Porcupine Plain part of Celebration Tour

Porcupine Plain is the recipient of a $25,000 upgrade to their coveted arena—and there’s an added local touch to the announcement.

The money comes as part of TSN’s Kraft Celebration Tour, which pits communities against one another to see which has more spirit and need of funds for its sports facilities.

The winner not only gets a hefty chunk of change, but also an episode of the shot on scene.

This particular episode will have an added bonus because host Darren Dutchyshen grew up in Porcupine Plane.

Darren said he’s excited his home town arena, where he spent so much time, is getting some funding.

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“I was the best player to ever play in rink by far—that’s what I tell my brother-in-law Kelley Chase, he’s the only one to ever make it to the NHL from there,” he said.

“But the rink is great, it’s sort of epicenter of the whole town, the hub, everybody goes there in the winter time. I have nothing but fond memories.”

Dutchyshen said he was happy to know the local rink was getting an upgrade that everyone would be able to enjoy.

“You’ve got to have a lot of bake sales and a lot of things like bingos to raise $25,000. It does need refurbishing, so I’m glad that it’s going into the rink.”

It’s also great news for the community itself, which sports just more 900 people.

Tammy Hamelin is the secretary-treasurer for the arena and person who nominated it for the competition.

“For us to even get picked in the top 20 is really exciting,” she said. “It was just really neat to see the community come together, advertise in the town, and get voting.”

To come out on top, Hamelin said the community kept schools open to allow computer access, had mail outs and advertising, and ended up getting family members from all over the world constantly voting. Clearly, it paid off.

She said the repairs are badly needed.

“The arena was built in 1967 and it’s starting to show its age. We’re really happy that this will help us have the money to replace the flooring and the walls and give it a sprucing up,” she said.

The rink dies; the town dies, so it’s really important.”

The win means the town will be hosting the Celebration Tour on Aug. 21.

adesouza@panow.com

Twitter: @drewdesouza