Rotary Club of Innisfail salutes success of Stanley Cup Day

INNISFAIL – Rotarian Tammy Thompson opened the Rotary Club of Innisfail lunch hour meeting on September 1 with a huge smile to say there had never been so many people.

The lunch and learn, held at the Innisfail Golf Club, not only featured members of the loyal service club, it also included family members of the late Larry Reid, who was a coaching development legend in the minor hockey.

Rotary also invited city leaders, including Todd Becker, Chief Executive of the Town of Innisfail, and members of the city council, including Mayor Jean Barclay and Councilors Dale Dunham and Cindy Messaros.

And then there was Dale Bennett, brother of former Innisfail resident Ray Bennett, current assistant coach of this year’s Stanley Cup-winning Colorado. avalanchewho brought the hallowed hockey trophy back to Innisfail on August 8.

The cup event not only thrilled hundreds and hundreds of Innisfailians, it garnered attention across the province and beyond.

For the community, it was also a day to give back to the city’s minor hockey community.

Thousands of dollars were raised through the Rotary BBQ on Stanley Cup Day, as well as from a silent auction and other donations to Rotary and the Innisfail Minor Hockey Association (IMHA ).

“This is a celebration of the accomplishments of the Rotary Club and our great community since Stanley Cup Day,” said Thompson, past president of the service club.

“We wanted to celebrate what Rotary was able to do and sponsor, along with the Innisfail Minor Hockey Association and the Reid and Bennett families.

“It’s just awesome that so many people can come out and celebrate and see the wonderful things that happen when a community comes together.”

Rotary donated $3,200 to IALA on September 1. funds that will go to the Larry Reid Memorial Coaching Development Fund, a legacy created in honor of the late coach. The fund is now administered by IMHA.

“We use the funds from there to provide training and player development programs,” said IALA chief executive Darren Black, who attended the Rotary luncheon and praised the service club for their work. fierce.

“Immense credit goes to Rotary. They designed or facilitated all meals, burgers, hot dogs and everything else for the day. They got the donations for everything.

Dale Bennett, who is from Calgary, enthusiastically came to lunch on behalf of his brother Ray, who was busy with his NHL coaching duties. He said donations to the coaching development fund will have a significant impact on the minor hockey community.

“The people who produce this impact are the influencers of coaching; those parents, the volunteers who provide that,” Dale said. “The more we can improve on that, the more fundamentally we’re going to improve the game.”

David Reid, son of the late coaching development legend, said the lunch was a special time for his family. He said his family appreciates the efforts of Rotary, as well as many local citizens and alumni of the 1962/63 Innisfail Pontiacs, who established the development fund in 2017.

“His (Larry Reid) legacy will live on not in town, but across the province,” said Reid, who came to lunch with his mother Helen, sister Karen and son Michael.

“It would be speechless to see what has progressed and the amount of money that has been raised to support the fund and what use Innisfail Minor Hockey has been able to make of the funds and promote.”