Halifax celebrates Winter Games’ Nova Scotia Day with street hockey
A player for Team Conrad tries to stickhandle around a Joe Howeser defender during a street hockey game at The Grand Parade on Tuesday.
Meggan Desmond
mg627538@dal.ca
Tuesday marked Nova Scotia Day at the Olympic Winter Games.
In Vancouver, Nova Scotians celebrated their day by showing off the province’s finest features through food, wine, and music.
At home, it meant celebrating with a one-year countdown to the 2011 Canada Games.
The Halifax 2011 Canada Games Host Society turned Grand Parade into a hip-hop, street hockey square with beats by DJ Playboy.
Premier Darrell Dexter kicked off the celebration with a pre-recorded message sent from Vancouver.
“One year from now, Canada’s best and brightest will set their sights on Halifax for the 2011 Canada Games. It’s my hope that when the Olympic flame is extinguished, all eyes will turn to Nova Scotia in 2011,” Dexter said.
Mayor Peter Kelly was next to appear on the giant screen as he took the crowd on a virtual tour of the stadium being build for the games.
The stadium, located at Mainland Common in Clayton Park, will host such sporting events as badminton, artistic gymnastics and synchronized swimming.
A celebrity street hockey game pitted the Joe Howesers in their blue scarves against Team Conrad with their white jerseys and Team Crosby, decked out in black T-shirts battled for makeshift gold, silver and bronze medals.
The teams were made up of Halifax Regional Municipality councillors including Sue Uteck, Jennifer Watts, Bill Carson and Dawn Sloane who refereed the game in an oversized referee Halloween costume.
A few players from the Halifax Mooseheads joined in, including Linden Bahm, Jordan Costello and Charles Bety.
President and CEO of the Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation and 1981 Canada Games water polo alumni, Marie Mullally, also took part in the street hockey game.
As a former athlete, Mullally said she was excited to take part in the countdown celebration.
“The power of sport builds individuals and communities,” she told the crowd.
Seventeen schools across Halifax Regional Municipality hosted their own celebrations for the one-year countdown.
The celebrations were held at the participating elementary schools, where students created mock Canada Games tournaments, complete with opening and closing ceremonies.
Communications Coordinator Andrea Young is already geared up the games.
“When the Olympics are over, the whole country is going to look to Halifax to host the next big multi-sport event.”
She says that Canada Games competitors make up almost half of Team Canada.
“The next generation of Olympians are Canada Games athletes.”
But upbeat music, nice weather and Team Crosby winning the mock gold medal were not enough to draw a big crowd.
Most of the people The Commoner approached for comment work for the Canada Games Host Society.
Two women said they were passing through and happened to get free Canada Games tote bags. They didn’t even know the event was being held.
