Winnipeg Jets alumni visited Gimli on March 18 and 19 to deliver mental health programs to students at local schools, lead a hockey skills session with youth players and host a free party at the Gimli Recreation Centre as part of the Jets Town Takeover event.
Winnipeg Jets Alumni and True North Sports + Entertainment brought hockey skills, mental health awareness workshops and a whole lot of hockey fun to Gimli last week after the town won the annual Jets Town Takeover competition
The annual contest is organized by True North Sports + Entertainment, which owns the Winnipeg Jets. The organization’s director of corporate communications, Krista Sinaisky, helped facilitate the event on March 18 and March 19 in Gimli.
Gimli competed to win the annual contest against fellow town finalists Niverville and Oakbank. The winner was determined by the number of fan votes. Gimli received over 12,500 votes.
The event included Jets alumni Ray Neufeld, Randy Gilhen and Derek Meech leading hockey drills for U7 to U19 players enrolled in Gimli minor hockey, and visits with students at local schools to raise awareness about mental health challenges.
The mental health component, which included providing students with coping skills, was delivered in collaboration with the True North Youth Foundation’s educational program called Project 11. The foundation has visited 339 schools throughout the province, delivering the program to 40,600 students to date.
The event culminated with a huge party last Thursday night at the Gimli Recreation Centre where hundreds of people got to meet the former Jets players, watch a game between the Jets and the Boston Bruins and win prizes.
RM of Gimli resident Brittany Isfeld assisted with making of the video that was part of the recreation centre’s bid to win the event, and she also attended the party on March 19.
The Jets Town Takeover bid was a community effort from start to finish in which local businesses, organizations and families all came together to support the initiative and celebrate what makes Gimli special, she said.
“Moments like this remind us of how lucky we are to live in a place where people show up for their community,” said Isfeld. “Gimli truly is an amazing town filled with passionate people and it was wonderful to see that pride on full display.”
She recognized the efforts made by recreation centre staff to bring the Jets event to town.
“I would like to give a special shout-out to Lenni [Finnbogason], our recreation programmer, who put an incredible amount of work and energy into organizing and championing this effort,” said Isfeld. “Initiatives like this take a lot of behind-the-scenes coordination, and Lenni’s dedication really helped bring the community together.”
Recreation department staff posted a message on the department’s Facebook page last Friday thanking Gimli for showing up to the viewing party last Thursday.
“Gimli — you guys showed up yesterday! We had an outstanding turnout at our Jets Town Takeover, and we couldn’t have done it without all of your help,” said the post. “A huge thank you to all of our amazing volunteers, the Gimli Fire Department, RM of Gimli staff, True North, all of our sponsors and everyone who donated towards the event. We couldn’t have done any of this without YOU — so again, thank you!!”
The RM of Gimli said the event was an amazing experience.
“We need to thank all the volunteers, our staff and the Winnipeg Jets Flight Crew for making the event the success that it was,” said the RM on its Facebook page.
