Members of the organizing committee behind O’Leary’s nomination know they received widespread support and believe O’Leary is very much in contention.
But anyone who thinks the committee has been sitting back this week waiting for Saturday night’s announcement would be incorrect.
They’ve been doing lots, just in case. Like arranging for potential hard-wired voting stations and encouraging people to organize their own voting parties.
If the vote goes O’Leary’s way, they need to get the word out – fast.
“We’re getting everything ready now so that it won’t take long because we need to get to bed. Because (voting) starts at 10 o’clock (Sunday) morning,” said Jo-Anne Wallace.
“If we win, it’s go-time.”
There were five communities from eastern Canada and five from the west in the Top-10 voting. On Saturday night, following the first period of Hockey Night in Canada’s sportscast of the Edmonton-Vancouver game, somewhere close to midnight, the East-vs-West finalists will be announced. Both of those communities will see the $25,000 in arena upgrades they received for making Top-10 quadruple to $100,000 and they will suddenly have a one-in-two chance of becoming Kraft Hockeyville 2017. Along with the title comes the opportunity to host a 2017 NHL pre-season hockey game.
Members of the organizing committee behind O’Leary’s nomination know they received widespread support and believe O’Leary is very much in contention.
But anyone who thinks the committee has been sitting back this week waiting for Saturday night’s announcement would be incorrect.
They’ve been doing lots, just in case. Like arranging for potential hard-wired voting stations and encouraging people to organize their own voting parties.
If the vote goes O’Leary’s way, they need to get the word out – fast.
“We’re getting everything ready now so that it won’t take long because we need to get to bed. Because (voting) starts at 10 o’clock (Sunday) morning,” said Jo-Anne Wallace.
“If we win, it’s go-time.”
There were five communities from eastern Canada and five from the west in the Top-10 voting. On Saturday night, following the first period of Hockey Night in Canada’s sportscast of the Edmonton-Vancouver game, somewhere close to midnight, the East-vs-West finalists will be announced. Both of those communities will see the $25,000 in arena upgrades they received for making Top-10 quadruple to $100,000 and they will suddenly have a one-in-two chance of becoming Kraft Hockeyville 2017. Along with the title comes the opportunity to host a 2017 NHL pre-season hockey game.
The members of the O’Leary committee invite supporters to join them Saturday night for a party at the Maple Leaf Curling Club.
“It is a community thing, but it is an Island community,” Bill MacKendrick stresses.
It’s even bigger than that, says Jo-Anne Wallace, pointing out their effort has garnered widespread support across the Island and beyond.
“They’ve caught the bug. They’ve caught the spark and are saying, ‘this is Small Places, Canada’s big-thing,” Wallace summarizes.
Of course, if O’Leary is successful, the committee wants to ensure the supporters keep that bug for the ensuing 39-hour final voting period.
Digital road signs would go back out and voting stations would need to be re-activated.
“Continuous voting,” says Tammy Rix, is a goal for the next round.
The committee is also encouraging supporters close by and around the globe to organize what they’re calling voting parties. It’s even more fun and more productive in a group setting, Dean Getson says.
A small community of 860 can’t compete, budget-wise with large communities, “but we can compete with them community-spirit-wise,” MacKendrick stresses.
“I think people are so on-side that it is, ‘what can I do, specifically, to help things?’” MacKendrick added in expressing appreciation for the ongoing offers of encouragement.
