The Revelstoke Grizzlies Society is making a push to keep the Junior B hockey team in town, following an emotional annual general meeting at the Revelstoke Forum Tuesday night.
The society, which was meeting for the first time since the team’s sale to 100 Mile House, voted in a new executive and formed two committees to solicit community and corporate support.
The society owned the team until it was sold to Ronald Kolman, Joe Dauenhauer and Michael Jodoin for $15,000 in 2006. The current owners took over the team before the 2009-10 season.
When the society sold the team, a clause was put into the contract giving the society the right to buy back the team for $1 if the new owners planned on moving or folding the team before May 31, 2016.
On Monday, the Times Review learned the current ownership group, which is led by Michael Roberts and also includes Lou Hendrickson and Joe Kozek, filed an application with KIJHL on Sunday to sell the team to a group in 100 Mile House. Roberts cited declining attendance and corporate support, as well as mounting financial losses as the reasons for the sale.
On Tuesday, the ownership group presented the society with a $25,000 cheque from a security bond that was to be released should the team be moved or folded.
The society has 30 days to exercise its option to buy the Grizzlies and at its AGM it elected Mavis Cann as president to lead the efforts at saving the team.
Cann established two sub-committees – one to solicit fan support and the other to solicit corporate support.
The goal is to see if there’s enough interest in the community for the society to be able to afford to keep the team here and assume the team’s debt, which was speculated to be in the $60,000 range, though none of the owners were in attendance to confirm that number.
