Assiniboia welcomes Weyburn Red Wings with open arms during ammonia shutdown
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Billets were found for all Red Wings players in just four hours.
Moose Jaw mayor Fraser Tolmie welcomed Norway’s delegate for the “international moose summit” to the city’s visitor centre on Saturday morning, where he and Stor-Elvdal deputy mayor Linda Otnes Henriksen announced a resolution to the ongoing dispute over which community will have the world’s tallest moose statue.
Henriksen conceded that Moose Jaw’s Mac the Moose will indeed reclaim the title once Tourism Moose Jaw gives him a new set of antlers, funded through donations.
“Yes, we were OK with that,” Henriksen said. “Once the fundraiser got started we quickly realized that you guys meant business. You were serious about this whole thing and we knew from the start there was nothing we could do with our moose.”
However, as part of the settlement, Tolmie said they would recognize the Norwegian town’s Storelgen as a “pretty awesome-looking moose.”
Some activities during Henriksen’s visit will include dropping the puck at a Warriors game, visiting school children and flying at 15 Wing.
The two officials arranged the meeting to discuss how they could capitalize on the publicity the friendly feud has generated through branding, marketing and partnerships.
Tolmie said the affair has already raised the profile of his city.
“You can’t pay for this … we’re seeing the economic benefits. There’s more tourism coming in. It’s -40 C and people have been out shopping in the City of Moose Jaw,” Tolmie said.
Henriksen said they’ve had an idea in Norway to make a children’s book based on the moose.
“Maybe one of the other books can be about Mac the Moose and Big Moose … I’m thinking this is a great story and it’s a funny story,” she said.
“If we can do something that can connect the two moose in a children’s book, I think that would be such a fantastic thing.”
There have also been talks about possibly twinning the communities. Tolmie said it appears there’s support among the two respective councils.
“We’ll learn our way forward, as we say. It’s not all mapped out but we’ve been doing that since day one with the two moose, so we’re pretty excited,” Tolmie.