By Andrew de Souza

Porcupine Plain celebrates with TSN and Kraft

Aug 22, 2012 | 6:43 AM

The small community of Porcupine Plain received some time in the national spotlight when the community was broadcast live on TSN as part of the Kraft Celebration Tour.

The community of just about 900 managed to beat out countless others to not only be the location of a live broadcast and a day of activities, but also to receive $25,000 from Kraft.

The community had applied to use the money for the Chase Place Arena.

Tammy Hamelin who made the application for the community said she was amazed that the community had rallied together to bring the tour to the town and the money to the facility.

“We are replacing the flooring which is getting to be a safety issue and just upgrading the lobby and the play area,” she said. “We had a little bit of money set aside as a memorial but this $25,000 will help us complete the project so we’re really looking forward to that.”

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She said the money will go towards rehabilitating the facility to benefit countless community members that go through its doors.

Local hero returns home

Not only was the money a huge reason for the community to celebrate, they were also welcoming
TSN sportscaster Darren Dutchyshen, who was born and raised in the community.

He said it was an emotional moment to come out on stage to the place he grew up in and said he hoped his presence would inspire the youth of the community to achieve their dreams.

“I never thought I’d be a broadcaster—I never wanted to be one,” he said, saying instead he always wanted to be a hockey player but managed to achieve success regardless.

“There’s unlimited possibilities with life so I hope these kids see it and maybe they’ll be a sportscaster or maybe they’ll do something that normally they thought would be unattainable so that got me a little choked up.”

Porcupine Plain Mayor Terry Zip also used the opportunity to announce that Dutchyshen would be inducted into the town’s hall of fame.

“We’re home to three great leaders and mentors,” he said. “Darren Dutchyshen, Kelly Chase [former NHL player], and Colette Bourgonje [nine-time paralympian]. They’re great leaders and mentors and it’s just a great community.”

adesouza@panow.com

Twitter: @DrewdeSouza