Kamloops Up to Hosting 2015 Canada Winter Games

(Aired on August 9, 2010)

More than 20 years ago, and I hate to date myself that way, I watched as our city transformed itself from a sleepy little city to one that showed the world what our community spirit was all about. When the Canada Games Bid Selection Committee came to Kamloops in April of 1989, the city turned out in droves to welcome the bid committee. That accomplished two things - first of all it helped enormously in getting the bid for the '93 Games, and secondly, and perhaps more importantly, it was one of the major steps in showing the country, and indeed ourselves, that we had the volunteer spirit. Ever since then, we've been able to get tournaments and host events based on our volunteer spirit. People have said we have this tremendous volunteer base and it all started back in 1989, when we convinced ourselves we had the spirit to get this job done.

Tomorrow, we have an opportunity to do it all over again. I am convinced we are up to the task. But it's going to take a big effort. In 1989, school was in, schools were organized and came on board big time. School is out in August, people are away, so those who are here are going to have to attend the rallies downtown, on the North Shore and at Hillside Stadium. Rallies are at 10:30 at the Spirit Square in North Kamloops, St. Andrews on the Square downtown and at Interior Savings Centre. It wraps up with a barbecue at 11 AM at Hillside Stadium.

The economic benefits of getting the games are huge, some speculate as much as $90-million. But more importantly, it's a chance for our city to show that we still have that volunteer community spirit that has stood us in such great stead over the past 20 years. I hope that spirit is still alive and shows up tomorrow when our visitors stop in to see what we've got.