TRURO, N.S.
With the World Junior A Challenge quickly approaching, the Rath-Eastlink Community Centre has announced Canada 150 celebration plans to add to the excitement.
During the week of the WJAC, the RECC will be holding their Canada 150 cultural festival to celebrate 150 years of Confederation and the cultural heritage.
“It’s going to be awesome to be able to take in some amazing hockey and also be able to explore some of our cultural and sports heritage,” said Matt Moore, general manager for the RECC.
“We have some new murals that will be going up in the RECC, and we also have a great sports heritage video we put together to showcase some of our sports history and key figures.”
The festival will feature musical acts, artistic performances, Canadian cuisine and memorials celebrating various Canadian cultures and heritage throughout the week.
The celebration week will kick off Thursday, Dec. 7, with an opening reception, which will feature speeches from prominent Truro figures Jeff Douglas and Arash Madani.
Douglas, of CBC Radio’s As It Happens, starred in a Molson Canadian commercial as “Joe Canada,” and is famously know for his rant in the commercial on what being Canadian means to him.
Madani, who got his start as a sports reporter with the Truro Daily news, is a sports broadcaster for Roger’s Sportsnet and was recently awarded the George Gross Award for outstanding broadcasting.
During the reception, Colchester Sports Hall of Famer, the late Jed Ritcey will be honoured as the Jed Ritcey Legacy Fund is announced, to which all proceeds generated from the tournament will go.
“Knowing what Jed had contributed to the local community and Atlantic Canada as a board member with Hockey Canada, a coach and an official with Hockey Nova Scotia, we thought we should honour him and make him part of our initial plan,” said Moore.
The fund will be used to support Colchester communities with funding for sports activities, upgrades to facilities, registration fees and equipment for grassroots sporting leagues.
“I know Jed was primarily engaged in hockey, but we wanted to make sure it was clear the fund was for all sports,” said Moore.
“I would encourage any non-profit organization that is looking to make improvements in the realm of sports to put in an application for the fund.”
With the fund being so new, it is hard to say how broad the funding will be in the beginning, but with the expected financial gains from the tournament and plans for more events and development initiatives in the future, Moore expects replenishment won’t be an issue.
The Canada 150 festival will run all week up to Dec. 16 alongside the hockey tournament, allowing people to take in the festivities during the day and catch a game of hockey afterwards.
“The events definitely support one another,” said Moore.
“I know by adding musical performances and a cultural perspective to a hockey tournament we’re going to engage some non-hockey fans of the community who will get to see some great artistic performances, but hopefully will also be entertained by some great hockey and get to see Canada win a medal.”
The Canada 150 activities are all free for the public, and tickets for the hockey tournament go on sale today (Friday) at ticketpro.ca.
SESQUI HORIZON 360º
Take a video tour of Canada this weekend
As a prelude to the Canada 150 celebrations happening in December, the Rath-Eastlink Community Centre is hosting the Sesqui Horizon 360º video tour of Canada, today and Saturday.
Sesqui’s Horizon 360º is an immersive video project that gives viewers a 360º perspective of Canada and its various parts.
Played in a large dome set up in the foyer of the RECC, the film will take viewers on an immersive tour of the country and its provinces, and features the music, people, landscapes and cultures that make Canada what it is.
The Horizon 360º tour is free, and will run in 20-minute intervals from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and Saturday.
