THUNDER BAY — The 6th annual Tim McFarlane Memorial Winter Classic brought three senior elementary schools to Fort William Gardens.
A ceremonial puck was dropped at 9:45 a.m. on Thursday and a full day of games followed.
“Mr. McFarlane was a teacher at Pope John Paul School, and really a pillar in our community, a pillar in our school system. He had a lasting effect on everybody, as you can see from the students, the staff, and families that are here watching,” said Kris Bragnalo, emcee of the event.
“It’s an event that takes a community to run,” he said
“We have some amazing sponsors, our trustees and senior team help us out every year to make this run. They see a value in it, not only the schools, but the kids and the families. We walk around and we hear parents and guardians saying ‘this is a fantastic event.’
“It brings everyone together and gets everyone in a situation where it's a little lighthearted, but it's also something that is valued,” Bragnalo said.
Pope John Paul had two boys and one girl’s team, Bishop Gallagher had a boys team along with EQ Jennings. Bishop Gallagher and EQ Jennings combined players for a girl’s team.
“We hope not only to continue Mr. McFarlane's legacy, but it's a great event for the community, for our school board, and so we hope to continue this.
“We send out invites to all the elementary schools because they feed these schools, and almost every school was represented throughout the day. There's thousands throughout the day coming through just at different pockets of time,” Bragnalo said.
Peter Labine is a coach for Pope John Paul’s hockey team.
“We have players from all different ability levels from Grades 7 and 8 participating in an amazing hockey tournament.
“It brings the schools together as communities. It gives a chance for our feeder schools to come and watch the event and see what it's like in Grades 7 and 8 for the Thunder Bay Catholic School Board, and it just gives everyone a sense of pride to be able to compete with their friends and their school,” he said.
Labine said this is most of the students’ favourite event of the school year.
“It brings them all together and they have a really good, fun, competitive and positive atmosphere to compete in and enjoy the day. The kids come out and they try their hardest and they all compete and they're all positive and supporting each other.”