Cornwall Goes Jersey-Crazy for Hockeyville!

Visit Cornwall on Thursday and you might think a hockey game is about to break out… on Pitt Street, at the movie theatres, in restaurants, at the banks….

Residents will be donning their favourite hockey jersey in a show of support for the City’s bid to be crowned Hockeyville on Saturday. Employers are relaxing dress codes for the day, and with the warmer weather, people on the streets are expected to make an impact. It is hoped that thousands of people will participate by wearing a hockey jersey.

“Hockey is huge in Cornwall, and it should come as no surprise that just about everybody has a favourite hockey jersey in the closet or dresser”, said Mayor Bob Kilger. “I can think of no other way to show your support for our Hockeyville bid – except voting, of course!”

Cornwall is one of 5 communities left in the running for Kraft’s Hockeyville competition. People vote online for their favourite community up until 11 am on Friday March 16th.

“The entire community is coming together in this effort”, said Gilles Latour, Chair of Team Cornwall. “Businesses are changing their external signage and we have banners out on the 401. Team members wanted one last push to remind people to vote, and hockey jerseys seemed like a perfect way to make an impact.”

Several companies and organizations have helped to promote Cornwall’s bid. They are too numerous to mention, but here are just a few of the more notable:

• City of Cornwall: The City’s Recreation Department has helped organize and lead the community effort.
• Corus Entertainment: Corus has urged listeners to vote for the past few weeks from all three radio stations, and has a link to the Hockeyville website from www.rock1019.com. They will be broadcasting live from Cornwall Square as the voting deadline approaches.
• Standard-Freeholder: Cornwall’s daily newspaper has run numerous stories and editorials, along with an ad on the front page.
• Seaway News: Cornwall’s weekly newspaper has tracked the progress of the bid and urged readers to vote.
• CTV Ottawa: Max Keeping and his news staff have helped Cornwall’s bid by encouraging people in Ottawa and throughout Eastern Ontario to vote on several broadcasts.
• Perkins-Caron Rona Home Centre: This is just one of many local stores and businesses that have changed their exterior signage to raise awareness of the Hockeyville competition and/or are displaying posters
• St. Lawrence College: The college has changed its internal web pages to provide a link to the Hockeyville website and the Cornwall campus has challenged its sister campuses in Kingston and Brockville to support the bid
• St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation: Cornwall’s signature building now has the word Hockeyville displayed in 4-foot letters

You can vote for Cornwall up until March 16 at 11AM, at the Hockeyville website:

www.cbc.ca/hockeyville

In an effort to encourage Cornwall and area residents to vote for Cornwall, the “new” Rock 101.9 radio station and Team Cornwall will be on location at Cornwall Square from Wednesday March 14th at 10:00 a.m. until Friday March 16th at 11:00 a.m. – during regular business hours. Voting stations will be set up with representatives from Rock 101.9 and Team Cornwall voting around the clock while encouraging shoppers to do the same. The voting blitz will conclude with a live broadcast on Friday March 16th from 6 a.m. – 11 a.m. with the Rock 101.9 - Early Show.

The Kraft Hockeyville 2007 winner will be announced live in CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada on March 17th. The Winning Community will receive:

• Kraft Hockeyville 2007 title and trophy
• Host a one-of-a-kind NHL® Hockey Event
• $50,000 to be used for upgrades to a local publicly-owned arena
• Community will be featured on a CBC Television Kraft Hockeyville special in the fall of 2007, date to be determined

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