Pense reminisces, prepares for Hockeyville as voting starts

Take a drive around Pense and you’ll be hard-pressed to find a yard without a Hockeyville sign.

That’s probably because nearly everybody in town has some connection to the Pense Memorial Rink.

Flipping through a photo album — one of many kept in a worn cardboard bankers box — Bonnie Fenrick sees picture after picture of past teams, fundraisers and celebrations that have taken place at her local rink.

“There’s a carnival (with) men dressed up in grass skirts,” Fenrick said, laughing at the photo.

Fenrick is a member of the rink’s board and is a curler herself. She has been a big part of getting Pense this far in the Kraft Hockeyville competition.

Voting opened Friday at 7 a.m. and is to close Saturday at 4 p.m. People can vote online an unlimited number of times for the next Hockeyville.

Pense is the only town in Western Canada to be named a Hockeyville finalist this year. Winning the competition would give the town the opportunity to host an NHL game and $250,000 to put towards its community rink.

The rink, many would say, is the heart of Pense.

“I’m not a hockey player but my husband plays hockey, my kids skate (and) I’m a curler so the rink is a very important place to us,” Fenrick said.

“I would say we’re there every day,” shared Fenrick’s daughter, Teegan.

“It’s the only thing that we do in winter … go to the rink and back,” added Teegan’s sister Kolbi.

Teegan and Kolbi grew up going to the rink for skating lessons and curling practices and to watch their dad play for the local beer league team, the Pense Flyers.

“They’re legendary, moreso in their own minds,” Fenrick said of the Flyers with a chuckle.

Almost as legendary as the rink burgers, the girls noted.

As they’ve grown up, the rink has become even more to them. Teegan and Kolbi both teach younger kids in town how to skate and often hang out at the rink with friends. It’s also right beside their school.

“It’s so exciting to see all the little kids learning to skate, knowing that that’s where they’re going to be all winter. It’s so busy all the time there,” Teegan said.

“Even if they’re not involved in something, they sometimes go down, watch their friends play,” Fenrick said.

“That’s just where you hang out and everything,” Kolbi explained.

Teegan added: “I don’t know what we would do (without the rink).”

Repairs needed

Unfortunately, the town’s community hub might be in danger of closing, somewhat temporarily.

Fenrick said the rink is in desperate need of a new brine system — the system of pipes underneath the ice that keeps it frozen.

“We’re living on borrowed time right now,” she said. “If it goes during one of our seasons, we lose the rink for a year, potentially two years, which would be tragic to a lot of youth in our town.”

The Pense Memorial Rink was constructed after the town’s previous rink burned down in 1989. Through fundraisers like cash calendars, dinner theatres and fashion shows over several years, the town was finally able to rebuild the rink.

Pense has also been fundraising to replace the brine system and Fenrick estimates it has about $106,000 saved. Winning Hockeyville — and the $250,000 first prize — would go a long way towards saving the rink.

“Winning would be awesome,” Fenrick said. “We’d definitely still have some fundraising to do but it would help a lot … It’s a pretty big build that we need to get some money for.”

“It would be so exciting,” Teegan said. “All the kids would be going crazy. They would be in heaven.”

Fenrick called the alternative — shutting down the rink for repairs — “devastating.”

The only town in Western Canada

Pense’s finalist status in the competition has brought new life to the town.

“I think there was a scream that came out of our garage that could be heard around town (when the news was announced),” Fenrick said. “We were pretty pumped.”

Curtis Viergutz is also on the rink’s board. Two of his three children regularly spend time at the Pense rink playing hockey and skating.

You can tell by the family’s front yard — decorated with a hockey net, sticks, signs and numerous jerseys strung along a clothesline between two trees — how excited they are for their hometown to become the next Hockeyville.

“It’s grassroots hockey here and we love the game and agriculture,” Viergutz said with a smile. “That’s basically what our two seasons are here so it’s huge for us if we actually (win).”

Pense, known nowadays as a “bedroom town” as most residents commute into bigger cities like Regina or Moose Jaw for work, has also enjoyed a small bit of fame over the past few weeks.

“I’ve never heard Pense mentioned so many times,” Fenrick said.

“I just watched a video where Scott Moe is wearing a good Flyers jersey and putting his support behind us. We’ve got the Western Canada vote, I hope.”

“We can advertise as much as you want but it really comes down to each and every person that really believes in what we’re doing,” Viergutz added.