to host an NHL pre-season game and wins $100,000 for upgrades to its home arena. Four runner-up communities will receive $25,000 each for arena upgrades.
Reardon said the Strathcona Gardens recreation complex was contacted by Kraft Hockeyville in early January to feel out the regional district’s interest in applying for the competition.
“After a brief conversation regarding the status of our community and the arena we were encouraged to submit an application to the competition,” Reardon said.
Strathcona Gardens is one of 28 communities from the Pacific region that will move on to the second round. It’s up against 39 communities from the West; 92 communities in Ontario; 29 communities in Quebec; and another 39 communities in the Atlantic division. Strathcona Gardens qualified with 62 members of the public joining its application and 38 people submitting stories, videos and photos on the Kraft Hockeyville website. The final selection process, which takes place between Feb. 1 to March 2, will include three entries from each of the five divisions to break down the competition to the final 15.
Voting is done by an in-house panel which will judge a community on originality, community spirit, and passion for hockey.
The top 15 communities will be showcased on CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada on March 3.
To find submit your stories, photos and videos and support Campbell River’s nomination go to krafthockeyville.cbc.ca and click “Join Us.”