Princeton has an overwhelming amount of community spirit! In November of 2021, our small town was devastated by major flooding caused by the atmospheric river. That atmospheric river rained down and soon our river swelled up until our river banks overflowed. Families lost homes. They lost everything in those homes. Members of community have had their businesses devastated. But during this difficul
t time, the one thing we didn’t lose was hope. The community has rallied together. We’ve come together to help one another out. We’re slowly rebuilding and that will take time. In the meantime, the one thing that can rally everyone together is our community Arena. And nothing gets the community spirit higher than our Princeton Posse junior hockey team! The Posse organization is a great example of community spirit. The Posse is a community run junior hockey team that is coming up on its 20th anniversary next season. In spite of everything, our small town has managed to keep this team running! Tell us about your Arena. Why is it important to you, your family, and your community? My sister and I grew up in our Arena. She figure skated and I played hockey. I’m sure our story is no different than many who grew up in small towns. I formed lifelong friendships in our Arena. I learned how to be a part of a team, learned the importance of hard work, learned how to be a referee and the responsibility that came with that. We went to countless events at our Arena growing up. Grad parties and reunions were held there. I even had a few crushes in our Arena. Our Arena was also where I scored my nicest goal. Funnily enough, scoring my sweetest goal also taught me the importance of always being ready. The goal couldn’t have been any better! Got the puck on my stick, turned around quickly and shot it top cheddar. It was truly a thing of beauty (for the other team). Unfortunately, I was defence and was trying to clear the puck behind our net. Now if the goalie had just been ready…
Explain how your community will use the $250,000 to upgrade and improve your arena. By far and away, the number one priority for our arena is a new roof! Our arena was built in 1974 (great year, if I do say so myself - I was born in ’74) and it still has the original roof. There are currently tarps covering more than 1/4 of the roof. The tarps are in place to try to prevent leaks caused by expansion and contraction due to temperature changes, but it’s definitely been a losing battle. Without a proper, well functioning roof all else is moot. If we could get money to properly repair the roof, the town could then use funds to replace our ancient Zamboni. Given that our town is currently rebuilding from the devastating floods in November, it should be a no-brainer that the replacement for our Zamboni is electric. With a new roof and a new Zamboni, Princeton will have a rink to last another 50 years!
