ElliotLakeToday was back at the Foodland lobby again this morning, talking to people about Kraft Hockeyville.
Yesterday, Elliot Lakers were 'pumped' but this morning, the excitement was exponential over yesterday's already pumped and primed town.
Online voting begins tomorrow at 9 a.m.
Online voting begins at tomorrow at 9 a.m. and runs through until Saturday at 5 p.m. Register here now to be ready to vote. You can vote as many times as you want to.
Many Elliot Lakers plan to, 'Vote, vote, vote!'
For folks who don't have internet access, the City is setting up computers at Collins Hall beginning at 9 a.m. on Saturday and city bus trips are free throughout the day.
Here's what your neighbours were saying this morning!
Kathy Jones, “I’m really excited about it, myself. I intend to vote and vote often. I have already registered and registered my partner and my daughter and we will be voting continuously. I think our kids here really, really need an arena. I think our kids need something more to do, It’s healthy for kids. And I know that when kids aren’t given healthy opportunities or healthy options, they pick unhealthy ones. And we need to make sure they pick healthy ones. I have never been so excited to watch the community come together and come alive. It has been such a lovely experience watching people start to talk to each other and to find a common goal. It’s been just wonderful."
Scott Helman, “It will help the younger kids and folks in town and it’ll get them out and exercising and that’s what’s needed.”
Leslie Karniszewski, “Lift our spirits, of course! If I got $250,000 I’d be happy!”
Melanie Conley, “I have been here 66 years. I think this will give us a lot of hope. This has stirred up a lot of excitement and I’m hoping we get it!”
Dennis Bray, “I’ll be voting for Elliot Lake in Kraft Hockeyville – several times! It’ll help with the arena. This city needs the arena. Especially small towns. We need the arena - it’s a place to congregate, get the kids to play hockey and I feel it’s very important. [Going for] this will definitely uplift our spirits. Even right now, everybody’s talking about it.”
Sandy McDonald, “I can’t wait to get voting. I’ve got two days cleared with nothing to do and I’m going to sit there and vote, vote, vote, as much as I can. It will be amazing. The fact that we could probably get our arena up and running. It’s great for the kids. Great for our hockey team. Great for the adults. Everybody will enjoy and benefit from this if we can get it. And we need people to vote more than once. [Even if not the top prize] the fact that we get $10,000 for hockey equipment alone, makes it worthwhile. That can benefit our hockey team as well as our young kids. Equipment is expensive and if we can get any sort of help with that, for the families, I think it’s terrific. $25,000 to put towards it all, is terrific. Every cent counts.”
Bobbie McInnes, “[winning the grand prize] would boost our team so they’re not travelling to other arenas to play. It’s common sense. This was [the Vikings] first year and they couldn’t even play in their own hometown. This would be a boost. I think this would be a big boost for our town. We’re behind our town. Behind our team. It will boost everything. You know, you get people coming into our little community and it boosts everything.”
Brenda McConnell, “We can have skating here in Elliot Lake. People won’t need to drive out to Blind River or somewhere else to watch our own team. We can use it for events, maybe concerts, maybe have Miss Congeniality come back to Elliot Lake. [Going for Kraft Hockeyville] shows that the community is coming together as a whole.”
Janet Grant, about winning the grand prize: “Oh, my gosh! … We want that to happen so we’re able to go there all the time. There’s a lot of us – seniors love going to these games and watching them. … We are going to get the grand prize!”
Don Ceranowicz, “I’m fairly new here and I already miss the arena so it would be nice to get that up and going. … It’s going to help a lot.”
Louise Williams, “My husband and I are both registered and we will be online the next two days. [Winning would be] a huge boost to the city and working on getting our arena back. But I’ve been so impressed with the rallying of people in Elliot Lake and beyond to come together for this. I’ve watched all the things on Facebook. Mike Mantha was down on Manitoulin Island and did a great piece. The mayor down in Blind River saying, ‘put aside our rivalry with Elliot Lake we’ve got to pull together,’ so it’s been a wonderful experience. That’s cooperating, to come together.”
'Vote, vote, vote!'
"I’m going to sit there and vote, vote, vote, as much as I can. It will be amazing." - Sandy McDonald.