“I can’t believe they just said my name on TSN!”
Those words resonated throughout the top floor of the Wolf’s Den on April 3 after Curt Thorne was named the Pacific Region’s winner for the Kraft Hockey Goes On challenge.
Less than two weeks ago the Golden community came together to throw their support behind the minor hockey coach, junior hockey president, restaurant owner, and community leader. Nearly 450,000 votes were cast in the Pacific region, giving Thorne $100,000 for the Golden Minor Hockey Association.
“Boom Chucka Lucka! It doesn’t get better than this. We didn’t expect to win. We’re a small town, and honestly we didn’t think this would happen. What can you say?” said Thorne after the announcement on TSN.
“I just want to thank Kraft, and all the volunteers. I’m just one of 100 people who could have won this here, 1,000 people over the years. I’m just glad to be the loudest one that they recognized.”
The awards, sponsored by Kraft Canada, were to recognize and thank those who dedicate so much of their time to hockey in their community. And Curt is eternally grateful to the women who thought so much of him, to put his name forward.
“I want you all to know who made this happen. It wasn’t me, I’m just one of the thousand volunteers in this town who do things for different sports. Two girls saw this contest… Carey and Nicola,” said Thorne after the announcement was made.
Carey Alexander is a hockey parent, and Nicola Hollick is an employee at Thorne’s restaurant.
“All of us owe it to these two girls who took the initiative to write a letter about me… They recognized what we do in our little town. I can’t thank them enough.”
After that, the community took over. Facebook and Twitter were buzzing for over a week, T-shirts were made, minor hockey players spread the message around town, and several businesses set up voting stations for people who didn’t have a computer.
“There’s lots of people to thank. There’s all of you first of all. I know that so many of you sat there and voted over and over again,” said Thorne to the crowd at the Wolf’s Den. “Golden actually had the most likes and Tweets in all of Canada on our Kraft page. That’s pretty good for a small town.”
Thorne was also sure to thank Golden Minor Hockey President Brad Cable, all the coaches, parents, volunteers and board members, not to mention one thank you that was very close to his heart.
“I’d like to thank my wife Kathy. She sat in front of that computer for nine days, reminding you all to vote. She knows you’re all sick of her.”
But all the work and determination paid off, as Golden Minor Hockey will soon be holding a $100,000 cheque from Kraft Canada in their hands.
