Stirling is looking to advance to the next round

By Amanda Monahan

Susan Gemmell spends her morning at the Stirling Public Library voting for Stirling in the Kraft Hockeyville competition. Photo by Amanda Monahan

The countdown is on.

Voters have until midnight tonight to cast as many votes as they can if they want Stirling in the next round of Kraft Hockeyville.

Many businesses have opened their doors to let the community use their computers to vote for Stirling.

Mary-Louise Belanger, owner of Rustic Roots in downtown Stirling, is voting nonstop.

“Thousands.”

“You get a little dizzy puting in the code but it’s still working for us and I have three children that are voting and a husband that’s voting, it’s a family affair,” she said.

While finishing her coffee at Rustic Roots, Joyce Mason said she spends her free time voting.

“Hundreds? I have no idea; I just sit there and keep going,” she said with a laugh.

Her family not only has hockey history in Stirling but at the arena as well. Her husband, Garry Mason, was chairman of the arena board and played and refereed there. Her oldest daughter, Pamela, was also the first to skate in the new arena back in 1976. And her uncle, a gunner in World War Two, played hockey there.

“It’s a great community, the involvement in hockey especially is wonderful here. Everybody gets together and we support each other and this has been the greatest hockey town for many years, “Mason said.

Home to the Stirling Blues, the Stirling-Rawdon Recreation Centre is in need of some improvements and winning Kraft Hockeyville would help make this happen. If voted into the top five Stirling will get an automatic $25,000 for arena upgrades. The grand prize is $100,000 for renovations and an NHL pre-season game.

Richard Dean, the manager of the arena, said the money would help make the arena more wheelchair accessible and open for the congested front lobby among other improvements.

‘The arena is getting a lot smaller, kids are getting a lot bigger, dressing rooms are small. Kids come in and they have hockey bags that could fit another kid inside their hockey bags. So you put 15 kids in a dressing room, you need another 15 spots for the rest of the equipment too,” he said.

Mason said a second ice pad would be a great addition.

“It would be nice to have an adjoining rink for the children, things like that would be great.”

Dean called the community support for their bid for Hockeyville unreal.

“It’s more than just hockey here, it’s the curling club, it’s the figure skaters, it’s the community as a whole because they get together and it’s a whole community spirit thing,” he said.

Belanger said Stirling deserves the Hockeyville crown because of how they have all worked together.

“We are a great little community that really supports each other and hockey is one way that we come together and shown our community spirit,” she said.

Belanger and Mason aren’t the only ones voting as many times as their fingers will let them. According to Dean the entire community is taking any work break or time at school to vote.

“It’s not just once or twice, they’re voting a 1,000 times, 2,000 times. You can do it as many times as you’d like over and over again, the more the merrier.”

“It’s a great thing for the community and I think Kraft is doing a great job with it, it’s going to be nice and we’re going to win.”

Goderich and Prince Edward-Hastings community Bancroft, are the top three communities in Ontario gunning for the top five. Voting closes at midnight tonight at www. krafthockeyville.cbc.ca/community/vote.